The ludicrous Westford Gunn ludicrous myth The Westford Clan Gunn knight myth I have dealt with before, see http://clangunn.weebly.com/on-a-gunn-helping-discover-north-america---sir-james-gunn-of-clyth-crowner-of-caithness-and-the-westford-knight-myth.html but following on from the book mentioned in the previous entry I looked at the supposed Gunn Westford shield (http://www.caithness.org/caithnessfieldclub/bulletins/1992/clan_gunn_zeno.htm). It sort of - at best - bears a 'lymphad' - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lymphad#Examples - being an heraldic boat. These lymphads are most commonly associated with the clans of the western side of Scotland, not Caithness and Sutherland. So, another unlikely aspect is added to this Gunn Westford knight myth...
Wikipedia's view is worth noting - Such claims are rejected as pseudoarchaeology by mainstream historians and archaeologists, who believe the knight is the product of Frank Glynn's imagination.[10] A recent investigation of the rock by David K. Schafer, Curatorial Assistant for Archaeology at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University, [1] concluded that except for the "sword handle", which is definitely a punch carving, the entire feature consists of naturally-formed scratches caused by glaciation. The local town historian of Westford has stated that there is evidence that the T-shaped inscription was made in the late 19th century. Furthermore, historians believe that the area around the rock has undergone erosion since the clearing of trees in the 18th century, and that during the time of the alleged voyage by Sinclair, the rock was probably in a hardwood forest covered by 3 or 4 ft (1 or 1.3 m) of earth. Moreover, the area of Westford is inland and not easily accessible by water, making it highly improbable that any nautical voyage would venture there. There is no evidence that Sinclair or Gunn ever actually traveled to the Americas. Historians point out that the timing is inconsistent with documented history, as at the time of the alleged voyage (1398), the Order of the Knights Templar was not in existence, having been publicly disbanded ninety years earlier. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westford_Knight accessed 21 October 2014 The problem with this myth and the many other Clan Gunn pseudo-history myths is it's a case of trying to show why the equivalent of conspiracy theories are untrue.....
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