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Before we get to today’s Hidden History blog, a word: I’ll be slow updating this for the next week and a half. I’ll try to update regularly, but I will be on the road a lot. I have a TON to do this week before going up to Lansing on Thursday to speak to the top muckety-mucks of law enforcement and government for the State of Michigan. That night, we pack. I am taking Kami to Nashville on my way to Knoxville. (I know, it adds over three hours to the journey but I am reliably informed, by Kami, that Nashville is now “on the way” to anywhere I want to go) She will visit with Lucas and Kara while I give several talks at Highland View in Oak Ridge. I return to Nashville Sunday night. Then, either Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning, we head east into Appalachia to visit my parents. They moved there so that Dad could speak at various churches in West Virginia and Kentucky. He is only 78… Anyhoo, we haven’t seen them in about five months so we will take a day with them before coming home. Some of this time I won’t have internet access but I’ll keep up when I can.

Now… I try not to write about Templars. Those who DO write about them are usually way out on the fringe and make Olympic sized leaps in logic to make the Templars some sort of mega-intelligent ninjas who sailed every sea and knew everything. The real story is more wonderful and complex than the myths, however. I’ll write about them when it is time to do so. In the meantime, here is an article from The Scotsman, one of the two major daily papers in Scotland (this one comes out of Edinburgh. The Herald comes out of Glasgow). It ran just a few days ago. Remember — Scots know more about Templars than most historians because, well, we took them in and they flourished among us before going underground. The Catholic church and King Philip couldn’t reach them in our nation. Their churches and statuary are still evident all over Scotland. And we keep finding more. Here is an example of that from the 27th of October.

Mystery stone found near church linked to Knights Templar

Published Date: 27 October 2009
By CLAIRE SMITH
A MYSTERIOUS carved stone has been uncovered alongside a 12th-century church associated with the Knights Templar. What appears to be the carved top of a sarcophagus was unearthed when builders were excavating and reinforcing a wall alongside the old ruined church in Temple, Midlothian.

But the inscriptions, which include symbols similar to those found in Viking monuments, in medieval graves and in West Highland Celtic carvings, have baffled archaeologists.

Crispin Phillips, who is renovating a house alongside The Old Parish Church, said: “I was on a mission to repair the wall – which was falling into the graveyard. We got near the bottom of the foundations and found something buried there.

“We found one stone carved with a cross and then another with these carvings on it.”

He added: “We spent about half an hour in philosophical discussions about what we should do about it. I felt we should do something, rather than just bury it again.”

Mr Phillips contacted Historic Scotland and East Lothian Council, whose archaeologists cover Midlothian.

He said the stone had been photographed and recorded but he was still unclear whether further investigations would be carried out. “One of the archaeologists who came out told us it was probably from the early 12th century,” he added. “But really I’m still in limbo about what to do about it.”

Historian and author John Ritchie said the stone raised many questions. “It is a crude carving, quite primitive, but I have never seen anything like it in my life,” he said. “It has a whole series of symbols on it and the symbols are very interesting.

“The symbols at the bottom look like Viking sun compasses, while the dials at the top look a little bit like a Celtic cross but with notches carved on them.”

Expert David Connolly, of Connolly Heritage Consultancy, said he believed the stone was from the 13th or 14th century.

“It is a significant site because it was the Templar Preceptory for Scotland,” he said. “I think from the condition, it may once have been set inside the church – which was once much bigger,” he added.

“He could be a Templar, he could be a Hospitaller, he could just be a knight who wanted to be buried there – but the heraldry is like nothing anyone has seen before.”

He added that he hoped further study of the stone was possible in the future.

Mr Phillips said he planned to complete the rebuilding of the 17th-century graveyard wall and would build an arch into it so the half-buried carvings could still be seen by interested scholars.

However historian and author Michael Turnbull said he doubted the find was significant: “There were certainly Templars there but this might be a fake.”

THE village of Temple in Midlothian takes its name from the Knights Templar, who once had their Scottish Preceptory – their headquarters – there.

The ruined chapel, which nestles in the valley at the foot of the village, is all that remains of what was once an abbey founded by the Templars on lands gifted by David I of Scotland in 1127.

Founded during the Crusades, the Templars was a religious order of knights whose mission was to protect Christians in the Holy Land.

Some say they invented international banking, with a system of credit letters used to pass funds to people fighting in the Crusades. The Templars certainly grew rich and powerful. According to some accounts they were the holders of treasures from Jerusalem.

But the organisation came under suspicion from the royalty of Europe and the Catholic Church. Templars were hunted down and burned at the stake.

Legend has it some of those fleeing persecution hid in this Midlothian village – bringing their treasure with them.

According to local legend some of this treasure still lies buried in Temple: “Twixt the oak and the elm tree/You will find buried the millions free.”