SINCLAIR, FAMILY OF. The Scottish historical house of Sinclair or St. Clair is of Norman descent, the surname (Latinized Ile &ado Claro) being doubtless derived from possessions in Nmanantiv. Two families bearing this surname, whose connection can not now be traced, the Si. Clairs of Bossism and of Herdmanston, appear in and East Lothian in the beginning of the 12th century. Henry St. Clair, vieecomes of 'Richard ,Norville, chancellor of Scotland, obtained, iu 1862, a charter of the lands of Herdmauston, which have ever since continued in the family. Ills descendant renuered signal service to Robert Bruce, for which he is said to have presented him with a sword, still in the possession of the family, with the words inscribed: Le ray vie &mire, St. Clair we parte." The ancestor of the other line was William St. who had hi.sslyn confirmed to him by charter from David 1. His descendant like his costen.po:ary of the Herdmanston line, a companion-in-arms of Robert I., on whose death sir Vi ilium St. Clair of Rosslyn was one of the knights selected to accompany the good sir ;limes Douglas, with the heart. of his sovereign, to Jerusalem. With the Dmrlits. he led iu battle against the Moors in 1330. But. the fortunes and importance ef the faisi'y were principally due to the marriage of the son of this sir William with the dauslaer of Manse, earl of Strathearn, Caithness, and Orkney, and heiress of the Norwegian Jsrls of the Orkneys. Id this way the St- Clair family acquired the earldom of Orkney, melded with some very stringent conditions of fealty to the of Norway, a% hielr {Sunlit have rendered it impossible for him, in the event of a war king the countries, to have retained both his Scotch and his Norse possessions. The Orkney earldom was, however, acknowledged and confirmed to him by Robert H.; and for the next two generations the power of the family continued to be little less than princely, the St. Clair influence being further increased by intermarriages with near relatives of the royal house of Scot land. William, the third earl, held the high offices of lord admiral, lord justice-gencral, lord chancellor, and lord warden the three marches. He was made earl or Caithnessin 1450. At his castle of Rosslyn he kept up an almost regal state and pomp. lie founded and endowed a collegiate church there, bringing skilled workmen from foreign parts to build that rich and elabqrate chapel, which is still among the architectural gems of Scotland, anti in its style more resembles the churches of Spain than those of north Britain. His daughter was given in marriage to Alexander, duke of Albany, son of
James H. On the marriage of James III. with princess Margaret of Denmark the sov ereignty of the Orkneys was made over by king Cbristiern in mortgage to the Scottish crown, a transaction which eventually led to the permanent cession of these islands. The earl soon after resigned into James's hands his earldom of Orkney, with the islands of Orkney and and as a compensation—it has been said a very inadequate one —obtained the lauds of Dysart and Ravenshengh, and the castle of Ravenseraiii in Fife. lle was still earl of Caithness and lord Sinclair, and from the extent of his possessions one of the most powerful nobles in Scotland. Instead, however, of keeping these pos sessions united, he partitioned them among his three SODS in such a way as contributed far more than the loss of the Orkneys to break down the family influence. On 1\ bikini, his eldest son, he bestowed merely the lands of Newburg. in Aberdeenshire; on his second, sir Oliver, he settled sll his estates s, of the Tay; while, with consent of the crown, he conveyed the earldom of Caithness to his youngest son, also named William.
LORDS SINCIAIR.—The eldest son of this last earl of Orkney endeavored to set aside his father's settlement, by which he had been postponed to his younger brothers, and succeeded at last in effecting an arrangement by which sir Oliver made over to Lim all the Fifeshire estates, while he renounced all claim to Rosslyn, and the other lands in the county of Edinburgh. Ile was still lord Sinclair, and on his death, on the of Flodden, he was succeeded by a line of lords Sinclair, who ranked among the more con siderable of the Scottish nobility. His grandson. lea daughter, was the notorious earl of Bothwell, third husband of queen Mary, and whom, iu memory of his maternal descent, that unhappy queen created duke of Orkney. The seventh lord Sinclair had no male issue, but a daughter, married to St. Clair of Herdmanston, the representative of the other house of Sinclair already alluded to. The son of this marriage, in virtue of a new patent obtained from Charles II., became eighth lord Sinclair—ti.is patent, sin gularly enough, bringing in, on failure of heirs male, his paternal relatives, the St. Chairs or Herdmanston, strangers in blood to the former lords Sinclair. The contingency provided for occurred in the next generation. The two sons of the eighth lord having died without issue, the title went to the Sinclairs of Herdruanston, who have ever since inherited it.