











|
|
THE CORONATION STONE - Lia
Fail
THE STONE THAT ROARED -- THE
INCREDIBLE STORY OF LIA-FAIL!
By John D. Keyser
In St. Edward's Chapel at Westminster Abbey in London, sits an ancient,
nondescript wooden chair. Covered with graffiti and worn with age, this chair
surrounds and encloses an even more ancient block of sandstone known as the "LIA
FAIL" or Coronation Stone of the Scots. For more than a thousand years the kings
and queens of England and Scotland have been crowned over this stone and, as the
history of IRELAND reveals, the Milesian kings before them.
British-Israel proponents, and the Worldwide Church of God under Herbert W.
Armstrong, claimed that this stone was brought to Ireland by Jeremiah the
Prophet after the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians. In the Church booklet
entitled "The United States and Britain in Prophecy" -- which enjoyed a
circulation reaching into the millions -- the following statement is made:
"Besides the royal family, Jeremiah brought with them some remarkable things,
including a harp, an ark, and a WONDERFUL STONE CALLED 'LIA FAIL,' or 'STONE OF
DESTINY.'....many kings in the history of Ireland, Scotland, and England have
been coronated sitting over this stone -- including the present Queen. The stone
rests today in Westminster Abbey in London, and the coronation chair is built
over and around it. A sign beside it labels it 'JACOB'S PILLAR-STONE' (Genesis
28:18). (P.100).
No Evidence of Jeremiah
"There is no question that this stone has an ancient and legendary history.
But what the IRISH LEGENDS say about the Lia-fail, as distinguished from
British-Israel theorists [and the late Herbert W. Armstrong of the WWCG], is
that the stone was brought to Ireland BY AN ISRAELITE IN THE TIME OF
MOSES....Scripture also says NOTHING about Jeremiah lugging around a huge,
special stone from place to place." ("Afterword on British-Israelism," by Greg
Doudna. P.127).
This is true. I have personally consulted literally DOZENS of books dealing
with ancient Irish and Scottish history, and have found NOT EVEN A FOOTNOTE
discussing Jeremiah's purported trip to Ireland with the Lia Fail and the
daughters of Zedekiah. COMPLETE SILENCE! If Jeremiah had traveled to Ireland as
claimed, you would think such a momentous event as this would be recorded in all
the Irish annals as a highlight in their long and illustrious history!
Who Took the "Stone" to Ireland?
"The Westminster Abbey Official Guide" and Scottish traditions state HOW the
stone ACTUALLY reached the shores of Ireland:
Tradition identifies this stone with the one upon which JACOB rested his head
at Bethel...Jacob's sons CARRIED IT TO EGYPT AND FROM THENCE IT PASSED TO SPAIN
WITH KING GATHELUS, SON OF CECROPS, THE BUILDER OF ATHENS....(Quoted by Raymond
McNair in his unpublished manuscript, "In Search of the Lost Ten Tribes.")
According to SCOTTISH LORE, PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER SCOTA [who married Gathelus],
CARRIED IT TO ALBION [British Isles] and MOSES foretold that victory should
follow the stone wherever it went. In the IRISH TRADITIONS we find mentioned
that "There [in the British Isles] it was placed upon the SACRED HILL OF TARA,
and called LIA-FAIL, the 'FATAL' STONE, or 'STONE OF DESTINY...." ("Chronicles
of Eri," Trinity College, Dublin).
Who was this CECROPS, the "builder of Athens," and his son GATHELUS? Let's
turn to the annals of Ireland and Scotland, as recorded by competent historians,
for the answers! According to The Harmsworth Encyclopedia, Cecrops was none
other than CALCOL of I Chronicles 2:6 -- the SON OF ZARAH and GRANDSON OF JUDAH!
It is stated that Calcol was the LEADER OF A BAND OF HEBREW COLONISTS FROM
EGYPT, who evidently left before the Exodus of the Bible. Herman L. Hoeh, in his
"Compendium of World History," states that "Athenian history commences with the
founding of the city by CECROPS in 1556 [B.C.]." (Vol. I, p.390).
While ruling Athens CALCOL had a son by the name of GATHELUS, who became
famous throughout GREECE for his wisdom and learning. Geoffrey Keating, in his
work "The History of Ireland," uncovers the background of this man:
....his [Gathelus'] success against the tyrants and robbers of that country
was so great, that he became very much beloved by the inhabitants. When King
Refloir perceived this, he was seized with fear, lest MILEDH [another name for
Gathelus] might rise up against himself, and strive to deprive him of the
KINGDOM OF SCYTHIA. For this reason he plotted the death of Miledh,
notwithstanding the fact of his being his own son-in-law. But Miledh heard of
the plot, and thereupon seized upon a favourable opportunity, and put King
Refloir to death first. -- Translated by John O'Mahony. P.M. Haverty, N.Y. 1857.
P.176.
Gathelus Sails For Egypt!
He then called together and assembled his own faithful followers, and put out
to sea with the crews of THREE SCORE SHIPS. And he steered straight over the
MEDITERRANEAN SEA, until he reached the MOUTHS OF THE NILE. There he landed, and
sent an embassy to PHARAOH NECTONIBUS, letting him know of his arrival; and the
king sent ambassadors of his own to meet MILEDH, and to conduct him to his
presence. And when Miledh appeared before the king, he was made welcome to the
land, and a territory was granted to him and his people to dwell thereupon. It
is in record of this VOYAGE OF MILEDH, from [GRECIAN] SCYTHIA TO EGYPT, that
Gilla-Caemhan composed the following rann [poem]:
"Miledh, the sire of our goodly clans,
Slew King Refloir, the well-befriended
Then hastily fled he yon hostile land,
And found other fields by the bounteous Nilus."
....At this time, there was A GREAT WAR BETWEEN PHARAOH AND THE KING OF
ETHIOPIA. Pharaoh made Miledh the commander of his army, when he had estimated
his bravery and valor, and sent him to meet the forces of Ethiopia therewith.
Then there ensued many engagements and conflicts, between the forces under the
command of Miledh and those of the Ethiopians. In these he was so successful
that his fame and renown spread through all nations, whereupon PHARAOH GAVE HIM
ONE OF HIS OWN DAUGHTERS TO WIFE. THIS LADY WAS CALLED SCOTA....She bore her
husband TWO SONS IN EGYPT, namely EBER FINN and AMERGHIN.
As soon as ever Miledh had landed in EGYPT, he sent TWELVE of the young men
that had accompanied him, to learn the principal arts of Egypt. Thus each of
them had become expert in his own particular profession, by the end of the SEVEN
YEARS THAT MILEDH RESIDED IN THE LAND OF THE PHARAOHS. -- Ibid, Pp.176-177.
Gathelus and Moses
While in Egypt, Gathelus made contact with his brethren the Israelites, and
befriended Moses and Aaron when they returned from Midian. There is a tradition
that one day, while swimming in the Nile, Gathelus was bitten by a venomous
snake. He was immediately taken to Moses by his kindred, and healed by the
leader of the Israelites.
JACOB'S PILLAR-STONE, which was carried to Egypt by Jacob and his family when
they joined Joseph there, was given into the custody of Gathelus by Moses.
Gathelus' wife SCOTA took a special interest in the stone and, "according to
Scottish lore...carried it to ALBION...." ("The Chronicles of Eri." Trinity
College, Dublin).
Gathelus soon incurred the wrath of the Pharaoh because of his friendship
with Moses and the Israelites. According to Keating: "Pharaoh INTUR [son of
Nectonibus] and the Egyptians... remembered their old grudge to...the family of
GAEDAL [Gathelus], namely their resentment for the FRIENDSHIP the latter had
formed with the children of Israel. They, then, MADE WAR UPON THE GAELS, WHO
WERE THEREBY COMPELLED TO EXILE THEMSELVES FROM EGYPT." ("History of Ireland
From the Earliest Period to the English Invasion," pp.153-156).
About this time Moses, at the command of God, was bringing down upon the
Egyptians the plagues of God. Hector Boece, in his "Chronicles of Scotland,"
notes that "Gathelus, no less concerned by the present plagues that were the
terrible response of God, resolved to leave Egypt for ANOTHER ABODE and enter
into extreme danger rather than endure the obvious vengeance of God." (Vol. I.
William Blackwood & Sons Ltd., Edinburgh & London. MCMXXXVIII. Pp.21.
Translation mine).
Gathelus Flees Egypt!
"A short while afterwards he provisioned a ship and sailed out of the mouth
of the River Nile with his wife, friends and servants -- Greeks and Egyptians --
for the fear of the plagues of God." (Ibid, pp.22-24).
Along with the passengers and crew, and all their belongings, went JACOB'S
PILLAR- STONE!
The dangerous journey from Egypt to SPAIN is recorded by Keating:
He [Gathelus] then set sail from the mouth of the Nile, into the
Mediterranean, and landed on an island near Thrace. It is called IRENA, and
there it was that IR, SON OF MILEDH, was born.-- "The History of Ireland." Vol.
I. Irish Texts Society, London. 1902. P.205.
Keating doesn't mention it, but several historians state that the first
stop-over from Egypt was on the island of CRETE. This makes sense since Crete is
in a direct line between Egypt and Thrace and would thus be a natural port of
call.
