There are now so many books on the subject of Prince Henry Sinclair's
voyage to the
New World in 1398 (and so many films) that the 'proof' of the voyage is now
largely
accepted except by a few academics who haven't endeavoured to look beyond the
schoolroom couplet:
Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue
And discovered America in 1492
when everyone knows that Christopher Columbus never set foot on the
Continent of
North America and that many many people (Celts, Phoenicians, Romans, Vikings,
Basques, Scots and other nationalities) had been making the crossing for
hundreds
of years. The cultural diffusion between the Old World and the New World
(which is
every bit as old as the Old World) had been going on for thousands of years
as any
dispassionate and serious study of the many ogam and runic inscriptions as
well
as the numerous "non-Indian' artefacts which have been found throughout the
length and
breadth of North America clearly testify.
In my own work "Beyond any Shadow of Doubt" I list the views of 30
'experts' from 10
different countries who back the Zeno narrative and map and, ipso facto,
Henry's voyage.
As you are aware, I recently visited Venice (where I addressed the Naval
College and met the descendants of the Zeno brothers who had served Henry
Sinclair) and earlier I had
given a talk at the Merrimack College in Massachusetts which was
enthusiastically
received.
I have always stated that I am prepared to meet any doubter on any forum,
at any time
and at any place to present the case for Henry Sinclair's voyage. I
haven't seen Robert
Hutt's finished product but, in order to give him all the help I could, I
made all my film
material available to him. Naturally his film will be slanted towards a
Canadian audience
but it will have an international appeal.
The books which should be read are:
"Prince Henry Sinclair" by Frederick Pohl
"The Sord and the Grail" by Andrew Sinclair
"The Sinclair Saga" by Mark Finnan
"The Labyrinth of the Grail" by William Mann
and, more recently,
"How Scotland Changed the World" by Robert Shenton Wright.
Dr Tim Wallace-Murphy is currently writing the definitive work on the Henry
Sinclair voyage
and will be spending most of next week with me going through my material -
material
which has just been augmented by the complete library of James Whittall of
the Earl Sites
Research Center, Rowley, Massachusetts. Jim died last year but bequeathed
his library
and research material to me as he knew I would make good use if his
detailed research.
Tim has already been commissioned by we well-know publishing house to write the
PrInce Henry story.
As you may be aware, I have travelled in Prince Henry Sinclair's
footsteps. I have followed
in his wake. I have filmed all the way from the Holy Land to Rhode Island
and most places
in between.
As a result of my Venice visit an Italian yachtswoman, Laura Zola, is now
following in the
wake of her Italian (Venetian) ancestors by making the trip to the New
World. She was
'escorted' from Venice out to the open sea by a flotilla of the Italian
navy. She is still in
the Med but will eventually be making her way to the Channel ports before
heading for Orkney and Shetland (where I will again meet up with her) and,
thereafter, she will
cross to Nova Scotia to land at Guysborough where she will be met by the
Prince Henry
Sinclair Society of North America and, hopefully, by the Italian
community. In short, we
have allowed the Italians to steal a march on us because they know the
story is true.,
Huge globes showing the voyage of the Zeno brothers can be seen in the
Museo Correr
in Venice and, by reading the Zeno narrative, you will learn that they
speak of Prince
Henry Sinclair in the following terms:
"If ever there was a man who was worthy of immortal memory
it is this man because of his great bravery and goodness"
In Venice I had this passage read out twice in Italian and twice in
English. I also
showed a short film which, if I have not already done so, I will send to
you together
with a much-abbreviated version of my "Beyond any Shadow of Doubt" which I am
constantly updating as further corroboration of the voyage is
found. Research never
ends. Every week brings new evidence of Henry's momentous voyage and of the
people who accompanied him to the New World.
If it would help to persuade Sean Connery, I would be prepared to fly to
California to
do so (I'd even wear my kilt!).
In haste,
Niven
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