But it seems so odd that this book "St. Margaret Queen of
Scotland" by Alan J. Wilson which was commissioned by the St. Margaret's
Chapel Guild at Edinburgh Castle for the 900th anniversary of her death, was
commended as "quite the best book on her and her times" by the Very Right
Reverend Selby Wright who wrote the forward to the book. It appears that the
Guild and many others were satisfied with his book which is one of the 3
sources that says that the Rood was taken by Edward I, then returned 1328
and taken again 1348 by England and remained then in England until
it's disappearance during the Reformation.
You didn't say when Patrick brought the Rood
back??
Here is my other source:. For 200 years it was at
Durham Abbey until it was "lost" during the Reformation. Rather, it is likely
that it was hidden away to resurface prior to 1688 when James VII, seeing his
nation turning against him, tried to sail to France only to be shipwrecked in
the Thames. Upon being rescued he had a fit of weeping over the "loss of a
splinter of wood, asserted to be a piece of the True Cross which had belonged
to Edward the Confessor." from "Relics" by Jim Hewitson, The
Scottish Banner April 2000
The author of "Saint Margaret Queen of Scotland", Wendy J.
Sinclair, believes (pg. 6 ) that this Rood was passed down by the Cerdic kings
and had great meaning for the surviving Atheling Edgar. All three of
these books concur that Margaret, Christina and Edgar were born in Hungary and
came to England for the first time in 1057. Some Sinclairs are
sticking to the idea that they were born in England but no one will reveal the
prime source of this information to the Historian of Clan Sinclair of
USA. For almost two years I have been stumbling around in the dark about
this subject. (whine, whine :)
a document that Sinclair de la Behottiere
has come upon is maybe the marriage record of Margaret and
Malcolm. It says that she was born/of/from??? England. In my
experience with more recent Canadian Catholic records, I have found that the
interest was only in where the last records of the bride and groom might be at
so that marriage irregularities could be prevented. If the bride or
groom was not from that parish, then it would tell from what
parish he/she came from not where born. We all know that 24
year old Margaret was in England prior to Scotland for about 12 years.
Now maybe they did things differently back then?? But someone needs to
check out what that faint marriage record was really saying and run it by
someone familiar with the customs of that time. I sure can't do it from
here in Oregon and until this investigation is carried out fully and we
document the source of the St. Clair Rood legend, I am forced to accept
the research of these historians above.
I do think it was strange that deceitful Edward I ever gave it
back. If he appeared to, it is possible that he sent back a fake.
It wouldn't be hard to fake a piece of wood, would it? The fake
could have been placed in its jeweled case and just look like the
real one. Aren't we saying the English tried to switch the stone of
Scone?
Laurel
=====================
"As for the Holy Rood.
This was returned to Scotland by a Patrick Sinclair who had (ostensibly) gone
to England to ask for the return of Northumbria to Scotland but, although
(unsurprisingly) Northumbria remained an integral part of England, Patrick
returned to Scotland "well satisfied with his mission".
Niven