Re: commentary on history

["John S. Quarterman" <jsq@quarterman.org>]

>Greetings from my position as an observer.
>
>We discussed this a year ago.  It was beat to death then with no agreements
>made except people disagree.

We also discussed it on 30 May 2002.
Seems to come up about every 3-6 months.

>At that time, it was requested we return to Sinclair related topics.  I am
>requesting we end this discussion and return to Sinclair related topics
>again.
>
>I appreciate the input, but it is getting us nowhere.
>
>Warmest regards to all,
>
>Gary M Sinclair
>Harwich, MA USA

I know this is unfair, but I'm going to throw in some statistics.

I'm ignoring September because it's not over yet.  Everything else
here is for the rest of 2002, January through August.

The single day with the most postings this year was 7 June 2002,
with 32 postings, of which the most were about the myth of the
9 knights at Hastings and about Shaw.  Yes, there was football
in there too, and a Sinclair gathering, and that's a good thing:
a mix of discussion is what keeps a list moving.

Second biggest day was 2 Jan, with 29, about Prince & Jarl, Henry's
Voyage or not, Oldenburg, Knights Templar suppression, and Sinclairs
of West Virginia.  Mostly history, plus genealogy.

Tied for second was 22 Jan, with 29 postings, about historical
accuracy, Blood and Kin, VA Sinclairs, Castle Mey, Gen. Arthur, etc.

Also tied for second was 20 Jun, with 29 postings, mostly about Rosslyn line,
plus cemetery transcriptions.

Third was 4 May, with 27, about Rex Deus, Wedderburn, Rory in the press,
Caithness, and also a complaint about hate mail which the same day
got a number of messages of support on the list, plus this one about
how to block senders in Outlook:
 http://sinclair.quarterman.org/archive/2002/05/msg00061.html

The peak posting day in August was August 15, with 25 messages,
15 of which were similar to this one:

``I have really been brought into the world of history through this list 
..and with appreciation.
And my first name would have been St.Clair, but my parents changed their 
minds at the last minute..CSimmons''

Others that day were about Duncan, Macbeth, and Thorfinn first cousins,
and about Sinclair castles.

For comparison, the median number of postings per day is 7.

The longest string of days above the median was April 25 through May 6.
Many topics were discussed during those 12 days, but the one that seems
to have started it off was Earl William, builder of Rosslyn Chapel.

So, it seems to me that history is the most popular subject, followed
by a mix of history, genealogy, and specific Sinclair people, plus
castles and occasional trip reports to gatherings, fetes, etc.

Now most of the history topics are related somehow to Sinclairs.
But not all, at least not directly.  For example Duncan, Macbeth,
and Thorfinn first cousins.

Given this evidence of what people on the list are interested in,
my suggestion is similar to Gary's, but slightly different:
Try whenever possible to tie any discussion somehow to Sinclairs.
However, some things are interesting as historical or philosophical
context, whether they're tied directly or not.

John S. Quarterman <jsq@quarterman.org>
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