Abbotsford House Joins Da Vinci Code Trail

Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian, south of Edinburgh, is bracing itself for the onslaught of visitors motivated to join the "Da Vinci Code Trail" now that the film of Dan Brown's fictional novel has been released.

It has been estimated that hundreds of thousands of visitors will flock to Rosslyn in the next few years, even though few expect to find any trace of the Holy Grail. Visitor numbers in 1998 were not more than 6000!!

Needless to say, other locations with a connection with the book or the film are happy to cash in too. Sir Walter Scott was well ahead of the media hype and with his keen interest in Scottish history, was a frequent visitor to Rosslyn in the early 19th century. As a result, the ceiling in his library at Abbotsford House near Peebles built in 1812 was modeled after that in the chapel. Scott also wrote extensively about the Knights Templar and referred in his works to "caskets" - one of the clues in the Da Vinci Code.

Abbotsford House could certainly benefit from an increase in visitor numbers - the National Trust for Scotland is trying to raise £10 million to create a fund to pay for the upkeep of the building and avoid it having to close to the public.