Chanticler = "Chanter Clair"

[INSLaird@cs.com]

Rory hit the nail!  And perhaps it is no coincidence that "Chanticleer" is 
the name of the Clan's Australian Newsletter, as advised by Margaret. Of 
course, as reference to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable tells us the 
name comes from the French "Chanter Clair" - to sing clearly - possibly a 
direct play on names with St Clair, "Sing Clair" = Sinclair, as Niven 
Sinclair has pointed out before, often happens with heraldic devices. And 
Brewer's also point to a version of the story earlier than Chaucer's - 
Reynard the Fox - based on stories going back to Aesop, so it would certainly 
have been known to the earliest Sinclairs.  For this version see 
http://www.aard-vark.com/reynard/reyc2.htm

Yours aye

Iain

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