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William Sinclair was created Earl of Caithness in 1455 by King James II of Scots (1437-1460). By 1470 William reluctantly resigned his title Earl of Orkney with his encompassing Island estates, including his castle of Kirkwall to King James III of Scots (1460-1488) in exchange for the incomplete castle of Ravenscraig on the Fifeshire coast and other token lands. The resigned Orkney estate was then used as a dowry for the King's marriage to Princess Margaret of Denmark. In effect Orkney became a Stewart interest much to the dismay of the disinherited Sinclairs, who continued to interfere in the Orkney estates. Notably in 1529 at the battle of Summerdale north of Kirkwall when George 3rd Earl of Caithness was slain along with all of his men while fighting his own distant kin the Sinclairs of Orkney on behalf of King James V of Scots (1513-1542) and again during the reign of King James VI of Scots (1567-1603) when George 5th Earl of Caithness sent another Sinclair army which successfully routed the Stewart rebels led by Patrick Stewart Earl of Orkney.
William as 1st Earl of Caithness and Earl or 'Jarl' of Orkney is most noted in history for the construction of Roslin castle and the ornate Rosslyn chapel in Mid Lothian in the 1440's. His son, also William,2nd Earl of Caithness built Girnigoe and the castle of Knockinnan near Dunbeath some time after 1470 and before his death at the battle of Flodden in 1513 along with King James IV of Scots (1488-1513). His son John then became 3rd Earl of Caithness and he too, as already noted, was slain in battle in 1529,leaving his son George to inherit Girnigoe as 4th Earl of Caithness.
Anciently a third of the lands of Caithness, including the future site of Girnigoe were held by the Cheyne family. Around 1350 (some accounts claim 1354) Reginald Cheyne, the Clan head, died ending the male line of descent, leaving two daughters to inherit the Cheyne estates. One of his daughters married on to the Keiths while the other is alleged to have married on to the Sinclairs, dividing the estate into two. Which would explain why the Keith tower of Ackergill is only one mile away from the Sinclair fortalice of Girnigoe. However this alleged marriage appears false since the Sinclair claim to Caithness was based on the original Jarldom of Orkney and Caithness so in theory they also held rights to the lands of Ackergill. The two castles of Ackergill and Girnigoe held by two rival families so close together was bound to lead to violence. Not only between the Keiths and Sinclairs but with the Sunderlands, Oliphants and Mackays who also held lands around Caithness. In fact these feuds got so out of hand that even the Campbells from further afield got involved. It is also stated that Reginald Cheyne's second daughter in actual fact married Nicholas Sutherland since this was how the Sutherlands obtained the Cheyne castles of Old Wick and Berriedale which then passed to the Oliphants and Forse castle which passed to the Keiths. Interestingly both Old Wick and Berriedale were later annexed by the belligerent Sinclairs in their attempts to rule the whole of Caithness.
In I544 George 4th Earl of Caithness seized the Episcopal fortress of Scrabster castle, north of Thurso, from Alexander Gordon, a son of the Earl of Sunderland who had been installed as a temporary Bishop while the Bishop of Caithness was banished. Later when the Earl of Sunderland was made hereditary keeper of Scrabster castle it was described as being "situated among the wild and uncivilised Scots". This phase though directed at the Caithness area in general surely sums up the lifestyle of the Sinclairs of Caithness.
In 1547 George sallied forth from Girnigoe to attack and seize Ackergill castle, taking Alexander Keith said captain and his servant John Skarlet hostage. Detaining them not only at Girnigoe but at the moated oblong tower house of Braal near the river Thurso. Which had only recently passed to the Sinclairs from the Crichton family. Why Keith and Skarlet were moved between these two strong castles and other unspecified locations is unclear. Likely it was in case the Keiths mounted a rescue attempt. Or it may be that any assault on Ackergill by the Keiths would result in the deaths of the hostages. So Keith and Skarlet were bargaining chips.
