One Thursday morning, towards the end of February, 1998, I wrapped the artifact in a towel. This I squeezed into a plastic carrier bag, and drove down to keep an appointment with the manager of my local bank. Upon arrival, I was ushered into the manager's upstairs office and wasted no time in placing the skull on his desk. Needless to say, he was somewhat taken aback and quite obviously fascinated by the skull.

I told the manager how the skull came into my possession and he advised me that before an accurate insurance valuation could be assessed, it would first be necessary to discover what the skull was made from, how it had been created and how old it was. The manager would request the assistance of his regional head office in Bradford. I was to write to the British Museum and Christie's. In the meantime, the bank was able to offer me safe storage of the skull in its vault. It quickly became clear to me that the only means of discovering more about the artifact would be to subject it to a serious of laboratory tests. These were very expensive and way out of my reach. I certainly could not afford to spend two or three thousand pounds, only to learn that the skull was mass-produced from glass in the 1970s and sold in Woolworth's for £39.99 each.

About a week after this meeting I received a letter from a gentleman called Mr Fish. He was quick to point out that although he did work for the Bradford branch of my bank and had been contacted by my bank manager in connection with the skull, he was also a member of a secret society, or rather... a society with secrets. It was on behalf of this organization, and not the bank, that he was writing to me. Without being too specific, Mr Fish asked if I would meet him in Bradford. I was extremely curious and somewhat intrigued about the strange turn of events. I was, of course, familiar with the organization. It has for many years been the source of considerable debate and controversy, attracting much media attention in the process. My grandfather had been a member, but I was not and could not imagine what such a grand institute could want with me.

He certainly didn't hang around and before the end of the week I met up with Mr Fish at the Spring Bank Place premises of the Free Society of May Songsters (As I shall call the organization.) After some initial good humor and general banter, during which Mr Fish established that I knew almost nothing about the skull in my possession, he asked me if I would be interested in learning a little more about the skull's history. I got the idea that his statement was not merely an idle question and shuffled a little closer to the edge of my seat as Mr Fish continued...

In 1814, shortly after the British retained the former Dutch colony at the Cape of Good Hope, a young child called Louis Armstrong (1807?-1871) arrived in South Africa with his parents;probably in connection with the tobacco industry.

Louis quickly developed quite a reputation for being an explorer and big-game hunter. His favorite obsession was the fabled Aztec gold. Louis sailed the trade and spice ships to many South American and West Indian seaports in search of adventure and fortune. There can be little doubting that he came into possession of the skull at some point during these travels, although the circumstances surrounding such are open to almost infinite speculation. Eventually, Louis settled back in South Africa, married and produced a son, Peter.

Peter Armstrong (1855-1916) lived an undistinguished until 1899, when his wife and two daughters were killed during the British defeat at Stormberg. He joined the Army for the remainder of the Boer War and finally returned to England in 1905 In 1907, Peter remarried and -incredibly- produced another son; he was 71!

Lawrence Earnshaw (1907-1965.) As a consequence of our mutual interests [Free Society of May Songsters] Lawrence and I [Mr Fish] became firm friends. Lawrence was a popular man and his popularity was certainly not hindered by him allowing the skull -now in his possession- to be used at certain rites and meetings; particularly those pertaining to the higher degrees. Upon his death, the skull passed to this eldest son, Leonard Earnshaw (1924-1996.) About this time, there were a lot of unsavory rumors and gossip circulating. These related to the skull's alleged participation in some very Dark Arts. The basis for this unhealthy speculation hinged on the supposed contents of certain documents bequeathed to Leonard by his father. I have not read these documents myself, but I am acquainted with gentlemen who have: It is a subject simply not discussed. What is certain, is that Peter Armstrong did leave South Africa in somewhat mysterious and hurried circumstances. He also changed his surname to Earnshaw immediately upon returning to England.

Leonard had no taste for the organization and severed all links. Consequently, the whereabouts of the skull became lost to me.

'Stunned' was not the word! In the space of half-an-hour, my glass paperweight from Woolworth's white elephant bargain bin, had turned into an -at least- two-hundred year old, sacred artifact: I needed a stiff drink. Over the next hour, Mr Fish was able to produce many letters and assorted documents to back-up his story. Furthermore, he was able to accurately describe several features and properties of the skull, despite him not having seen it. A simple proposition was put to me. This was:

Allow us access to the skull on certain dates (all reasonable expenses would be paid to me) and in return, we (the May Songsters) will make available funding for all analytical tests deemed necessary to facilitate an accurate insurance valuation of the artifact.

It just got better and better! I agreed to the proposal and with a level of efficiency that defied belief, the labs were booked. True to their word, I received a list of dates and times at which my presence was required; with the skull, of course. In the meantime, Christie's at Bradford referred me to their London offices and I received a letter from Dr Freestone of the British Museum. Amongst other things, Dr Freestone mentioned that the tests spoken of in Mystery of the Crystal skulls by Chris Morton and Ceri Louise Thomas, did not, in fact, ever take place! Christie's London offices wrote, referring me to their Tribal Arts Department in Amsterdam.

On June 15, 1998, I received a copy of a letter from Dr Bowden [of Crown Laboratories] to Mr Fish. This was a basic report of the findings of the first batch of tests and analysis. Accompanying this was a second letter, from Mr Fish to myself. In this he made a substantial cash offer to buy the skull from me. Much as I was tempted to accept the offer, cash the cheque and head for somewhere hot... I declined. Ten days later, I received another letter from Mr Fish. I was offered even more money to part with the skull and -oddly enough- all documentation that accompanied it.

These was no doubt in my mind that the skull had once belonged to a member of the May Songsters. The testimony of Mr Fish was confirmed by the fact that many of the books and papers in my possession bore the name of Lawrence Earnshaw. Early analysis had confirmed the skull to have been carved from a lump of quartz crystal. Christie's Tribal Arts department in Amsterdam suggested a valuation sum not too far removed from what I had been offered by the May Songsters. The suggestion was that the skull was very old and all of the Psychics and Mediums who had Channelled the Skull were getting very hot under the collar. Beautiful tunes and melodies were pouring out of me. I was possessed by the most surreal notion that the skull was trying to open up a line of communication with me. Just when I thought that things could not possibly get any more bizarre; they did! On June 21, 1999, Mr Fish informed me that both the family of Leonard Earnshaw AND the Free Society of May Songsters would be issuing ownership claims on the Skull. These quickly disintegrated into a bloody, dirty, extremely underhand and sustained campaign of dirty tricks that effectively prevented me from saying anything about the skull or its history. Although the full story of the ensuing Court battle is described elsewhere; I will say that it all left a very bitter taste in the back of my mouth and is still not fully resolved.