Scone, Scotland

**Scone** (Modern Gaelic: _Sgàin_; Medieval: _Scoine_ []) is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.

The medieval town of Scone, which grew up around the monastery and royal residence, ended in the early nineteenth century when _Scone Palace_ was built on the site. The modern town of **New Scone** nowadays is simply called Scone. It has a population of over 4000 people and is a suburb of Perth.

Old Scone was the historic capital of (Scotland). In the Middle Ages it was an important royal centre, used as a royal residence and as the coronation site of the kingdom's monarchs. Around the royal site grew the town of Perth and the Abbey of Scone.

## Scone and Scotland

Scone's role came under threat as Scotland's twelfth century kings gradually became more French and less Gaelic. Walter of Coventry reported in the reign of William I of Scotland that "The modern kings of Scotland count themselves as Frenchmen, in race, manners, language and culture; they keep only Frenchmen in their household and following, and have reduced the Scots to utter servitude." Though exaggerated, there was truth in this. Apparently for this reason, when the Normanized David I of Scotland (_Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim_) went to Scone to be crowned there in the summer of 1124, he initially refused to take part in the ceremonies.

## Modern town

Constructing the new palace meant destroying the old town and moving its inhabitants to a new settlement. The new village was constructed in 1805 as planned town, and originally called New Scone. It lies 2km to the west of the old location and 1½ km farther from Perth. Until 1997 the town was called "New Scone", but is now referred to simply as Scone. The town had 4,430 inhabitants according to the 2001 Census for Scotland, 84.33% of whom are Scottish; it is demographically old even compared with the rest of Scotland.

The site of Old Scone is mostly in the grounds of the modern palace. This palace is a popular tourist attraction. Visitors come to see the gardens in the palace grounds, the exotic birds which roam freely in the grounds, Moot Hill, which lies in the grounds, as well as the palace itself.

## Notes

<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;">
</div>

## References

<div class="references-small">
- Barrow, G.W.S. (ed.), _The Acts of Malcolm IV King of Scots 1153-1165, Together with Scottish Royal Acts Prior to 1153 not included in Sir Archibald Lawrie's '"Early Scottish Charters"_', (_Regesta Regum Scottorum_ vol. i, Edinburgh, 1960)
- Barrow, G.W.S., "The Removal of the Stone and Attempts at Recovery, to 1328", in Richard Welander, David J. Breeze and Thomas Owen Clancy (eds.), _The Stone of Destiny: Artifact and Icon_, (Edinburgh, 2003), p.
- Binchy, D.A., "Fair of Tailtiu and the Feast of Tara", in _Ériu_, vol. 18 (1958), pp. 113-38
- Broun, Dauvit, "Origins of the Stone of Scone as a National Icon", in Richard Welander, David J. Breeze and Thomas Owen Clancy (eds.), _The Stone of Destiny: Artifact and Icon_, (Edinburgh, 2003), pp. 183-97
- Clancy, Thomas Owen, "King-Making and Images of Kingship in Medieval Gaelic Literature", in Richard Welander, David J. Breeze and Thomas Owen Clancy (eds.), _The Stone of Destiny: Artifact and Icon_, (Edinburgh, 2003), pp. 85-105
- Cowan, Ian B. & Easson, David E., _Medieval Religious Houses: Scotland With an Appendix on the Houses in the Isle of Man_, Second Edition, (London, 1976), pp. 97-8
- Duncan, A.A.M., "Before Coronation: Making a King at Scone in the 13th century", in Richard Welander, David J. Breeze and Thomas Owen Clancy (eds.), _The Stone of Destiny: Artifact and Icon_, (Edinburgh, 2003), pp. 139-67
- Fawcett, Richard, "The Buildings of Scone Abbey", in Richard Welander, David J. Breeze and Thomas Owen Clancy (eds.), _The Stone of Destiny: Artifact and Icon_, (Edinburgh, 2003), pp. 169-80
- FitzPatrick, Elizabeth, "_Leaca and Gaelic Inauguration Ritual in Medieval Ireland", in Richard Welander, David J. Breeze and Thomas Owen Clancy (eds.), _The Stone of Destiny: Artifact and Icon_, (Edinburgh, 2003), pp. 107-21
- Lawrie, Sir Archibald, _Early Scottish Charters Prior to A.D. 1153_, (Glasgow, 1905)
- McNeill, Peter G.B., and MacQueen, Hector L., (eds.), _Atlas of Scottish History to 1707_, (Edinburgh, 1996)
- O'Meara, John J. (ed.), _Gerald of Wales: The History and Topography of Ireland_, (London, 1951)
- Skene, William F. (ed.), _Chronicles of the Picts, Chronicles of the Scots and Other Early Memorials of Scottish History_, (Edinburgh, 1867)
- Skene, William F., "The Coronation Stone", in _Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland_, vol. 8 (1868-70), pp. 68-99
- Spearman, R.M., "The Medieval Townscape of Perth", in Michael Lynch, Michael Spearman & Geoffrey Stell (eds.), _The Medieval Scottish Town'', (Edinburgh, 1988), pp. 42-59
</div>

## Other websites

- 2001 Census, accessed Nov. 29, 2006
- geo.ed.ac.uk - Old Scone
- geo.ed.ac.uk - New Scone