The Case of the Hydegild Sacrifice with David Cairns set in Scotland/USA

Submitted: 14th January 2026

The Case of the Hydegild Sacrifice with David Cairns

I have recently released the fourth novel in my Major Gask Mysteries series, The Case of the Hydegild Sacrifice, set in 1865 across Scotland and the United States. Major Gask and his Sherlockian companion, Erroll Rait, are no strangers to travel: previous investigations have taken them from Australia to India, South Africa to Poland, and much of Europe besides. This novel, however, marks their first journey to America—and that decision was anything but arbitrary.

I write primarily in the Victorian era because it was a time of extraordinary transformation. Advances in science, medicine, travel, communications, and social attitudes created a world in motion, restless and often contradictory. It is also a period that remains tangibly close to us. Unlike more distant epochs, the Victorian world can still be walked, touched, and revisited. Buildings remain, streets retain their old alignments, and places of consequence are still recognisable. For a novelist intent on transporting readers back in time, that physical continuity is invaluable.

The Case of the Hydegild Sacrifice David Cairns

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

My approach to historical fiction begins with people and events that genuinely intrigue me. From there, I weave narrative threads through the fabric of recorded history. The Case of the Hydegild Sacrifice centres on one of the defining moments of the mid-nineteenth century: the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at the close of the American Civil War.

The Lincoln Memorial:

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

At first glance, this may seem overly familiar ground. Lincoln’s death is one of the most exhaustively documented events in American history. Yet research revealed a darker, lesser-known undercurrent—a story that raises troubling questions about justice, retribution, and moral responsibility. That hidden dimension gives the novel its haunting undertone and explains its title.

Lincoln Memorial (c) Wiki

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

As I explain in the foreword, hydegild refers to an old convention in which a royal prince could not be physically punished. Instead, a companion of noble birth—a “whipping boy”—would suffer punishment in his stead, instilling guilt and shame in the prince. William Murray, later the 1st Earl of Dysart, is believed to have served this role for Prince Charles, younger brother of James VII of Scotland and later Charles I. The concept resonated powerfully with the moral imbalance I encountered in the aftermath of Lincoln’s assassination.

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

The novel opens in the Scottish Highlands before moving swiftly to Edinburgh. Edinburgh is rich in historical treasures, but I focus on one in particular: St Giles’ Cathedral, the High Kirk of Edinburgh, founded in 1120. Standing dramatically on the Royal Mile beneath the shadow of the Castle, St Giles is both imposing and intimate. It’s a place steeped in Scotland’s political and religious history.

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

It is here that Gask and Rait are confronted by an assassin seeking revenge for their role in dismantling a secret society in an earlier novel, The Case of the Wandering Corpse. The action spills from the Royal Mile into the nave itself, gunshots echoing against stone walls that have borne witness to centuries of turmoil. My description reflects the cathedral as it stood in 1865, including a clock since removed. Among those interred there is the Marquis of Montrose, one of Scotland’s most charismatic military figures—an appropriate silent witness to violence and betrayal.

The Case of the Hydegild Sacrifice David Cairns

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

From Edinburgh, Gask and Rait are retained for a commission in Washington, D.C. En route, they encounter an agent of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, drawing them into an attempt—ultimately futile—to protect Abraham Lincoln. Until I began researching this novel, I had not realised that a serious attempt on Lincoln’s life had been foiled by the Pinkertons as early as 1861. By 1865, however, political tides had shifted, and the agency no longer officially guarded the President.

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

In Washington, the pair adopt separate identities to gather intelligence, meeting daily at the Andrew Jackson statue in Lafayette Square, just north of the White House. This location holds personal resonance for me: I once lived in Nashville, Tennessee, near the Hermitage, Jackson’s home. The statue—around a third larger than life—is a striking equestrian sculpture, notable as the first of its kind to depict a rearing horse unsupported. Its engineering ingenuity mirrors the ambition and contradictions of the era.

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

The marble base bears the inscription “OUR FEDERAL UNION / IT MUST BE PRESERVED,” a quotation from one of Jackson’s toasts. In Lincoln’s America, those words carried profound weight. The square itself was landscaped differently in 1865. At this time, it lacked the later Revolutionary War statues, and the benches where Gask and Rait meet would not be where they stand today.

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

One of the most unsettling locations associated with the assassination, however, is also one of the most overlooked: Mary Surratt’s boarding house. It was here that Lewis Powell, David Herold, George Atzerodt, and John Wilkes Booth conspired. Surratt was later hanged for her alleged involvement. However, my research raises serious doubts about the fairness of her conviction.

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

Now situated in Washington’s Chinatown, the building—renumbered from 541 to 604 H Street NW—remains recognisable despite alterations. In the 1920s it served as a Prohibition-era speakeasy; today it houses a Chinese-Japanese restaurant, with former conspiracy rooms converted into karaoke lounges. The irony is almost unbearable.

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

Another key site is the Herndon House, once a busy hotel and restaurant on the corner of 9th and F Streets. Boarding houses like this were common, accommodating soldiers, politicians, and transient visitors. In my novel, Gask stays here and overhears crucial conversations in the public dining room on 13 April 1865—the eve of the assassination. Though little celebrated today, the Herndon House was central to the unfolding tragedy.

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

The final—and inevitable—destination is Ford’s Theatre. Both Gask and Rait are present on the night Lincoln is shot. I describe the play, the atmosphere, the sudden violence, and Booth’s escape in detail. Ford’s Theatre remains remarkably intact and is now a museum. The President’s Box, draped with an American flag and a portrait of George Washington as it was in 1865, however, it is closed to the public to prevent damage.

Map of locations in The Hydegild Sacrifice

Standing there today, it is impossible not to feel the weight of that night—and of the flawed justice that followed. The Case of the Hydegild Sacrifice is not merely a detective story; it is an exploration of guilt transferred, punishment misdirected, and the human cost of political vengeance. In that sense, 1865 is not as distant as we might like to believe.

Thank you David!