The Rosslyn chapel's mysterious musical score cracked

Dan Brown was correct when he insinuated in his book 'The Da Vinci Code' that the elaborate carvings on the walls of the Rosslyn chapel in Scotland hold a secret.

London, May 1 : Dan Brown was correct when he insinuated in his book 'The Da Vinci Code' that the elaborate carvings on the walls of the Rosslyn chapel in Scotland hold a secret.

A musical score has been deciphered by a former codebreaker in the RAF, along with his composer son, who believe it was encrypted because knowledge of music could have been considered heretical at the time the chapel was built.

Thomas Mitchell, 75, a music teacher, insists that he was struck by the 213 carved cubes in the Lady Chapel's arches when he visited the place more than 20 years ago.

"I was obsessed by these symbols. I was convinced they meant something," the Telegraph quoted him, as saying.

So convinced was Mitchell in fact, that he teamed up with his son Stuart, a pianist and composer, to see if they could decipher the secrets of the code.

Using codebreaking skills learned during the Korean War, and Stuart's knowledge of classical music, Mitchell suddenly realised that the cubes depicted patterns made by sound waves.

"After scratching our brains for years the whole thing just came together in a eureka moment. We believe this is the Holy Grail of music and, unlike The Da Vinci Code, it is absolutely factual," said Mitchell.

According to Mr Mitchell, the patterns on the cubes seem to match a phenomenon called cymatics or Chladni patterns that are formed when a note is used to vibrate a sheet of metal or glass covered in powder.

Mr Mitchell and his son noted that the shapes present on the cubes seems to represent different frequencies produce different patterns such as flowers, diamonds and hexagons.

The two men have now used instrument from the Middle Ages to bring the music encoded in the shrine back to life. They have added words to it by using a contemporary hymn, calling their piece 'The Rosslyn Motet'.

Among the theories about Rosslyn is that it is the secret resting place of the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant and even the mummified head of Christ.

ANI