#coronation stones

[scotianostra]

On December 25th 1950 four young Scots liberated the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey.

Here is a report from The newspaper The Guardian of the story that was enfolding.

“Scotland Yard had no further news last night of the Coronation Stone, the Stone of Scone, or the Stone of Destiny as it is variously called. There is "absolutely no trace” of it, but the police are still busy all over the country - especially on northward routes - looking for it. The stone was stolen in the early hours of Christmas Day from Westminster Abbey.

One theory is that the thieves - or from the point of view of certain Scotsmen, “liberator” - hid in a chapel overnight in readiness for their coup. They had first to prise the stone out of its housing under the Coronation Chair, which is behind the high altar. Then the stone - which weighs four hundredweight and measures roughly 26 inches by 16 inches by 11 inches - had to be carried round to the Poet’s Corner door where, presumably, it was loaded into a car. The police are looking for a man and a woman in a Ford Anglia car which was seen near the abbey in the small hours of the morning.

Descriptions of them have been circulated, and the police say they speak with Scottish accents. It is taken for granted that the stone has been stolen by Scottish Nationalists. The stone, which is rectangular and is of yellowish sandstone, has two rings let into it and normally lies behind a grille under the Coronation Chair. In 1940 it was buried in the abbey and the secret position marked on the chart which was sent to Canada for safety.

It is believed to have left the abbey only once, when it was taken across to Westminster Hall and used for the installation of Cromwell as Lord Protector in 1657. It has been “attacked” before and was once slightly damaged (in 1914), when a bomb was placed under the Coronation Chair during the woman suffrage agitation. Twenty-five years ago, Mr David Kirkwood was given permission to bring a bill for the removal of the stone to Holyrood Palace, but the bill went no farther.

The Coronation Chair is the oldest piece of furniture in the abbey, and has been used for 27 coronations. It was damaged by the removal of the stone; part of it was broken and a strip of wood from the grille was found lying on the floor. Scotland Yard sent a number of CID men, including fingerprint experts, to the abbey and have circulated a description of the stone.

There is no official confirmation of a rumour that a wristwatch was found near the Coronation Chair, but it has been stated that freshly carved initials “JFS” have been found in the gilding on the front of the chair. It seemed evident that the intruders were amateurs, for they made little attempt to hide their tracks. Whether or not they will make straight for Scotland with the stone is doubtful, though one Scottish paper said this morning that the stone might already have crossed the border.

It should not prove a difficult object to hide once it can be taken out of the car which is carrying it, and the police of the two countries are likely to find themselves with a difficult job - not so much in finding the culprits but in finding the stone. If anybody is brought to court either on a charge of stealing or of sacrilege, the case should produce some fine legal and historical points.“

In addition to numerous road blocks, a special watch was kept at docks and airports, while hundreds of CID officers checked hotels and B&Bs in the North of England. Following the delivery of an anonymous petition promising the “return” of the Stone – on condition that it would remain in Scotland – to a Glasgow newspaper, Special Branch officers soon started making enquiries about student political bodies at Glasgow University.

The liberators were indeed Scots, four students from The University of Glasgow, from the University of Glasgow (Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart, travelled to London, entered the Abbey in the small hours of Christmas Day and nabbed the Stone from beneath the coronation throne. They dropped it by accident and it broke in two. They loaded the Stone into their car boot and brought it back to Scotland – despite roadblocks and police searches.

The four became notorious for the daring heist and in Scotland they achieved nigh-on hero status, while in contrast the English were somewhat bewildered. All four of the group were interviewed and all later confessed to their involvement with the exception of Ian Hamilton. The authorities decided not to prosecute as the potential for the event to become politicised was far too great.

At the time, the leader of Scottish Covenant Association, Nigel Tranter commented

“This venture may appear foolish and childish on the surface, but it will have the effect down South of focusing attention on Scotland’s complaints. It takes a lot to get any news of Scotland’s national existence into the English Press, and this sort of thing is the only type of Home Rule story that gets a break in the English newspapers.”

