I was in Roslin Chapel today - not been there for more than a year
(i.e. before _The Da Vinci Code_ came out). It's not far from here
and I've been a few times before.

****** it's busy. Ten times as many visitors. And they're doing
a roaring trade in _The Da Vinci Code_, crank booklets about every
Masonic/Templar angle imaginable, videos, Green Man tea towels, the
whole bit. The one thing they haven't capitalized on is the Gypsy
connection, documented in some very good displays in the upstairs
museum - given the murderously racist tendencies in current British
politics it would be no bad thing if they did something about this.

This time, I remembered to bring an instrument (an alto flute).
If you are with some other people, station them in the nave while
you play or sing something in the crypt and have them watch the
reaction from other visitors. The resonance it creates is awe-
inspiring. When I first tried it, singing the "Vexilla Regis"
unaccompanied, somebody asked who the choir was.

(An even better effect is the echo in the mausoleum of the Dukes
of Hamilton - another Masonic building but much less well known.
I think it's the longest echo in Britain).

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
Jack Campin: 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland | tel 0131 660 4760
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