Card of the Day: The Legend of the Coronation Stone

The next card in the 1935 Silver Jubilee Series by the Churchman Cigarette Company depicts the Legend of the Coronation Stone. This refers to the “Stone of Scone” and not the Coronation Stone which is on display in Kingston Upon Thames.


The Stone of Scone is also known as the “Stone of Destiny” and, in England, is referred to as “The Coronation Stone.” It is an oblong block of red sandstone, which has been employed for centuries in the coronations of the monarchs of Scotland and later, England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom.

For ages, the stone was kept at the now-ruined Scone Abbey near Perth, Scotland. This relic has also been called “Jacob's Pillow Stone” and the “Tanist Stone.” The top still shows chisel-marks, and, at each end of the stone is an iron ring to aid in moving it.

Legends states that this stone was the coronation stone of the early Dál Riata Gaels from Ireland. It is also thought that Fergus, son of Ferchard, the first King of the Scots in Scotland, brought the stone from Ireland to Argyll, and was crowned upon it. Furthermore, some Legends place the origins of the stone in Biblical times and consider the stone to be the Stone of Jacob taken by Jacob while in Haran.

The stone was taken by Edward I of England as spoils of war. Edward brought the stone to Westminster Abbey, where it was fitted into King Edward's Chair, upon which all English sovereigns have been crowned. In The Treaty of Northampton 1328, England agreed to return the captured Stone to Scotland, however, an angry mob prevented it from being removed from Westminster Abbey. Therefore, the stone remained in London until 1996 when, in a symbolic response to growing dissatisfaction among Scots, the British Conservative Government decided that the Stone should be kept in Scotland when not in use at coronations.