By Cort Lindahl. November, 30, 2020.
Some treasure and lost relic stories have allegories attached to them that come from older literature or any number of ancient mythologies including many legendary Greek and Roman overtones. The value of the theme of Arcadia is such an aspect of so called mysteries that have been presented to us at places like Rennes le Chateau, Shugborough Hall, Oak Island Nova Scotia, as well as the Bruton Vault and Beale Treasure mysteries of Virginia. The inclusion of the theme of Arcadia in many of these stories indicates a value of navigation and astronomy in association. This may be a “clewe” that a kind of Pirate’s map of directions is included in as part of a way to find the “treasure” at hand. Though this does not represent all the reasons the imagery of Arcadia is involved it is certainly an aspect that should not be overlooked.
These stories have in many ways been maintained in the minds of the public over wide spans of history since their discovery. A few of them may have laid dormant until later seekers uncovered what was undoubtedly similar contrived tales of lost treasures, manuscripts or other important documents. Similar sagas are seen far back in history including legends of items and documents that had been hidden by Charlemagne himself. Later a similar story was applied to the lost tomb of Christian Rosencrantz as part of the story of the Rosicrucians through history. In this way we see that it is not unusual to examine a place like Oak Island or Williamsburg Virginia with this information in mind. In some aspects these lost treasure tales may have also been crafted in an initiatory manner meant to teach the seeker concepts or history that would be commonly overlooked unless presented in a enigmatic mileu. It is in part a psychological technique being applied.
Why would someone do such a thing? There are many reasons that suggest specific concepts are being taught but would the people who crafted these stories been so cold hearted to not have left an actual treasure of some type to be found by those searching? It appears that in some cases there were items left that were related to the same concepts being taught in the quest. This is one reason two of these stories have come to include the lost papers of Sir Francis Bacon and in another case in Virginia allusions to an actual early copy of the Declaration of Independence.
It is also clear that there was an organization operating beginning in the early eighteenth century that was eminently capable of having arranged such things. There are even stories of specific members of this Society crafting historical pranks in the same vein as many classic treasure tales. This organization even included family members and relatives related to places like Oak Island and other similar stories like the Bruton Vault or Beale treasure in Virginia. Even founding father Benjamin Franklin had a direct personal friendship with many members of the Society of the Dilittanti in England.
The Society of the Dilittanti was a gentlemen’s organization that was fascinated by ancient culture and ruins in the era during which modern archaeology was beginning to develop. Many of the members came from wealthy and privileged backgrounds that included extensive trips to Europe and Middle East during which they actually often made accurate plan view drawings of ancient ruins such as the Tower of the Winds of Athens for example. Members such as James “Athenian” Stuart were among those that even produced books containing their drawings and observations. In fact it was likely Stuart who had created a fad of copies of the Tower of the Winds of Athens being built on English estates such as the ones we see today at Shugborough Hall of the Anson family and Sir Francis Dashwood’s West Wycombe Estate.
During their Grand Tours of Europe many also would collect relics, literature, art and other artifacts that applied to the places they were interested in. These men became aware of many aspects of ancient history even prior to academic sources valuing such things. Among this group of men were also a cast of characters whose names and close family relations have popped up in research related to Oak Island and other strange treasure tales in Virginia. The members of the Society of the Dilittanti were eminently capable of crafting historical legends based on what they had learned about history as well as having access to any number of ancient relics, artifacts, literature and pieces of art that they had owned or studied as part of their interest in antiquities. This may be one reason that the story of Oak Island includes imagery very similar to that seen in the pages of Philip Sidney’s book “Arcadia” first published in 1580. An examination of the membership and history of the Society does indeed reveal a kind of ribald and tongue in cheek view of history on the part of members.
One of the most prominent members of the Dilittanti was Sir Francis Dashwood who was considered somewhat of a playboy or rake during the era in which he lived. He and Franklin were both friends and Franklin even was said to have attended some of the wild parties that came to be known of as the Hellfire Club. In Dashwood’s case this also involved a group of men named The Monks of Medmenhem Abbey. Most of the membership of the Monks of Medmenhem Abbey were also members of the Society of the Dilittanti. It is not clear if either Admiral Anson or Thomas Anson took part in the activities of the Hellfire Club but it is clear that they were both members of the Society of the Dilittanti.
Dashwood during his life was even known for pulling elaborate and well planned pranks on others using historical concepts that were valued by Dilittanti members. Much later in history we see a similar prank used in California related to the brass plates or claim markers supposedly left by Sir Francis Drake in California. In the end someone found brass plates that had been faked in association with a tongue in cheek secret society known of as E Clampus Vitus or more commonly “The Clampers.” Is it possible that some treasure or lost document stories are similar pranks? Many times such things may have also been associated with political movements or ideologies such as the use of the Declaration of Independence and other documents that may help to solve the famous Beale Treasure conundrum in Virginia. To be objective we must at least consider this as a possibility.
