Well, I promised to keep you informed when I got hold of the magazine
article, which arrived this past weekend, written by Charles Coventry, in
the Scottish Book Collector, vol 2, issue 3, Feb/Mar 1990 (11a Forth St.,
Edinburgh EH1 3LE.)
"My research into the Celtic Press began with the purchase of an unusual
19th Century Gaelic item at a book sale in Perth City Hall. The spine title
was "Eachdraidh na h-Alba"and it turned out to be a Gaelic version of the
kind of history book parodied by Sellars and Yateman in "1066 and All That".
The author was Angus Mackenzie, a minister of the Free Church, born in Ard
Tongue, Lewis. The book was published in 1867, by, as the title page says,
"G. Mac-na Ceardadh, 62 Sraid Earraghaidheil, Glascho." It did not appear
again.
I started to research "G. Mac-na-Ceardadh", or in the Glasgow Post Office
Directories, Archibald Sinclair, and the result was in insight into the
history of Gaelic and Highland publishing and printing in Glasgow from the
mid 19th century to well into the twentieth century.
Archibald Sinclair senior came to Glasgow from Islay, and his name first
appears in the Glasgow Post Office Directory for 1852.......Archibald senior
died in 1874, and his son, also named Archibald took over. He printed an
elegy composed to his father by Duncan McDougall...........
A complete list of the Gaelic publications by the Sinclairs is provided in
my original Gaelic Article (spring, 1983) , but it will be of interest to
readers to have an idea of what kind of works came from the press. It can
be seen just how much the Sinclairs did for the Highlanders living in
Glasgow and for the promotion of Gaelic at a period when, particularly after
the Education Act of 1872, it was officially discouraged......"
So there you have it in the abbreviated form. I will try to get hold of the
1983 original article, but for now, this at least shows that a prominant,
literate, Sinclair in Glasgow in the mid 1800s, still used his Gaelic name
proudly.
Even thought it's a bit late, I dedicate this bit of research to our dear
friend and Clan historian, Laurel, who was always so interested in the
many facets of our Sinclair history. We shared a lot of "stuff" in the
last year or so, but especially our love for the Clan.
Cheers friends,
Toni
> ...................I've narrowed the gap, I THINK! I am quite sure that
the grandfather of
> Archibald Sinclair, founder of the Celtic Press in Glasgow, was Archibald
> McNokaird, mentioned in the Stent Book of 1745. since the younger man was
> in publishing, and a fairly prominent businessman in the mid-1800s, I'm
> trying to find an autobiography or biography about him. Apparently there
is
> one in a back issue of a magazine in Edinburgh. I've written several time
> to purchase it, with no response. I've finally asked a friend near
> Edinburgh to go to the shop to purchase it for me. I will keep you all
> posted.
>
> Cheers,
> Toni
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Joe Erkes" <erkesjoe@nycap.rr.com>
>> Subject: Origin of Irish Sinclairs: Sinclair -> Nokaird?????
>
>
[ Excess quotations omitted. ]
Although
> I keep all my Sinclair posts, I canšt seem to find those..........
>
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