Dubai-based author Andrew MacLeod on new novel 'The Stone of Destiny'

Dubai-based author Andrew Neil MacLeod put the #StayHome measures amidst the Covid pandemic to good use, completing his first two novels during that period.

The Fall of the House of Thomas Weir, the first book in The Casebook of Johnson and Boswell trilogy, was released in July 2021. In a past interview with City Times, MacLeod had described his debut novel as “inspired by the historic town of Edinburgh with its tales of ghosts, ghouls, witches and weirdness.”

MacLeod’s hero is Doctor Samuel Johnson, a “celebrated wit who wrote the first English dictionary” who with his close friend and biographer James Boswell embarks “on a quest to unravel supernatural mysteries plaguing the city.”

MacLeod’s The Casebook of Johnson and Boswell series reinvents real-life historical figures as an 18th century Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson.

Johnson and Boswell’s adventures continue in MacLeod’s recently released second book, The Stone of Destiny.

We caught up with the author to know more.

What first intrigued you about the real Stone of Destiny and why did you decide to write a book around it?

The real Stone of Destiny was a sacred relic used for centuries in the coronation of Scottish Kings, who would sit upon it to be crowned. The stone was stolen away by the English during the Wars of Independence, and taken to Westminster Abbey, where it was kept in perpetuity for the next 700 years.

However, the story goes that the crafty Scots substituted the true Stone of Destiny for a medieval forgery, and the real stone is still out there somewhere, hidden away to protect it from English invaders. The hunt for such a sacred relic makes for a captivating mystery, much like the quest for the Holy Grail, a story which has captured readers’ imaginations from the times of King Arthur to the Indiana Jones movies.

What kind of research went into backing up your theory and writing The Stone of Destiny?

The theory goes that the Coronation Stone of Westminster Abbey—the legendary Stone of Destiny—is a fake. It’s a theory that is often discussed in history books, but was first brought to public attention by the former First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, who is not only a scholar of medieval history, but the man who brought Scotland the closest it has ever been to independence in the past three hundred years.

I had the honour of being interviewed by Mr Salmond recently as part of my book launch, where we discussed the Stone of Destiny before a live audience in the historic town of Stirling.

History tells us the Stone of Destiny was dragged back to London as a spoil of war in 1296 by one Edward Plantagenet, the English King more commonly known as ‘Edward Longshanks’, a name some may recognize as the baddie from the movie Braveheart. But most likely Longshanks was duped by the Scots, and fobbed off with a worthless forgery. Many historical documents support this claim. Medieval chronicles describe the real Stone of Destiny as an ornate throne carved from a solid block of marble, which according to the legend would cry for joy whenever the true King of Scots sits upon it. However the current stone, which is soon to be used in the coronation of King Charles III, is an entirely unremarkable block of sandstone.

Historical novels often walk a fine line between fact and fiction. What can readers expect from your second novel?

The Stone of Destiny is an anthology of mystery tales, each connected to the search for Scotland’s sacred stone. It’s a form of storytelling that started in the Golden Age of Islam with the Arabian Nights, and continues to this day in popular culture, not just in books, but with anthology shows like Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.

It’s pure escapism, the purpose of which is to entertain. But through careful blending of fact and fiction I also hope to stimulate an interest in Scottish history. The great thing about historical fiction is that even where there are historical inaccuracies, such as in movies like Braveheart, it nevertheless opens up a dialogue, encouraging readers to find the truth for themselves.

Would you ever embark on an adventure to solve historical mysteries with a friend, like Doctor Samuel Johnson and James Boswell did?

As a matter of fact I did embark on a historical adventure, though there were no mysteries involved. The real Doctor Johnson, who famously wrote the English Dictionary, toured the Scottish Highlands with his best friend James Boswell in 1773. For our honeymoon, my wife Amber and I embarked on a road trip of our own, following in the footsteps of the two literary heroes. Our journey began at Edinburgh’s Witchery Hotel, the historic site where so many innocent women were burned at the stake for witchcraft.

The trail led north to Inverness, capital of the Highlands, and from there we passed through the Great Glen to the Western Isles, where Johnson and Boswell themselves were guests of honour of Clan Chief John MacLeod. The Isle of Skye is a land steeped in legend, myth and folklore, and when the morning mist rolls down over the brooding Cuillin Mountains, it is easy to see why.

During our stay at Raasay House I discovered a mildewed copy of Doctor Johnson’s Journey to the Western Isles in the library, and after an encounter with the hotel’s resident ghost, I was inspired to write my own series of books, reinventing Johnson and Boswell as paranormal detectives on the trail of Scotland’s most elusive relic.

What were some of the books you read growing up that contributed to your interest in history, folklore and myth?

Much of my childhood was spent in Glasgow with my grandfather Calum MacLeod, a big man from the Highlands of Scotland who instilled in me a love of storytelling and poetry. From him I inherited a love of Celtic myth and legend, which forms the basis of my Casebook of Johnson and Boswell series.

The first book that really inspired my love of history was Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped. The main character Alan Breck, who plays an older-brother-like figure to David Balfour, is the prototype of anti-heroes like Han Solo and Captain Jack Sparrow, and the relationship between the two friends very much inspired the ‘odd-couple’ relationship between my own main characters. Doctor Johnson was famously scathing of the Scots, whereas his best friend James Boswell was a proud Scottish patriot, which makes for a fascinating dynamic. Their nationalistic rivalry and bickering interplay very much forms the heart of the novel.

• Dubai author Andrew Neil MacLeod celebrates debut novel