Re: Titled Gentlemen

["Rory Sinclair" <rory.sinclair@accglobal.net>]

Dear John:
Always great to hear from "the man whose stuff I like to read more than my
own"
Not up on "Jamie" and please enlighten me ... but, my understanding of the
arrival of the Cheviots in Caithness was that it was Sir John Sinclair of
Ulbster (ancestor of John Viscount Thurso, our co-host this summer) who
brought them. Prebble is kind to Sir John and as you no doubt know, not very
kind to just about everyone else.
"The Sinclairs of Ulbster had bought much of their land from the Earldom of
Caithness after that house had exhausted itself fighting Glenorchy Campbells
for the possession of it: firstly in the field and secondly in the courts.
In the time of 'Agricultural Sir John',  Caithness no longer had a noble
Chief [as  typically had other areas of Scotland] but had instead a number
of prosperous landowners of whom he was the most intelligent and
progressive.  He was probably the only Scot of his age who used the word
"improvement" objectively  Had he been listened to, had his example been
copied, the half-century of evicitons burnings, riots and exile that
followed might have ben avoided.   It was the kindly old man's tragedy that
he brought the Great Sheep north for the benefit of his people, but he was
unable to prevent others from using it to oust theirs."
He goes on quoting Sir John pleading with his contemporaries not to denude
the hills of their people inter alia.
Anyway, y'all get the point.
So tell me about Jamie Sinclair and how he could have had more impact than
Sir John,  in Caithness for sure or anywhere else too perhaps.
Aye,
Rory


-----Original Message-----
From: John S. Quarterman <jsq@matrix.net>
To: sinclair@matrix.net <sinclair@matrix.net>
Date: Wednesday, May 10, 2000 2:51 PM
Subject: Re: Titled Gentlemen


>>    3.    This word NASCENT, it wasn't in my 4" dictionary so I had to
>>go to my daughter's 5" one.  You have to remember that some of us are
>>old country boys, with a great deal more hands-on practical experience
>>rather than literary experience.
>
>I'm a farm boy myself; grew up on one; currently live in a cow pasture.
>One of my direct ancestors was cleared out of his croft; so I don't forget
>the Clearances.  However:
>
>The word nascent is related to another one: renaissance.  In the
>Italian Rennaisance much of the best art was produced under commission
>from titled nobility.  Nowadays such titles may be somewhat archaic,
>but nonetheless we see two Earls and a Lord busily promoting all things
>Sinclair, including preserving several unique and irreplaceable
>buildings and even helping bankroll a movie about that most
>anti-nobility of all Scots poets, Robert Burns.
>
>While I do find it constantly amusing that we are using electronic
>mailing lists and web pages to discuss of some of the most antique
>social systems around, namely Scottish clans and British nobility,
>nonetheless those things are all part of our continuous history.
>Personally, I like to think of what people do, and I have to say that
>I've seen few people more active (OK, maybe Niven :-) in things related
>to Sinclair history than the current Sinclair nobility.
>
>John
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