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December 20, 2018 by Alexander Meldrum
Scotlands Citys & Towns
Scone, Scotland
Scone (/'sku?n/ (About this soundlisten)) (Scottish Gaelic: Sgàin; Scots: Scuin) is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.
The medieval village of Sc...Scotlands Citys & Towns
Scone, Scotland
Scone (/'sku?n/ (About this soundlisten)) (Scottish Gaelic: Sgàin; Scots: Scuin) is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland.
The medieval village of Scone, which grew up around the monastery and royal residence, was abandoned in the early 19th century when the residents were removed and a new palace was built on the site by the Earl of Mansfield.
Hence the modern village of Scone, and the medieval village of Old Scone, can often be distinguished.
Both sites lie in the historical province of Gowrie, as well as the old county of Perthshire. Old Scone was the historic capital of the Kingdom 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 was the ancient capital of Scotland and the coronation site of Scotland's kings, or the Kings of Scots. This MS illustration depicts the coronation of King Alexander III of Scotland on Moot Hill, Scone. He is being greeted by the ollamh rígh, the royal poet, who is addressing him with the proclamation "Benach De Re Albanne" (= Beannachd Dé Rígh Alban, "God Bless the King of Scotland"); the poet goes on to recite Alexander's genealogy. In Gaelic poetry Scone's association with kings and king-making gave it various poetic epithets, for instance, Scoine sciath-airde, "Scone of the High Shields", and Scoine sciath-bhinne, "Scone of the Noisy Shields". Scotland itself was often called or shown on maps as the "Kingdom of Scone" (or "Sconiana"), Righe Sgoinde. A comparison would be that Ireland was often called the "Kingdom of Tara", Tara, like Scone, serving as a ceremonial inauguration site. Scone was ,therefore, the closest thing the Kingdom of Scotland had in its earliest years to a "capital". In either 1163 or 1164, King Malcolm IV described Scone Abbey as in principali sede regni nostri, "in the principal seat of our kingdom". By this point, however, the rule of the King of the Scots was not confined to the Kingdom of Scotland, which then only referred to Scotland north of the river Forth.
The king also ruled in Lothian, Strathclyde and the Honour of Huntingdon, and spent much of his time in these localities too.
Moreover, the king was itinerant and had little permanent bureaucracy, so that any idea that Scone was a "capital" in the way the word is used today can make very little sense in this period. But in the medieval sense, Scone can in many ways be called the "capital of Scotland" and was often referred to as "the Royal City of Scone". Many comparisons can be drawn between the City of Westminster and the "City" of Scone. Both were medieval epicentres of Royal power. Both were located beside crossing points of major rivers - the highways of the medieval period - and in geographic locations central to their respective kingdoms. The origins of a settlement of any kind at Scone are unknown, although thought to be early medieval.
The origins could be pre-Roman as there is much evidence of a well-established and sophisticated Iron Age people flourishing in this part of Scotland. Direct evidence however is lacking and so Scone's story is thought to begin in the wake of the Roman exit from Scottish history. Thus there may have been a village, a religious centre, or even seat of power based at Scone from as early as even the 5th century with Scone coming into real and recorded prominence in the 9th century during the amalgamation of the Pictish and Gaelic peoples and kingdoms. Scone at this point played a crucial role in the formation and governance of the ancient Kingdom of Scotland.
It was in these years in the 9th century that Kenneth MacAlpin came east to Scone bringing with him a holy relic and coronation stone which being housed at Scone acquired the name, the Stone of Scone over time. In the 12th century, various foreign influences prompted the Scottish kings to transform Scone into a more convincing royal centre. Many historians have argued that the monastery or Priory was founded specifically in 1114 by Alexander I of Scotland.
This is strictly speaking correct, however, it seems clear that this charter was simply a reaffirming of Scone's status, and of the religious institutions there, rather than a sudden founding or establishment. There is growing evidence that there had been an early Christian cult called the Culdees based at Scone dating from at least the 9th century and possibly earlier.
The Culdees were eventually merged with the Augustinian canons who arrived from Nostell Priory in Yorkshire as part of the 1114 "re-establishment". This "re-establishment" and drive to confirm Scone's status at the heart of the emerging Scottish kingdom and nation continued in 1124. When Alexander I of Scotland wrote to "all merchants of England" promising them safe passage and protection if they are to bring goodsoScone by sea to trade. Scone at this time lay on a navigable part of the river Tay. This advantage was at times a major disadvantage as the Vikings came across the North Sea to launch their lightning raids. Using the River Tay as a water route into the heart of Scottish held territory throughout the 9th and 10th centuries, the Viking raiders pillaged towns and villages as well as religious houses such as the abbey at Dunkeld. In 904 a battle was fought in the vicinity of Scone, often referred to as the Battle of Scone, between the Scots led by King Constantine II of Scotland and the Vikings. As time went on for various reasons the river by Scone became less navigable. At the same time, medieval ships were developing deeper hulls. It was this combination of factors that encouraged David I of Scotland to establish a new burgh at the nearest suitable location downstream of Scone, namely Perth. Perth lies a mile from the site of medieval Scone, which is similar to the distance of Westminster Abbey from the City of London – 1.36 miles (2.19 km).
King Alexander I, thus "re-established" an Augustinian priory at Scone, sometime between 1114 and 1122. In either 1163 or 1164, in the reign of King Máel Coluim IV, Scone Priory's status was increased and it became an abbey.
The abbey had important royal functions, being next to the coronation site of Scottish kings and housing the coronation stone, the Stone of Scone until it was stolen by King Edward I of England) during the Wars of Scottish Independence in 1295. Like other Scottish abbeys, Scone probably doubled up as a royal residence or palace as well as a hunting ground. Scone abbey's obvious function was like the role that Westminster Abbey had for the Kings of England,
although Scottish kings it appears were subject to a more pagan ceremony including the use of the Moot Hill (the coronation mound). It is likely that Scottish inaugurations and coronations were completed in two parts:
a Christian ceremony conducted within the Abbey church and the perceivably pagan (Gaelic) ceremony conducted upon the Moot Hill. This can be attributed, as Thomas Owen Clancy points out, to the importance in Gaelic tradition of swearing the inauguration oath in colle, on the traditional mound, the importance of which continental Christian fashions were apparently unable to overcome. However, the parallel with Westminster certainly existed in the mind of Edward I, who in 1297 transferred the Abbey's coronation relics, the crown, sceptre and the stone, to Westminster in an overt act of stripping Scotland of her nationhood. Scotland's national relics and regalia were made in a formal presentation to the English royal saint, Edward the Confessor.
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