Stone of Destiny

23 Apr

Today we kick off our Coronation Special episodes starting with The Stone of Destiny’s mysterious origins and very important day job.

The Stone’s origin

The Stone of Destiny has, for as long as anyone can remember, been a pretty major symbol of the Scottish monarchy. And so it should, it was and is used as a means of legitimising the coronation of a British monarch.

As we get nice and close to the coronation ceremony of King Charles III you may hear talk of The Stone of Destiny or The Stone of Scone. These are names for the same piece of stone. It’s roughly a rectangular piece of red sandstone and as tradition says will be a part of the new King’s coronation, sitting under the coronation chair, as it has for all the of coronations in the past.

Although we know a fair bit about the Stone these days, it’s origins can be quick difficult to pin down. There’s a lot of myth, lore and guesswork that seem to amount to quite the mystery.

Now understandably the image of the stone you have in your head is one that is ornately carved and has been protected and looked after just as much as the crown that goes atop the monarch’s head. But actually this stone is a simple block of stone, it does have some chisel marks but if you were to pass it in a field, it certainly wouldn’t look out of place.

So where did this mysterious stone come from? Well there are a few legends that surround its origins and the leading one seems to be that the stone was the same one that Jacob, the same Jacob you might read about in the Bible, used as a pillow.

It does sound a bit weird to use a hard bit of stone as a pillow, I wouldn’t think that would be overly comfortable, but it’s been told that it was while sleeping upon this pillow stone that Jacob reportedly had a vision of angels, which I guess automatically makes the pillow stone significant in some way.

Then at some point the stone went on quite the adventure, finding itself in Syria, then Egypt, then brought to Spain, and then eventually ending up in Ireland around 700 BC where it was placed on the Hill of Tara and was the stone upon which the Kings of Ireland were crowned.

The Irish legends sometimes refer to the stone as ‘Lia Fáil’, which is Irish for ‘Stone of Destiny’, most likely where the stone gets its English name from. And it’s the Irish legends that say they were the ones who started the tradition of crowning their Kings upon the Stone until the Scots stopped by and stole the stone for their own Kings.

And it is believed that a group of Celtic Scots invaded Ireland, taking the Stone of Destiny back to Scotland with them, where they dropped the stone off at Argyll, which you may remember from our Inveraray Castle episode would eventually come into the hands of Clan Campbell a handful of centuries later.

Although it was, most likely around 840 AD, that Kenneth MacAlpin decided to move the stone to Scone, which, while quite the tourist destination these days, was back then just a village.

The Stone’s history

Once in Scotland, the Scots wasted no time in using the stone in their own crowning ceremonies, particularly when crowning the Kings of Dalriada.

So once Kenneth had moved his capital to Scone, he set up the Stone of Destiny on Moot Hill at Scone Palace, and this is the spot where the Kings of Scotland were crowned.

It was John de Balliol who would be the last King to be crowned on the Stone of Destiny in Scone in 1292, but not the last Scottish King, you’ll see what I mean by this in a moment.

Edward I of England would then pop into Scotland in 1296 in the form of an invasion and take the Stone of Destiny back with him to London, where he would have it installed in a new throne at Westminster Abbey. Where incidentally we will see it once more perform its duty in the upcoming coronation.

Now it’s Edward’s taking of the Stone of Destiny that starts to bring up some suggestions of the stone’s legitimacy.

You see there is legend swirling around that the stone Edward brought back with him to London isn’t the real Stone of Destiny but an imposter. Some reckon that as Edward approached Scone Palace, clearly not with the best intentions, the monks of Scone quickly hid the real Stone of Destiny and replaced it with a look-a-like. And it was this imposter stone that Edward took, thinking he had the real thing.

Now if we remember that the real Stone of Destiny reportedly came from the Middle East originally, then surely the stone could be tested to determine what part of the world it came from. And since the current Stone of Destiny appears to be composed of a sandstone quite commonly found in and around Perthshire, where Scone is located, perhaps the monks really did swap out the stones. Geez, imagine how embarrassed Edward would be to know that since the 1200s monarchs have been getting crowned on just your average lump of stone, with no mystical qualities whatsoever.

I guess I better describe what today’s Stone of Destiny actually looks like. We already know that it’s a rectangular block of sandstone, and it measures 66cm by 41cm by 28cm, weighing about 152 kg. So a sizeable piece of rock.

Its sides have a rough finish and some of corners have broken away. The only real decoration it has is a Latin cross and of course each end is fitted with an iron staple with an iron ring attached, presumably for ease of lifting.

Since being brought to England by Edward I it has since lived a life full of coronation ceremonies for the monarchs of England and, then following the Treaty of Union of 1707, Great Britain, which we know includes Scotland.

