Re: The "Sword of Peace"

[Jean <sinead@milamba.com>]

Dear Euan,
Is there some problem with your computer? It keeps sending me messages
that should nor , by rights , be here for another month? eg 1/11. 
It is a worry.
How's the new house by the bye?  We are in the process of installing
a new oven. I siadAt 10:30 PM 2/11/00 +0000, you wrote:

Dear Niven -
 
do you have photos for release of either event? If so I will post to clansinclair.org without delay.
 
Thnaks for the genealogical information via Ian. very helpful - I will pursue Milamba.
 
We have just got a new springer spaniel puppy called Jock. He's liver and wjhite and 6 months old. What a rascal. man's best friend, though.
 
I do hope that sometime you could visit -  from the sounds of things, you're very busy, but if you need a rest, please come to stay with us in Aberlour.
 
Yours aye,
 
Euan

----- Original Message -----

From: Niven Sinclair

To: john@avalon.netcom.net.uk ; knox@bbc.co.uk

Cc: sinclairclanchief@girnigoetrust.freeserve.co.uk ; tim@templartim.freeserve.co.uk ; finstown@aol.com ; phss@sympatico.com ; Wbillsinc@aol.com ; manxminx_99@yahoo.com ; sinclair@matrix.net

Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2000 10:41 AM

Subject: The "Sword of Peace"

The "Sword of Peace" was presented by Malcolm Sinclair, the Earl of Caithness, to Benjamin

Sylliboy, the Grand Chief of the Mi'kmaq Nation in recognition of the welcome which they gave

to Henry Sinclair when he landed on their shores in 1398 (although we now believe that it may

have been 1396 and again in 1398) and to the welcome which they have extended to succeeding

generations of Scots who now call the country Nova Scotia.

The ceremony was a deeply moving occasion which had (and has) great historical significance

at a time when there is a great need for a rapprochement between immigrants and the indigenous

people who have not always been treated with the desired courtesy and sensitivity.

The presentation redressed this omission.

The "Sword of Peace" had the work 'peace' inscribed on its blade in 206 different languages

including Mi'kmaqi and Inuit (Eskimo).  It also had the Mi'kmaq symbolism which the three

Mi'kmaq elders, who had attended the Sinclair Symposium in Orkney in 1997, had identified

on the Kirkwall Scroll.  This scroll, which is believed to be the oldest Masonic document in

existence and which hangs in the Masonic Lodge in Kirkwall, has been carbon dated to the 14th

Century and tends to give further proof of the cultural diffusion which has been taking place

between the Old World and the New World for many centuries - indeed for millennia.

The "Sword of Peace" also had the Sinclair engrailed cross on its blade and has now pride of

place in the Mi'kmaq museum as a tangible reminder of the long association which they have

had with Scotland, in general, and with the Sinclairs, in particular.  There is clear evidence of

genetic infusion as well as cultural diffusion.

The "Sword of Peace" was specially crafted and designed by Wilkinson Sword of London.

I am hopeful the contacts, which I have sent by separate e-mail, will be able to provide you with

suitable film for a news slot.

A separate but equally newsworthy story is the voyage which Laura Zolo has made from Venice

via Orkney to the New World in the wake of the Zeno Brothers and Prince Henry Sinclair.  This

intrepid Italian woman has given 'physical expression' to that which we have been talking about

for years and, in so doing, has gained more real publicity for the 1398 voyage than anything

which our own somewhat pedestrian efforts have achieved. 

Laura has faced  the papal winds of the Mediterranean; the perils of the Bay of Biscay, the Atlantic

Gales, as she followed the Viking route via Orkney, Shetland, the Faroes, Iceland, Greenland,

Labrador, Newfoundland and, finally, to the protected inner harbour of Guyborough in Nova Scotia

where Prince Henry Sinclair had found a similar escape from the storms over 600 years ago.

Times have changed but the relentless sea remains the same.  Laura's little yacht, the "7 Roses"

would fit into most people's kitchens.  I, for one, wouldn't have ventured across a mill-pond in her.

Laura has spent 9 months replicating an historic voyage which deserves to have its rightful place

in the history of Venice, Scotland and the New World.

It is a sad indictment of our failure to give credit to our own heroes that it has been left to the tiny

figure of a young and beautiful Italian woman to set us an example of courage, determination and

seamanship of the very highest order.

Laura is newsworthy.  Laura is enchanting.  Laura is humble as only those who have had to face

danger (day in and day out) invariably are.  She is a genuine heroine. She deserves her own page

in history.

Niven Sinclair