Stone of Scone: Difference between revisions

The Stone of Destiny, also known as the Stone of Scone, is a block of sandstone historically kept at the now-ruined abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland.

Traditionally, it is supposed to be the stone which Jacob used as a pillow. It was originally supposed to have been used as the coronation stone of the Scots when they lived in Ireland. When they invaded Caledonia, it is said to have been taken with them for that use. Certainly, since the time of Kenneth Mac Alpin in around 847, Scottish kings were seated upon the stone during their coronation ceremony.

In 1296 the stone was captured by Edward I as spoils of war and taken to Westminster Abbey where it was placed under the Coronation Chair on which English sovereigns sat in order to symbolise their dominion over Scotland as well as England.

In 1328, as part of the peace treaty between Scotland and England known as the Treaty of Northampton, Edward III agreed to return the Stone to Scotland. However this was never done.

On Christmas Day, 1950, a group of patriotic Scots decided that Scotland had waited long enough for the return of the Stone, and removed it from Westminster Abbey, loaded it in the back of a van and drove it back to Scotland where it was hidden. A major search was ordered by the British Government. However it failed to find the Stone. The Stone was eventually given up on the altar of Arbroath Abbey on April 11, 1951, and returned to Westminster.

In 1996 the British Government decided that the stone should be returned to Scotland, and on November 15 1996, after a handover ceremony at the Border between representatives of the Home Office and of the Scottish Office, it was transported to Edinburgh Castle where it remains.