For it was a favourite English tactic to help destroy all trace of the ancient Gaelic clan system by removing or destroying the symbol upon which the great clan leader was initiated. By way of illustration, at the end of this article we quote from Wikipedia’s entry for the Scottish equivalent – the Stone of Scone. 

Here we quote from W. Maugham Crowe’s delightful book of 1968, The Ring of Mourne.

‘Among the gutters we came across the ancient Magennis Coronation Stone, neglected and nearly overgrown.

It bore two markings: one that could have been a hole for a staff, and one like the mark of a human foot.

The story is that this was the stone on which the head of the MacGuinness clan received his initiation. It was called “Cusleac Aonguis” or the Footstone of Aongus – from Aongus to MacAongus to MacGuinness of Magennis is an easy transition. 

According to tradition the young potential chieftain dressed in tight-fitting clothes of many colours, and with a jacket of gilded leather and embroidered silk held by a gold brooch, would “step on the Stone of Fate”: .. flinging off his right sandal and placing his foot in the indentation on the Stone, he would be given “the white Wand of Power”, which he would place in the socket of the Stone.   Finally a gold sandal would be put on his foot and he would be proclaimed “The MacGuinness”, with a great fanfare of trumpets.

And all that history in an auld lump of overgrown stone up a guttery lane.’

Worse, now it all almost forgotten.

The Stone of Scone, (pronounced 'scoon') also commonly known as the Stone of Destiny or the Coronation Stone (though the former name sometimes refers to Lia Fáil) is a block of sandstone historically kept at the now-ruined abbey in Scone, near Perth, Scotland.  It was used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland, the monarchs of England, and, more recently, British monarchs.  Other names by which it has sometimes been known include Jacob's Pillow Stone, Jacob's Pillar Stone, and the Tanist Stone.

Tradition and history

Traditionally, it is supposed to be the pillow stone said to have been used by the Biblical Jacob. According to one legend, it was the Coronation Stone of the early Dál Riata Gaels when they lived in Ireland, which they brought with them when settling Caledonia. Another legend holds that the stone was actually the travelling altar used by St Columba in his missionary activities throughout what is now Scotland. Certainly, since the time of Kenneth Mac Alpin, the first King of Scots, at around 847, Scottish monarchs were seated upon the stone during their coronation ceremony. At this time the stone was situated at Scone, a few miles north of Perth.

Westminster Abbey

The Stone of Scone in the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey, 1855.

In 1297 the Stone was captured by Edward I as spoils of war and taken to Westminster Abbey, where it was fitted into the old wooden chair, known as St. Edward's Chair, on which English sovereigns were crowned. Doubtless by this he intended to symbolize his claim to be "Lord Paramount" of Scotland with right to oversee its King. However, there is some doubt whether Edward I captured the real stone — it has been suggested that monks at Scone Palace hid the real Stone in the River Tay or buried it on Dunsinane Hill. If so, it is possible that the English troops were fooled into taking the wrong stone; some have claimed that historic descriptions do not appear to fit the present stone. If the monks did hide the real stone, they hid it well, as no other similar stone has been found (although rumors are occasionally heard of Knights Templar claiming to have the original stone in their possession).

In 1328, in the peace talks between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, Edward III is said to have agreed to return the captured Stone to Scotland. However, this does not form part of the Treaty of Northampton. The Stone was to remain in England for another six centuries. In course of time James VI of Scotland came to the English throne as James I of England but the stone remained in London; for the next century, the Stuart Kings and Queens of Scotland once again sat on the stone — but at their coronation as Kings and Queens of England. Since the Act of Union of 1707, the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey has applied to the whole of Great Britain, and since the Act of Union 1801 to the United Kingdom, so the stone may be said to have returned, once again, to its ancient use.