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600th
Celebration
News

for
the
Prince Henry
Sinclair
Anniversary
In Memorium
Pete Cummings
To promote recognition of Henry Sinclair, 14th Century explorer of North America, and to celebrate the 600th anniversary in 1998

3 December 1997 Issue

Published by Prince Henry Project Committee
65 Hartwell Street, West Boylston, MA, 01583, USA
Phone: 508-835-2900 Fax: 508-835-2944 E-Mail: henry1398@aol.com
HTML by John S. Quarterman

First Celebration Event

On February 21 & 22, the Scottish Festival in Moultrie, GA, will present a Symposium on Prince Henry Sinclair. Many speakers are scheduled. Plan to attend. For more information, contact Beth Gay at PO Box 1110, Moultrie, GA, 31776, 912-985-6540.

NH Highland Games for 600th Anniversary

The primary setting for celebrating the Scottish arrival in America Six Centuries ago will be Lincoln, New Hampshire. Starting on Thursday, Sept. 17th, 1998, it will run four days, through Sunday, Sept. 20. Traditionally, the NH Highland Games have been the biggest in New England, with more than 42,000 people attending. It will start with a grand Tattoo, having massed bands and such special attractions as the Black Watch and the 78th Highlanders. Competitors from 20 States and Canadian Provinces are expected, with prize money exceeding $100,000.

Clan Sinclair and Clan Gunn will be designated as "Honored Clans". Both clans are anticipating large turnouts on this momentous anniversary of the arrival of Prince Henry Sinclair and Sir James Gunn to these shores in 1398. For those desiring a greater depth of information, there will be a Symposium consisting of 1-hour sessions on such topics as Westford Knight, Newport Tower, Rosslyn Chapel & Castle, Sinclair Genealogy, How-to-get-children-involved, and the Prince Henry saga.

Immediately after the NH Highland Games, the 600th Celebration will reconvene in Westford, MA, near the site of the Westford Knight Carving. A harbor cruise is planned on the Merrimac River in Newburyport, and a commemorative luncheon will follow in Exeter, NH.

Everyone is urged to obtain advanced registrations, tickets for functions, and lodging. Space will be limited. For information, contact Pete Cummings, General Chair, at 65 Hartwell St, West Boylston, MA, 01583; or phone 508-835-2900; or fax 508-835-2944; or Email henry1398@aol.com.

Setting Sail

There are two distinct possibilities for a Replica Ship to accompany our 600th celebration at the NH Highland Games. Both are being actively perused. One is to construct a new vessel, which can be exhibited and sailed for many Celebration events and then donated to an appropriate museum. This first option requires at least $100,000 to be raised immediately, of which Bob Green, our Voyage Chair, has collected pledges totalling 10% of the goal. Obviously, more money is needed at once. Send a donation today! If sufficient funds are not raised during December, then the second option will be attempted. This calls for chartering an existing Viking ship for a very short period of time. This would permit display at the NH Highland Games, but not at such other Games as Grandfather Mountain, Stone Mountain, and Alexandria. Sources for existing ships are being searched by Dane Hahn & Ken Swift.

Genealogy of Prince Henry

From Clan Sinclair (USA) there is offered a new soft covered booklet of 181 pages entitled, "The Genealogy of Prince Henry Sinclair". It traces the ancestry of Prince Henry from Norway in the 6th century to thousands of descendants, including more than 70 living members of Clan Sinclair! It is registered with the ISBN number 1-880110-21-0. Copies may be purchased from Clan Sinclair, its Commissioners, or Pete Cummings at $27.50 which includes postage & handling.

Book describes the voyage

The Prince Henry Project Committee, which has met monthly for the last two years to plan the 600th Celebration, has published a 46-page soft covered book entitled, Sinclair's Exploration of America. Sections in this book include reasons for the voyage, a description of the expedition, Zeno Narrative, Micmac Legends, Westford Knight, proofs that the voyage occurred, explanation of how Columbus knew about Prince Henry, and a large bibliography. Readers of this Newsletter will recognize that portions of this book have been included in each issue of this Newsletter during the past year. It sells for $22.00, including postage, and it is available from Clan Sinclair or from the address on this masthead.

