Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail is a 2005 nonfiction book by Christopher Dawes about a quest for the Holy Grail undertaken with Rat Scabies, the drummer of the English punk band The Damned. It is a humorous travel and history narrative, not a religious text. This post summarizes what the book is, who its people are, and how it relates to the Grail legend.
Short answer
The book is a gonzo-style account of Christopher Dawes and his neighbour Rat Scabies searching for the Holy Grail, beginning with the mysteries of Rennes-le-Château in southern France. It was published in 2005 by Sceptre in the United Kingdom and by Thunder’s Mouth Press in the United States. Its subject matter belongs to European Grail legend and modern conspiracy-themed nonfiction, not to Hindu scripture, deity worship, or Hindu tradition.
What the book is
Author and publication details
According to Wikipedia’s entry for the book, Christopher Dawes wrote it and it was published by Sceptre Books in the UK and Thunder’s Mouth Press in the US. The same entry lists the genre as gonzo journalism and the publication date as 2005, with a 2006 printing noted in the infobox. Page counts differ across listings: Wikipedia gives 325 pages, while the Goodreads listing gives 336 pages. Readers should check the edition they plan to buy.
Premise
The book describes Dawes as a neighbour of Rat Scabies in Brentford, a London suburb. Wikipedia says the two became friends there, and that Scabies introduced Dawes to the alleged mystery of Rennes-le-Château, a remote French village linked with many esoteric theories. The trips described in the book also include Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland and an invitation to a Knights Templar initiation ceremony.
Characters and tone
Wikipedia notes a supporting cast that includes Henry Lincoln, co-author of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, along with treasure hunters, occultists, and self-described alien channelers. The Bookseller’s description, quoted by Wikipedia, calls the book “The Da Vinci Code gets the punk rock treatment.” That comparison describes the book’s marketing and tone. It does not establish the book’s factual reliability.
Who is Rat Scabies?
Wikipedia’s article on Rat Scabies gives his birth name as Christopher Millar and his birth year as 1955. He was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey. He co-founded The Damned in 1976 and played drums with the band through several changes in personnel until a dispute over the album Not of This Earth led to his departure in 1995, according to the same article.
The article also records a nickname story: Millar was given the name “Rat Scabies” during an audition for the band London SS, after he had scabies and a rat ran across a basement floor. Because this anecdote is a biographical detail reported on Wikipedia, readers should treat it as a reported story rather than an independently confirmed event.
The places and the legends
Rennes-le-Château
The book’s opening location is Rennes-le-Château, a village in southern France. A Goodreads listing for the book, which reproduces a description of the book, says that in 1891 a local priest discovered a treasure whose mystery remains unsolved. Other summaries describe the priest as Bérenger Saunière, whose sudden wealth in the late nineteenth century fed treasure and Grail theories. These are claims from book listings and secondary summaries. They describe the legend the book explores; they do not settle what happened historically.
Other settings
Goodreads also lists Paris, Rome, Glastonbury, and Tintagel as places visited in the book, along with figures such as the Cathars, the Knights Templar, the Man in the Iron Mask, and Louis XIV. These are topics that the book draws on for narrative purposes. Readers who want to check the historical background should consult academic histories of the Cathars, the Knights Templar, and Rennes-le-Château rather than relying on a comic travelogue.
Fact, legend, and narrative
The book mixes three kinds of material. The first is biographical and publishing information, which can be checked against publisher records, library catalogues, and reference works. The second is the narrative of the authors’ trips and encounters, which is the author’s account. The third is the Grail, Rennes-le-Château, and treasure legends, which are traditions and contested theories rather than settled history.
Wikipedia describes the book as a gonzo-style quest. Gonzo writing places the author inside the story, so the account reflects one writer’s perspective. A reader should not take the book’s episodes as verified events without independent confirmation.
Reception
On Goodreads, the book had an average rating of 3.97 from 294 ratings and 47 reviews when the listing was inspected. Reader comments praised its humour and its comparison with The Da Vinci Code. Ratings and reviews are informal reader opinion, not critical consensus. For professional reviews, Wikipedia cites entries from Kirkus, Booklist, and The Bookseller, but this post did not open those pages directly, so it does not summarize their verdicts.
How this relates to HindusGod.com readers
The Holy Grail is a medieval European legend connected with Arthurian literature and Christian symbolism. It is not part of the Hindu scriptural tradition, and this book is not a Hindu source. Readers looking for Hindu scriptures, deities, festivals, or devotional practice may find more relevant material in the related pages below. The links point to draft posts on the Grail topic, so they may not be public yet.
- Readers interested in Grail-related books in general can read Books About the Holy Grail (URL to confirm: draft post, may not be public).
- Readers interested in the Rennes-le-Château theories can read Holy Blood Holy Grail (URL to confirm: draft post, may not be public).
- Readers comparing the popular fiction that shares this book’s tone can read Da Vinci Code Holy Grail (URL to confirm: draft post, may not be public).
Summary
Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail is a 2005 humorous quest narrative by Christopher Dawes. It is useful as an entry point to modern Grail and treasure-hunting popular literature, provided readers keep the author’s narrative separate from documented history. It does not describe Hindu beliefs, and this post does not claim otherwise.
Sources and further reading
- Rat Scabies and The Holy Grail, Wikipedia: publication details, premise, and description of the book’s tone.
- Rat Scabies, Wikipedia: biographical details, The Damned membership, and the nickname anecdote.
- Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail, Goodreads: book description, page count, and reader ratings. User-generated reviews are not critical reviews.
- Rat Scabies and the Holy Grail, Amazon UK: product listing; availability was shown as unavailable when inspected.
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