Since taking up residence in England, the Stone has had to be hidden a couple of times, most recently during the Second World War. It was during this war that the Stone lived in a bank vault under Abbot Islip’s chapel in Westminster Abbey. Where it lay hidden was a secret that only a couple of people knew about. Its hiding place was so top secret that only three maps showing the location of the stone were drawn up and sealed in envelopes, two of these envelopes were then sent to Canada, in case the men in Europe who knew of the hiding place died. Once they had received word that the two maps had made it safely to Canada, the third map that had stayed in London was destroyed. So it seems the English were fully prepared to go above and beyond to prevent a Nazi from sitting upon the crowning stone.

The English also weren’t too keen to see a Scot sitting upon the crowning stone either. Even in the middle of a world war, any notion of sending the stone north for safe keeping was shut down. Here’s what was being said at the time:

I trust the Office of Works will not lend itself to this attempt by the Scotch to get hold of the Stone by a side wind. You cannot be so simple as not to know that this acquisitive nation have ever since the time of Edward I been attempting by fair means or foul to get possession of the Stone…

Oh the English and their trifles, they seem to be forgetting that it was Edward I who stole the Stone from the Scots to begin with. I’m surprised there wasn’t more talk of sending the Stone to Ireland for safekeeping, seeing as the Scots stole it from them originally.

What makes the whole thing pretty funny, is it’s said there used to be a piece of metal attached to the stone with a prophecy that was translated by Sir Walter Scott as saying:

Unless the fates be faulty grown
And prophet’s voice be vain
Where’er is found this sacred stone
The Scottish race shall reign

And if we remember back to Elizabeth I’s death, she died without an heir, and the crown fell to her nephew James VI of Scotland, who you may remember we briefly met in our very first episode on Buckingham Palace.

So when James VI was crowned as James I of England, he, a Scottish monarch, sat once again on the Stone of Destiny, effectively uniting Scotland and England, and of course Wales is in there somewhere, into what we know today as Great Britain. So perhaps the prophecy was right after all.

The Stone’s chair

Now what’s the deal with the chair that houses this pretty infamous stone.

Well it was Edward I who had a special coronation chair built in the early 1300s so that it could house the stone underneath the chair itself on its own platform. Originally the stone would have been totally enclosed by wooden decoration, but as time has not been kind to this terrific piece of furniture, new wooden tracery was added not too long ago to replace the decoration that had been missing since the 18th century.

The chair would be described as a high-backed chair in a gothic style. It’s even decorated with birds, foliage and animals and would have had a gilt background. The figure of the King, historians aren’t sure if it’s meant to be Edward the Confessor or Edward I, would have been seen painted on the back of the chair with his feet resting on a lion, now that’s some strong symbolism.

Speaking of lions, four gilded lions were added to the chair’s legs in the 16th century and then replaced in 1727. This is probably why the gilding on the lower half of the chair is a bit more prominent than that on the top half.

Unfortunately, though, the Chair has not had the easiest life, only small traces of the original paintwork survive to today, and the poor thing has been badly damaged by Westminster schoolboys in the 18th and 19th centuries. You can still see this graffiti engraved into the wood today.

The first monarch to sit in this Coronation Chair was Edward II at his own coronation, and after him every King and Queen of England have planted their butt upon this chair during their coronation ceremony.

There are a couple of monarchs though that did get away without a crowning ceremony, they was Edward V and Edward VIII who weren’t crowned, the latter there being because he famously abdicated. Mary I, while crowned didn’t use the Coronation Chair, as a strong Catholic she preferred to use a chair gifted to her by the Pope, now that’s pretty fancy.

When the Chair is being used for a coronation you will see it in the centre of Westminster Abbey, right in front of the High Altar, I urge you to keep an eye out for it during the upcoming Coronation ceremony.

Much like the Stone, the Chair has had its fair share of being moved around. It was moved from the Abbey to Westminster Hall when Oliver Cromwell had himself installed as Lord Protector. And then of course, during the Second World War, it was evacuated to Gloucester Cathedral, as I imagine a high-backed chair is a bit harder to hide in an underground vault.

The Chair could originally be seen in the Chapel of St Edward the Confessor at Westminster Abbey until the Chapel was closed to visitors in 1997, so the Chair was then moved the following year to a raised pedestal near the tomb of Henry V.

Then a bit later on in 2010, the Chair was moved to a specially built enclosure in St George’s Chapel for important conservation work. It was during the conservation and cleaning done by those at the Hamilton Kerr Institute, which I hope you’ll remember we first heard about back in our episode on the Fitzwilliam Museum, that a rare pigment was discovered. They also found traces of vivid colour, meaning that the Chair, freshly built, would have been quite the sight to behold. They also discovered that originally there would have been no seat on the Chair, just a cushion placed on top of the Stone, no doubt to make the experience a bit comfier.

So, when King Charles sits upon the Coronation Chair for his own Coronation Ceremony, this piece of furniture would still be serving the purpose it was originally built for, even after over 700 years. Now that’s quite the achievement.

The Stone’s theft

It was Christmas Day 1950 that saw four Scottish students take the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey back up to Scotland.