Mungo Murray, 7th Earl of Mansfield and Lord of Scone, the spiritual home of the stone waded in with how he would be “extremely reluctant” to hand the Stone “to the English authorities,” assuming it should be returned to his property at Scone Palace. “In view of the fact that the Stone undoubtedly pertains to the line of Scottish kings, it belongs to the King as King of Scotland, not as King of England,” he said. “In the future the Stone should be kept at Scone or Holyrood instead of Westminster.”

Despite their best efforts, the authorities on both sides of the Border were unable to trace the Stone, at least until April 1951 when – draped in the Scottish Saltire – it was ceremonially deposited at the site of the high altar within the ruins of Arbroath Abbey. The Stone was accompanied by two unsigned letters, one addressed to the King, the other to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, described as “successor to the Abbots of Scone” and therefore the Stone’s “natural guardians”.

It would be a further 43 years before a UK Government agreed that the Stone. when not required for use in such ceremonies, I covered this in depth on St Andrews Day.

Church-bells across Scotland didn’t ring out in celebration – as portrayed in the 2008 film, The Stone of Destiny – yet Ian Hamilton and his friends nevertheless showed how what had seemed permanent and immutable could be changed.

The Stone of Destiny will again be on the move and will be the centrepiece of a new £26.5m museum, in Perth. Construction work on the new museum at Perth City Hall is due to start in February, with it scheduled to open in 2024. The third pic shows an artist impression of how it might look.

[shivered-bones]

'uh but the coronation has brought in money' of course it has, to london, where wealth and tourism is centralised, where multiple millionaires live. it's not going to magically alleviate the cost of living crisis around the rest of the country.

[quixot1sm]

ghetsis back when he tried to become the modern day hero of truth but the light stone thought his aura was rancid and flashbanged him instead

[thena0315]

Master Eight Arc may have been done poorly, but at least it had the biggest all-star crossover in the series

[maegalkarven]

I keep thinking about how from all of the Dead Three' Chosen, Gortash is the only one offering an alliance, and why is that.

It stirs from their goals, I believe.

Orin's ultimate goal is Bhaal's goal, i.e. the destruction of the world.

What is Ketheric's ultimate goal I know not, but I suspect his ultimate goal has been achieved already - Isobel is alive, and now all what's left for him is to serve Myrkul for the miracle of bringing his daughter back.

Gortash's goal is world domination. And, as we could see in Control the Elder Brain ending, world domination is a...lonely thing.

In the end there is no one but you and your army of thralls. No one to see you shine, no one to bask in your glory.

And if there's no one to see you rule, then are you even ruling?

I think of Jaheira's comment about what "of course Gortash is genuine, he needs someone to bask in his glory".

And this is why he ultimately seeks an alliance with Tav/Durge, this is why he specifically requires his ally to be his equal.

Because, maybe subconsciously, but he knows what the power he seeks is a lonely business. And he wants, no, needs someone to witness his greatness, someone he can share it with, someone who could GET it.

He genuinely plans to share his rule and power with another person because he needs someone - equal to him - to see and acknowledge his success. That's why, ironically, he can be a legit ally if your actions and goals do not contradict his.

This is why it's "our tyranny".

And that's so fucking sad.

[bantarleton]

The Stone of Destiny being transported from Edinburgh Castle for the coronation of Charles III.

[downinsomanyfandoms]

Agonizing over Tsubasa and Yuu in the FE AU that I will never public the writing

[duchessofostergotlands]

With the Stone of Scone leaving it is a good time to remind everyone that it was stolen from Scotland by King Edward I and kept for centuries until 1950 when a group of four Glasgow University students snuck in to Westminster Abbey and took it back. It’s an amazing story and a miracle they managed to pull it off given how absolutely terrible their plan was (for example, before they even got out of the Abbey they dropped the stone on the ground and it split in two):

[thatshowthingstarted]

King Gustav III's King's Sword

The sword was commissioned by King Gustav III for his coronation in 1772. The rapier is signed Weilm Klein, the signature of its maker.