The island called IRENA is believed to be SAMOTHRACE in the Aegean Sea --
close to the entrance into the Black Sea. This island was peopled with
Pelasgians, Thracians, and PHOENICIANS. It was famous in the ancient world for
its RELIGIOUS MYSTERIES. Its soil was held to be SACRED, and therefore was an
INVIOLABLE ASYLUM TO ALL FUGITIVES.
Thomas Moore, in his "History of Ireland," mentions that "From time
immemorial, the small isle of SAMOTHRACE, in the Aegean, was a favourite seat of
idolatrous worship and resort; and on its shores the Cabiric Mysteries had been
established by the Phoenicians. These rites were dedicated to the deities who
presided over NAVIGATION; and IT WAS USUAL FOR MARINERS TO STOP AT THIS ISLAND
ON THEIR WAY TO DISTANT SEAS, AND OFFER UP A PRAYER AT ITS SHRINES FOR
PROPITIOUS WINDS AND SKIES." (Vol. I. Longman, Brown, Green & Longmans, London.
1846. p.15).
It seems that Gathelus stopped at this island for several reasons: To seek a
place of refuge from any possible Egyptian harassment while his wife delivered
his child; and to offer up prayers for a safe journey to his destination. But
WHY travel all the way to the northern Aegean Sea if he was going to head WEST
through the Mediterranean Sea -- which seems the logical thing to do? This would
require a lot of BACKTRACKING that would INCREASE the dangers of the voyage for
his people.
The mystery deepens as Keating relates the next segment of Gathelus' voyage:
Thence [from IRENA or SAMOTHRACE] he sailed to AN ISLAND CALLED GOTHIA, IN
THE STRAIGHT LEADING INTO THE NORTHERN OCEAN. There he made some stay, and there
it was that SCOTA bore him a son, namely, COLPA, styled the Swordsman. -- "The
History of Ireland," p.205.
GOTHIA was the ancient name for the area now occupied by NORWAY AND SWEDEN.
The "island called Gothia" is now the island off the east coast of Sweden known
as GOTLAND. And in what OCEAN is Gotland located? The BALTIC SEA!
Sailing From the Black Sea to the Baltic?!
We see Gathelus reaching the BALTIC SEA from the NORTHERN AEGEAN SEA by way
of THE STRAIGHT LEADING INTO THE NORTHERN OCEAN (BALTIC SEA). How could this be?
Ancient geographers reveal that at one time THE CONTINENT OF EUROPE WAS
SEPARATED FROM ASIA BY THE SEA!
Notice what author S. Gusten Olson says: "At this point, one VERY SIGNIFICANT
topographical factor must be taken into consideration. From the time the
Phoenicians were the chief mariners until our time, DEFINITE CHANGES HAVE TAKEN
PLACE IN THE LAND SURFACE OF EUROPE. It was initially a residual
effect-extending shorelines, diminishing lakes and DISAPPEARING WATERWAYS."
("The Incredible Nordic Origins." Nordica S.F. Ltd., Kent, England. 1981. P.57).
When discussing the amber trade of ancient times, Olson notes that "there is
evidence that it [the amber] WAS TRANSPORTED FROM THE REGIONS OF THE NORTH SEA
AND THE BALTIC TO THE AEGEAN SEA. One route traversed through Denmark and
Germany, finally reaching the ports of the NORTH-CENTRAL MEDITERRANEAN....In
earlier times than has previously been realized, THE NORTH OF EUROPE has been
CONNECTED BY WATERWAYS.... Thus it was possible for merchandise to regularly
have been shipped FROM THE BALTIC TO THE LEVANT [the eastern land region of the
Mediterranean Sea-- particularly Syria, Lebanon, and Israel] AND EGYPT!" (Ibid,
p.57).
Modern scholars ridicule this idea, but the evidence abounds in the
geographical features of eastern Europe. If you look at a detailed map of
eastern Europe you will notice vast areas of MARSHLAND in a line from the Baltic
Sea to the Black Sea -- from DAN-ZIG at the mouth of the VISTULA RIVER to ODESSA
at the mouth of the DNIESTER. Also, the area southeast of DANZIG is peppered
with small lakes indicating the area, at one time, was under water.
The "Encyclopedia Britannica" comments on these MARSHLANDS:
The PEIPUS REGION on the Estonian-Latvian borders of Russia...abounds in
MARSH related to the distribution of boulder clay while FURTHER SOUTH are the
PRIPET MARSHES. Here the VISTULA-DNIEPER LOW-ZONE north-east of the Carpathians
crosses the European plain, and the PRIPET MARSHES are the north-west part of
the Dnieper basin towards the indefinite boundary between the DRAINAGE SYSTEMS
OF THE BLACK SEA AND THE BALTIC. These great areas of marsh have had great
influence in ISOLATING CENTRAL RUSSIA, ESPECIALLY FROM THE WEST, and they
determine to a large extent the HISTORIC WAYS OF COMMUNICATION from the west
into Russia, that of Vilna-Smolensk north of, and that of Lemberg-Kiev south of
the Pripet marshes. -- 1943 edition. Vol. 8, p.831.
At the time of the Exodus the area from the Black Sea to the Baltic was under
water and deep enough to allow the shipping of the day to pass through.
Gathelus, therefore, traveled from Irena to the island of Gothia by passing into
the Black Sea through the DARDANELLES, then to the Baltic by way of the
"straight leading into the NORTHERN OCEAN."
M. Paul du Chaillu, in his early history of the English-speaking Nations,
"The Viking Age," CLEARLY brings the SCANDINAVIANS (tribe of Dan) from the
region of AR-SARETH or DACIA and GETOE -- which is a locality to the NORTH-WEST
OF THE BLACK SEA. From here, according to Chaillu, they traveled TO THE NORTH
COAST OF EUROPE THROUGH SOUTH RUSSIA, POLAND AND PRUSSIA. This was precisely the
route taken by Gathelus and Scota.
Since "Dan abode in ships" and were a SEAFARING PEOPLE from before the time
of the Exodus, why would they suddenly beach their ships and take a land route
across Europe to the Baltic? THEY DIDN'T!! They traveled the same waterway or
"straight" which separated Europe from Asia -- following in the wake of Gathelus
and his people!
Only with this knowledge can sense be made of the ritual on the island of
Samothrace. This island marked the BEGINNING of voyages to the Northern Oceans
by way of the Black Sea and the waters that separated Europe from Asia.
A Waymark of Gathelus!
As Gathelus and his people proceeded through the waterway to the Baltic, some
of them remained behind and founded a colony known as GAL-ICIA -- named after
their leader. This colony encompassed the later Polish provinces of Crakow,
Lwow, Stanislawow and Tarnopol, and lay along the northern slopes of the
Carpathian Mountains. The present-day DNIESTER RIVER runs through this area --
the remnant of the ancient waterway that carried Gathelus and Jacob's
Pillar-stone to Israel's appointed place in the ocean!
Up until recent times, the majority of the urban population of GALICIA was
JEWISH -- descendants of those left behind by Gathelus! (See the "Encyclopedia
Britannica," 1943 edition. Vol. 9, p. 976).
Gathelus Arrives in Norway
Notice, now, the next leg of Gathelus' voyage:
Thence [from the island of Gothia in the Baltic] he set sail into the
northern straight which SEPARATES EUROPE FROM ASIA, and passed onward, LEAVING
EUROPE ON THE LEFT, TO THE WEST, until he reached Cruthintuath, i.e. the land of
the Cruthnigh or Picts, which is called ALBA [SCOTLAND]. -- "The History of
Ireland," by Geoffrey Keating. Vol.I. Irish Texts Society, London. 1902. P.205.
To travel to the WEST -- with Europe on his left -- Gathelus must have passed
through the Baltic to the North Sea and thence to Scotland. He made, however,
ONE MORE STOP before heading across the ocean to Alba or Scotland:
....when they saw the PEOPLE OF SYRIA [the Amalekites] prevailing over the
people of the country [Egypt], they, in one band, depart from that territory,
for fear of them, and they made no stay till they came to the COUNTRY OF
LOCHLONN, i.e. Fionn-Lochlonn, viz. THE PEOPLE OF NORWAY, where they got welcome
from the people of the country for the extent of their SCIENCE AND OF THEIR
VARIED ARTS [learned in Egypt]....Indeed, they obtained FOUR CITIES, so as to be
teaching the young folk of that country [NORWAY] in them. The names of the
cities here: FAILIAS, GORIAS, FINIAS, and MURIAS. [They placed] FOUR SAGES [of
the 12 sent out by Gathelus to learn the Egyptian sciences while in Egypt] in
those cities to teach the sciences and the varied arts they had to the youths of
the country; SEMIAS in Murias, and ARIAS in Finias, and EURUS in Gorias, and
MORIAS in Failias. After being a while of their time in these cities, THEY
PROCEED TO THE NORTH OF SCOTLAND, so that they were SEVEN YEARS AT DOBHAR AND AT
IARDOBHAR. -- Ibid.
