Re: clans of a kind

[Niven Sinclair <niven@niven.co.uk>]

At 03:19 05/07/99 -0500, you wrote:
>
>
>
>Niven~
>I have learned much since joining this list from your posts.  In
light of 
>that, I had a question that I thought you best could answer if you
would.  
>What clan would you say most parallels our clan,
>in history, in legacy and in spirit?
>In your debt,
>Tessa
>
>Dear Tessa,

You ask what other Clan is closest to us

None.  We are exceptional.  No family under the rank of Royalty
has a more distinguished history
or produced so many distinguished people over the Centuries.  
One has only to look at their contribution
to the constitution and the history of America to realise that their
talents have cascaded down through
the generations just as they, themselves, have retained their Viking
wanderlust by spreading across the
face of the Globe.

Let me quote a little from "The St Clairs of the Isles":

   "The Saint-Clairs figure prominently in history, song and
story.  In Normandy, they controlled
     lands, castles and troops of men and were closely allied to
royal blood.

     At Hastings their prowess was conspicuous and materially helped
to decide the fate of that
     eventful day.  They appear in the Battle Abbey roll.

     Early in the 11th Century  William ' the Seemly" St
Clair settled in Scotland; soon his name
     appears on the roll of the nobles of King Malcolm Canmore and
thenceforward for generations
     his descendants are found in loyal support of the Scottish
monarchs who trusted them implicitly
     through good and ill.  Honoured with the confidence of the
ancient Celtic line; entrusted with the
     defence of the Royal fortress during the wars of the Scottish
Succession; they were the companions
     in arms of the patriot Bruce and, in later times, the St Clairs
shared in the triumphs and disasters
     of the House of Stuart." 

I could cover the last 1,000 years of our history (even before we took
the name of St Clair) with volume after
volume of  facts and it would still be incomplete because, with
every passing day, I am discovering fresh
information about the Sinclairs and the part they played in the
development of Western civilisation and culture.

Let me give you one more quote:

   "All that was highest in marriage, lands and office they had in
England for nearly a Century after
     the Conquest and the glow of their fame and their physical and
intellectual powers kep them high
     for Centuries afterwards in a way which was rare to any one
particular lineage."

We are also different in so far as we have always had a European
dimension.  Our name is as well known in
Scandinavia as it is in Scotland.  We held lands in every Province
of France and in Alsace.  We are related to 
the ex Royal House of Poland and, if we had won the Battle of
Val-es-Dunes in 1047 against William 'the Bastard'
it is the Sinclairs who would have been the Royal House of England and
ipso facto of one quarter of the Globe.

We must never forget our history because 'we are nothing without
our roots'.  It gives us the confidence and
the stability to face up to life's vicissitudes in this increasingly
tormented and troubled World.  I hope it will also
give us the courage and the desire to improve the lot of our fellow man
by becoming actively involved in our
respective communities.  We can begin by giving support to our Clan
associations because there is strength 
in unity.  The Sinclair engrailed cross - the oriflamme of our
family - must be seen to herald a renaissance of
the spirit of chivalry and brotherhood which should govern all our lives.

With every good wish.

Niven Sinclair


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