In the "Sword and the Grail" by Andrew Sinclair pg. 27, there is another
version of this story on St. Clair.
It is said here that he was a Scotsman called Guillermus or William, a
favorite Christian name of the later Lords of Rosslyn. He lived at the
beginning of the seventh century...... He was beheaded for condemning the
sins of a local lady....... And across the Epte, the Møre cousins who were
left to guard the borders against a French attack from Paris took the name
of St. Clair and built a castle with a round keep. Its ruins still dominate
the lush cornfields that roll down to the little river (Epte) that runs into
the Seine.
There's something off the subject that I find interesting in Andrew's book.
pg. 28. "The Bruce family, which had also accompanied Rolf (Rollo) from the
Orcadian Isles, was given grants in the Contenin."
Andrew says that from the beginning Rollo was called a Duke but on a another
website it was said that the 911 treaty made Rollo the Count of Rouen. The
title of Duke wasn’t used until after 1006 AD. I wonder whether he might
have called himself a Count before the treaty and then became the Duke.
Anyone have info?
Back to the Sword and the Grail pg. 28
"William Longsword (s/o Rollo)'s son Richard who had a son Richard who had a
son Mauger.....Mauger (our ancestor), was the first to take the title of the
Count de St. Clair. After serving as the Archbishop of Rouen, he was given
the jurisdiction of the town of Saint Lo and the land to the north between
the rivers Vire and Elle. He built a castle and a church in his domain.
giving his foundations the name of St. Clair and himself the title. The
castle was to be destroyed in the Hundred Years' War, the church to be
rebuilt in the 19th century, and the river Elle itself to disappear in
cattle ponds. Another neglected healing well still survives there (St. Lo)
in a stew of mud, neglect and nettles."
Now St. Lo is quite a distance mostly straight west of St. Clair sur Epte.
Laurel
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