One story from that book I'd like to share here, as it gave me a good laugh
and as it's only a tiny bit of the whole book I hope this complies with "fair use" under copyright legislation
The Stone of DestinyThe Stone of Destiny, one of the most sacred stones on the planet is thought to be Jacob's pillow, taken by him while in Haran, in present-day Turkey, and brought to Ireland by a Scythian princess, daughter of the Pharaoh Smenkhkare, when she married the exiled Greek prince, Gaylethus, and was then called Scota (ruler of the people).
According to legend Scota pursued the Children of Israel out of Egypt on their Exodus to the Promised Land, but shortly thereafter the couple were forced to lead an exodus of their own out of Egypt, going first to Spain, then Ireland and, finally, to Scotland, which was named after her. Scota's bloodline flowed down the centuries through all the high Kings of Ireland and Scotland, but Gaylethos' pedigree was more ancient still, stretching back many more generations to the Old Testament patriarch Noah, eldest survivor of the Biblical Flood.
When King Fergus I entered Argyll in AD 503 to set up the Dalriadic kingdom of the Scots the tradition was so strong that he sent for the stone which, for the next 400 years remained on the island of Iona.
In the 10th century it was transferred to Scone in Perthshire (Scone - Gaelic from sgonnsa, a protective shadow, which it may well have been). The original stone was said to be black, marble-like, of meteoric origin, with hooks for carrying poles, and was used as a portable altar.
King Edward I, 'The Hammer of the Scots', eager to be crowned on this much revered magnetic altar, rampaged across Scotland as far north as Elgin, sweeping all opposition aside, then returned to Scone, stealing the sacred stone as spoils of the war, and, as had so often happened before, and since, taking every record of the country they could lay their hands on, typical of any invading army, which always takes the sacred relics of the country to psychically bring it to its knees.
The monks however had fully six weeks to prepare for this event, and the stone that Edward carried back to England could never have been the original one, for the stone which until 1951 lay beneath the Coronation chair in Westminster was a block of flawed lower old red sandstone, indigenous to Perthshire. Some even point out that as this stone has rings at each end, it was much more likely to have been a 'cludgy cover' - (cludgy, old Scots, lavatory) a heavy stone placed on top of a foul-smelling cesspit - even monks have a sense of humor!