Now I will tell you what I know of the Sinclair history. I want to get it all down before I leave and in the business of my new life forget what I have learned.
The Sinclairs were originally the St. Clairs, who came from France with William the Conquerer, many centuries agro. They helped get England away from the Saxons, and were awarded lands in Scotland as a reward. There were nine of them, and so they scattered over the land, each with his own holdings. One became the baron of Rosslyn. Others settled in the lowlands, and some, like our family forefathers, eventually came to the highlands and established Castle Sinclair Girnigoe.
Some of the Sinclairs helped take the heart of Robert the Bruce when they went to fight in the Crusades. (I don’t know why they wanted to take his heart there.) The Earl of Caithness became the laird of the Orkneys, under king James II.
I also learned many of the old Sinclairs were members of the Knights Templar, and there is a lot of mystery around the Rosslyn Chapel, which the Knights were supposed to have built. They are also said to have something to do with hiding the Holy Grail.
Some of the old Sinclairs were not at all nice people. One of the Earls threw this eldest son into the dungeon and made him die of thirst, but not before he had strangled his brother with his chains. Another shot one of his fellow officers to death under the Duke of Marlborough, was sentenced to death and fled the country to escape punishment.
The men were full of stories of the old Sinclairs, but when I looked at them, and my gentle auld Da, I see no trace of the wild and bloodthirsty clansmen they talk about.
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