Courtesy: Royalpalaces.se

[scotianostra]

On August 9th or 9th 1296 the Scottish Coronation Stone was removed from Scone Abbey.

The Stone of Destiny was taken on the orders of King Edward I of England, and was transported to Westminster Abbey, where it was used to crown English monarchs until it was returned to Scotland in 1996.

The Celtic name of the stone upon which the true kings of Scotland have traditionally been crowned is Lia Fail, “the speaking stone,” or the stone which would proclaim the chosen king.

Originally, the stone played a part in the crowning ceremonies of the Scots kings of Dalriada, in the west of Scotland, an area just north of Glasgow now called Argyll.

Kenneth I, the 36th king of Dalriada, united the Scots and Picts kingdoms and moved his capital to Scone from western Scotland around 840 AD. The Stone of Destiny moved there too. All future Scottish kings would henceforth be enthroned on the Stone of Destiny atop Moot Hill at Scone Palace in Perthshire.

The stone in question is no ornately carved megalith; just a simple, oblong block of red sandstone. It measures 650 mm in length by 400 mm wide, and 27 mm deep, with chisel marks apparent on its flat top.

So where did this magical or mythical stone originate from, and why was it held in such reverence by the kings of old?

One legend dates back to biblical times and states that it is the same stone which Jacob used as a pillow at Bethel. Later, according to Jewish legend, it became the pedestal of the ark in the temple. The stone was brought from Syria to Egypt by King Gathelus. He then fled to Spain following the defeat of the Egyptian army. A descendant of Gathelus brought the stone to Ireland, and was crowned on it as King of Ireland. And from Ireland, the stone moved with the invading Scots to Argyll.

What is sure, however, is that the Stone of Destiny remained at Scone until it was forcibly removed by English King Edward I (“Hammer of the Scots”) after his Scottish victories in 1296, and taken to Westminster Abbey in London.

Still another interesting legend surrounds this mystical stone. This one suggests that as King Edward I approached the Abbot of Perth, the monks of Scone hurriedly removed the Stone of Destiny and hid it. He replaced it with a drainage cover stone of similar size and hid the real stone on Dunsinnan Hill. It was the drainage cover which the English king carried off in triumph back to London.

Perhaps this legend is not so far-fetched. It could help to explain why the coronation stone is so geologically similar to the sandstone commonly found around Scone.

On St. Andrew’s Day, on November 30th, 1996, ten thousand people lined Edinburgh’s Royal Mile to witness the return of the Stone of Destiny to Scotland. It had been away for 700 years.

[darabeatha]

/ If your muse had to share the bus seat with one of my servant muses, who would it be-

[fullslack]

Coronation Stone of Moctezuma II (Stone of the Five Suns). Aztec, 1503

[thena0315]

If only the Master Tournament also included a special double battle exhibition match between these four fan favorite Champions before the finals

[orangeblobby]

At work and suddenly remembered that the Regalians started stoning Gregor and Ares to death with random stuff bc Gregor didn’t murder a toddler???

[we-are-a-dragon]

DM: You've just finished your road trip to see all your families. Once you get back to the city you chill for a few days. Maybe take part in a few games of Persia's national sport, volleyball...

Party: *laugh*

DM: And then Vikavar, the Master of Ceremonies, pays you a visit at TTC manor to discuss Billie's coronation.

Adam (playing Billie): Does he need the Gand?

DM: No, he borrowed it before you left and he's already familiarized himself with the ancient ceremonies of Gandarall recorded in it. The next step before you can be officially recognised - and you're not going to like this - is you have to surrender the crown of Gandarall and the Herald of Mercy sword to him for three days.

Adam: I stiffen at this news.

DM: According to Gandarall custom, when a new ruler is chosen the sword and crown must be put on display for three days. Anyone in the kingdom can try them on, to strengthen the conviction that you are the only legitimate heir. They'll be under the highest protection available to the throne of Persia.

Adam: Ugh... I guess I have no choice. I hand them over.