Near St. Lo is Saint-Clair-sur-Elle, the fief of Richard de St. Clair who
sailed with William the Conqueror. He is the only St Clair in the lists of
companions of William. He is the only St Clair on the Battle Abby Rolls. It
is from Saint-Clair-sur-Elle our name comes. St Henry de St. Clair receive a
charter of land around Haddington in East Lothian in 1162, a progeny
acquired the lands of Rosslyn in Midlothian. The head of the Rosslyn
Sinclairs married Lady Isobel, heiress of Caithness and the Orkneys, and was
recognized as Jarl of Orkney by the King of Norway. The contemporary chief
of the Sinclairs, the 20th Jarl or Earl of Caithness, is Malcolm Ian
Sinclair.
David I, King of Scots, (1084-1153) was in England, as a stripling. His
brother-in-law was the Anglo-Norman Henry I King of England. David married a
Norman. David appreciated effective Norman administration. David was the
Prince of Cumbria before becoming king. He used young Norman knights who
helped him control his lands. He became king of Scotland in 1124. David as
king took Anglo-Norman knights with him. He gave them grants of land and
privilege and over the next fifty years they were to found most of the great
families of lowland Scotland, among them being Sinclair.
There have been statements that William de la Haye was a Sinclair. He was
not. de la Hayes' lands were close to those of Richard de St. Clair Haye
means a Hedge in French. William de la Haye, Butler of Scotland and first
Baron of Erroll near Perth, emerged in Scotland circa 1160.. The chief of
the Haye family is now Merlin Sereld Victor Gilbert Hay, 24th Earl of Errol
and Hereditary Lord High Constable of Scotland. The W.W. II D Day invasion
of Normandy was known as la Guere de Haies (the war of the Hedges) for the
fighting in the thick hedgerows that surround the fields.
The Lord High Constable of Scotland is second only to the Queen when she is
in Scotland.
The Elle gurgles into insignificance near the old St Clair fief. Even a
Harvard man can catch a fish in the Epte or Risle but fishing the Elle is
tricky, almost, but not quite impossible.
Sinclair
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