Scotland
Date: 14th – 15th May 2024
A journey through Perth Museum, Scone Abbey, Dunollie Castle, and Iona—seeking a deeper connection with the Stone of Destiny, Kenneth MacAlpin (Kenneth I of Scotland), and the origins of the Kingdom of Alba.
Diary notes
“Where is the Stone of Destiny? While historians protest that England’s Edward I reived it from Scotland back in 1296, archaeologists and ordinary folk hunt for it up mountains, in castles, beneath lochs and bogs, for Stone stories are part of Scottish folklore. The reappearance of the Coronation Stone north of the border in 1951 generated strong feelings, not only in Scotland, but around the globe.”
—Pat Gerber, The Search for the Stone of Destiny
This quote beautifully captures the passion and mystery surrounding the Stone of Destiny. Yet it’s the deeper history—half legend, half archaeology—that fascinates me most. Where did the legend begin?
The puzzle of the Stone’s origins stretches far beyond Scotland. Some say its story begins with Jacob in the Old Testament and his dream atop a stone pillow—Jacob’s Stone or the Thunderstone. Others trace it through the seafaring Tribe of Dan, travelling from Egypt to Ireland. There it becomes woven into the mythology of the Tuatha Dé Danann—the magical race who were said to have brought four sacred treasures:
The Sword of Nuada
The Spear of Lugh
The Cauldron of Dagda
and the Stone of Destiny
The legend continues that the Dal Riada kings carried the Stone from Ireland to Argyll on Scotland’s west coast. Then, in the 8th century, Kenneth I—traditionally named the first King of Scotland—moved it to Scone. From there, history meets conflict: in 1296, Edward I seized the Stone and carried it to Westminster Abbey, where it was used for centuries in English coronations.
And so the circle closes—myth, history, politics, and identity bound together in stone.