With Gathelus, when he left NORWAY, was the famous stone:
They [Gathelus and his people] had FOUR NOBLE JEWELS, which they brought FROM
THESE CITIES, namely, A STONE OF VIRTUE FROM FAILIAS; it is it THAT IS CALLED
'LIA FAIL'; and it is it that used to roar under EACH KING OF IRELAND on his
being chosen by them up to the time of Conchubhar [time of Christ], and it is to
that stone is called in Latin 'SAXUM FATALE.' It is from it, moreover, is called
INIS FAIL TO IRELAND. So that it is therefore a certain antiquary composed this
verse:
The stone which is under my two heels,
From it Inis Fail is named;
Between two shores of a mighty flood,
The plain of Fal (is for name) on all Ireland.
[This STONE which is called 'LIA FAIL'], another name for it (is) THE STONE
OF DESTINY; for it was in destiny for this stone whatever place it would be in,
that it is a MAN OF THE SCOTIC NATION, i.e. OF THE SEED OF MILEADH OF SPAIN,
that would be in the sovereignty of that country, according as is read in Hector
Boetius in the history of Scotland. Here is what he says, viz. --
The Scotic nation, noble the race,
Unless the prophecy be false,
Ought to obtain dominion,
Where they shall find the LIA FAIL. -- Ibid, p.206.
On to Spain!
After staying in the northern parts of Scotland for seven years, Gathelus "
plundered the coasts of that country, and thence sailed along the coast of Great
Britain, LEAVING IT ON THE RIGHT, until he reached the mouth of the river REN
(i.e. the RHINE); thence, SAILING WESTWARD AND SOUTHWARD, he leaves France ON
HIS LEFT, and at length LANDS IN BISCAY [a province in the northwest angle of
SPAIN, lying on the Atlantic Ocean, and bordering on France]." ("The History of
Ireland," by Geoffrey Keating. P.177).
The British historian Nennius, speaking of this same voyage, says it TOOK
SOME 42 YEARS to complete: "He [Gathelus] was expelled [from Egypt] and HE
WANDERED FOR 42 YEARS...and came to SPAIN, and there they lived for many
years...." ("Nennius: British History and the Welsh Annals," translated by John
Morris. Phillimore and Co. Ltd., London & Chichester. 1980. P.21).
A Respite in Spain
When Gathelus landed in Spain -- or what is now called PORTUGAL (PORT-OF-GAEL
[GATHELUS]) -- he had to overcome the warlike tribes who were harassing his
kinsman ITH (ETHAN, BROTHER OF CALCOL), Prince of Breogan. Keating relates the
story:
Now, when he [Gathelus] had arrived in this land [SPAIN], his kinsmen came to
bid him welcome, and they tell him that the Gothi, and several other foreign
nations, were harassing both their country and all Spain. Upon hearing this,
Miledh [Gathelus] summoned his own partisans throughout Spain, and when they had
come together he marched with them, and with the forces he had brought with him
in his fleet, against the foreigners and the Gothi; and routed them in
fifty-four battles, and thus drove them completely out of Spain. After this,
both he and his kinsmen, the sons of Breogan...held the sovereignty of the
greater part of that country. -- "The History of Ireland," by Geoffrey Keating.
P.178.
According to Hector Boece, Gathelus "soon afterward...built a town upon the
river of MUNDE, then called BRACHARA -- now BARSALE.... [After a major battle
with the Spaniards] they [the Spaniards] therefore asked GATHELUS for a peace
conference and quickly gave him...part of their land in the NORTH PART OF SPAIN,
NOW CALLED GALYCIA, because they had a prophecy that said a strange people would
sometime come to dwell there....with the close collaboration of the inhabitants,
[GATHELUS] built the TOWN OF BRYGANCE -- now called COMPESTELLA....Following
this GATHELUS NAMED ALL HIS SUBJECTS SCOTS, IN HONOUR AND AFFECTION FOR HIS
WIFE, WHO WAS CALLED SCOTA, with whom he had two sonsHIBER AND HEMECUS...." And,
peace having been secured, "Gathelus sat in his CHAIR OF MARBLE [STONE] within
his city of BRYGANCE [COMPOSTELLA] -- governing his people in justice. This
CHAIR OF MARBLE had such fortune and destiny, that wherever it was found in any
land, that land would become the native land of the SCOTS...." ("Chronicles of
Scotland," Vol. I. William Blackwood & Sons. Pp. 21-24).
In view of this, it is not at all surprizing that the apostle JAMES (son of
Zebedee, brother of John) should visit GALICIA centuries later and preach the
good news of the Kingdom of God to the descendants of Gathelus and his people
still living in the area! James also evangelized the area around SARAGOSSA in
the EBRO VALLEY (ZARAH-GASSA -- "STRONGHOLD OF ZARAH") which was also colonized
by Gathelus.
Tradition relates that, after the martyrdom of James, his remains were taken
to his beloved Spain and interred in the town of COMPOSTELA -- the very town
founded by Gathelus!
The possible reason for Jame's interest in the Jewish colonies left behind in
Spain by the Milesians is revealed by E.A. Wallis Budge: "According to the
Genealogies of the Twelve Apostles Zebedee was of the house of Levi, and his
wife of the HOUSE OF JUDAH. Now, because the father of James loved him greatly
he counted him among the family of his father Levi, and similarly because the
mother of John loved him greatly, she counted him among the family of her father
JUDAH. And they were surnamed 'Children of Thunder,' for they were of both the
priestly house and of the ROYAL HOUSE.'" ("Contendings of the Apostles," II,
49).
Continuing, author E. Raymond Capt states that "it is reasonable to assume
the 'MARBLE CHAIR' referred to was the CORONATION STONE or the BETHEL STONE,
still in the hands of the sons (descendants) of JACOB when in the care of
GATHELUS AND HIS QUEEN SCOTA." ("Jacob's Pillar." Artisan Sales, Thousand Oaks,
CA. 1977. P.31).
Andrew of Wyntown (circa 1400 A.D.) in his book "Chronykil of Scotland,"
gives this account of the STONE in Gathelus' possession:
This king [Gathelus] had at that time a FAMOUS STONE which was used as his
THRONE, and was REGARDED AS A PRICELESS JEWEL IN SPAIN. He gave it to Simon, and
directed him to take it with him to IRELAND and win that country for occupation,
and to hold the STONE-THRONE perpetually. -- Wyntown Chronykyl lib.III, cap.16.
Spying Out the Land!
With peace secured in Spain, the Milesians under Gathelus grew in number and
prosperity. After a while, however, conflicts with tribes moving into Spain
resumed; and it seemed, in order to live in peace, they would have to move on to
new lands. Keating describes what Gathelus resolved to do next:
Not satisfied, however, with the greatness of their power there, they
resolved upon extending their sway over other lands. They had also another
motive for this. There was, at that period, A SCARCITY OF FOOD IN SPAIN, WHICH
LASTED FOR TWENTY-SIX YEARS; it was caused by the great drought of the seasons.
They were prompted to it, also, by the number of conflicts they had to maintain
with the Gothi, and the several other foreign nations, with whom they had to
contend for the sovereignty of Spain. They then held council as to what country
they should invade, and as TO WHOM THEY SHOULD SEND TO RECONNOITRE IT. Upon
this, THEY RESOLVED TO CHOOSE ITH [ETHAN -- BROTHER OF CALCOL AND DARDA], SON OF
BREOGAN [ZARAH]...who was a valiant champion and an intelligent man, well
instructed in the sciences, to reconnoitre the ISLE OF ERI. The place where they
adopted this counsel was the TOWER OF BREOGAN IN GALLICIA. Thus it happened that
they SENT ITH TO ERI. -- "The History of Ireland," p.179.
The "Leabhar Gabhala," or the "Book of the Conquests of Ireland," states that
ITH sailed from the Tower of Breogan and landed in Ireland. There he met with
the chiefs of the island and, on his way back to the ship, was waylaid and
attacked by their warriors. The chiefs, evidently, had perceived that he might
be the spearhead of an invasion -- so they ordered him intercepted and killed.
In the ensuing battle Ith was killed; and LUGAIDH, the son of Ith, carried his
father's body back to the ship and returned to Spain. "....it was there [the
Tower of Breogan] that LUGAIDH, THE SON OF ITH, landed when he returned from
Ireland with his father's dead body, to exhibit it to the SONS OF MILEDH and to
the descendants of Breogan." (The Recension of Micheal O Cleirigh, part I.
Edited by MacAlister & MacNeill, Dublin. Pp.243-247.)
The Invasion of Ireland
Infuriated by the death of Ith, "the SONS OF MILEDH...mustered an army for
the invasion of Ireland, both to wreck vengeance upon the [inhabitants] for the
murder of Ith, and to seize upon that kingdom for themselves. THEIR ENTIRE FLEET
NUMBERED THIRTY SHIPS, in each of which there were thirty warriors, without
counting their wives and their attendants. The number of chieftains who held
command was forty, as we read in the...duan, composed by Eocaidh O'Floinn...."
("The History of Ireland," p.195).
While Ith was reconnoitering Ireland GATHELUS DIED IN SPAIN; SO SCOTA, NOW
THE SOLE CARETAKER OF JACOB'S PILLAR-STONE, ACCOMPANIED HER EIGHT SONS TO
IRELAND!
