Interest: The Stone of Destiny

[MichaelMcGuire]

Also known as the Stone of Scone..


Above Ian Hamilton (Ring leader) that liberated the Stone of Destiny in 1950.

It was, Ian Hamilton calmly acknowledges, the moment of no return. ''You sort of know that when you take a crowbar to a side door of Westminster Abbey and jemmy the lock that there isn't really any going back, don't you?'' he says philosophically. ''Not when you know that the next thing you are going to do is steal one of the ancient relics inside.''

Hamilton is lost in reverie for a moment. A wry smile crosses his face and then a thought strikes him. ''Not,'' he says urgently, ''that it was stealing. It was a liberation. A returning of a venerable relic to its rightful ownership.''

Hamilton stretches out his legs and turns his gaze to the slate gray waters of Loch Lomond. ''Of course back then I didn't realise the scale of the thing. That it would become an international incident,'' he says, with the air of a man who has been describing something no more outrageous than picking the lock of his own front door after forgetting the key.

Almost 60 years ago, on Christmas Day 1950, Hamilton, then a brash and idealistic young student studying law at Glasgow University, became notorious in England and achieved nigh-on hero status in his native Scotland when he and a trio of friends staged one of the most audacious heists imaginable. In a caper worthy of an Ealing comedy, they motored from Glasgow to London (in those days no mean feat), broke into the Abbey, and stole the symbol of Scottish pride, the Stone of Scone – with one of the ''thieves'' breaking two toes when it fell on them.

The borders were closed, a posse of police vans gave chase, and a national outcry ensued. Whereupon our intrepid quartet calmly held the Stone hostage, deftly tap-danced their way through police interviews and triumphantly ended the escapade by evading arrest. The Scots were ecstatic. The English, by contrast, were bewildered. Was it, they asked themselves, a student jape or an insult to the majesty of the British state?

By Olga Craig
For further reading visit below
http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/scotnews08/081215_destiny.html
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A beautiful song which documents the return "Oran na Cloiche"
Best version in my view sung by Kathleen MacInnes

[customerserviceguy]

1. Not sure how interested I am in a glorified college frat boy prank

but thanks for putting that video in there. I've always liked Irish folk music, this has a very similar sound. Now, I'm going to have to find some more music from Ms. MacInnes. Didn't understand a word she sung, but I liked the pride in her voice, and it was amplified by the strength of the musicians behind her.

[MichaelMcGuire]

2. Ian isn't a frat boy nor was it a prank

The songs in Scottish not Irish.

Link to the lyrics in English


The Stone that my grandmother
And grandfather used to talk about
Has returned as it left
My brave Stone
And I don't care whether it's in Kerrera
Callendar or Calvay
As long as it's in
Steep, rugged Scotland

Chorus (after each verse):
'S i u ro bha ho ro hilli um bo ha 'S i u ro bha ho ro hilli um bo ha
Hilli um bo ruaig thu i hilli um bo ha Hilli um bo ruaig thu i hilli um bo ha
'S i u ro bha ho ro hilli um bo ha 'S i u ro bha ho ro hilli um bo ha

To be put in a place of refuge
Which will conceal it safely
So that they can't, they won't manage to
Remove a single fragment of it
The Stone that was lost to us
Prised from their grasp
And certainly, if it has returned
That's a very good thing

Let us swear by our hand
Each and every one of us
That we will allow nothing to endanger
The man who unloosed it
And dared to rescue it
From an unpleasant place
If they lay hands on him
We'll need to be strong
And strike a blow for him
Using steel

The Minister was so sorrowful
When he woke that morning
His eyes bleary
As he turned out
Walking the floor
Sighing and praying
And looking at the nook
Where he'd found the Stone missing

There was much pacing
And running 'round the floor
And all he could say was
"Where did the Stone go?"
And, "By the Holy Mother
What will I do tomorrow
I know the Queen
Will be beside herself"

Said he, looking deathly pale
"I'd never have believed
It could have been raised from the floor
By someone no bigger than a wasp
Something is to happen to me
And Heaven help me
The man who unloosed it
Must be as strong as a horse"

http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/macinneskathleen/oranna.htm

The Stone of Scone is to the Scots what 'the marbles' is to the Greeks

[customerserviceguy]

9. All I was doing was comparing the behavior

In any case, both these marbles you write of (I have no idea what they are) and this rock are simply venerated objects, nothing more. The only difference between this and a frat boy prank is that it involves two 'nations' rather than two frat houses. It really didn't change anything in the long run.

[MichaelMcGuire]

10. If you can't see the value of these "objects" theres not really much more I can say

[postulater]

3. A glorious day.

Thanks for the story.

[Ichingcarpenter]

4. The Welsh now want the Blue Stones returned from Stone hedge

which were taken long ago.,,,, old joke BTW

Anyway interesting story .. Edward the first stole it from Scotland after a bloody battle and terror inflicted on the scots.

[MichaelMcGuire]

5. I wouldn't fight with the man that put them there

Edward may have been tricked, there unsure of the monks hiding the Stone before hand? Either way real or fake we got them back.

[riverwalker]

6. didn't know it was movie too

Now on my list to see.
Movie trailer for "The Stone of Destiny" 2008

[MichaelMcGuire]

7. Yep and unlike most

real life to movies crossover it isn't that bad.

[NBachers]

8. Thanks for the excellent music!