A kingly WELCOME

If you want to step into the very heart of Scotland’s momentous history, then Scone (pronounced ‘Skoon’) is the place to start. It was to Scone that the Lia Fáil, the Stone of Destiny, was taken from Dunaad in the ancient kingdom of Dalriada, by Kenneth MacAlpin when he was declared King of Picts and Scots in 843 AD. From thence-forth it was tradition that the incoming monarch should be declared King of Scots at Scone – Macbeth was crowned here, Robert the Bruce was too, even Charles II accepted his crown as King of Scotland here in 1651.

However, both Bruce and Charles were crowned without the Stone of Destiny present, which had been removed by King Edward I of England when he invaded Scotland in 1296, taking the stone back to Westminster Abbey where it remained until eventually being re-patriated to Edinburgh Castle in 1996. Or did it? There is no certainty that the stone in Westminster Abbey, suggesting the real stone is hidden in a cave somewhere in the Hebrides.