Despite his high handed behaviour George was given remission for his actions by Queen Mary the Regent (Mary Queen of Scots mother). By 1549 Queen Mary installed Lord Oliphant as keeper of Ackergill possibly to separate the feuding Keiths and Sinclairs until a more permanent solution regarding ownership of Ackergill could be arranged. Also in 1549 George was distracted from this feud, for a time, while be began building the long Z-plan tower house of Barrogill castle near John O' Groats, known today as Castle Mey held by Elizabeth The Queen Mother. In 1556 George again besieged Ackergill when it was in the hands of William Keith Earl Marischal. This time though he appears to have stormed the barmkin wall but been unable to secure the tower house. Yet again he was given remission for his actions which angered the Keiths.
George's attacks were not only confined to local rival Clans but on his own kin Sinclair of Dunbeath ,descended from a younger brother of the 3rd Earl of Caithness, noted in possession of Dunbeath castle in 1529,who built the L-plan tower house of Dounreay in the 1560's. As the dispute escalated Dounreay castle was besieged by a Sinclair army from Girnigoe. The outcome of the siege appears to be unrecorded.
In 1567 at Helmsdale castle during a banquet, George arranged for John 11th Earl of Sunderland, his wife Helen and family to be poisoned by Isobel Sinclair the Earl of Sunderland's aunt. The plan was that Isobel's son would inherit the Earldom of Sunderland. So these estates could be seized by the Sinclairs. However, her son was accidentally poisoned and died along with the other guests aside from the true heir who was able to escape and inherit as 12th Earl of Sunderland.
As time progressed George became so extreme in his activities that by 1571 he, it is alleged, even arrested his own son and heir, John, Master of Caithness, imprisoning him in one of the cells of Girnigoe on suspicion of rebelling against his rule as Justiciary of Caithness. Certainly in 1569 John had clashed with the Oliphants in the village of Wick resulting in him besieging Lord Oliphant in the oblong keep of Old Wick castle for eight days, until Lord Oliphant was obliged to surrender due to lack of food and water as noted in the report sent to the Privy Council. It appears the Sinclairs then continued to occupy Old Wick. And in 1570 John had burnt down Dornoch Cathedral and sacked the town. But there was no suggestion of him trying to seize Girnigoe or Knockkinnan.
Surprisingly other historians have unearthed another reason for John's imprisonment. On one hand George as Justiciary of Caithness as an official had to be seen to rebuke his son. But apparently behind the scenes he was furious at his son's "lenity towards the town folk of Dornoch". John simply wasn't as ruthless and efficient as his father leaving witnesses behind to complain to the Privy Council. Because John took too long to die (seven years) his father had him fed on nothing but "salted beef, and then, with holding all drink from him, left him to die of a raging thirst". Although other accounts claim John died at Knockinnan.
In 1582 John's son George inherited as 5th Earl of Caithness. One of his first actions as Earl was to kill the two jailers responsible for his father's murder,for which he received a remission from the Privy Council as such action was justifiable. He then started a raiding campaign against the Earl of Sunderland which was unacceptable to the Council and he was bound over to keep the peace. In 1588 he resisted a 12day siege at Girnigoe by the Earl of Sunderland who failed to make an real impression so the surrounding lands were sacked and Keiss castle across the bay from Girnigoe was damaged before the raiders withdrew. George then repaired Girnigoe adding the ornate oriel window. Around the same time the Sinclair family as a whole undertook a great building work. In 1592 they added a new wing to Cadholl castle. In 1600 a cadet branch of the Dunbeath Sinclairs built the L-plan tower of Brims castle at the same time as George rebuilt Keiss as a Z-plan tower. Also to keep up with his kin George began building the new cluster of towers in front of Girnigoe known as Sinclair castle as a symbol of his wealth and power. In 1606 he acquired Berriedale castle adding it to the long list of Sinclair strongholds throughout Caithness.
With his empire expanding George quickly ran short of funds so he resorted to minting his own forged coinage at Girnigoe castle to circulate throughout the North of Scotland to try and cover his many debts. He like his ancestors before him also interfered in local feuds when he sent Clan Gunn disguised as Clan MacKay of Dirlot castle (which originally belonged to the Gunns) to burn Lord Forbes corn. When the MacKays sent witnesses to prove they were innocent George had them drowned so no links could be traced back to him. In 1623 Girnigoe/Sinclair castle and Ackergill (which had recently passed legally to the Sinclairs) were stormed and sacked by Sir Robert Gordon of Sutherland. The Gordons also appear to have assaulted Braal but were unsuccessful in taking this tower but damaged the new Manor house which was under construction nearby.