In "The Brut" or "The Chronicles of the Kings of Britain," we are told that
GWRGANT, SON OF BELI, KING OF BRITAIN, was on his way back from a trip to
Denmark when he encountered the sons of Gathelus -- and their fleet of thirty
ships -- in the area of the Orkney Isles:
On his return [meaning Gwrgant's return to England] as he was passing through
the Orkney Isles, he came up with [against] THIRTY SHIPS, which were full of men
and women; and finding them there, he seized THEIR CHIEF, whose name was
BARTHLOME. Thereupon this chief prayed for protection, telling him that they
"were called BARCLENSES," had been DRIVEN FROM SPAIN, and were roving on the
seas to find a place of settlement; and that he therefore entreated Gwrgant to
grant then permission to abide in some part of the island [of IRELAND] as they
had been at sea for a year and a half. Gwrgant [King of Britain] having thus
learned hence they were, and what was their purpose, DIRECTED THEM with his
goodwill ...TO IRELAND....Thither therefore they went, and there they settled,
and peopled the country; and THEIR DESCENDANTS are to this day IN IRELAND.
(P.60).
A footnote, on the same page in "The Chronicles of the Kings of Briton,"
CLEARLY shows the ISRAELITISH ORIGIN OF THESE SCOTSsailing with their thirty
ships towards the island of Erin! Notice:
He [Barthlome the chief of the 30 ships] had his NAME from a RIVER OF SPAIN
CALLED EIRINNAL, on the banks of which they had lived. This chief related to the
king the whole of their adventures, FROM THE TIME THEY HAD BEEN DRIVEN FROM
ISRAEL (PALESTINE) THEIR ORIGINAL COUNTRY, and the manner and circumstances in
which [they]...had dwelt IN A RETIRED PART OF SPAIN, NEAR THE EIRNIA, from
whence the SPANIARDS drove them to sea to seek another abode.
Raymond McNair comments that "This is one more VITAL LINK OF HISTORICAL
PROOF, connecting some of the ANCIENT PEOPLE OF IRELAND (who, in other accounts
are called 'MILESIAN SCOTS') DIRECTLY WITH THEIR ORIGINAL HOMELAND OF ISRAEL IN
PALESTINE!" ("In Search of the Lost Ten Tribes," a unpublished manuscript.
Copyright 1981. P.157).
From the Orkneys, the Milesian Scots traveled down the west coast of Scotland
and struck tragedy as they approached Ireland:
Miled [Gathelus] having DIED IN SPAIN, his eight sons, WITH THEIR MOTHER,
SCOTA [and the STONE OF DESTINY], their families and followers, at length set
out on their venturous voyage to their Isle of Destiny.
In a DREADFUL STORM... when they attempted to land in Ireland, FIVE OF THE
SONS OF MILESIUS, with great numbers of their followers, were lost, their fleet
was dispersed and it seemed for a time as if none of them would ever enjoy the
Isle of Destiny....
Eventually they made land -- EBER with the survivors of his following LANDING
AT INVER SCENI, IN BANTRY BAY...but losing their own QUEEN SCOTA IN THE FRAY
[with the inhabitants of the island] -- and EREMON with his people at INVER
COLPA (MOUTH OF THE BOYNE). -- "The Story of the Irish Race," by Seumas
MacManus. The Devin-Adair Co. N.Y. 1949. P.10.
"The Chronicles of Eri," by Milner, show that JACOB'S PILLAR-STONE MADE IT
SAFELY TO IRELAND:
It's [the stone's] bearers had resolved, at starting, to 'move on the face of
the waters, in search of their brethren.' Shipwrecked on the coast of Ireland,
they yet CAME SAFE WITH LIA FAIL...Eochaidh [Eremon -- who had landed at a
different part of the island] sent a car for Lia Fail, and he himself was placed
thereon. And Erimionn was SEATED ON LIA FAIL, and the CROWN WAS PLACED ON HIS
HEAD, and the MANTLE UPON HIS SHOULDERS, and all clapped and shouted. And the
name of that place, from that day forward, was called "TARA." -- Trinity
College, Dublin. II, 3 (p.89).
Unfortunately SCOTA, who was killed in a battle with the inhabitants of the
island when her ship was wrecked on the coast, never got to see her son Eremon
crowned FIRST KING OF THE SCOTS on Irish soil.
The Division of the Land
After the inhabitants of Ireland were brought under the sway of the remaining
sons of Gathelus, the island was divided up into FIVE TERRITORIES by Eber and
Eremon:
The TWO MUNSTERS were assigned to EBER, and LEINSTER AND CONNAUGHT formed the
territory of ERIMHON. The principality of ULSTER was given to EBER, SON OF IR,
SON OF MILEDH, and to some others of the chieftains, that came over [from Spain]
with the children of Miledh; and the territory of Corca Luighe (Corca Looee), in
South Munster, was given to LUGAIDH, SON OF ITH....("The History of Ireland," by
Keating. P.207).
The famous TEA of Irish history, whom the British-Israelites and various
Churches of God erroneously claim to be the daughter of King Zedekiah of Judah,
received some land close to the present-day city of Dublin. This land became
known as the Hill of Tara. The "Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland" by the Four
Masters states that "TEA [TEAH], THE DAUGHTER OF LAGHALDH [LUGAIDH] SON OF ITH,
whom EREMON MARRIED IN SPAIN, was the Tea who requested of Eremhon a choice HILL
as her dower, in whatever place she should select it, that she might be interred
therein. The hill she selected was DRUIMCAEIN, i.e., TEAM HAIR [TARA] (in
Ireland)." (Vol. I, p.31).
The "Compendium of World History" says that "the BROTHERS EBER AND GEDE THE
HEREMON founded a town after gaining possession of Ireland. To be the new
CAPITAL OF IRELAND, they named it TEA-MUR, the TOWN OF TEA. At different times
in history it has borne other names, the most common being TARA (cp. the Hebrew
word TORAH, meaning "Law"). (Vol. I, p.425).
The peace that fell upon the island, following the subjugation of its
indigenous peoples, was broken within a year. Eber's wife became dissatisfied
with her husband's allotment and decided that she must possess the "three
pleasantest hills in eirinn", or otherwise she could not remain in Ireland. "Now
the pleasantest of all the Irish hills was TARA, which lay in EREMON'S HALF. And
Eremon's wife would not have the covetousness of the other woman satisfied at
her expense. So, because of the QUARREL OF THE WOMEN, the beautiful peace of the
Island was broken by battle. EBER was beaten, and the HIGH SOVEREIGNTY SETTLED
UPON EREMON...." ("The Story of the Irish Race," p.11).
Eremon's victory over Eber did little to solidify his claim to the
High-Kingship of Ireland. For hundreds of years afterwards, the battle was
refought time and time again as the advantage went sometimes to the Eremonians
and sometimes to the Eberians. During this time the internecine rivalry caused
the descendants of the sons of Gathelus to leave their original territories and
move into other parts of Ireland.
Fergus Conquers Argyll
Three hundred and thirty years before Christ, a small colony landed in
southwestern Scotland. This colony, however, DID NOT come from Ireland -- but
from distant SCYTHIA! Notice!
In 331 Alexander the Great overthrew the Persian realm. Many nations who had
been held in virtual slavery gained their own freedom. One of these people was
the HOUSE OF ISRAEL. Israel was invaded in 721 by Shalmaneser of Assyria. After
a three-year siege her people were taken into captivity....Ezekiel, over a
century later was given a vision in which he saw that the House of Israel would
not be released from their enslavement until 390 years had elapsed from the time
of the siege of Samaria (Ezekiel 4:3-5). It was PRECISELY 390 years from 721,
when the siege against Samaria began, to 331, the date of the final overthrow of
Persia and the deliverance out of captivity of the Hebrews. Some of them
immediately commenced a migration to the land settled long before by their
brethren. IN THE YEAR 331-330 THEY JOURNEYED OUT OF SCYTHIA TO SCOTLAND....
("Compendium of World History," by Herman L. Hoeh. Vol.II. Ambassador College,
Pasadena. 1963. P.70).
Upon landing in southwestern Scotland they found the Pictish inhabitants too
strong to dislodge. After suffering many reversals, the colony sought help from
the high-king at TARA. Hector Boece records the king's response:
....ambassadors were sent to IRELAND [from Scotland] to complain of the
treason and danger done by the PICTS, and to seek support against them.
FERQUHARD, who was at that time king of the SCOTS IN IRELAND, became angered by
the harassment received by his friends the SCOTS IN SCOTLAND. He therefore sent
his son FERGUS, a wise and valiant prince, to their support.
Notice WHAT ELSE the king sent:
Also, to make them have the appearance of permanent fortune, FERGUHARD sent
with his son the STONE OF DESTINY. FERGUS was warmly received by the Scots
because their very existence was in great danger due to an upcoming battle.
After his arrival, a council was held in ARGYILLE, where FERGUS said the
following....When FERGUS' speech was concluded, the council thought a plurality
of leaders was unprofitable and condescended, with one consent, to ELECT A KING
to govern and have authority over them all during their present crisis. To
remove all suspicion of hatred, and because each tribe wanted a king of their
own lineage, THEY CHOSE FERGUS KING because of his NOBLE [ROYAL] BLOOD and
excellent virtues....FERGUS...was CROWNED UPON THE STONE OF DESTINY which he
brought with him, by the will of the gods, to stabilize his realm in Scotland.
