1. Presented by Fadeeva E.G. Lyceum 26, Podolsk, 2012

2. The Stone of Scone is arguably the greatest symbol and touchstone of Scottish nationhood and as such, has been a very potent icon for more than a thousand years. It was the seat on which generations of Kings of Scotland, and Kings of Dalriada before them, were crowned.

3. In origin, the Stone is believed to have been Jacobs Pillow, referring to the Biblical story in which Jacob falls asleep on a stone and has a dream in which he sees angels descend and ascend to Heaven. The tradition states that the stone Jacob used as a pillow at Bethel later became the pedestal of the Ark in the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. From the Holy Land it purportedly travelled to Egypt.

4. The legend goes back to the foundation myth of Scotland. It runs that Scotland is named after an Egyptian princess, Scota who was exiled from Egypt. Scotas descendents travelled to Sicily, Spain and then reached Ireland about 700 BC. Among the possessions Scota took from Egypt was a sandstone block which had been used as a pillow by Jacob when he had the dream reported in Genesis about Jacob's Ladder. The Stone was set upon the hills of Tara, where the ancient kings of Ireland were crowned. Scota and her husband Gaedel Glas

5. Later Scotas descendents migrated to Western Scotland and established the kingdom of Dalriada what is now Argyll in Scotland. The stone became the seat on which the Kings of Dalriada were enthroned and became known as the Stone of Destiny. But that is just one strand of the legend.

6. At that time, Scotland was occupied by five different peoples. The Picts lived in the large area north of the rivers Forth and Clyde. The Scots, from Ireland, made their home in Argyll in the fifth and sixth centuries. The Angles held Lothian. The ancient Britons had retreated to Strathclyde. The invading Norsemen settled in Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, Sutherland and the Western Isles. The unification of these different peoples began in the mid-ninth century, after Kenneth MacAlpin became king of both Picts and Scots.

7. After the Picts suffered a severe defeat at the hands of the Vikings in 839, Kenneth pressed his own claim to add the crown of the Picts to the crown of the Scots he already held. Scone had been an important Pictish centre for centuries, and the Picts and the Scots met here to discuss the Pictish succession in 843. The story goes that after much alcohol had flowed, Kenneth's Scots turned on their Pictish hosts and killed them, and Kenneth was subsequently crowned King of the Picts and the Scots at Scone, using the Stone of Destiny to legitimise the coronation. After that Kenneth I or Kenneth Mac Alpin, the 36th and the last King of the Scots of Dalriada, moved his capital of his expanding empire from Ireland to Scone in what is now Perthshire, Scotland. During the time of Dalriada, The Stone was located at Dunadd then it was moved to Scone by King Kenneth I.

8. Scone Abbey Seal Alexander I Coronation Since then it became a tradition to enthrone Scottish kings as they sat upon the Stone of Destiny, which itself sat upon the mound at Scone. The Stone of Destiny was also known as the "Coronation Stone, the "Stone of Scone," the "Liath Fàil," "Jacob's Pillow," "Jacob's Pillar" and the "Tanist Stone". The Stone was last used in a coronation in Scotland in 1292, when John Balliol was proclaimed King.

9. Four years later, in 1296, the English monarch, Edward I (infamous as the "hammer of the Scots) invaded Scotland and stripped Scotland of all emblems of nationhood. Among the booty that Edward's army removed was the legendary Stone of Destiny.

10. Edward took a personal interest in relics and symbols of nationhood. When he conquered Wales in 1282 Edward had the crown of King Arthur and other Welsh relics and treasures sent to Westminster in London. When Edward conquered the Scots in 1296, he took Scotlands holiest relic - the Black Rood - a piece of the True Cross that had belonged to Saint Margaret. Moreover, his army ransacked Scone Abbey, recovered the Stone and carried it to England.

11. Scottish Monarchs, and those seeking to become Scottish Monarchs, still continued to come to Scone to be crowned, including Robert the Bruce in 1306, James IV in 1488 and Charles II in 1651, Francis Edward Stuart in 1716. His son Bonnie Prince Charlie also visited Scone in 1745. These coronations were different however, since Edward I of England had stolen the stone in 1296. 1306 - Coronation of Robert The Bruce

12. The Scone Stone was to be housed in a specially-built coronation chair in Westminster Abbey for the next 700 years. The chair was named after Edward's namesake, Edward the Confessor, England's only canonized king and was kept in his shrine of St Edward's Chapel at Westminster Abbey. The high backed gothic style arm chair was carved in 1297 from oak by a carpenter known as Master Walter, who was paid the considerable sum of 100 shillings for his work. Under the seat of the chair is a platform and cavity which until 1996 contained the Stone of Scone.

