Post by Robert Braun on Jun 3, 2002 8:52:20 GMT -5
Found this item in the Austin American-Statesman newspaper:
Who discovered America? Scots stake their claim.
By Erik Rodriguez
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, June 2, 2002
They may not be able to yank Columbus out of the history books, but members of Austin's Scottish heritage group say they know who really discovered America: a Scot named Henry Sinclair.
Columbus was about a century late, said Donnelle McKaskle, director of the Texas Highlanders. The group held a picnic Saturday at Zilker Park to pay homage to Sinclair, an earl of the Orkney Islands in Scotland.
"He came into the Americas about 100 years before Columbus," McKaskle said. "He didn't come as a colonist; he came as an explorer."
Historians agree Sinclair was a Norman who became an earl in the 1360s and died about 1400. Some say in 1398 he made a voyage to the New World, arriving safely at modern-day Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. Others aren't convinced.
Saturday's Sinclair picnic featured Highlander members in traditional Scottish kilts, a bagpiper and live Celtic music. The group was formed four months ago to be a social club and to provide assistance for Scottish immigrants in Central Texas, McKaskle said.
Sinclair also has been linked to other Scottish legends, including fighting in the crusades and finding the mythical Holy Grail, said Ron Bruce, who attended the event with his children.
So why hasn't Sinclair's voyage debunked Columbus? Much of the evidence is not substantial, and by the time Columbus arrived on the American continent in 1492, printed materials were able to be widely distributed, Bruce said.
"Columbus got better press," he said.
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Who discovered America? Scots stake their claim.
By Erik Rodriguez
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, June 2, 2002
They may not be able to yank Columbus out of the history books, but members of Austin's Scottish heritage group say they know who really discovered America: a Scot named Henry Sinclair.
Columbus was about a century late, said Donnelle McKaskle, director of the Texas Highlanders. The group held a picnic Saturday at Zilker Park to pay homage to Sinclair, an earl of the Orkney Islands in Scotland.
"He came into the Americas about 100 years before Columbus," McKaskle said. "He didn't come as a colonist; he came as an explorer."
Historians agree Sinclair was a Norman who became an earl in the 1360s and died about 1400. Some say in 1398 he made a voyage to the New World, arriving safely at modern-day Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. Others aren't convinced.
Saturday's Sinclair picnic featured Highlander members in traditional Scottish kilts, a bagpiper and live Celtic music. The group was formed four months ago to be a social club and to provide assistance for Scottish immigrants in Central Texas, McKaskle said.
Sinclair also has been linked to other Scottish legends, including fighting in the crusades and finding the mythical Holy Grail, said Ron Bruce, who attended the event with his children.
So why hasn't Sinclair's voyage debunked Columbus? Much of the evidence is not substantial, and by the time Columbus arrived on the American continent in 1492, printed materials were able to be widely distributed, Bruce said.
"Columbus got better press," he said.
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