Dear Margaret,
Thank you so much for clarifying this. I am new to this list (last
Friday, 4-17-98) and really appreciate the explanation. I am an
archaeologist, as well as a Sinclair, and I truly believe in checking my
facts. I have had a great deal of trouble believing anything that has
been stated before concerning the exploration of the New World and the
Sinclair involvement because of the lack of documented sources.
(However, all of this undocumented dribble is coming from only one or
two people that don't believe in footnotes.)
I have been an archaeologist for the last 13 years, I have both a BA
and an MA in anthropology (focus in Southeastern Archaeology), and write
archaeological reports on a daily basis. In all of my work, if I had
ever stated a fact without citing the original reference I would have
failed (if in school) or been laughed out of professional meetings.
However, even though I am a professional, that doesn't mean avocational
historians and archaeologists can not document their own work as well.
I have attended many presentations by amateur historians and
archaeologists that are equally as good as anything by trained
professionals. Documentation is not difficult and can make all the
difference in whether or not a work is useful... Thank you so much for
supplying the reference to Michael Bradley's book. I will be sure to
find and refer to it for further research.
As to influencing the Nova Scotian government to increase their
preservation efforts... I am not sure we can do anything. If a site is
on private property, in the US, we have no legal recourse to preserve
it. I would suspect the laws are very similar in Nova Scotia. However,
it might be possible to contact various preservation groups and
societies within Nova Scotia. Many of these groups have educational
programs designed to increase the public awareness of the need for
preservation, trained excavators, and scientific excavation. Once the
general public is educated and interested in the cause, it becomes
easier to influence the government as well as private land owners.
However, I would be surprised if it didn't take quite a long time. I am
heavily involved with the professional archaeology society here as well
as the avocational group. We work constantly to educate the public and
yet I am asked on almost a daily basis what neat dinosaurs I have found
lately. Still, I keep at it hoping someday to make and impression.
Sincerely,
Darwin Ramsey
----------
From: Margaret Rintoul/Neil Sinclair
To: sinclair@zilker.net
Subject: Re: Castle at the Cross
Date: Friday, April 17, 1998 3:28PM
Dear John and Michael;
"THe Sinclair Castle" at the cross Nova Scotia needs to be
introduced to some of our clan. For Sinclairs that are
interested in the Sinclair expedition this site is initially
mentioned in Michael Bradley's book Holy Grail Across the
Atlantic, Honslow Press 1988. In this book it was put
forward that there was a settlement created which became the
Castle at the Cross in the middle of Nova Scotia by Henry
Sinclair and the site has received some mention in his other
books and other writings of the expedition...
I visited the site which is on private lands in 1996 and
there is little evidence remaining of any edifices but what
what there was became certainly significant. I saw physical
remains of a well, and stone foundations that were certainly
old. It was not a castle in the sense that we would think of
castles. Anything built and referred to as a castle in 1398
or so referred to more correctly to a building or buildings
that could be fortified but really used as habitation. There
may have been a buildings that were constructed but from eye
level one did not see a huge area being involved. However in
my uneducated eye it was very old, located on a height of
land and in the middle of Nova Scotia between the Bay of
Fundy and the Atlantic. It was a logical site for an old
habitation and certainly far removed from water access. That
sid some backyard digging had occurred. I had the
opportunity to write the owner and speak to them with the
following advice;
First that the site should be closed and left as is until
experts could be found to properly conduct an examination. I
further urged that while the site was interesting and
controversial (there are many skeptics) it should receive
proper designation as an historical site. Again the property
is on private lands and no site preservation was undertaken
from day one. To make matters worse there was speculation as
how to make money from the site and should anything be of
historical interest then the worst one could do would be to
commercialize it with no evidence of what existed. I would
add that the Government of Nova Scotia is not only short
sited on historical matters but when it came to historical
preservation it was grossly negligent. I only hope the site
is "preserved" and not dug up until a proper archeological
study can be made. The lead of Clan Sinclair in Nova Scotia
may have some more insights.
I also have no insight whether the site is still rapidly
found. It was known to locals and was the very dickens to
find from any published material and it was not on the
historical sites being stuck in the middle of nowhere. If
you are interested in the NS Sinclair Historical tour you
may want to check out another travesty to historical
preservation, Oak Island. While I have satisfied myself that
Henry Sinclair did not bury any treasure there this site is
one of the most significant mysteries on the eastern
seaboard and should have been preserved from an historical
perspective, and again the people of Nova Scotia and their
government let that site get destroyed too with no care or
preservation of artifacts no study of any kind and a
terrible treasure hunt that turned up nothing. What I did
leave this site with is a curiosity as to how Red Oaks came
into the region. Planted from 1398? Again no studies and
hence only books of speculation.
If anyone is following the History in Nova Scotia this
summer a couple of spots are interesting and worth visiting.
Louisburg has plaques suggesting that Prince Henry landed
there, and the cannon mentioned in Sinclairs book are there
mostly replicated but they did exist. Of most historical
interest is that the Basques had been visiting Nova Scotia
well before 1400 for the Fish and the Grand Banks. I would
not be surprised if others did as well. This area as a
fishing destination was not a surprise to every European. By
the way of interest, Guysbouough NS has also laid some plans
for significant celebrations and the most recent published
history of Nova Scotia by Lesley Choyce does mention the
Henry expedition as historical fact.
Hope this helps. Because this network runs on shared
information is it helpful for all of us, if some background
is put forward when making an inquiry so we may all be
educated at the same time.
Keep up the fine work, it is a most interesting
communication network of clansmen.
Neil Sinclair, Toronto
Descendant of Argyll Scotland
Michael Pincus wrote:
> Michael Pincus responds:
> Please fill me in. Is there a sight here I missed?
> Thank you, MSP
>
> John Duguid wrote:
> >
> > Does anyone out there have any recent information on the
> Sinclair "Castle at
> > the Cross" in Nova Scotia. The last I heard there was
> talk of carrying out some
> > excavations to ascertain whether or not the structure
> could be dated to the
> > visit of Prince Henry in 1398.
> >
> > John Duguid