The Adept Book 3 The Templar Treasure (31 page)

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Authors: Katherine Kurtz,Deborah Turner Harris

BOOK: The Adept Book 3 The Templar Treasure

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Historical Afterword

THE BACKGROUND
on the suppression of the Order of the Temple of Jerusalem is essentially accurate, barring the existence of the casket and the three hallows that guarded it. Since the Templars were accused of worshipping a head, a crown/relic such as we describe could have been the basis for such an accusation.

The background on Bonnie Dundee is historically accurate other than his association with the Crown of Solomon. The neck cross he is said to have been wearing at his death at Killiecrankie disappeared after David Grahame conveyed it to the French theologian and historian Dom Calmet, but it easily could have ended up in the hands of cadet Grahams as postulated, and might well have been used to invest Prince Charles Edward Stuart at Holyrood Palace in 1745. A ring containing a lock of Dundee’s hair is known to have existed, but its present whereabouts is unknown.

James Seton, fourth Earl of Dunfermline, is a likely candidate to have cut the lock of hair, since he was one of Dundee’s most tried and trusted officers, a close personal friend, and is known to have been present at his burial. He was the owner of Fyvie Castle at that time, and came from a line of Setons whose antecedents included Knights Hospitallers—and who possibly were secret Templars as well, after the suppression of the Order. The names of Seton’s two daughters are unknown, as is their fate, but they probably would have been in their twenties at the time of Dundee’s death. Seton’s wife was named Jean, as was an earlier Seton daughter, and the name Grizel also appears twice in earlier generations of Seton women. James Seton died in exile in 1674, and the Dunfermline title became extinct.

The references cited are genuine.

— K.K., Bray, Co. Wicklow, Ireland