of Strathearn, the Rosabelle of Scott?s beautiful
ballad, which tells us-
? There are twenty of Roslin?s barons bold,
Lie buried in that proud chapelle,
But the sea holds lovely Rosabelle.
With candle, with book, and with bell ;
The dirge of lovely Rosabelle.?
Each one the holy vault doth hold,
And each St. Clair is buried there,
But the sea caves sung, and the wild waves rung,
In 1264, Sir William, sixth of Roslin, was
Sheriff of Edinburgh, Linlithgow, and Haddington
( r r Chamberlain Rolls ?7, and it was his son and successor,
Sir Henry, who obtained from Robert I.,
for his good and faithful services, a charter of
Pentland Muir, and to whom (and not to a Sir William)
the well-known tradition of the famous huntingmatch
thereon, which led to the founding of
the chapel of St. Katherine in the Hope, must
refer. With that muir he obtained other lands,
whjch were ?all erected into a free forestry, for
payment of a tenth part of one soldier yearly, in
His son, Sir William, was one of the chosen
companions of the good Sir James Douglas, whom
he accompanied in the mission to convey Bruce?s
1317.?
heart to Jerusalem, and with whom he perished in
battle with the Moors at Teba, in 1331, He left
an infant son, who, in 1350, was ambassador at the
Court of England, whither he repaired with a train
of sixty armed horse. He married Isabella,
daughter of Malise, Earl of Strathearn, and was
succeeded by his son, Sir Henry Sinclair of Roslin,
who was created Earl of Orkney by Haco, King of
Norway, in 1379-a title confirmed by Robert 11.
According to Douglas, he married Florentina, a
daughter of the King of Denmark. Nisbet adds
that he was made Lord of Shetland and Duke of
Oldenburg (which is considered doubtful), and
that he was Knight of the Thistle, Cockle, and
Golden Fleece.
William, third earl, resigned his earldom of
Orkney in favour of King James IIL, and adopted
that of Caithness, which he resigned in 1476 to
his son TVilliam, who became distinguished by the
baronial grandeur of his household, and was the
founder of the chapel. It is of him that Father
Hay writes as ?a prince,? who maintained at the
Castle of Roslin royal state, and was served at his
table in vessels of gold and silver. Lord Dirleton
was the master of his household, Lord Borthwick
