reply to post by Rockpuck
I realize this thread is a bit old now, but James Francis Edward Keith really was the all the things the original poster is laying out... minus world
dominator (well, who knows I guess anything is possible). Actually, I'm a direct descendant who has a decent collection of books, letters, and other
"artifacts." The guys was a Jacobite rebeller, and the second son of Scotland's highest ranking noble family. He left Scotland at 19 and
eventually made his way into the council of rulers because of his military skills. The world was "smaller" then and kings knew kings. As the
saying goes, it's not what you know but who, and in this case james had the corner market on both knowledge and connection. He was the governor of
Berlin as well at one time. In his relatively short life he lead many armies in many countries and settled in the service of Frederic the Great who
not only counted him a close friend, but mourned his loss. In a letter from Frederick to James's brother George he expresses his deep sadness. He
then comemorated James every year and eventually one of the military units was named after him. anyway, yes, he was busy...I don't know if he was
necessarily involved in trying to take over the world though. However, in the spirit of fun, I will throw another log on the fire...the Keiths, along
with the Sinclairs and many other Scottish notibles gained their titles from Banockburn, which some say was won because of the help of dispersed
Knights Templars.