FERGUS was the first king that reigned over the SCOTS IN THAT REGION....
The kingdom of the SCOTS rising in this manner in Scotland, KING FERGUS set
about resisting his enemies with great diligence. -- "The Chronicles of
Scotland," compiled in 1531. Translated into Scots by John Ballenden. Pp. 35-37.
Translation (from the Scots) mine.
The place where Fergus was crowned after his arrival in Argyll is the
hill-top FORT OF DUNADD in the Kilmartin valley. This valley is a great center
of Bronze Age monuments and art; and upon the summit of the fortress one can
gaze out to the north and see an ancient row of MEGALITHIC MONUMENTS. On the
summit of this fortress of Dunadd is a FOOTPRINT carved in stone, and next to it
a bowl-shaped hollow and the figure of a WILD BOAR. The hollow contained water
used in ceremonial bathings; and the figure of the boar probably represented
kingly courage and fierceness. Behind the footprint is a place for a STONE.
While Fergus was being crowned, HE SAT ON A STONE with his foot in the
footprint, looking out over the megalithic monuments in the distance. "No stone
now exists there upon which a ruler might have been enthroned, but an unprovable
tradition holds THAT ONE WAS USED, and met with a glorious destiny. For this,
the story holds, was THE STONE which was later MOVED TO SCONE and upon which ALL
THE KINGS OF EARLY MEDIEVAL SCOTLAND WERE CROWNED." ("The Pagan Religions of the
Ancient British Isles," by Ronald Hutton. Basil Blackwell, Inc. Cambridge, MA.
1991. P.173).
Elsewhere in his "Chronicles of Scotland" Boece adds some details: "Fergus,
son of Ferchard, was first King of the Scots in Scotland, and brought the CHAIR
from Ireland to Argyll, and was crowned on it. He built a town in Argyll called
Beregonium, in which he placed it. From him proceeded FORTY KINGS of Scotland.
The twelfth king, Evenus, built a town near Beregonium, called after his name
Evonium, NOW CALLED DUNSTAFFNAGE, to which the STONE was removed, and the
remainder of the forty kings are all crowned in Dunstaffnage, reign there, and
are buried there." (Boethii Scotorum Hist., ed. 1527. Bellenden's Croniklis of
the Scots).
When the area had been pacified, Fergus decided to divide the land of Argyll
among the people. After a speech to this end, the following was decided:
When Fergus had ended this speech, the people promised faithfully that they
would only allow themselves to be governed by the SOVEREIGNTY OF A KING in the
times ahead. They also promised to have only those of the LINEAGE AND BLOOD OF
FERGUS reign over them; and, if they failed in this, they prayed that the gods
would send the same vengeance on them and their posterity as fell on their
ELDERS IN EGYPT AND SPAIN in the past, when they broke the commands of the gods.
King Fergus got charters and evidence that the CROWN OF SCOTLAND belonged to him
and his successors, and had them engraved in marble with the images of beasts in
the form of letters -- which were used in his day. He then gave them to the most
religious priests to be observed in all their temples. -- "The Chronicles of
Scotland," by Hector Boece. P. 46.
After dividing the land up into TWELVE areas, Fergus left Argyll for Ireland
to quell some disturbances that were threatening the peace of the island. While
crossing the Irish sea, his ship was caught in a terrible storm and driven upon
a rock off the coast of Ireland. There he perished in the raging sea along with
all his nobles. This rock is now called CRAGFERGUS in his memory.
Increasing Rivalries
As time wore on, rivalries between the descendants of Gathelus in Ireland
increased. The LINE OF IR, SON OF GATHELUS -- to whom ULSTER had been
apportioned -- ruled in the north for A THOUSAND YEARS. According to Seumas
MacManus, "the power, and might, and courage of ULSTER had ever acted as a brake
on the ambitions of their NEIGHBOURING ROYAL DEPREDATORS, and especially the
ROYAL AGGRESSORS OF CONNAUGHT, who were made to fear Ulster's name.
But in the BEGINNING OF THE FOURTH CENTURY, Ulster's power was irrevocably
broken, and by far THE GREATER PORTION OF HER TERRITORY WRESTED FROM HER -- her
people driven into miserably NARROW BOUNDS from which, ever after, they can
hardly be said to have emerged." ("The Story of the Irish Race." P.76).
The sagas of the Ulster Cycle reveal the rivalry that took place for the
hegemony of Ireland BETWEEN THE ULSTER AND THE CONNAUGHT KINGS. "In time the
CONNAUGHT DYNASTY gains ground. Its kings CROSS THE SHANNON and occupy Uisnech,
DOMINATING THE FERTILE MIDLAND PLAIN, probably in the 2ND CENTURY [A.D.]. In the
3RD CENTURY they ANNEX THE BOYNE VALLEY AND MAKE TARA THEIR CAPITAL. These
conquests break up the PENTARCHY [FIVE DIVISIONS OF IRELAND] and give a DECIDED
HEADSHIP TO THE KINGS OF TARA....About A.D. 350, the CONNAUGHT-TARA DYNASTY
CAPTURED EMAIN AND ANNEXED THE GREATER PART OF ULSTER. It reached the height of
its power under NIALL OF THE NINE HOSTAGES at the beginning of the 5TH CENTURY.
His sons took possession of the WESTERN PART OF ULSTER, and their kindred now
ruled all the northern half of Ireland EXCEPT THE EASTERN STRIP FROM THE MOUTH
OF THE BANN TO THE MOUTH OF THE BOYNE...." ("Encyclopedia Britannica," 1943
edition. Vol.12, p.599).
The Two Dalriadas
This eastern strip of Ulster became known as DAL RIADA. Dal Riada was named
after CARBRI RIADA the son of CONARI -- monarch of Ireland in the THIRD CENTURY
A.D. Conari (Conaire II, son-in-law of Conn of a Hundred Battles) was famed as
the "FATHER OF THE THREE CARBRIS, NAMELY CARBRI MUSC, from whom was named the
territory of Muskerry, CARBRI BAISCIN, whose descendants peopled Corca-Baiscin
in western Clare, and, most notable of them, CARBRI RIADA, who when there was a
FAMINE IN THE SOUTH, led his people to the EXTREME NORTHEAST OF IRELAND...."
("The Story of the Irish Race," p.43).
Carbri Riada didn't stay long in the Irish Dal Riada -- he soon led some of
his people across the Mull of Kintyre to join his brethren already established
in the southwest of Scotland! "Carbri Riada...led...some of them [his people
(SCOTS)] across to the nearest part of Scotland where they settled, forming the
first [new] important colony of Scots (Irish) IN ALBA [since the arrival of the
group from Scythia], and driving there the edge of the IRISH WEDGE which was
eventually to make the whole country known as the LAND OF THE SCOTS (Irish). The
Irish territory which Carbri Riada's people settled, the northeast of ANTRIM,
and the territory opposite to it IN ALBA, into which his people OVERFLOWED,
became known as the TWO DAL-RIADAS. And though divided by sea, these two
territories were, for many centuries, to be as one Irish territory, administered
and ruled over by the ONE Irish prince." (Ibid, p.44).
Following the reestablishment of a viable new SCOTTISH COLONY in Scotland,
several movements followed across the sea to strengthen the new colony. "FATHADH
CANANN, son of Mac-Con, went to Alba...and conquered an inheritance for himself
therein. IT IS FROM HIM THAT THE RACE OF MAC ALIND (ALLEN) and its correlative
branches have sprung.
Again, COLLA UNAIS and his brothers proceeded to ALBA, and there acquired
large possessions; and FROM THIS COLLA UNAIS ARE SPRUNG THE MACDONALDS, BOTH OF
ALBA AND OF ER. CRIMTHANN, son of Fidach, went to make the conquest of Alba
whilst he was monarch of Ireland," ("The History of Ireland," by Keating. Pp.
377-379).
According to Moore:
The colony planted in those regions [southwest Scotland] by CARBRI RIADA, in
the middle of the third century, though constantly fed with supplies from the
PARENT STOCK (THE DALRIADIANS OF ANTRIM), had run frequent risks of extirpation
from the superior power of their neighbours and rivals, the PICTS. -- "The
History of Ireland."
During the reign of the last of the forty kings descended from Fergus
(Eugenius I. 364-376 A.D.), the colonies, including that which originated in
Scythia, were overrun by the Picts and their Roman allies. Eugenius was killed
in battle and the kingdom in the southwest of Scotland was OBLITERATED!
According to Herman L. Hoeh Eugenius "was killed in battle against the Romans
and their Pictish allies....The dead king's brother, with his son ERC, and his
grandson, FLED TO DENMARK where he was received by Sivaldus III. The Scottish
population scattered throughout SCANDINAVIA." ("Compendium of World History,"
p.79).
Boece reveals that the ROYAL RACE OF THE SCOTS was expelled to Ireland ("The
Coronation Stone," by William F. Skene. P.14).
With the colonies thus dispersed, the SCOTS RETURNED TO IRELAND WITH THE
CORONATION STONE!
