IONA

IONA                                                                                                Virginia Gow 28/02/13

Who dares to ride this crossing in such foul weather? A lone muffled figure scans the horizon from the pitching deck. Some inner warmth is needed for the Professor as he grips the ferry’s rails. A nip of whisky will warm him.  Lurching across the deck to the seat that straddles the wall, he pulls a flask of single malt from his leather briefcase. As he slowly sips his eyes study the contents of his briefcase and he realizes that something is missing.

Off the western coast of Scotland lies the Isle of Iona.  Famed as the resting place of many kings, it is a hermit’s joy and a Queen’s sorrow. It’s a wee tiny place three miles by one.  What power holds sway over its salty air as it appears to idle in the wind? Mists whisper, ‘The veils of time are thin on Iona as they weave and wander through the awesome light.’ Why does this island draw traveler and scholar from everywhere to its shores? To walk on its hallowed, timeless earth catch a ferry from Oban, traverse Mull, and then another short but rocky ferry ride across the straits to Iona. Around two thousand years ago a few Druids hid on this island to escape Rome’s despairing eyes. They painted blue woad, made from mustard leaves, upon their faces and danced a magic ring upon the earth to sing up the land. Saint Columba and his band of twelve monks rowed from Ireland to Scotland and established the monastic tradition on this island in the Early Middle Ages.

It is high summer morning and a mighty gale blows around the ferry and the storm whips wild waves over the bow. This is a true Scottish tempest straight from a Shakespearean drama. Iona is the final resting place for the real King Macbeth. Travelling here to read tombstones, this renowned scholar hopes to locate the lost crypt of a hidden library. He believes that the crypt holds texts from ancient Greece and Persia, scrolls of Druidic recipes and reference material used by the monks to write the Book of Kells. The Book of Kells is an illuminated manuscript of Gospels in Latin displayed in Trinity College, Dublin and is regarded as a national treasure of Ireland. It has long been rumoured that a chamber of secrets lay beneath the ancient seat of the Stone of Destiny. Records tell that this Stone rested here before it was taken to Edinburgh Castle for the crowning of the Kings of Scotland.

There are many legends about the stone.  The origin of the stone is unknown. Geologists think it came from near Scone but folklore has it that it was brought from Tara in Ireland. Tara is a hill where Irish kings made vows and bards made music sweet upon its famous harp. Some claim the stone was made in Biblical times and brought from the Middle East to Tara in BCE (Before Common Era). Stolen by England and taken to London, England and Scotland fought over the stone for centuries. The Stone of Destiny now resides in Edinburgh Castle, returned by the English to its rightful place.

To balance historicism, he seeks the treasure of knowledge to be found in ancient books. Inside a stone hospital, carved into tombstones there are patterns in code that will unlock the path to the crypt.  He has left his decoder at home, but hopes that his memory is adequate and his quest be fulfilling.