A bit more about the Stone of Scone and Scottish Coronations

Since I published my last post about the Stone of Scone it has continued to be in the news, so I thought I would share those and other relevant and appropriate links.

I found in my files an article with more about the claim that the genuine Stone was held at a church in Dundee following the1950 theft and then moved, care of the Knights Templar [sic], to a former church at Dull in Perthshire. This article can be seen at Was the real Stone of Destiny hidden in plain sight in Dundee?

The Daily Telegraph now has a report about the stories about the provenance of the Stone based on the views of Rev. Prof. Ian Bradley as expressed in a recent article. He joins other scholars in being sceptical about the more romantic and esoteric claims about the origins of the Stone. Prof. Bradley was one of the contributing speakers to the Prayer Book Society’s series of Lenten talks on the Coronation which I linked to before Easter. He is highly sensitive to the Christian basis of the Croronation liturgy in both England and Scotland. The article about his interpretation of the history and significance of this particular national relic can be read in the somewhat melodramatically entitled piece at Stone of Scone row reignited as eminent St Andrews historian suggests sandstone is not original

I also came across a tour website which features Scone with a history of the Stone and which has pictures of both the later Palace of the Earls of Mansfield and of the Moot Hill Kirk which saw the coronation of King Charles II in 1651. The article can be seen at The Coronation Stone or "The Stone of Scone"

There is a valuable article by George Gross about the 1651 Coronation from The Court Historian which can be read online at 1651: The Last Coronation in Scotland — An Anomaly?

Finally the Daily Telegraph had a report the first details of the ceremony due to be held in St Giles’ Cathedral on July 5th when the Honours of Scotland will be presented to The King. This service will follow the format designed in 1953 for what was the nearest thing to a separate Scottish coronation since that of 1651. Whilst not that it did bear some similarities to the Dutch and Norwegian enthronement ceremonies we have seen in recent years. This time however it will include the Stone of Scone, which in 1953 was back in Westminster Abbey. This report about the ceremony can be seen at Scotland to host its own Coronation for the King with Stone of Destiny at its heart

One historic piece from the Scottish Honours that presumably will not be in use on July 5th is the ampulla made for the coronation of King Charles I in 1633. Not used in 1651 it became separated from the other Honours and was acquired by what is now the National Museum of Scotland in 1948. Their website has an account of it at Coronation ampulla of Charles I