In 1643 George died, as he was predeceased by his son, Lord Berriedale and grandson, the Master of Berriedale, his title and debts passed to his great grandson also George 6th Earl of Caithness. In 1651 Oliver Cromwell's troops seized and damaged Dunbeath, Dounreay and Ackergill. Cromwell also sent a garrison of 70 foot and 15 horse to hold Girnigoe/Sinclair castle. Despite family debts George started building Thurso castle and married a daughter of Campbell, Marquis of Argyll perhaps in an effort to cover his great grandfather's debts as the Campbells were major creditors. But when he died without issue in 1676,his widow married her own kinsman, Sir John Campbell of Glenorchy who then claimed Girnigoe/Sinclair castle and estates including the title Earl of Caithness. Which resulted in the rightful heir, George Sinclair of Keiss castle storming Girnigoe/Sinclair and Old Wick castles by force of arms in 1679 to contest his right as Earl of Caithness which had been denied him by law. In reply in 1680 the Campbells marched north in an attempt to seize Old Wick castle under cover of any early morning mist. Suddenly the fog cleared and the castle garrison raised the alarm sending riders to Girnigoe/Sinclair castle. The Campbells appeared to withdraw but split their forces into two to ambush and rout the Sinclair army from Girnigoe/Sinclair at the battle of Altimarlach some four miles from Wick. Girnigoe/Sinclair was then stormed by the Campbells and Keiss castle damaged (today there are still musket holes above the doorway of Keiss from this assault). In 1690 George Sinclair of Keiss again besieged Girnigoe/Sinclair castle this time with heavy cannon ironically destroying his inheritance. The castle though back in Sinclair hands with George as 7th Earl of Caithness was abandoned as a residence leaving the sad shell that remains today
The Cage Gladiator legend that is Rob Sinclair. Always has a great fight and is a lovely guy with it.
Sinclair made some nice plastic dinosaurs in the 1960s. They were sold at the World's Fair, among other places. Sinclair also gave out the small Ajax dinosaurs at their gas service stations. The Sinclair figures have an obvious Charles R. Knight influence and are generally a bit larger than the Marx figures. I do not have the Sinclair Triceratops.
Prior initial C or G (out of shot)
Old engraving on a secluded, angled rock face, on Katoomba Falls Creek and notionally above Lurline Falls, Katoomba's mythical waterfall.
The name Sinclair has been associated with the upper Blue Mountains for many years.
Today, the ZX81 wanted to play in the garden.
Please take a look at www.retrocomputers.eu for more info about my retro computer collection.
Gleichstrommotor, 0,4 PS, 25 km/h, Baujahr 1985, 17000 Stück, die Kraft des Elektromtors konnte mit Pedalantrieb unterstützt werden
I 'sought and received permission' to take pictures of these items and did it from 'outside their fence', you too will need to ask. As a child, I always remember their logo and marketing revolving around a green dinosaur.
The C5 was to be the downfall of British inventor Sir Clive Sinclair, who in the late 70s and early 80s was famed for his electronic products such as scientific calculators and the Spectrum series of personal computers. I still remember the launch of this contraption being featured on the tv news in (I think) 1985. It was to be a total commercial disaster for the company. They are now collectors items, so I was very surprised to see this one in a yard full of old trucks.
This is Sinclair's Bay in Caithness on the East coast of Scotland, about 10 miles south of John O’ Groats and 7 miles north of Wick. The Sinclairs are a Highland Scottish clan who held lands in the north of Scotland, the Orkney Islands, and the Lothians. The chiefs of the clan were the Barons of Roslin and later the Earls of Orkney. No certain record exists but it is likely that the Sinclairs originally came from Saint-Clair in Normandy.
Caithness is an area of about 712 square miles. As you can see the land is flat, in contrast to most of the remainder of the North of Scotland. Until the latter part of the 20th century when large areas were planted in conifers, this level profile was rendered still more striking by the almost total absence of forest. Basically, it’s a land of open, rolling farmland, moorland and scattered settlements.
Although not obvious in my photo, those castle ruins on the left are perched on a sheer cliff. That’s the old Keiss Castle. I say the old one because that ‘new’ building further inland glories in the name Keiss 'castle' too, although it is really a large and elegant Scottish Baronial house built in the late 1700s.