13. All British sovereigns since 1308 have been seated in St. Edward's Chair at the moment of their coronations, with the exception of Queen Mary I (whose coronation chair was given to her by the Pope ) and Mary II (who was crowned on a copy of the chair). The last occasion was the coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953.

14. On 11 June 1914, a lady's handbag, containing an explosive device, was hung on the back of King Edward's Chair. It exploded at around 5:50 pm, blowing off part of the carved work at the back of the chair. Although no individual was charged with carrying out the attack, suffragettes were blamed because of the passage of the recent Cat and Mouse Act. The initial police report indicated that the damage to the chair was minor, but did not say whether there was any damage to the stone.

15. On Christmas Day 1950, a group of four Scottish students took the Stone from Westminster Abbey for return to Scotland. In the process of removing it from the Abbey the stone broke into two pieces. About four months later the rock was recovered from the Arbroath Abbey and returned to a repaired Coronation Chair in good time for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

16. The coronation was held in Westminster Abbey. The ceremony was performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. This was the first time that the coronation was televised by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The culmination of the investiture ceremony was anointing and the crowning of the monarch with St. Edwards Crown. Elizabeth II put on the anointing gown and processed to King Edward's Chair, which had been set in a most prominent position. In 1953 it stood atop a dais of several steps. Once seated in this chair, a canopy was held over the monarch's head for the anointing. This element of the coronation service was considered so sacred that it was not televised. After a blessing at the exact moment St. Edward's Crown touched the monarch's head the crowd shouted "God save the Queen!". A 21-gun salute was fired from the Tower of London. St. Edwards Crown.

17. the entry of the sovereign (king or queen) into the abbey, the formal recognition of the right of the sovereign to rule, the oath, when the sovereign promises to govern by the laws of the Protestant Reformed Church of England and Scotland, the presentation of the Bible to the sovereign, the sovereign has holy oil poured over him or her, seated on the Coronation Chair, the sovereign is clothed with royal robes and insignia and then crowned with St Edward's crown on the Coronation Chair.

18. Over the seven centuries the Coronation Chair has only been removed twice from Westminster Abbey. The first time was for the ceremony in Westminster Hall when Oliver Cromwell was inducted as Lord Protector of England, and the second time during World War II when it was evacuated to Gloucester Cathedral for safekeeping. On St. Andrews day, November, 30, 1996 the Stone of Destiny was returned to Scotland, exactly seven hundred years after King Edward I of England "carted it off to Westminster Abbey" in 1296.

19. The Stone, a large 152 kg block of red Perthshire sandstone, is now on display in Edinburgh Castle, where it joined the other Scottish royal regalia: - crown, - scepter, - sword and jewels in a closely-guarded museum.

20. In the event of a future coronation of a British monarch, the Stone of Destiny will be temporarily replaced under the Coronation Throne at Westminster Abbey.

21. Is the stone that rests securely in Edinburgh Castle the real Stone of Destiny? After so many centuries, it is impossible to know. According to one legend, the Stone never left Ireland at all. A tale suggests that the original Stone of Destiny was white marble, carved with decorative figures - in no way resembling the plain slab of yellow sandstone with a single Latin cross carved on it that was set beneath the throne in Westminster Abbey for these past seven centuries.

22. Some doubt exists over the stone captured by Edward I. Some say that monks at Scone Abbey switched the stone and that what Edward I took to England was not the real Stone of Destiny, so the purported replica on public display at Scone Palace on Moot Hill is in fact the real Stone of Destiny!

23. Some claim that the students who stole the stone on Christmas Day 1950 switched the stone, and that what was returned on April 1951 was not the original. About four months later the rock was recovered from the Arbroath Abbey, where it had been deposited by the stone-nappers. Or was it? Rumours have always persisted that there was plenty of time for the students to fashion a replica to be returned to Westminster, while the original Stone was spirited north to a secret location in Scotland. Only the thieves would know for sure.

24. Thankfully, extensive scientific tests and research has concluded that the stone which now sits in Edinburgh Castle is in fact the genuine article - finally putting to rest the glut of conspiracy theories as to its whereabouts. The Stone, whether real or merely symbolic, continues to play a key role in a tradition of sacred kingship, which in the 21st century has become extremely rare.

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