Scottish Blog

The Stone of Scone is a stone that was historically used in the coronation ceremonies of Scottish monarchs.

The history of the Stone of Scone is not clear and many accounts exist that tell of its origins. The most ambitious of these claims that it was mentioned in the bible, as the pillow stone of Jacob. Other, less impressive claims have the Stone of Scone as the crowning stone of the early Dal Riada members, before the movement had reached Scotland. Another interesting and equally probable idea is that the Stone of Scone was used by St Columba as an alter upon which he stood on his missionary missions.

No matter what the history of the Stone of Scone is, it is known that it was used as a seat for Scottish coronations from the first Scottish King, Kenneth Mac Alpin.

In 1296, the Stone of Scone was taken by the English and placed into a chair, which stood in Westminster Abbey. It is said that this was meant to symbolize that the one sitting in the chair was the ruler of Scotland.

Attempts had been made to negotiate the return of the Stone of Scone, yet all of these failed. After the Act of Union of 1707, the Stone of Scone and the chair in which it resided was a mandatory part of the crowning of any Great Britain monarch. Although it did not come as much of a consolidation, the stone returned to its original Scottish use of a crowning stone.

On the 25th of December 1950, a group of students stole the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey. It was broken in the process. The stone was given to a Glasgow politician, who arranged its repair. In the April of the following year, the Stone was returned.
In 1996, the English government returned the Stone of Scone to Scotland, it now stands in Edinburgh castle.