The Stone of Destiny

Feilding Star, Volume XII, Issue 145, 30 May 1891, Page 2

The Stone of Destiny

I had the pleasure of speaking to a fine specimen of the- North-country ' Englishmen the other day, from Lancashire.-, In the course of conversationhe said that the old rivalry between York and Lancaster, which produced the Wara of the Roses, had not yet died out of those . counties. He lamented that the blood of our Royal Family was so diluted. (I may be permitted to show that it is not), and he said that perhaps in course of time we might have a republic as in America. I am induced to write this letter to show that this cannot be. No republican form of Government will ever obtain in-Eng-land while she retains the " Stone of Destiny." I showed some' time since 1 that our Royal Family cost the nation less . than ever' a Republican President, and we all know in what a stable and quiet way the affairs of our eyer-growing empire are managed, and . also what security there is for life and property. No man can desire anything better. I wish to bring before you one of those cherished traditions which make the early history of our country so dear to many of us. I haye great respect for those little bits of ancient history,- and quite agree with the poet who says that : — When a land rejects her legends, Sees but falsehood in the past, And its people view- their sires in the light of fools or liars, 'Tis a sign of its decline. - A very ancient Irish Celtic rune is translated thus : — Unless the Fates are faithless grown . •And Prophet's yoice be vain - Where'er is found this Sacred Stone The Wanderers' race shall reign. Whether or not we should belieye in the Legend of the Stone, whether or no tbe prophecy spoken be a reality, whether, the stone is called Jacob's Pillow, or Liar Phail or the Stone Wonderful, the fact remains that Kings and Queensvhave been crowned on it for 2450 years, in Ireland} Scotland, and England. We first hear of this, ancient stone in Ireland about the year - 580 8.C., when Eochaid 11, of Ulster, was crowned -on it, together with his wife, a Hebrew .Princess, ,at Tara r near Dablin (Tara's Halls). This princess was of the Royal House of David, Their discendarit Fergus" sailed from Ireland A.D. 503 at the head of an army of Scoti, as the people were called, and conquered'the country which was named after them " Scotland," but he refused to be crowned as king till the stone ore which his ancestors had been anointed was fetched from Tar'a. Our historiestell us it remained in Scotland, and her kings were crowned on it at Scone, according to the ancient custom. It remained at .Scone till our King Edward I placed it in the Coronation Chair at Westminster Abbey, where it is now. ' The crowns of England and Scotland, after the death of Elizabeth, were united in the person of James I, the lineal descendant of tho Fergus who came from Ireland. The Hanoverian family at preseut reigning, were directly descended from James I, thus continuing the line of succession from Eochaid II to Victoria, aperiod of 2450 years, and each soyereign has been crowned on the Stone of Destiny, with the exception of Queen Mary r - ' who sat in a chair sent her by the Pope.James I said, at a council in Whitehall^ April 21st, 1613, " There is a great cause 1 why I should be careful'of the welfare of the Irish people, first as King of England' and then as King' of Scotland, for the' ancient Kings of Scotland are descended from the Kings of Ireland." This stone: i bears evidence of having been carried about, for in its battered surface are tho - holes where bolts bad been let in to put a pole through. How did Jacob's Pillow or the Stone of Bethel get to Ireland ? r We know from the Jews that this- stonewas carried to Egypt and afterwards^ placed in the temple of Solomon . as the " top corner stone," and now it is in Westminster Abbey. The legend connected with the holders of Jacob's Pillow seems a true one, for the English are eyerj'where. , The reigning family .was > called the " Wanderers* Race "by the old bards, , because tbey were driven from Palestine after the fall- of Jerusalem in i B.C. 588. Our King Alfred the Great has left a. record, : now. in the British Museum, asking hia people to be kind to- , strangers, because their forefathers were once strangers and bondmen in Egypt. —I am, &c, F.W.W.