"I'm gettin' tae that. Fleein' France, the survivin' Templars branched oot intae two successful Orders, the Sovereign Military Order o' the Temple o' Jerusalem an' the Freemasons. Many o' the Fraternal Order came tae Scotland, which had been a stronghold for the Templars back in the day o' Hughes de Paynes, him havin' worked oot a deal wi' King David of Scotland for the lands of Ballatradoch. Robert the Bruce an' the Stewart Clan were all born into the Order, which eventually became kent as the Masonic Templar. Thus, the Scots Royal line wis established, linkin' us tae the bloodline o' King David o' Jerusalem an' his son, Solomon, who commissioned his Temple be built by a Master Mason. Remember, it wis Solomon's Temple that held the Arc of the Covenant an' its wealth o' secrets. Many believe the Knights were the ones left to guard it, and when a Templar guards somethin', it stays guarded.

"Anyway, after Bonnie Prince Charlie fell at Culloden, the Masons continued their attempts tae re-establish oor bloodlines an' adopt the Templar laws intae Scotland's crown. This movement became kent as the Scottish Rite, an' it wis very popular in the Colonies durin' the American Revolution. Fact is, both George Washington an' Benjamin Franklin were Knights, an' they based much o' America's Declaration o' Independence on the teachings o' the Masonic Temple."

I listened intently, this, the first serious conversation I could recall ever having with my father. I was amazed at his depth of knowledge, but suspected he was again setting me up for something.

"… the Puritans, being a narrow-minded an' superstitious lot, were aye accusin' folk o' witchcraft, while the Masons encouraged scientific discoveries; the law of gravity, the invention o' the reflectin' telescope, an' the list goes on."

"You're a Templar Knight, too, aren't you?"

He paused then, thinking it over. "Wis, Gracie, I wis, 'til that bastard, Alban MacDonald, removed me frae the Order. Can ye believe it? Me, a direct descendant frae Sir William Wallace himsel', kicked oot o' the Masonry? The Wallace clan's aye given oor all for Scotland. It wis a descendent o' Wallace that spilt blood at Bannockburn wi' the Bruce. An' when the Bruce died, a Wallace went tae the Holy Land, only tae find oor entourage outnumbered by the Moors at Teba. There, in Calavatra—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know the story, and stop exaggerating! It was there that the Black Douglas, Sir James the Good, flung the Bruce's heart into the Moorish lines and proclaimed, 'Go Braveheart and we, your Knights will follow,' and that's where the name, Braveheart, was really coined."

He shook his head. "Why dae I waste my time?"

"Just answer me this, Angus. If you were such a chivalrous Templar, why did Alban MacDonald expel you."