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The Earls of Caithness



It was George IV (1643-1676) who was in debt to Glenorchy NOT George VI (1881-1889)
by which time Glenorchy had quit Caithness (1719).

George VI must also have been in debt because on his death the Estate of Mey (now
owned by the Queen Mother but handled by the Mey Trust which is run by Malcolm
Sinclair, the current Earl of Caithness and John Sinclair, the 3rd Viscount Thurso) was
'estranged' from the dignity of Earl.

Pete Cummings must have (understandably) confused George II (1529-1582) with George
IV (1643-1676) just as I had (inadvertently) confused George VI with George IV just as
our friend Johnnye had done.

Lesson?  Don't pretend to be right all the time but the dates of George IV's dispositions
to Campbell of Glenorchy (10th June,1661 and 18th October, 1672) should settle which
of the Georges was in debt to Campbell of Glenorchy.

You ask which battle resulted in George IV's debts?

When I was going to school, my father told us: "If you are ever asked what happened in
such and such year just say 'there was trouble in Ireland'" and you are bound to be given
one point.

Well, there was always trouble in Scotland but the trouble which got many Scots in debt
during the period of George IV was the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643 between
England and Scotland to defend and establish Presbyterianism.  After the Stuart restoration
George IV became a decided royalist and "manifested great zeal in suppressing conventicles"
i.e. unauthorised assemblies for worship by Catholics and Episcopalians which, in itself,
was a contradiction because the Stuarts had been the mainstay of the Catholic faith in
Scotland.

The Stuarts (more accurately the Stewarts) were a disaster for Scotland and were largely
responsible for the downfall of the Sinclairs who clung to the Catholic faith long after the
strong wind of Protestantism was sweeping through Northern Europe.  When we did change,
we embraced the new religion with all the fervour of the 'born again Christian'.  My own knees
still ache at the hours they spent kneeling on a stone-flagged floor in my grandfather's house
in Caithness.  Not a spoonful of porridge was eaten until grace had been said.

One had to suffer to be saved.  The absurdity of it all defies belief.  Will we never learn?

If this seems to be a digression from George IV, it is not.  It is the Sinclair adherence to lost
causes which has resulted in our downfall.  It is almost as if we had a death wish.  If we
couldn't find an enemy we fought amongst ourselves - and still do.
 
Niven Sinclair 


Niven Sinclair