The Damned's Rat Scabies on Rennes le Chateau:"Never Mind Da Vinci"

[emad]

Never Mind Da Vinci

A punk rock legend and an ex-music journalist from Brentford – not your average Grail hunters, one might think. Nevertheless, Rat Scabies – former drummer for The Damned – and his neighbour Christopher Dawes travelled far from their native West London in search of buried treasure and secret wisdom. Recently, Rat took a break from touring, Chris interrupted working on his next book, and they hooked up with David Sutton to discuss their adventures, as described in Christopher's forthcoming book Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail. Photographs by Richard Bellia


DAVID SUTTON: How did you two meet, and what got you started on your quest?

Christopher Dawes: Well, I first met Rat because I moved in directly opposite him in Brentford. So the first thing I see when I open my curtains in the morning is his house – and, very often, him. And he has the same thing with me – we were brought together by chance. I was 15 when punk happened, and my favourite band was The Damned; it's probably what started me on a career as a music journalist. So it was a pretty weird coincidence to end up living opposite this guy who had been a big influence on me, although in all my years as a journalist I'd never actually met him.

Rat Scabies: I'd just quit the Damned and that whole show business thing and I really wanted to write something. I thought that the story of Father Bérenger Saunière is such a good one, with so many twists and turns to it, and I knew it so well that it seemed a good place to start. So I began writing a film script and trying it out on people. Having Chris, who's a writer, living opposite me meant he was one of my main targets! He'd never really heard the story before, but the more I told him about it, the more he got sucked into it.

DS: You had something of a head start with this, given that your dad is president of the Saunière Society. Was that how you were drawn into the whole Rennes-le-Château mystery?

RS: My dad's a very learned bloke, and he doesn't do anything by halves; so when he takes on something like researching the Holy Grail, he does it properly. I had to put up with hearing about it from the very first broadcast of Chronicle with Henry Lincoln , so I was always familiar with the whole story. I was particularly taken with the story of Saunière the priest; I always thought he was really engaging – sort of like an ecclesiastical Flashman.

http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/198_scabies1.shtml

[moggie]

1. Pretty unusual

A drummer who knows words like "ecclesiastical"?

[On the Road]

2. OK, Now I Get It

I have to admit that the only reason I clicked on this thread was because I couldn't make heads or tails of the subject line.