Mysteries of the Templars
The Legend of Glooscap
"It is known that the Templars fled to Scotland, too, after the dissolution
of 1312, and it is known that some found refuge among the Saint-Clairs of
Rosslyn in Midlothian. There is a Templar cemetery there."
- Michael Bradley, Holy Grail Across the Atlantic
"No family in Europe beneath the rank of royalty boasts a higher antiquity,
a nobler illustration, or a more romantic interest than that of St. Clair."
- Sir John Bernard Burke, Vicissitudes of Families and Other Essays
"...We encountered repeated references to the Sinclair family - Scottish
branch of the Norman Saint-Clair/Gisors family. Their domain at Rosslyn was
only a few miles from the former Scottish headquarters of the Knights
Templar, and the chapel at Rosslyn - built between 1446 and 1486 - has long
been associated with both Freemasonry and the Rose-Croix. In a charter
believed to date from 1601, moreover, the Sinclairs are recognized as
'hereditary Grand Masters of Scottish Masonry'. This is the earliest
specific Masonic document on record."
- Baigent and Leigh, The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail
"The famous Grail Seeker Trevor Ravenscroft claimed in 1962 that he had
finished a twenty year quest in search of the Grail at Rosslyn
chapel.....His claim was that the Grail was inside the Prentice Pillar (as
it is known) in this chapel. The chapel is often visited now by Grail
Seekers and many references to the Grail can be found in its stonework and
windows. Metal detectors have been used on the pillar and an object of the
appropriate size is indeed buried in the middle. Lord Rosslyn adamantly
refuses to have the pillar x-rayed."
- Chris Thornborrow, "An Introduction to Current Theories about The
Holy Grail"
Henry Sinclair, Earl of Orkney, "was born about 1345, about a generation
after the Templar dispersal.... Henry's ancestor and namesake, Henri de
Saint-Clair fought beside Godfroi de Bouillon at the taking of Jerusalem.
Several Saint-Clairs became Templars themselves."
"In the confusing and purely familial pattern of the Middle Ages, Henry
Sinclair held Rosslyn as a vassal of the Kings of England and Scotland, but
held Orkney as a vassal of the King of Norway."
"By 1390, Henry's fleet numbered 13 ships: two undecked oared galleys of
Mediterranean type useful for maneuvering in the narrow channels of the
Orkney and Shetland island groups (and a favored labyrinth for pirates and
discontented island smugglers); one decked longship for battle, based on the
old Viking lines; and ten decked sailing barks suitable for oceanic patrols
around the island groups."
"In 1391 a Venetian ship entered the Orkney earldom. Aboard was Nicolo Zeno,
brother of Carlo Zeno [the "Lion" of Venice] who had pioneered the use of
cannon for Venice at the Battle of Chioggia. After spending some time with
Sinclair, Nicolo Zeno wrote home to Venice and instructed his brother,
Antonio, to join him in the Orkneys. Nicolo and Antonio together supplied
the expertise that Henry lacked. They knew how to forge the new lightweight
cannon for shipboard use, and they were familiar with the latest
navigational theories and cartographic skills. They stayed in the service of
Sinclair until death."
- Michael Bradley, Holy Grail Across the Atlantic
Unable to take in wood and water in Iceland because of a hostile reception
by the inhabitants,
"Sinclair, seeing he could do nothing, and that if we were to
persevere in this attempt, the fleet would fall short of
provisions, took his departure with a fair wind and sailed 6 days
to the westwards; but the winds afterwards shifting to the
southwest, and the sea becoming rough, we sailed 4 days with the
wind aft and finally sighted land."
"As the sea ran high and we did not know what country it was, we
were afraid at first to approach it, but by God's blessing the
wind lulled, and then there came on a great calm. Some of the crew
pulled ashore and soon returned with great joy with news that they
found an excellent country and a still better harbor."
"After eight days the 100 soldiers returned, and brought work that
they had been through the island and up to the hill, and that the
smoke was a natural thing proceeding from a great fire in the
bottom of the hill, and that there was a spring from which issued
a certain substance like pitch, which ran into the sea, and that
thereabouts dwelt a great many people half wild, and living in
caves. They were of small stature and very timid. They reported
also there was a large river, and a very good and safe harbor."
- The Zeno Narrative
Apparently in 1398, Harry Sinclair, the Earl of Orkney, sailed to Nova
Scotia, accompanied by the Zeno brothers of Genoa (one of whom mailed an
account home to another brother left in Italy). He started a settlement
where the "royal family" took refuge.
- Timothy C. Green
"Burning pitch deposits at Stellarton [Nova Scotia] behind Mt. Adams were
responsible for the 'burning hill' Sinclair's explorers first thought they
saw. The description confirms Cape Caruso as the area of landfall on June 2,
1398."
- Michael Bradley, Holy Grail Across the Atlantic
Sinclair's castle was built "in the middle of the peninsula, at the
headwaters of both the Gold and the Gaspereau Rivers, the mouth each of
which is indicated by an Oak Island (the one at the mouth of the Gold is THE
Oak Island of treasure fame...These are apparently the only two islands with
oak trees growing on them in all of NS, and acorns don't float. All that is
left of the castle are footings of walls (partial plan in book) level with
the ground, and to the author, these are very similar to rubble wall
constuction in Scotland, and unlike anything else in the area. There were
also some small artificts picked up the the owner of the site, who was an
avid gardener.
- Timothy C. Green
"Glooscap was the first,
First and greatest,
To come to our land -
Into Nova Scotia...
When the Master left Ukakumkuk,
Called by the English Newfoundland,
He went to Pictook or Pictou,
Which means the rising of bubbles,
Because at that place the water is
Ever strangely moving,
There he found an Indian Village
A town of a hundred wigwams."
- Frederick Pohl, Prince Henry Sinclair
In the body of Micmac legends, "Pohl was the first to identify Gooscap as
Henry Sinclair. Pohl was able to make a list of 17 specific similarities
between Glooscap and Sinclair, including the fact that they each had three
daughters."
- Michael Bradley, Holy Grail Across the Atlantic
Glooscap "invited all to a parting banquet
By the great lake Minas shore
On the silver waters' edge.
And when the feast was over,
Entered his great canoe
And sailed away over the water,
The shining waves of Minas."
- Frederick Pohl, Prince Henry Sinclair
"And, in memory of this parting, the Micmacs traditionally chanted:
"Nemajeeck, Numeedich."
This, as Frederick Pohl noted, sounds like the words of an old Norse
sea-chantey sung when weighing anchor.
"Nu mo jag, nu mo deg."
- Michael Bradley, Holy Grail Across the Atlantic
"Samuel de Champlain was in on the scheme for when he showed up 200 years
later, he did what he could to hide the existence of the refuge (his
normally detailed maps became vague in the area, his reports were
deliberately false with respect to prospects for settlers). As a result,
colonization of the area was slowed down for about a generation until the
family could be moved to Ville Marie (Montreal), not hidden this time, but
disguised as the Sulpician religious order."
- Timothy C. Green
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