The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-22
o
King Edwards Chair and the Stone
of Destiny.
New York World.

New York World.
King Edwards chair, on which the SOW
ereigns Of England sit when they are
crowned, is often called St. Edwards chair
out of respect to the COnfessOr, near whose
shrine in Westminster Abbey il usually
stands. II was made by order of Edward l
TO hold the coronation stone. or stone OF
destiny, on which the Scottish kings used
to sit when they were crowned. and which
stone Edward l captured and sent to West
minister in the year 1296. The chair is made
Of solid oak, the parts being pinned to-
gether, and is still firm and sound. though
much d~iSigured by wanton mutilations as
well as by the hand of time. The whole
chair was originally gilded and covered
with ornamental work. much of which may
yet be distinguished upon a close inspection.
At each coronation it is covered with cloth
OF gold or tissue, and is disfigured with the
nails. tacks and brass pins that have been
used to fasten the coverings.
The chairs dimensions are as follows:
Entire height, six feet nine inches; breadth
at the bottom, three feet two inches; width
at the bottom, two feet; breadth OF the
seat, two feet five inches; depth of the seat,
one foot six inches.
At the coronation ceremony the chair
is brought out of ST. Edwards Chapel
and placed before the altar in the east
ern limb of the Abbey Church. Except
Mary L (who was crowned in a chair that
was sent TO England by the Pope, all the
sovereigns of England. beginning with Ed
ward II. have sat in this chair at their
corOnationS. On the occasion OF the in
stallation of Oliver Cromwell the chair was
brought into Westminster Hall, and this
was the only time it ever left the Abbey
since ii was made by Master Walter, in or
about the year 1897.
The chair owes it's Importance to the
stone, called the Stone of Destiny, which
ii was made TO preserve, and which rests
under its seat on a kind of middle frame
supported by four crouching lions on a
bottom or plinth. This stone was placed
in the Abbey of Scone, in the County of
Perth. in the year $50, by King Kenneth,
who is said to have caused TO be inscribed
on IL in Gaelic an ancient prophecy TO this
effect:
IF Fate speak sooth. where'er this stone
The Scots shall monarchs of that realm
be crown'd."
A prophecy to this effect was undoubt
eddy extant long before the time of King
Kenneth, and the belief in it is said to have
r~econciled many Scottish people TO the
union of Scotland and England. The Kings
of Scotland were unquestionably crowned
for some centuries while sitting on this
stone in the Abbey of Scone. But whence
did Ii come originally?
According to one account 1t is the identi-
cal stone upon which the Patriarch Jacob
laid his head on the plains of Luz when ne
had the vision of the angels ascending and
descending the ladder that reached to
heaven. Some say that it found its way
from the land of Luz to Egypt, that from
Egypt it was taken TO Spain by Gethalus.
the son of Cecrops, a wild young man, who,
having been bantshed to Egypt from Athens
by his father, married Scotia (hence the
words Scotland and ScottishJ. the daughter
Of Pharaoh, and fed from the plaques with
her from Spain, they taking the stone with
them. From Spain it was taken to Ireland,
and thence TO Scotland by their descend
ants.
Others say that from the plains of Luz 1t
was taken to the Temple of Jerusalem;
thence TO the shores of Asia Minor. and
thence direct by sea TO Ireland. The earliest
documentary allusiOn 10 the stone as hav-
ing been that used as a pillow by Jacob oc-
ours i'm a work called "Processus Baldredi
Contra Figmenta Regis Anglie,' which was
compiled in 1901.
Another legend says that IL was taken to
Ireland from Denmark by the Tuatha de
Dannaans ian ancient Irish peopie.) The
Irish historians deny that the Liza Fail
(Stone of Destiny, on which the irish
Kings were crowned. has ever left Ireland
and maintain that ii still stands proudly al
the head of the rebels grave on Tara Hill
The biologists rudely say hat the stone
is certainly of Scottish origin and that il
was probably quarried there a good many
hundred years ago.