However, after conquering Argyll, the Romans began oppressing the Cruithne --
a people who were living alongside the Picts in the area. "The Cruithne were
miserably oppressed. After THREE DECADES they came to an agreement with the
SCOTS and promised to restore the Scots to the throne if they would deliver them
from oppression." ("Compendium of World History," p.80). The SON OF ERC, or ERP,
returned from Scandinavia and, at the head of a Scottish army, delivered the
Cruithne and RESTORED THE THRONE to the Scots. The SON OF ERC (who was called
DRUST) thus became the new king of the Cruithne, and died in 453 A.D. after a
reign of 45 years.
IN THE YEAR 503, however, the DALRIADIAN PRINCES of Ireland, aided by the
then all-powerful influence of the HY-NIAL FAMILY, were enabled to transplant a
NEW COLONY into North Britain, which, extending the limits of the former
settlement, set up, for the first time, A REGAL AUTHORITY, and became, in a
single century, sufficiently powerful to shake off all dependence upon Ireland.
-- "The History of Ireland," by Thomas Moore.
E. Raymond Capt comments on this new infusion of the Scottish Dal Riada:
About A.D. 500 some immigrants led by FERGUS MOR MCERC (the great), from the
IRISH GAELIC KINGDOM OF DAL RIADA, invaded the western coasts of Scotland, the
land of the Picts. In George Buchanan's "History of Scotland," we read where
Fergus of Ireland, after INVADING SCOTLAND AND RETURNING HOME (to Ireland)
victorious: "the Scots confirmed the Kingdom (SCOTTISH DAL RIADA) to him and his
POSTERITY by an oath" (Vol. I, p.160). Being a believer in the old prophecy
attached to the STONE OF DESTINY CALLED LIA FAIL, that, "wherever the stone is
found the Scottish race will reign." Fergus desired that he be CROWNED UPON THE
STONE. -- "Jacob's Pillar," p.43.
Shortly thereafter, Fergus built a church at IONA, an island off the western
shores of Argyll, and commanded it to be the SEPULCHRE OF THE KINGS OF SCOTLAND
from that time forward.
Before the century's end the Scottish colony of Dalriada, in the southwestern
part of Scotland, was strong enough to demand its COMPLETE INDEPENDENCE from the
mother country (Ireland) -- a demand which, in 576, KING AEDH carried to the
CONVENTION OF DRIMCEATT in Ireland.
The Royal Saint
There now enters on the scene a man who left LARGE footprints in the colorful
history of Ireland and Scotland -- ST. COLUMBA. When you study the life of this
man, it becomes apparent that he was used by God to further His design in the
land of Scotland. Columba was born on December 7, 521, at Gartan in County
Donegal, Ireland. He was of IRISH ROYAL STOCK, very close in the line of
succession to the kingship of TIR-CONAILL in Ulster, and the HIGH-KINGSHIP of
all of Ireland. One of his biographers affirms that "He had the natural RIGHT to
the kingship of Ireland, and it would have been offered him had he not put it
from him for God's sake."
According to Seumas MacManus:
He was a DESCENDANT IN THE THIRD DEGREE FROM CONAL GULBAN, the founder of the
principality of TIR-CONAILL, and consequently in the fourth degree from NIALL OF
THE NINE HOSTAGES. He was born a NEPHEW of the then reigning High-king,
MUIRCERTACH MACERCA. And a High-king who reigned later in COLM'S [Irish name for
Columba] career, AINMIRE, was his cousin. His father FEIDLIMID, was chieftain of
the particular territory of TIR-CONAILL, in which he was born. And his mother,
EITHNE, was daughter of a Munster chief, of the line of Cathair Mor. It was only
in a time when, as then, the fires of Christianity glowed at white heat, that a
man of such, and so many ROYAL ENTANGLEMENTS could turn his back upon wealth,
rank and power, and give himself to God. -- "The Story of the Irish Race." The
Devin-Adair Co., N.Y. 1949. P.160.
Columba studied under the distinguished Finian of Clonard and, in 551, was
ordained a priest of the CELTIC CHURCH. During his residence in Ireland, he
founded a number of churches and the famous monasteries Daire Calgaich (Derry)
on the banks of Lough Foyle, and Dair-magh (Durrow) in King's county. As a
member of the Celtic church, which was founded DIRECTLY upon the teachings of
the apostles of Christ who reached Britain shortly after the death of Christ,
Columba observed the CORRECT PASSOVER and evidently kept God's true SABBATH day.
In 561, an incident occurred that was to change Columba's life and bring the
STONE OF DESTINY to a mysterious island off the coast of western Scotland!
Curan, the son of KING AED of Connaught, who happened to be a hostage at TARA at
the time, killed the son of the High-king's steward during a game of caman. He
fled from Tara and sought REFUGE with Columba at the monastery of St. Ruan.
"King DIARMUID commanded that the young prince should be taken forcibly from
Colm [Columba] and put to death -- which was done. For this unforgivable outrage
against TRADITIONAL SANCTUARY".... "[Colm] and his monks cried aloud against the
sacrilegious violation; and proceeding in solemn procession to the PALACE,
pronounced a curse upon its walls. 'From that day,' say the annalists, 'NO KING
EVER SAT AGAIN AT TARA...' " ("The Story of the Irish Race," by McManus, and
"The History of Ireland," by Moore).
McManus continues:
Colm, eluding a guard that had been put over him [by King Diarmiud], quitted
Diarmiud's domain, and made his way over the mountains to his home in the
TIR-CONAILL. His kinsmen, the PRINCES OF THE TIR-CONAILL and TIR-EOGAIN, took up
his quarrel, and joining their army to that of AED, King of Connaught, father of
the prince who had been put to death, met Diarmiud and his forces at CUILDREMNE,
fought and defeated him, with terrible slaughter -- three thousand dead, some
say, being left on the field. -- "The Story of the Irish Race." Footnote #4,
p.163.
Tara Falls Silent!
With the death of King Diarmiud after a reign of twenty-one years, the CROWN
OF IRELAND reverted to the Eugenian branch of the NORTHERN NIALS -- and the
HALLS OF TARA fell silent! Also, with Diarmiud's passing, the last king of the
line of Gathelus-who professed the old pagan Celtic religion -- was removed; and
a line of CHRISTIAN KINGS commenced in the DALRIADA OF SCOTLAND.
Thomas Moore notes that in the reign of Diarmait "the ancient HALL OR COURT
OF TARA, in which, for so many centuries, the TRIENNIAL COUNCILS OF THE NATION
had been held, saw, FOR THE LAST TIME, her kings and nobles assembled within its
precincts; and the cause of the desertion of this LONG HONOURED seat of
legislation shows to what ENORMOUS HEIGHT the power of the ecclesiastical order
had then risen." ("History of Ireland," p.255).
Ronald Hutton also comments on the FALL of the PAGAN Irish kingship:
During the SIXTH CENTURY, Irish paganism seems to have collapsed. The LAST
KING to celebrate a FEIS, the symbolic marriage to a tutelary goddess, was
DIARMAIT [Diarmiud] MAC CERBAILL AT TARA IN 560. Diarmait himself had...a bad
reputation in Irish Christian legend, AS AN ENEMY OF SAINTS AND PATRON OF
DRUIDS...("The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles." Basil Blackwell
Ltd. Oxford. 1991. P.263).
Columba Removes the Stone
Columba immediately set about retrieving LIA FAIL from the hill of Tara and,
with TWELVE of his disciples, set out across the sea to the tiny island of IONA.
They sailed into a bay on the island of ORONSAY in the southern Hebrides, and
from there made their final landing on IONA.
The island of Iona was part of the SCOTIC DALRIADA colonized and ruled by the
SCOTS. KING CONAL, who at this time reigned there, was a direct descendant of
Fergus Mor McErc and of the TIR-CONAILL family. He was, in fact, Columba's own
kinsman! To this CARRIER OF LIA FAIL the king made a grant of land where Columba
and his disciples could build a home and establish a monastery.
One of the first things Columba did upon his arrival was to place the
Pillar-stone of Jacob in the church previously built by Fergus. He then expelled
the PAGAN DRUID PRIESTS who inhabited the island. Iona had been known as INNIS
NAN DRUIDHNEAH ("THE ISLAND OF THE DRUIDS"), and was a sacred spot long before
Columba made landfall in 563.
After a small settlement was constructed, Iona "developed into the most
famous centre of CELTIC CHRISTIANITY, the MOTHER COMMUNITY of numerous monastic
houses, whence missionaries were dispatched for the conversion of Scotland and
northern England...."("Encyclopedia Britannica." 1943 edition. Vol.12, p.573).
Was Columba an Evangelist?
After everything was in order and the buildings under way, Columba started
undertaking journeys from Iona into PICTLAND, visiting the Pictish monarch
BRUIDE on at least one occasion. Most history books claim that Columba's primary
goal was to convert the Picts to Christianity; but there is a problem with this
belief. The "Encyclopedia Britannica" observes:
The SCOTS had come from Ireland, A CHRISTIAN LAND, and had brought their
religion with them, and Christianity had PERSISTED FROM ROMAN TIMES, or had been
revived, in Strathclyde. In the beginning of the 5th century, St. Ninian had
preached in Strathclyde and had sent his disciples to CONVERT PICTLAND, and it
is probable that many of the religious foundations in the north-east of
Scotland, generally ascribed to St. Columba, REALLY DATE FROM AN OLDER
MISSIONARY EFFORT. Some years before St. Columba landed in Iona, a great
Christian teacher, known as St. Kentigern or St. Mungo, was labouring in
Strathclyde, and to HIS MISSION is traced the foundation of the future city of
Glasgow. ST. COLUMBA, THEREFORE, CANNOT BE SAID TO HAVE CONVERTED SCOTLAND....