There was a small fortification here during the late medieval period, but in the last years of the 16th century the 5th Earl of Caithness built that castle that is now in ruins, being four storeys high, plus an attic level and a vaulted basement. There do not appear to be any defensive structures on the landward side, suggesting that Keiss was built purely with an eye to a seaborn attack. I guess that’s not surprising since this part of the coastline was a favourite landing place of raiders and pirates from Norway and Denmark. Local people lit a beacon on one of the few hills when raiders were spotted. However, the lack of land defences may have been a mistake. In 1623 when George Sinclair defied King James VI (I of England) over something, and the King not being amused, dispatched Sir Robert Gordon to sort him out. The rebellious Earl provisioned his castles for a siege [he owned two others by the sea], perhaps then realised that the King’s army were advancing by land, so he caught the next available ferry to Orkney. [OK, I made that bit up, but he did go by sea to Orkney somehow]. All three castles surrendered without a fight to Sir Robert but were eventually returned to the Earl's son, presumably on condition he behaved himself.
World War II saw Keiss resume a military function as, despite its remote location, the defence of Caithness became a defence priority. The coastline's proximity to the Orkney Isles - where the large anchorage at Scapa Flow was the wartime home to the larger warships of the Royal Navy's Home Fleet - made the coastline strategically important. Furthermore, with the German occupation of Norway in April 1940, Caithness suddenly seemed particularly vulnerable. The long flat beach was the recipient of a large minefield - allegedly the UK's longest in 1940 - augmented with anti-tank obstacles plus machine-gun pillboxes spaced at 400 yard intervals. Substantial land forces were based in the area with the grounds of Keiss Castle being converted into a military camp. My old boss complained to me that he spent most of his National Service after WW2 digging holes in this area…..
Sinclair is back at this location for the 1st time in many years. Strange seeing a Sinclair Dinosaur at a Citgo. This used to be a Sinclair Gas Station and a different dinosaur used to be here many years ago. Picture taken in The Wisconsin Dells. , see old link:
www.flickr.com/photos/vinny_gragg/4322886733/in/photolist...
2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying
19 February 2016 - Houston, TX, USA
Canada Soccer by Mexsport
Christine Sinclair goal celebration (with Shelina Zadorsky)
Former home of:
Sinclair Lewis (Novelist and Playwright)
Located: 3028 Q Street NW
Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 — January 10, 1951) was an American novelist and playwright. In 1930 he became the first American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. His works are known for their insightful and critical views of American society and capitalist values. His style is at times droll, satirical, yet sympathetic.
Born Harry Sinclair Lewis in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, he began reading books at a young age and kept a diary. A dreamer, at age 13 he unsuccessfully ran away from home, wanting to become a drummer boy in the Spanish-American War. He received his bachelor's degree from Yale University in 1908. He began his writing career by producing romantic poetry, then followed with romantic stories about knights and fair ladies. Lewis's first published book was Hike and the Aeroplane, which appeared in 1912 under the pseudonym Tom Graham. By 1921 he had six novels published.
Lewis was known for giving strong characterization to modern working women and for his concern with race. Some of his most famous books were Main Street and Babbitt. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1926 — which he rejected — for Arrowsmith, a novel about an idealistic doctor. Elmer Gantry was the story of an opportunistic evangelist, if not an outright charlatan; it was banned in Boston and other U.S. cities (Main Street, Babbitt, Kingsblood Royal, and Cass Timberlane have also all been banned at one time or another). In his Nobel lecture, he lamented that "in America most of us — not readers alone but even writers — are still afraid of any literature which is not a glorification of everything American, a glorification of our faults as well as our virtues," and that America is "the most contradictory, the most depressing, the most stirring, of any land in the world today."
In 1928 he married journalist Dorothy Thompson and in 1930 their son Michael Lewis was born.
Restless, Lewis traveled a lot and in the 1920s he would spend time with other great artists in the Montparnasse Quarter in Paris, France where he would be photographed by Man Ray. His last great work was It Can't Happen Here, a speculative novel about the election of a Fascist as U.S. President.
Alcohol played a dominant role in his life; he died of the effects of advanced alcoholism in Rome, Italy.
He created the fictional cities of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota and Zenith, Winnemac.