In the case of Oak Island this entire mythology could have been developed in association with large amounts of gold specie that went missing during the various conflicts between British and French interests in French Acadia more commonly known as Nova Scotia. In the case of the Oak Island treasure we even see the allegiances of the family of the First Baron of Nova Scotia Sir William Alexander becoming part of the historical mosaic of American history and not Nova Scotia history. There are aspects of the Oak Island legend as told that do seem to lead the way to the United States and American ideals as well.
Here below we will list some of the members of the Dilittanti and how they are possibly related to storied treasure legends that are known of and appreciated by the public at large.
To begin with there are some members directly related to Philip Sidney and his sister Mary Sidney Herbert the Countess Pembroke. If the historical rumor that Sir Francis Bacon was actually the child of Sir Robert Dudley and Queen Elizabeth was true then this would have made Philip and Mary first cousins of Sir Francis Bacon’s. Their mother was the sister of Dudley. Two of the Countess of Pembroke’s sons William and Philip Herbert the nephews of Philip Sidney were the subjects of the dedication of the First Folio of Shakespeare. Philip Herbert named for his uncle was married to the daughter of the 17th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere who many suspect of having actually penned the works of Shakespeare.
Note here again that this author found a passage in Philip Sidney’s “Arcadia” that resembles the description of the Money Pit in the original folklore of the Oak Island story. King Charles I also is said to have quoted “Pamela’s Prayer” form Sidney’s Arcadia just prior to his beheading. In this way Sidney’s book later became an important icon to Cavalier and Jacobite sensibilities in Britain and America especially in Virginia. This value was also present in Europe as French nobles and Jacobites on the continent had also promoted the concept of Arcadia long prior to Sidney or Charles I.
Given this it is no surprise that some of their descendant family were later members of the Society of the Dilittanti.
A man named Sir Brownlow Sherrard was a member of the Dilittanti that was married to a later descendant of the Countess of Pembroke also Mary Sidney who was co-holder of the Earldom of Leicester that came from the Countesses’ Mother who was from that family (Mary Sidney Herbert and Philip Sidney’s mother).
Next we have Henry Herbert the 29th Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery as a member of the Society. He of course is of direct descent from Mary Sidney Herbert Countess of Pembroke and her sons that were subsequent earlier Earls of Pembroke and Montgomery. Here we have the two above men that were likely intimately aware of their forebears famous book “Arcadia” and how this concept had come to likely be associated with a lost treasure story on Oak Island Nova Scotia. It is likely that these men could have shared their knowledge of their own family’s history with other members of the Soceity of the Dilittanti.
In the end we also know the First Baron of Nova Scotia Sir William Alexander had also amended Sidney’s book with a new chapter in about 1620. The Baron in turn was personally associated with James I, his son Charles I who quoted from the book prior to execution, and his son Charles II all Kings of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Lord Admiral Anson and his brother Thomas Anson were members of the Dilittanti. They are famous for being associated with the enigma of the Shepherds Monument of Shugborough Hall. This author and others associate this monument with Oak Island and possibly other similar stories. In fact it is Adimiral Anson and some of his close friends in the British navy that may have come into possession of large amounts of wealth from places like Fortress Louisbourg or even the treasury of the ill fated d’Anville Expedition. There is a large degree of probability that the d’Anville Expedition is related to the Oak Island story. Later in Nova Scotia history this scheme or knowledge of it may have involved their family relation George Anson Primrose who lived in Nova Scotia. Given this it is no surprise that a Primrose family member was also part of the Society of the Dilittanti.
Interestingly the Society also includes a few members whose family names are associated with the story of the Bruton Vault in Williamsburg as well as the later Beale Treasure Legend of Virginia. Both of these treasure stories include the imagery of the Declaration of Independence. These specific members of the Dillitanti also have a relation to the Spencer family of Lady Diana of England as well as earlier Governors of Virginia.
Lord Spencer of Althorpe is a direct forebear of Lady Diana and the rest of the Spencer family including Prince William and Prince Harry today. A little known fact is this family’s relation to the Washington family of George Washington. There is even a Washington crypt on the Althorpe Estate of the family.
Three members of the Russel family of the Dukes of Bedford were members at various times. This family title is the namesake of Bedford Virginia and Bedford County Virginia where the Beale Treasure Legend is set. The actual Duke of Bedford the County and town are named for had a wife named Lady Diana Spencer from the same Spencer family as the more modern and tragic Lady Diana. The earlier Lady Diana is also known for having been beset by several tragedies and hardships during her life.