(1943 edition. Vol.20, pp.154-155).
Author Charles Thomas also notes this strange anomaly:
Elsewhere in the Life [of Columba], a FEW Pictish families, among a nation
depicted as OVERWHELMINGLY PAGAN, were converted and baptized. The Irish or
DALRIADIC VIEW of Columba's life and work at Iona, WHICH MUST BE SET AGAINST THE
PICTISH VERSION and which is what Adomnan [7th century biographer of Columba]
gives us, implies that IONA, MULL AND THE DALRIADIC ARGYLL REGION WERE ALREADY
THE LANDS OF THE SCOTI, ceded by (or won from) the Picts IN EARLIER TIMES. The
status of Iona [then] emerges as that of the PRINCIPAL MONASTIC CENTRE FOR THE
IRISH COLONIES, contact with the Picts being a SECONDARY ELEMENT.
The late Kathleen Hughes, in a PENETRATING ANALYSIS, concluded that it is NOT
EVEN CLEAR that Columba converted and baptized the PICTISH MONARCH, STILL LESS
that he was in any sense a national evangelist. The (late 6th-and 7th-century)
Columban foundation from Iona in Pictland were little more than 'MINOR CELLS,
established WITHOUT royal patronage, exercising LITTLE INFLUENCE on society.'
Had Columba's Pictish mission been rapidly and widely a success, rivalling the
then-retrospective Irish INFLATION of Patrick's life-work; had he CONVERTED the
Pictish king Bruide and his court; had he established churches and monasteries
throughout Pictland in constant touch with the mother-house at IONA -- then in
690 Adomnan would have said so. BUT HE DOES NOT, and we must accept Dr. Hughes'
conclusions. Our first evidence that Christianity was a MAJOR INFLUENCE in
Pictish society comes AFTER Adomnan's death (704), with the negotiations between
King Nechton and the Northumbrian church. -- "Celtic Britain." Thames and
Hudson, Inc. N.Y. 1986. P.104.
If this is true WHY, then, did Columba travel to Iona if not to evangelize
the heathen peoples of Scotland? HE WENT TO ESTABLISH THE THRONE OF JUDAH IN
SCOTLAND and to cater to the spiritual needs of his people the SCOTS!!
The "Liber Vitreus"
Nine years after Columba arrived in Iona with the CORONATION STONE Conal,
king of the Dalriadic Scots in the west of Scotland, passed away. AIDAN, the son
of Gauran, succeeded to the throne. Columba was held in such high regard by the
clergy and the people, and related to the recently departed king, that he was
selected to perform the CEREMONY OF INAUGURATION on the accession of the new
king. According to tradition "Columba had been, at first, unwilling to perform
this ceremony [crowning of AIDAN on the LIA FAIL]; but AN ANGEL, as his
biographers say, appeared to him during the night, HOLDING A BOOK CALLED 'THE
GLASS BOOK OF THE ORDINATION OF KINGS,' which he put into the hands of the
Saint, and ORDERED HIM TO ORDAIN AIDAN KING, according to the directions of that
book. This LIBER VITREUS is supposed to have been so called from having its
cover encrusted with glass or crystal." ("The History of Ireland," by Thomas
Moore. Footnote p.247).
As E. Raymond Capt notes, "Aidan was crowned king of Scotland in a CORONATION
RITE THAT HAS BEEN USED EVER SINCE by the succeeding monarches of Scotland and
England. The ritual included a CONSECRATION declaring the future of Aidan's
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, exactly as was done by JACOB
when he blessed his sons before he died." ("Jacob's Pillar," p.45).
A man by the name of Martene, who was a researcher and writer on church
antiquities, refers to this inauguration of Aidan by Columba as the MOST ANCIENT
INSTANCE OF THE BENEDICTION OF KINGS IN CHRISTIAN TIMES that he had come across
in the course of his reading. Indeed, this was a MILESTONE in God's plan
regarding the ROYAL LINE OF JUDAH that was to rule over a large number of His
people ISRAEL in their appointed home in the centuries ahead!
The Council of Drumceatt
Shortly after the coronation Aidan, whose claim to the throne of the
Dalriadic Scots in Argyll was based on his descent from the ancient princes of
Dalriada (Carbre Riada in particular), asserted his hereditary right to the
sovereignty of IRISH DALRIADA. The Irish monarch AIDUS contested this claim. It
was agreed that the difference between them should be submitted to the
states-general of Ireland at the NEW CENTER of the Irish monarchy in DRUMCEATT,
ULSTER. "Setting out in a small vessel, attended by a few monks, the Saint
[Columba] and the king directed their course to the north; and, AFTER
ENCOUNTERING A VIOLENT STORM in the open sea, landed at the mouth of the river
which runs into Lough Foyle, and from there proceeded to Drumceat." ("The
History of Ireland," by Thomas Moore, p.247).
When King Aidan and Columba arrived at Drumceatt, the assembly met to
pronounce their judgment upon the question at issue between the two kings:
On the grounds of his descent from Carbre Riada, to whom, as we have seen, a
grant had been made, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY, of all those parts of
the COUNTY OF ANTRIM [in Ulster] which formed the territory called, from
thenceforth, Dalriada, king Aidan ASSERTED HIS HEREDITARY RIGHT to the
sovereignty of that territory, and maintained that, as belonging to his family,
it should be exempt, if not in the whole, at least in part, from the PAYMENT OF
TRIBUTE to the king of Ireland, and from all such burdens as affected the rest
of the kingdom. The IRISH MONARCH, on the other hand, contended that the
territory in question formed a portion of his dominions, and had always, equally
with the rest, been subject to imposts and contributions; that, before the
Dalriadians became sovereigns in Britain [Scotland], such tribute had been
always paid by that principality, nor could the election of its princes to a
throne in North Britain make any difference in its relations to the Irish
monarchy. Notwithstanding his known attachment to king AIDAN, so great was the
general trust in Columba's sense of justice, that to him alone the decision of
the question was first referred. On his declining, however, to pronounce any
opinion respecting it, the task of arbitration was committed to St. Colman -- a
man deeply versed, as we are told, in legal and ecclesiastical learning,who, on
the obvious grounds, that Dalriada, being an Irish province, could not but BE
SUBJECT, in every respect, to the MONARCH OF ALL IRELAND [AIDUS], gave his
decision AGAINST the claim of king Aidan. -- Ibid, Pp.248-250.
From this time forward, the SCOTTISH COLONY IN ARGYLL WENT ITS OWN WAY AND
BECAME INDEPENDENT OF THE MOTHER COUNTRY, IRELAND.
Columba and King Aidan took their leave of the council in Ulster and returned
to Iona.
In the year 597 death came to Columba. During the May of that year, he
visited the farm on the west side of the island where his brethren grew the
crops necessary for the survival of the settlement. "On SATURDAY of that week he
visited the great barn in which was stored the community's stock of food, and
rejoiced in the great store he found there, which would insure plenty for his
beloved ones for that year. With exceeding earnestness he blessed the barn that
it should ever hold and give in plenty to the ardent servants of God. Then he
said to those who stood around him: 'THIS DAY IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES IS CALLED
SABBATH, which means rest. And this day is indeed SABBATH TO ME, for it is the
last day of my laborious life, AND ON IT I REST. And this night...I shall go the
way of my fathers.'...At the end of the day, when it came time for the SABBATH
VIGILS [evening prayers], having reached the end of a page, he laid down his
pen, saying: 'Let Baithen write the rest.' And his last written words were those
of the thirty-third psalm -- 'They that seek the Lord shall want no manner of
thing that is good.'
So that the first words which his successor...Baithen, was to write were:
'Come, ye children, and harken unto me. I will teach you the fear of the Lord.'"
("The Story of the Irish Race," by Seumas MacManus. Revised edition. The
Devin-Adair Co., Connecticut. 1992. Pp.172-173).
Shortly afterwards, this remarkable man of God, and guardian of the Stone of
Destiny, went to his rest.
Burial Place of Kings!
It is uncertain how long the CORONATION STONE remained on Iona. It must,
however, have been removed before the devastating VIKING RAID on the island in
793. "Within a period of FIVE YEARS, Norse freebooters PLUNDERED AND SLEW at
Lindisfarne and Jarrow in Northumbria, Morganwg in South Wales, Lambey Island
(Rechru) north of Dublin in Ireland, in Kintyre and the Isle of Man, AND AT THE
SACRED ISLAND OF IONA ON THE WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND....All this was a PRESAGE of
calamity which the future would not belie." ("A History of the Vikings," by Gwyn
Jones. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1984. P.195).
Columba apparently had the gift of prophecy. Apart from declaring the future
of KING AIDAN'S posterity, he seems to have predicted the future of the holy
island of Iona beyond the devastations of the Vikings: "Unto this place, small
and mean though it be, great homage shall yet be paid, not only by the kings and
peoples of the Scots, but by rulers of foreign and barbarous nations and their
subjects. In great veneration too, shall it be held by men of other churches."
