The Coronation Stone

Ian Bradley reflects on the influence of Scotland on the coronation of King Charles III and the importance of the Stone of Destiny.

ALTHOUGH the coronation of King Charles III on May 6 will be an Anglican church service taking place in Westminster Abbey, it will not be without its Scottish elements.

The most conspicuous, reflecting the monarch’s close relationship with the Church of Scotland, will be the participation of the current Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields. In the last coronation in 1953 his predecessor, James Pitt-Watson, was the only non-Anglican cleric to take part in the service, presenting the Bible to Queen Elizabeth II with the words: ‘Here is wisdom; this is the royal law; these are the lively Oracles of God.’ This role will be reprised by Iain Greenshields on May 6.

Charles III will be crowned while seated on the oak chair supposedly made on the orders of the English king Edward I to accommodate the sacred stone which he had looted from Scone Abbey, near Perth, in 1296 and brought to London. The Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny, has featured in the coronation of every English sovereign, with the exception of Mary I and Mary II, since 1307. Before its spiriting away by the ‘Hammer of the Scots’, as Edward was known, it played a key role in the coronation of Scottish kings for at least 400 years.

This relatively insignificant piece of red sandstone, weighing about 350 lbs, cracked through the middle as a result of its abduction from Westminster Abbey by four Scottish nationalist students on Christmas Day 1950, and decorated only by a simple cross, carries a huge weight of religious symbolism. Legend has it that it started life as the stone pillow on which Jacob slept when he had his dream of the ladder leading up to heaven as described in Genesis 28:12- 17 and which he later set up as a pillar. Some stories identify it as the pillar beside which Abimelech was crowned king of Israel and Josiah made his covenant with the Lord to keep his commandments and statutes.

The next chapter in the mythical history of the stone provides an origin legend for the Scots in the lost Israelite tribe of Dan. According to one version, Tea, the last survivor of the Davidic line, smuggled the sacred stone out of Israel around 580 BCE so that it would not fall into the hands of the Babylonian invaders. She transported it via Egypt and Spain to Ireland where she married a local king and took the name Scota. In another version, the stone remained for some time in Egypt where it became the property of the country's rulers before being taken to Spain by Scota, who was a pharaoh's daughter, and subsequently to Ireland by one of her descendants, Simon Brek.

While in Ireland, the stone is said to have been sited at Tara, the holy hill on which Ireland's high kings were crowned. A piece of it was broken off and taken to the Irish colony of Dál Riata in Argyllshire, possibly even by Columba who according to some stories used it as his pillow or altar. After residing on Iona for a time, and possibly being used for the crowning of Dál Riatan kings, it was taken to Dunstaffnage Castle near Oban. Around 840 it was moved to Scone in Perthshire, the capital of the new united kingdom of Picts and Scots established by Kenneth MacAlpin. Kings of Scotland were thereafter enthroned sitting on the stone at Scone, the last to do so being John Balliol in 1292. Edward seized it as part of his bid to annex the Scottish crown to that of England, reckoning that its possession made him the legal king of Scotland and that any subsequently elected Scottish king would be a usurper and not properly crowned.

It is in fact highly doubtful whether the stone on which Charles III will sit while being crowned is the one which MacAlpin brought to Scone, let alone whether it originally came from the Holy Land. The sandstone of which it is made is of a type relatively common around both Scone and Dunstaffnage but unknown in the vicinity of Tara or in the Middle East. But we should perhaps not let hard facts get in the way of legend and myth. The Stone of Destiny symbolises the sacred character and history of monarchy in the British Isles and illustrates the considerable efforts which have been made to connect it with Old Testament kingship and biblical narratives.

When it was brought back to Scotland following its abduction, the stone was wrapped in a saltire and left in the ruins of Arbroath Abbey. It was returned to Westminster Abbey in 1952 and in 1996 the UK Government decreed that it should finally be returned to Scotland, with the understanding that it would be brought back to London for future coronations. From next year it will leave its current home in Edinburgh Castle and be on permanent display in a new museum in Perth.

Three of the Stuart monarchs who ruled following the union of the crowns of Scotland and England in 1603 had full coronations in both countries. The only son of Mary Queen of Scots was crowned James VI of Scotland at Stirling in 1590, and James I of England in London in 1603. Charles I was crowned in London in 1626, and at Holyrood Abbey in 1633 in the only Scottish coronation to have used the rites of the Church of England. Charles II was crowned at Scone Abbey on New Year’s Day 1651 (ten years before his coronation at Westminster Abbey) in a Presbyterian service during which he was subjected to a three hour sermon by Robert Douglas, Moderator of the General Assembly, who exhorted him to embark on both a personal and family reformation and directed him to seven specific duties - to seek God in frequent and earnest prayer (Douglas having observed that ‘prayers are not in much request at Court'); to be careful of the kingdom; to make much use of faithful servants of Christ, whether ministers or laymen; to be careful whom he put in places of trust; to be moderate in his use of authority; to be strenuous against the enemy; and, above all, to be constant.

“ The Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny, has featured in the coronation of every English sovereign, with the exception of Mary I and Mary II, since 1307.

Charles III has been urged to have a full coronation at Scone in imitation of Charles II’s but, at the time of writing, there is no indication that this will happen – perhaps he is wary of another long Presbyterian harangue! He is more likely to follow the example of his mother who at the end of her Coronation month, June 1953, attended a national service of thanksgiving and dedication at St Giles’ Cathedral in which she was presented with the Honours of Scotland, consisting of the sceptre, the sword of state and the crown of Scotland.

There is one further aspect of the upcoming coronation in which Scots can also take pride. The very first Christian inauguration ceremony for a monarch anywhere in Europe may well have taken place here, performed by Columba in 574 when he laid his hands on and blessed Aedan, king of Dál Riata, either on Iona or the hill fort of Dunadd in the Kilmartin Valley. There is some slight doubt about this, but not as much as surrounds the Stone of Scone, and in the general atmosphere of celebration which I hope will accompany Charles III’s coronation, I think we should milk it for all it is worth! ¤

Ian Bradley is Emeritus Professor of Cultural and Spiritual History in the University of St Andrews and author of the newly published book, God Save the King: The Sacred Nature of Monarchy (Darton, Longman & Todd, £8.99)