Various Quotes of Lewis:
"I love America, but I don't like it."
"This is America - a town of a few thousand, in a region of wheat and corn and dairies and little groves. The town is, in our tale, called "Gopher Prairie, Minnesota". But its Main Street is the continuation of Main Streets everywhere."
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross."
1885 Born in Sauk Centre, Minnesota to Dr. Edwin J. Lewis and Emma Kermott Lewis.
1891 Mother dies. Father marries Isabel Warner in 1892.
1902 Attends Oberlin in Ohio.
1903-1906 Attends Yale University, serves as editor of Literary Magazine, works on cattleboats during two summers.
1906 Spends months doing odd jobs at Upton Sinclair's Helicon Hall (utopian community).
1906-1908 Works at temporary jobs, graduates Yale in 1908.
1908-1915 Travels U.S., works in New York publishing houses.
1912 Hike and the Aeroplane published (first book, a boy's adventure story).
1914 Marries Grace Hegger. Our Mr.Wrenn published.
1917 The Job and The Innocents published. Son, Wells, born.
1919 Free Air published.
1920 Main Street published, first major commercial success.
1922 Babbitt.
1925 Arrowsmith.
1926 Mantrap. Awarded Pulitzer Prize for Arrowsmith but refuses it. Father dies.
1927 Elmer Gantry.
1928 The Man Who Knew Coolidge. Divorces Grace Hegger, marries journalist Dorothy Thompson.
1929 Dodsworth.
1930 Son Michael born. Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature on November 5 (first American to be so honored).
1933 Ann Vickers
1934 Work of Art. Assists Sidney Howard in adapting Dodsworth to the stage.
1935 It Can't Happen Here and Selected Stories.
1936-1942 Writes several plays and acts in a few of them.
1938 The Prodigal Parents.
1940 Bethel Merriday. Teaches briefly at University of Wisconsin.
1942 Divorces Dorothy Thompson.
1943 Gideon Planish.
1944 Lt. Wells Lewis killed by sniper in Piedmont Valley, France (near Alsace-Lorraine) during WW II.
1945 Cass Timberlane.
1947 Kingsblood Royal.
1949 The God Seeker.
1951 Dies in Rome of heart disease. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, MN. World So Wide published posthumously.
Skylar Gudasz came through town in support of Teenage Fanclub for a show at the The Sinclair. For photos of Boston area bands doing their thing, visit Daykamp Music at:
2016 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying
19 February 2016 - Houston, TX, USA
Canada Soccer by Mexsport
Christine Sinclair first goal v Dinnia Diaz
Sinclair gas, water tower. Gilman City, Missouri
Neg# BUGE 543. Mamiya RB76, 180mm, YG filter, FP4 film. 2014
Product brochure from our manufacturing partner in Spain. Spectrums were also made under license by Samsung.
Information from the eBay seller in San Marcos, California -- October, 2013:
"The John Sinclair Freedom Rally was a protest and concert in response to the imprisonment of John Sinclair for possession of 2 marijuana cigarettes. It was held on December 10, 1971, in Crisler Arena at the University Of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The music world was more than a little surprised by the appearance at this event of John Lennon. This was a very rare public appearance by the former Beatle and he composed a special song in honor of the cause.
John Sinclair (born October 2, 1941) is an American poet from Detroit, one-time manager of The MC5 band and leader of the White Panther Party, a militantly anti-racist counterculture group of white activists seeking to assist the Black Panthers in the Civil Rights movement.
Sinclair was released from prison just three days after this rally was held and the event was seen as a major counterculture victory, with Lennon generally given the lion's share of the credit for this outcome.
This is an extremely rare artifact that will be of great interest to fans of John Lennon and The Beatles, and those with an interest in John Sinclair, the hippie counterculture, marijuana, political protest, and Detroit & Ann Arbor, Michigan history.
Also listed as appearing at the event are luminaries such as Rennie Davis, Allen Ginsberg, Bobby Seale, Jerry Rubin, Ed Sanders, Yoko Ono, David Peel, Phil Ochs and more.
This is a newspaper style program / publication comprised of 26 pages and loaded with articles and info on Sinclair, the 'marijuana revolution', music industry ads and a page devoted to the lyrics of Lennon's "John Sinclair" song."