Convincing Proofs

Extensive research has been performed by Niven Sinclair. He offers several "proofs", which will help to convince the "doubters" about Prince Henry Sinclair's expedition. These are quoted in part below:
  1. Contingency plans. Before Henry Sinclair left on his voyage, he made certain dispositions of his lands to his brothers, John and David. To his eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who married Sir John Drummond of Cargill, he left his lands in Norway, provided he died without a male heir.
  2. The Zeno Map. In 1398, Prince Henry Sinclair sent Nicolo Zeno with four ships to carry out a survey of Greenland. Nicolo took John, the Bishop of Orkney, with him to Greenland, and on his return two years later, he took Henrik, Bishop of Greenland, to the Orkneys. This exchange of Bishops appears in the Vatican publication "Hierarchia Catholica" on page 283, covering the years 1198 to 1431. It is a powerful confirmation of the Zeno survey of Greenland. The verification of the "Zeno Narrative" and Map was given further corroboration by such renowned cartographers as Professors Hapgood, Taylor, and Hobbs; Professors Barry Fell and Roger McLeod; Lord John Julian Norwich (noted Venetian historian); J. H. Major (Secretary of the Royal Geographic Society), and many others.
  3. Accuracy attested & confirmed. For the next several centuries the "Zeno Map" was used by such well-known cartographers as Ruscelli (in 1561), Mercator (in 1569), and Ortelius (in 1574).
  4. The Zeno Narrative. In the words of Professor Taylor of London University, it appears to the present writer that it would be quite out of the question for any author to invent a story which in every detail reflects fact about which it would be quite impossible that he could have been aware.
  5. Zeno had never been to Rosslyn. The "Zeno Narrative" speaks of the "spring of pitch" which the reconnaissance party of 100 soldiers found at Stellarton and which they reported back to Prince Henry at Guysborough, both places in Nova Scotia. On hearing this, Prince Henry considered it was a "good omen" because there was a similar "spring of pitch" at his home at Rosslyn in Scotland. The "pitch" had been used as a medicine against the Black Death. Now this story is faithfully recounted in the Zeno Narrative, although Antonio Zeno had never been to Rosslyn. In other words, he could only have heard of the "spring of pitch" of Rosslyn from Henry as they both stood listening to the report of the returning soldiers in Nova Scotia.
  6. The Westford Knight in Massachusetts. The effigy of a medieval knight is described by Professor Lethbridge of Cambridge University; "The sword carved on the rock can hardly be anything but a medieval sword. The whole hilt looks about AD 1200-1300.
  7. Opinion of noted expert on heraldry. Sir Iain Moncrieffe, the Albany Herald (one of Scotland's most noted authorities on heraldry) writes, "Henry Sinclair was related to the Gunns . . . so the discovery at Westford of what is apparently an effigy of a fourteenth century knight in bascinet, mail, and surcoat, with a heater-shaped shield bearing devices of a Norse-Scottish character as might have been expected of a knight in Jarl Henry Sinclair's entourage
  8. Newport Tower. In Rhode Island the Newport Tower is constructed in a similar style to the Norse/Scottish buildings of the Western and Northern Isles. More important, every single measurement within Newport Tower is based on the Scottish ell, which equals three Norse feet.
  9. Indian language. Professor Roger McLeod of Lowell University in Massachusetts compiled a huge dictionary of Norse and Gaelic words which have been assimilated into the language of the tribes along the eastern seaboard of America. Reider T. Sherwin in his book "The Viking and the Red Man" also writes about the Norse origin of the Algonquin language.
  10. Indian Legends. When Henry began to build a ship from local materials, the Micmacs tell of how "He built himself an island, planted trees on it, and sailed away in his stone canoe." When the Narragansett Indians were asked who built the Newport Tower, they replied, "They were fire-haired men with green eyes who sailed up river in a ship like a gull with a broken wing."
  11. Rosslyn Chapel. Far across the ocean in Scotland at the Rosslyn Chapel there are stone carvings of Indian maize, the American aloe cactii and sassafras, carved before Columbus was born!
  12. The Hakluyt Society. From the Boston Herald in 1892, one can read; "Leif came to the land of North America, built houses, made friends of the natives and explored the land, giving names to places some of which exist to the present day. These names were placed on the charts and are the same which Henry St. Clair used, affixed to his maps, now in possession of the Hakluyt Society."

Who's involved?

Behind the scenes there are many people working on the plans for the 600th celebration. They serve on the Prince Henry Project Committee, which meets monthly under the chairmanship of Pete Cummings. Mary Selver & Ian & Frances Sinclair are focusing upon Westford & Exeter. Dane & Sandra Hahn and Elmer Eldridge & Buelah are our NHHG Coordinators. Masonic activities are led by Michael Kaulback, Matt Mallard. and Nick Andreson. Bob Green has spearheaded the shipbuilding efforts. Neil St. Clair & D'Elayne Coleman are leading the efforts in Nova Scotia. Beth Gay has continued to project our public image in trade publications. The constant availability of our Newsletter to thousands of readers on the Internet has been possible thanks to John Quarterman and John Olin. Ken Swift and Matt Mallard have processed the postal version. Others who have regular interaction of ideas and suggestions with us are David Aubrey, Art Douglas, John Aulerich, Laurel Fechner, Susan Grady, Pam Manganelli, Don MacPherson, Clark Scott, Robert Knight, Gerald Steeves, Angela Peters, Bradley Barker, and David Bouschor.

Spread the word!

You can help. The marvelous story of Prince Henry's peaceful expedition to America in 1398 needs to be told to many more people. His deeds and his accomplishments serve as inspiration to all peoples in today's world. Tell your family and friends. Conduct speeches. Get school children involved. Print and distribute the literature which is available. You can amplify your efforts by contributing generously to the Prince Henry Project. Your actions and your money on this 600th anniversary will be heard! Now is the time when "spreading the word" will be highly effective.

Interesting supposition:

The first Christmas celebrated in America was in 1398 by Prince Henry's explorers in Advocate, Nova Scotia!
Clan Sinclair .
Last update: 99/06/20 11:37:15