Botetourt County Virginia is adjacent to Bedford County and may also represent the location where the Beale Treasure is supposed to have been hidden. Lord Botetourt (Boti-tot) Norborne Berkeley was from the famous Berkeley family of Bruton Priory in England. His earlier family member William Berkeley was an early governor of Virginia that had opposed Nathaniel Bacon during the famous Bacon’s Rebellion. Here we see a route via which two families related to the Society of the Dilittanti may also be involved in both the Beale Treasure and story of “Bacon’s Vault” or the Bruton Vault in Jamestown and Williamsburg.
Norborne Berkeley was also closely involved in the development of Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary during his time as governor. He attended the church as was definitely aware of the stories of Bacon’s Rebellion in which he was aware of the sort of Rosicrucian story of the missing remains of Rebel Nathaniel Bacon which may be the true source of the entire legend of “Bacon’s Vault.” Bacon’s Vault may simply be telling us of the hidden burial of Nathaniel Bacon later in Bruton Parish Churchyard. Subsequent Virginia Governor Thomas Jefferson held a family relation to Philip Sidney and was likely also aware of the reality and myth of the vault legend in Williamsburg. Jefferson’s family history also included Thomas Randolph the poet who was a contemporary of Sir Francis Bacon’s and other period authors and playwrights such as Shakespeare.
Much in the same manner the papers of Sir Francis Bacon are related to Oak Island by some researchers we see these two families also possibly having had an impact of the development or truth associated with these two treasure stories. Note also that the Bruton Parish Church in Williamsburg the supposed hiding place of “Bacon’s Vault” is named for the Berkeley Estate of Bruton Priory in England which once served as a Knights Templar hospital.
Lord Halifax himself George Montigu-Dunk was a member of the Dilittanti. Lord Halifax is of course the namesake of Halifax Nova Scotia. He is also of interest due to his association and correspondence with famous Ethiopian explorer James Bruce who returned from Ethiopia with three one thousand year old copies of the book of Enoch. This may relate to the Enochian imagery and overtones of the nine layers of logs and graven stone i.e. the 90ft. stone in the Oak Island story.
Note also the membership of two members of the storied Sinclair family as associated with Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. There were few members of the Dilittanti that were from Scotland yet some of them did have close relationships to another historical wizard Sir Walter Scott who is in the works of this author is involved in the strange tale of Avenel House in Bedford Virginia. The tale of Avenel House may be a previously unknown tenet of the Beale Treasure story. Lord Anstruther was also a member and his family also included one Sinclair family member that was a rare Jacobite in that family.
Interestingly a man named George Robert Vaughn who was once minister to the United States was also a member of the Society. It would be interesting to see if he had any relation to one Anthony Vaughn who was one of the “three young men” to have found and first excavated the Money Pit.
Here in the membership and said activities of the Society of the Dilittanti we see a group of men that were involved in historical pranks and had the knowledge and intellect to have crafted any story they wished with regard to history. There is also a high probability that they were exposed to inside secrets in relation for example to amounts of wealth obtained by Anson and company during times of war.
In part their myth making or crafting of a story involving literature and art could have also been left to help their cohorts later find these lost treasures or alternately a way to truly understand what had happened based on their somewhat esoteric knowledge as gained via their studies as part of the Society of the Dilittanti. Part of what these men may have done in addition to telling a treasure yarn was to preserve detailed bits of history that they were aware of that they may have believed subsequent members of the Society would appreciate. In ending these men had all been initiated in a method that uses art, literature, relics, and ancient history to encode a true story that they would be privy to having understood.
In ending it should be stated that the Dilittanit also had access to real items of historical interest that they had collected as part of their Grand Tours of Europe. In fact the recent Roman Sword controversy associated with the Curse of Oak Island tv show is likely a reproduction of a Roman Sword that someone had obtained as part of their Grand Tour. The Roman Sword is just the kind of item these men would have bought as souvenirs in addition to any real antiques they could have purchased on Grand Tour. If these things were known of or arranged by members of the Society then there could very well be lost items of historical importance of great value hidden at Oak Island and other places.
Even though the possible involvement of members of the Society of the Dilittanti may change the scope of these storied treasure hunts it does not mean items or treasures of great value are not involved. One example here would have involved a real treasure from the sacking of Fortress Louisbourg being hidden at Oak Island. Later these same interests were unable to recover the treasure leading to the reasons they may have developed a legendary cover story for their activities. Here in the Society of the Dilittante we see many of the people who may have been involved in hiding a treasure that came from Louisbourg including the Anson brothers, Mr. Primrose, and Lord Halifax himself.
More coming soon. Note that the Dillitanti fits all my previous theories about Shugborough Hall and the West Wycombe Estate as well as the line of reasoning as to why I think Sidney’s book “Arcadia” is in large part responsible for the way the Oak Island story has been told through time.
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