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Dear Niven -
do you have photos for release of either event? If
so I will post to clansinclair.org without delay.
Thnaks for the genealogical information via Ian.
very helpful - I will pursue Milamba.
We have just got a new springer spaniel puppy
called Jock. He's liver and wjhite and 6 months old. What a rascal. man's best
friend, though.
I do hope that sometime you could visit -
from the sounds of things, you're very busy, but if you need a rest, please come
to stay with us in Aberlour.
Yours aye,
Euan
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, October 03, 2000 10:41
AM
Subject: The "Sword of Peace"
The "Sword of Peace" was presented by Malcolm Sinclair, the
Earl of Caithness, to Benjamin
Sylliboy, the Grand Chief of the Mi'kmaq
Nation in recognition of the welcome which they gave
to Henry Sinclair when
he landed on their shores in 1398 (although we now believe that it may
have
been 1396 and again in 1398) and to the welcome which they have
extended to succeeding
generations of Scots who now call the country Nova
Scotia.
The ceremony was a deeply moving occasion which had (and has)
great historical significance
at a time when there is a great need for a
rapprochement between immigrants and the indigenous
people who have not
always been treated with the desired courtesy and sensitivity.
The
presentation redressed this omission.
The "Sword of Peace" had the work
'peace' inscribed on its blade in 206 different languages
including
Mi'kmaqi and Inuit (Eskimo). It also had the Mi'kmaq symbolism which the
three
Mi'kmaq elders, who had attended the Sinclair Symposium in Orkney in
1997, had identified
on the Kirkwall Scroll. This scroll, which is
believed to be the oldest Masonic document in
existence and which hangs in
the Masonic Lodge in Kirkwall, has been carbon dated to the 14th
Century
and tends to give further proof of the cultural diffusion which has been
taking place
between the Old World and the New World for many centuries -
indeed for millennia.
The "Sword of Peace" also had the Sinclair
engrailed cross on its blade and has now pride of
place in the Mi'kmaq
museum as a tangible reminder of the long association which they have
had
with Scotland, in general, and with the Sinclairs, in particular. There
is clear evidence of
genetic infusion as well as cultural
diffusion.
The "Sword of Peace" was specially crafted and designed by
Wilkinson Sword of London.
I am hopeful the contacts, which I have sent
by separate e-mail, will be able to provide you with
suitable film for a
news slot.
A separate but equally newsworthy story is the voyage which
Laura Zolo has made from Venice
via Orkney to the New World in the wake of
the Zeno Brothers and Prince Henry Sinclair. This
intrepid Italian
woman has given 'physical expression' to that which we have been talking
about
for years and, in so doing, has gained more real publicity for the
1398 voyage than anything
which our own somewhat pedestrian efforts have
achieved.
Laura has faced the papal winds of the
Mediterranean; the perils of the Bay of Biscay, the Atlantic
Gales, as she
followed the Viking route via Orkney, Shetland, the Faroes, Iceland,
Greenland,
Labrador, Newfoundland and, finally, to the protected inner
harbour of Guyborough in Nova Scotia
where Prince Henry Sinclair had found
a similar escape from the storms over 600 years ago.
Times have changed
but the relentless sea remains the same. Laura's little yacht, the "7
Roses"
would fit into most people's kitchens. I, for one, wouldn't
have ventured across a mill-pond in her.
Laura has spent 9 months
replicating an historic voyage which deserves to have its rightful place
in
the history of Venice, Scotland and the New World.
It is a sad
indictment of our failure to give credit to our own heroes that it has been
left to the tiny
figure of a young and beautiful Italian woman to set us an
example of courage, determination and
seamanship of the very highest
order.
Laura is newsworthy. Laura is enchanting. Laura is
humble as only those who have had to face
danger (day in and day out)
invariably are. She is a genuine heroine. She deserves her own
page
in history.
Niven Sinclair
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