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Re: Ambush at Altimarlach





-----Original Message-----
From: Donald Sinclair <dmsin@mpx.com.au>
To: sinclair@jump.net <sinclair@jump.net>
Date: Tuesday, April 13, 1999 7:50 PM
Subject: Re: Ambush at Altimarlach


>
>Thanks David
>Do you know the story behind the actual fight. eg:
>Why were the Sinclairs hungover.?
>Did they know the Campbells were in the area.? I take it these were
>Campbells from Argyll. So they were a long way from home, how did they
sneak
>up to Caithness?
>Where is Altimarlach in Caithness.?
>Slainte Mhor
>Donald Sinclair
>-----Original Message-----
>From: David & Gloria Bouschor <haggis@skypoint.com>
>To: sinclair@jump.net <sinclair@jump.net>
>Date: Tuesday, April 13, 1999 3:01 AM
>Subject: Re: The Sinclair's March
>
>Hi Donald:
I see you are on this site quite a bit.  I'm new but glad to talk to you any
old time.
Altimarlach is about 1 mile up river from Wick.  I have been there twice.
There is a Celtic cross on the spot where the battle is reputed to have
taken place.  There is no proof of the hung-over story but supposedly the
Campbells let a few  baggage horses carrying whiskey get captured by the
Sinclairs the night before the battle.  The Campbells did not sneak up to
Caithness,  they simply marched up to take what Grey Fox Campbell believed
to be rightly his, ie the Earldom of Caithness bequeathed to him by George
6th Earl  who had sold his birthright for cash.  The people of Caithness
made life difficult for the Campbells and George Sinclair of Kiess
petitioned Parliament to recover the title for the Sinclairs. Within a 3
years he succeeded and became Earl of Caithness.  Campbell of Glenorchy was
made Earl of Breadalbane as compensation.
>>
>>Hi Donald,
>>     The Carls was very derisive of the Sinclairs because the wore trews
>>when the were defeated by the Campbells at Altimarlach.  The hungover
>>Sinclairs were ambushed as the crossed the River Wick.  It is called
>thieves
>>Burn as the Campbells looted the dead bodies after they killed them.  The
>>tune is not usally played by Sinclair pipers.
>>                Yours aye, David (a piper)
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Donald Sinclair <dmsin@mpx.com.au>
>>To: sinclair@jump.net <sinclair@jump.net>
>>Date: Saturday, April 10, 1999 7:13 AM
>>Subject: Re: The Sinclair's March
>>
>>
>>>
>>>A h-uile duine
>>>Juli there is a piping tune called "The Carles wi' the Breeks"
>>>It's a Campbell tune but it is suppose to be a direct reference to the
>>>Sinclairs.
>>>It was made around the time of the Sinclair / Campbell feud in the
>>>1670's.The story goes that the Campbells had never seen any men wearing
>>>trousers ( Breeks)
>>>before, and it gave them a bit of a laugh.
>>>
>>>"Spaidsearachd Mhic nan Cearda" My gaelic dictionary translates this as
>>"The
>>>Sinclairs Strut"!!
>>>
>>>Donald Sinclair
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Juli <kalwa@cwix.com>
>>>To: sinclair@jump.net <sinclair@jump.net>
>>>Date: Friday, April 09, 1999 11:25 AM
>>>Subject: The Sinclair's March
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>Hello all -
>>>>
>>>>Hoping someone can help me.  Looked on our web page but did not see any
>>>>reference to the pipe music for Clan Sinclair.  Robert Bain's The Clans
>>and
>>>>Tartans of Scotland  lists the pipe music as "Spaidsearachd Mhic nan
>>>Cearda"
>>>>(The Sinclair's March.)
>>>>
>>>>Does anyone know the correct translation of the Gaelic?  I have seen a
>>>>reference to the Mac-na-Cearda being an Ancient Argyll family possibly
>>>>relating to the McNockairds.
>>>>
>>>>Does anyone have a recommendation for a CD with "The Sinclair's March"
on
>>>>it?
>>>>
>>>>Thanks in advance -
>>>>
>>>>Juli Anderson
>>>>Princeton, NJ - but Forever Argyll
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@jump.net.
>>>>[ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html
>>>
>>>[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@jump.net.
>>>[ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html
>>>
>>
>>[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@jump.net.
>>[ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html
>
>[ This is the Sinclair family discussion list, sinclair@jump.net.
>[ To get off or on the list, see http://www.mids.org/sinclair/list.html
>

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