User:Klonimus/Sir Scott Rashap

A noted 19th century polemicst, Sir Scott Thomas Rashap was born out of wedlock sometime in the mid-1800's to a pair of Wessex moneychangers. At the age of three, Rashap lost both parents to a bout of Tuberculosis and was sent to live with the Rashap family of Sussex, longtime clients of the elder Rashaps. Rashap was educated in the finest of schools and later became noted for his series of influential polemics entitled "A Study of Arabia in the English World", in which he transcribed and translated several hundred journal entries dating back to the Crusades. In 1894, Rashap contracted Syphillis and died.

Early Life
Orphaned at an early age, Rashap was sent to live with the Mayo family of Sussex. John Mayo, the eccentric patriarch, immediately saw to it the elder Rashap received proper instructions in the ways of aristocracy. Private tutors, ettiquette lessons, and a personal riding coach, Mark McConaghy, an Irishman with whom Rashap spent many of his early years training  extensively. While many scholars have speculated a passionate relationship of homosexual nature blossomed between Rashap and his riding coach, conclusive evidence has yet to be found that sustains such a claim, leaving sordid details to the exclusive domain of the imagination.

Riding Injuries
Rashap's close relationship with McConaghy served to foster a love of riding in the young man, with some of Rashap's personal journal entries noting that he and McConaghy were "known to be found riding on any given day". Unfortunately, at the age of fourteen, Rashap received serious injuries to his back during an early morning ride. Bedridden for months, Rashap passed most of his time in study, reading the classic works of Cicero and Dante. It is believed that this is the first instance in which a young Rashap expressed interest in literary work, and the driving force behind his desires to travel abroad to the Ottoman Empire.

Family Disgrace
While Rashap was recovering, the fortunes of his adoptive family began to decline. John Mayo, the family's philanderous patriarch found himself embroiled in scandal during the early 1870's. While reports differ, Mayo has been supposedly linked to sexual acts with several Sussex men, women, and in one shameful case, animals. An 1871 court record details a suit brought against Mayo by local blacksmith and dairyman Nelson Franklin alleging that Mayo "engaygd in the moft heinouss of acts with a goate". While later cleared of all charges, the smear of bestiality remained, serving as a curtain to close on the final acts of the once prominent family. In 1873, Mayo's body was found alongside his mistress, Nicole Woo, in an apparent murder-suicide (though reports differ on who did the murdering). Seeking to distance himself, Rashap left Sussex for an extensive holiday in what is now present-day Turkey.

The Middle East
It is in the Middle East that Rashap began his compilation of journal entries chronicling the events of the Crusades. Conducting extensive interviews, Rashap's writings were later published under the title "A Study of Arabia in the English World". This work is notable to scholars for two particular reasons: First, its misguided notions of Islam in which the English perceptions of "exotic devliry" in Arabia were not dispelled, but rather reinforced, and Second, it is the first documented instance in which the notions of the "Creator-Destroyer" are catalogued. Many argue that the latter contribution outweighs the downright ignorance of the former. Early twentieth century psychology has incorporated the "Creator-Destroyer" concept in their own practice, using it to illustrate the duality of man in society.

Death
Sir Scott Rashap died of Syphillis in 1894.