Three of the students from Glasgow broke into Westminster Abbey during the night, gaining entrance to the Abbey through Poets Corner.

But as they were trying to lift and manoeuvre the Stone up out of the Coronation Chair, it, being rather heavy, fell and broke in two. They were able to drag the larger piece down the altar steps upon a mackintosh and then took the smaller piece to the car waiting outside.

But the larger stone was so heavy that the car was sagging, so worried that the alarm had already been raised, and rightly so, they hid the larger piece in a field in Kent until the fanfare had died down and they could come back for it. And so they made their way back to Scotland.

And there was quite the fanfare. The Scottish/English border was even closed for the first time in over 400 years.

While the students waited out the hustle and bustle in Scotland, it was a couple weeks until they were able head back into England to retrieve the larger piece of Stone. They then took both the pieces to a stonemason in Glasgow who was able to put the two pieces back together.

The Police really struggled though with where the stone had disappeared too. Despite a major search and roadblocks the students were able to get back into Scotland with a piece of the Stone in their car.

Then all of a sudden, in April 1951, the stone mysteriously turned up in Arbroath Abbey. The police received a tip off that the stone could be found, draped in a Scottish national flag, on the high altar of Arbroath Abbey, at this time a ruin, and in 1320 the location of the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath which asked the then Pope to recognise Scotland’s independence.

Even though the stone was returned by those who took it, not 4 months later, it has yet again raised questions as to the legitimacy of the current Stone of Destiny. Some claim that the students switched it and replaced it with a look-a-like.

Regardless of any legitimacy rumours, the recovered Stone was returned to Westminster Abbey in February 1952, and the Police ramped up their investigation in identifying the thieves. All four of the students involved were interviewed, and three confessed to the part they played. Despite the confessions, no charges were ever laid. This could have been because they wanted to avoid the event becoming politicised, but it would also be because the Crown prosecution had a bit of trouble in identifying the ownership of the Stone.

Here’s what Sir Hartly Shawcross said about the whole fiasco when addressing Parliament:

The clandestine removal of the Stone from Westminster Abbey, and the manifest disregard for the sanctity of the abbey, were vulgar acts of vandalism which have caused great distress and offence both in England and Scotland. I do not think, however, that the public interest required criminal proceedings to be taken.

So it seems we’re left with a stone that’s been pieced back together and had a little trip up north to Scotland for a couple months. Sounds like quite the midnight adventure.

The Stone’s return

The Stone though need not have feared, because in 1996, it would officially be returned to Scotland.

The public was consulted for an appropriate place to house the Stone once it came to Scotland, and while in a more unusual suggestion a Glasgow pub was put forward, it would be Edinburgh Castle who would get the honour of the Stone’s long-term home.

It was on St Andrews Day in 1996, which is 30th November, that 10 000 people lined the Royal Mile to see the Stone of Destiny be officially returned to Scotland for the first time in over 700 years.

The police escorted trip from Westminster Abbey all the way up to Edinburgh Castle was the culmination of months of highly secretive planning since the announcement in Parliament by the then Prime Minister, John Major, on 3rd July 1996, with the only caveat being that the Stone would need to return to Westminster in the event of a coronation.

And those moving the stone did a much better job then those pesky students. A specially designed scaffold was built in order to carefully remove the stone from the Coronation Chair without any further breakages.

The scaffold slowly winched the Stone up and out of the Chair before lowering it into a purpose built wooden wheelbarrow.

After it had returned to Scottish soil, but before it would be seen in public on St Andrews Day, the stone was taken to a conservation centre to be studied and cleaned properly for the first time. In cleaning the stone, extraordinary surface details were revealed, a range of tool marks and incisions were seen, but their meaning is still difficult to figure out even today with our future technology.

Here's Richard Welander, the Head of Collections at Historic Environment Scotland to tell us about the Stone:

The Stone of Destiny is truly unique. There is no other object quite like it that continues to captivate and intrigue audiences in equal measure.

With the fuss this stone has kicked up, I’m sure Richard isn’t wrong.

And the stone has sat in Edinburgh Castle, displayed right alongside the Crown Jewels in the Royal Palace ever since. Check out the episode on Edinburgh Castle if you wish to know a bit more about the layout of the place.

Although the stone may not stay at Edinburgh Castle forever. It was in November 2020, that the then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced plans that would see the Stone of Destiny return to Scone Palace. And while that may still be in the works, the stone will need to make quite the journey south for the coronation we will be able to see in Westminster Abbey.

As the Queen sat above the stone during her coronation ceremony in 1953, so too will Charles. And shortly after the Queen’s death, Historic Environment Scotland announced that the stone would be returned to Westminster Abbey for the occasion of King Charles III’s coronation.

So while the Stone of Destiny has lived quite the adventurous life, although no word yet on any trips over to Ireland, it seems there is still much left to do and experience. And despite the rumours surrounding whether the displayed stone is the real deal or not, it still appears to remain a powerful symbol of Scottish Independence, and an important part of legitimising the British Crown.

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