My name is Nicole, I've been getting lots of mail for my boyfriend, Tom
Sinclair, on my
computer. I find this very interesting. I've spoke a person who has
visited the
Rosslyn Chapel. He has so much information I can't even remember all he
talks
when I talk to him. I'm still trying to figure out the Royal Scotts and
the Scotts Royal.
Well, this info comes from the Chapel Tour pamphlet.
Welcome to Roslyn Chapel which was founded in 1446 by William
Sinclair who was the third and last Sinclair Prince of Orkney. William
was fifty when he started the building and was already considered an old
man. However, we are fortunate that he lived long enough to see the
choir area completed and the start of the transepts. William died in
1484. The correct name for Roslyn Chapel is the Collegiate Church of
St. Matthew and was to have been built in cruciform shape. The foundations
are there for entire building. The nave extends more than 95 feet from
the west end of the existing Chapel. The Chapel is built entirely
of sandstone which was quarried locally; the interior has a protective
wash on it which gives it a rather uniform color. The wash was put on
in the 1920s. The vaults of the Chapel are extensive and extend the full
length of the building, running between the two rows of pillars. Within
these vaults the knights of the family are lying in their full armour.
The first one to be buried in this manner was William, the founder, in
1484, and the last was also a William Sinclair who was killed at the Battle
of Dunbar in 1650. Our research has shown that William, the founder, had
brought some of his illustrious ancestors to be interred in his lovely
Chapel, notably Sir William Sinclair of 1297 who was Grand Prior of the
Knights Templars. His stone can be seen lying in the north-west corner of
the Chapel. Prince Henry Sinclair, first Prince of Orkney, was born in
the Robin Hood Tower of Rosslyn Castle in 1345. He is also interred at
Rosslyn. He became known as the Holy Sinclair and he became the first
Prince of Orkney in 1379. With the aid of Templar funding, Henry
commissioned twelve ships to be built for a voyage of exploration to the
New World. He was accompanied by Antonio Zeno, a member of one of the
most illustrious families in Venice. Antonio was Henry's navigator.
Henry sailed to Nova Scotia in 1398. He lived amongst the MicMac Indians,
teaching them how to fish with nets, and to sow crops, etc. He them sailed
down
to the Eastern seaboard to what is now known a Massachussetts, where his
great friend, Sir James Gunn died. Henry had Sir James' effigy carved
on a rock face at Western Massachusetts, which can be seen to this day.
Henry was murdered shortly after his return to the Orkneys. His grandson,
William, had his body brought back to be buried with due honour and
respect here a Rosslyn. William commemorated Henry's trip to the New
World by carving into the stone some of the strange plants that Henry
brought back with him. To the right of the south door can be seen the
American cactus, and on the arch of the second window at the east
end of the south aisle can be seen Indian sweetcorn. The other plants
and vegetables which abound in the Chapel, and in particular the
architraves
and capitals of the pillars, represent a harvest thanksgiving or a healing
garden. As you enter the Chapel, please stand at the crossing facing the
Main Altar. You are now looking east. Look up to the roof. It is over
3 feet thick and divided into five sections. Starting at the east end you
have a series of daisies which represent Innocence. The next panel are
lillies for Purity - the Virgin Mary. The next are flowers open to the sun
adoration. We then have roses for Love - Christ. Lastly, at the west
end we have the stars which represent the Heavens and amongst those stars
you can see four guardian angels, the sun, the moon and a dove. Coming
down to the clerestory area you can see where there would have been two
rows of statues, twenty-four in all. These were taken down and possibly
hidden at time of the Reformation. The one above the main altar is
a Victorian replacement; it was put there in about 1882.
I'll continue later there is so much more.
Nicole