Editorial by Rory Sinclair in Roslin O Roslin, Winter 2000 (Vol 3
No 18). The "3-legged stool" was Clan Sinclair with its
organizations in Canada, the USA and the UK; Brad Sinclair Barker was
the President of Clan Sinclair USA; and John Sinclair Quarterman's website
hosted the Sinclair Discussion List.
3-Legged Stool Collapses and Resurrects Itself as 4-Legged Chair!
The Internet has had its first great victory at least as far as Clan
Sinclair is concerned. And Brad Sinclair Barker's 3-legged stool is now
a chair resting on 4 strong legs.
At least since last February, since your editor joined the Sinclair
discussion group run by John Sinclair Quarterman in the USA, there have
been lots of spirited contributors from all over the world but it was clear
that the Australians were a special bunch.
- Margaret Sinclair Stokes (a distant cousin of Niven's)
from Melbourne was one of the spunkiest and her email name Milamba was
on the page at least four times a week.
- John Sinclair McIntyre, also from Australia, was not
quite as active on the list but he and your editor exchanged many emails
on piping and on the upcoming Sinclair Gathering 2000 in Scotland.
- Finally there was Anne Geisler from Queensland who placed
an number of very interesting historical items on the Sinclair pages
concerning her Sinclair ancestors and the role they played in some mining
disputes in the early days of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Towards the end of 1999, to the astonishment and delight of the other
members of the Sinclair Discussion Group, these three, almost as suddenly
as it took Micky Rooney to shout "Hey, let's put on a show!"
in very short order decided to found Clan Sinclair Australia. We all felt
like mid-wives or nervous fathers or visiting Magi for it all seemed to be
a miracle.
Margaret is President, Annie is Secretary, and John is Treasurer.
The messages of applause and support poured in when Margaret announced
the birth of the new Clan Sinclair organization: they have now begun their
first recruiting drive. Our Chief, Malcolm Caithness has agreed to be
their patron and to pay a visit this year to get things off to a roaring
start.
This would not have happened without the Internet. These three might
have met but it would have taken either a large fluke or an extraordinary
effort on the part of some individual - such as the work of Dr. E.G.
Sinclair in getting Clan Sinclair off the ground in Canada in the 1960s
and '70s and the work of David Sinclair Bouschor in doing similar work
in the USA. That work involved physically going to different venues and
composing newspaper ads and taking and making the phone calls to make it
happen.
This is in no way to suggest that any organization that does not go
through the "pen and pencil" stage is somehow cheating - everyone
would have avoided it if he or she could have or if he or she could have
used a tool like the Internet.
This is also not to suggest that the Internet is the panacea that will
cure the ills of the world: but it can put people together more easily than
might occur without it. And anything that makes it easier to put people
together can only be a good thing.
And so it goes - our Clan continues to go from strength to strength.
Long Live Clan Sinclair Australia! Long Live Clan Sinclair!
Top
© Clan Sinclair Association Canada.
All rights reserved.
Maintained by admin@clansinclaircanada.ca
