Sinclairs--Gypsies--Freemasons

 In 1574 Scotland decreed all gypsies in custody to be whipped, branded on the cheek and or to have their right ear cut off. By 1616 there was systematic deportation of all gypsies that were arrested to Virginia, Barbados and Australia.

In 1559 Sir William Sinclair was Lord Justice General of Scotland under Queen Marguerite. His family Clan Sinclair were the life long supporters of the Knight Templar's and Masonic doctrine. During the 16^th Century the Sinclair's had also become protectors of the gypsies, who enjoyed the protection of the Roslyn Castle.

There was an occasion when Sir William intervened in the execution of a gypsy. From that point on the gypsies made annual pilgrimages to Roslyn Castle, in May and June, where the Sinclair's were delighted by their appearance.

The gypsies would congregate in the fields outside of Roslyn Castle and perform plays all day long. It is said that Sir William Sinclair made two towers of Roslyn Castle available to the gypsies for the duration of their stay. The towers became known as Robin Hood and Little John.

 It is interesting to note that every May the gypsies throughout England and Scotland performed the annual May-Tide celebration. The plays performed were of Robin Hood (Robyn Hode) and the “Merry Men”. These plays were officially forbidden by decree.

 In 1555 on June 20^th, the Scottish parliament decreed that it was unlawful to represent Robyn Hood, Little John, the Abbott of Unreason, or the Queen of May.

 The gypsies were credited with great insight, so were the Freemasons. One of the earliest mention of the Freemasons in recorded history was in the poem by Henry Patterson, “The Muses Threnodie” which appeared in 1638.

                         “For we be brethren of the Rosy Cross;

            we have the Mason word, and second insight,

            things for to come we can foretell aught.”

  This suggests that the Freemasons were occultists. The powers in question were unmistakably gypsy: The common denominator between gypsy's and Freemasonry was Sir William Sinclair.

  It is interesting to note that a”Company of Strolling Players” “actors” who were gypsies played regularly at the home of the Chief Justice of Scotland.

  This of course raises the question why should the plays have been banned? Could it have been because the play glorified an “outlaw gang?” Perhaps because of the expansion of Protestant belief, that held all theater as being immoral?

 Robin Hood was a species of fairy based on Celtic mythology, the “Green Man” god of fertility or vegetation. The Robin Hood legend was a means to reintroduce the fertility rites of ancient paganism back into Christian England.

 Every May there would be a celebration, distinctly pagan in origin. They would act around the May-Pole, which was the symbol of sexuality and fertility.

 On this day every virgin would become the Queen of May. They would be ushered into the 'greenwood' where they would undergo their sexual initiation by a youth playing “Robin Hood". While Friar Tuck would take on the role of the “Abbott of Unreason,” who would then officiate, “blessing” the mating couples, in a a ritual of formal nuptials.

 May Day in fact would be a day of orgy! Nine months later it would produce throughout the British Isles an annual crop of children. It was from these festivals that the names “Robinson, Robert, Robertson” were originated from.

 So the May-Tide celebration was not conventional theater that we have today but a pagan fertility rite. All Christians whether Roman Catholic or Protestants would consider this scandalous and sinful.

 It is significant that the Sinclair's not only allowed but promoted these celebrations and protected the participants. Roslyn Chapel not only provided an excellent setting for these celebrations but perhaps was specifically designed for them.

 The basic theme of Roslyn Chapel despite the Christian cosmetics was unquestionably pagan and Celtic. The most prominent feature is of the “Green Man” A human head that has vines protruding from it's mouth and ears and then tangling and spreading wildly.

 This head never has a body attached to it and appears every where you turn in Roslyn Chapel. This was also the symbolic head that the Knight Templar's were accused of worshiping!

 Roslyn Chapel's severed head not only represents the Celtic Green Man but also the severed heads of ancient Celtic tradition, both of which were symbols of fertility. Roslyn was representative of both the Templar's and Celtic Scotland which Robert the Bruce was trying to restore.

At Roslyn Chapel there is a merging of ancient traditions and also current traditions for it's time. The chivalric Templar legacy merging with the “Traveling Performing gypsies”. The Sinclairs dealing with the “operative stone masons” who worked under their direction. All of these elements converging were fundamental in the formation of Freemasonry.