If anyone is interested, I have set out W T Laird's Letter of 31st December 1888 (with reference to its source) together with the College of Arms' reply to our inquiry on our website: "http://ourworld.cs.com/INSLaird/". The URL for the letter is "http://ourworld.cs.com/inslaird/1888_Letter.htm". Though the supposed German origin of the family is discounted as is the alleged genealogy found in "Chancery", there is much that is factually correct in the letter that is relevant to Lairds and Sinclairs alike. I have set links to some of the factual accuracies from our "Origins of the Surname Laird" page at "http://ourworld.cs.com/inslaird/Origins.htm". Yours aye Iain