THIS PROPHECY HAS BEEN AMAZINGLY FULFILLED! Since Columba's time a steady stream
of visitors from all over the civilized world have visited Iona. For
generations, the remains of kings and noblemen have been interred at this ROYAL
SEAT of the Scotic nation -- just as TARA was the center of burial prior to the
death of King Diarmiad.
In Buchanan's "History of Scotland," we find the following record:
In the Abbey of Saint Columba, the bishops of the Isles fixed their
residence, after their ANCIENT SEAT IN EUBONIA was taken possession of by the
English. Amidst the ruins there remains still a BURYING PLACE OR CEMETERY,
common to all THE NOBLE FAMILIES OF THE WESTERN ISLANDS, in which, conspicuous
above the rest, stand THREE LARGE TOMBS, at a little distance from each other;
on these are placed sacred shrines TURNED TOWARD THE EAST, and on their Western
sides are fixed small tables, with the inscriptions indicating to whom the tombs
belong. That which is in the middle, has as its title, "TUMULUS REGUM SCOTIAE"
the TOMB OF THE KINGS OF SCOTLAND, for there FORTY-EIGHT kings of the Scots are
said to have been buried. The one upon the right is inscribed, "TUMULUS REGUM
HIBERNIAE," the TOMB OF THE KINGS OF IRELAND, where FOUR Irish kings are
reported to rest. And upon the one on the left is engraved, "TUMULUS REGUM
NORVEGIAE," the TOMB OF THE KINGS OF NORWAY, general rumour having assigned to
it the ashes of EIGHT Norwegian kings. -- P.47.
According to Gerhard Herm: "In the cemetery are buried ALL the kings of
Scotland UP TO THE ELEVENTH CENTURY, including Duncan I. and his murderer,
Macbeth [of Shakespeare fame]." ("The Celts," p.256).
Lia Fail Goes to Argyll
According to E. Raymond Capt: "On IONA, the 'STONE LIA FAIL' continued to be
used as the CORONATION STONE OF THE DALRIADIC KINGS until its removal to
DUNSTAFFNAGE [a castle on LOCH ETIVE], ON THE MAINLAND OF SCOTLAND JUST EAST OF
IONA, where the Lords of Scotland were made princes." ("Jacob's Pillar," p.47).
There is a curious Scottish tradition that says the CLAN MAC DOUGALL was made
custodian of the Coronation Stone at Dunstaffnage until its removal to SCONE in
Perthshire:
....if a true descendant of the MAC DOUGALL'S with red hair and without
freckles should stand in the ancient chapel of Dunstaffnage and shout the battle
cry of the Scots, "STRIKE FOR THE SILVER LION," instead of an echo he will hear
a ghostly voice say, "Where is the Stone?"
After the stone's removal to DUNSTAFFNAGE, this castle then became the CENTER
of the Scottish line of kings.
Eventually the PICTS became supreme in the north of Scotland and, after much
fighting, gained control over both the Scots of Dalriada and the British of
Strathclyde. The Pictish supremacy was short-lived. "Then the Picts were
WEAKENED by the attacks of the NORSEMEN, who first attacked the coasts in the
end of the 8th century, and, about 835, began to make PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS."
("Encyclopedia Britannica," 1943 edition. Vol.20, p.155).
In 843, while the Picts were thus engaged in trying to hold off the Viking
incursions, the SCOTS threw off their Pictish overlords and made claim to the
Pictish throne. In this same year KENNETH MACALPIN, the king of the Scots, was
CROWNED ON THE STONE LIA FAIL as the first King of the UNITED KINGDOM OF THE
PICTS AND THE SCOTS.
Kenneth Moves Stone to Scone
Kenneth MacAlpin's actions, upon receiving the crown of the United Kingdom,
are noted by E. Raymond Capt:
One of his first acts as King was to FOUND A CHURCH AT SCONE (near Perth,
Scotland) because it was there that he had gained his principal victory over the
Picts. Kenneth then had THE "STONE LIA FAIL" BROUGHT FROM DUNSTAFFNAGE and
placed on an adjoining hill named "Moot Hill" or "Hill of Credulity." --
"Jacob's Pillar," p.47).
L.G. Pine, in his book "The Highland Clans," notes that "SCONE was the SACRED
PLACE of the Pictish kingdom and became the capital of the NOW UNITED REALM IN
PLACE OF DUNSTAFFNAGE IN ARGYLL, which had been the centre of the Scottish line
of kings. It has often been said that the STONE was that on which the HIGH KINGS
OF IRELAND were crowned AT TARA and, EVEN MORE REMARKABLE, that the IRISH
CORONATION STONE WAS THAT ON WHICH JACOB RESTED HIS HEAD AT BETHEL." (Charles E.
Tuttle, Inc. Rutland, Vermont. 1972. P.25).
"The History of Scotland Its Highlands, Regiments and Clans," by James Brown,
states that "The change of the seat of government by KENNETH [MacAlpin] on
ascending the PICTISH THRONE, from INVERLOCHAY, the capital of the SCOTS, to
ABERNETHY, also followed by the REMOVAL OF THE MARBLE CHAIR, THE EMBLEM OF
SOVEREIGNTY, FROM DUNSTAFFNAGE TO SCONE, appears to have occasioned no detriment
to the GAELIC population of the Highlands....(Vol.I. Francis A. Niccolls & Co.
Edinburgh, London & Boston. 1909. P.155).
The "Encyclopedia Britannica" relates the history of this NEW CENTER of the
line of Judah:
SCONE, a parish of Perthshire, Scotland, containing OLD SCONE, the site of an
historic abbey and PALACE, and New Scone, a modern village, 2 miles north of
Perth, near the left bank of the [river] TAY....It became the CAPITAL OF
PICTAVIA, the kingdom of northern Picts, in succession to Forteriot....The ABBEY
was founded in 1115 by Alexander I., but long before this date SCONE had been a
centre of ECCLESIASTICAL ACTIVITY and the seat of a monastery. KENNETH
[MacAlpin] is alleged to have brought the STONE OF DESTINY, on which the CELTIC
KINGS WERE CROWNED, FROM DUNSTAFFNAGE CASTLE ON LOCH ETIVE, AND TO HAVE
DEPOSITED IT IN SCONE, WHENCE IT WAS CONVEYED TO WESTMINSTER ABBEY (where it
lies beneath the coronation chair) by Edward I. in 1296. MOST OF THE SCOTTISH
KINGS WERE CROWNED AT SCONE, the last function being held on Jan.1, 1651, when
Charles II. received the crown. The abbey and the house of Scone were burned
down by the Reformers in 1559, and next year the estates were granted to the
Ruthvens. -- 1943 edition. Vol.20, p.135.
An Early Coronation
Author E. Raymond Capt writes about an early coronation ceremony in the Abbey
of Scone:
One of the EARLIEST records of a CORONATION is preserved in the account of
John of Fordun, the Scottish chronicler who died about A.D. 1384. He tells us
that the STONE was used in the coronation of Alexander III. in A.D. 1249:
"....and, having there placed him in the REGAL CHAIR, decked with silk
clothes and embroidered with gold, the Bishop of St. Andrew's, the others
assisting him, consecrated his king, the king himself sitting, as was proper,
UPON THE REGAL CHAIR -that is, THE STONE -- and the earls and other nobles
placing vestments under his feet with bent knees, BEFORE THE STONE. This stone
is reverently preserved in that monastery [in SCONE] for the consecration of
kings of Scotland; nor were any of the kings in wont to reign anywhere in
Scotland, unless they had, on receiving the name of king, first SAT UPON THIS
ROYAL STONE IN SCONE, which was constituted by ancient kings the 'SEDES
SUPERIOR' or PRINCIPAL SEAT." -- "Jacob's Pillar," p.48.
Previously, King Kenneth II., who died in 995, had the CORONATION STONE
placed on a wooden pedestal in front of the high altar of the Abbey of Scone.
"This pedestal had a wooden shaft which could be raised or lowered according to
the height of the monarch to be crowned, enabling the king to sit with comfort
and dignity, his kilt being arranged to COVER THE CORONATION STONE COMPLETELY.
At the same time, the King had an inscription engraved ON ONE SIDE OF THE STONE:
Ni fallat fatum, Scoti quocunque,
Invenient lapidum regnare tenentur ibidem.
Translation:
"If fate go right, where'er this STONE is found,
The SCOTS shall monarches of that realm be crowned."
This prophecy was certainly fulfilled when KING JAMES VI. OF SCOTLAND became
JAMES I. OF ENGLAND. It should be noted that the present ROYAL HOUSE OF BRITAIN
is descended from the Scottish kings, through Queen Elizabeth of Bohemia, the
daughter of James VI., whose daughter Sophia married the Elector of Hanover;
their son became BRITAIN'S KING GEORGE I." (Ibid,. P.48).
Edward I. Seizes the Stone
Alexander III. died in 1286, leaving the throne to his infant granddaughter
and only living descendant. Known as the Maid of Norway, the infant died in 1290
at the age of seven. This produced a POLITICAL CRISIS in Scotland, with no less
than thirteen descendants of former monarches laying claim to the throne of
Judah. The Scots asked EDWARD I. OF ENGLAND, noted for his wisdom, to arbitrate.
This he agreed to do -- on the terms that the Scots recognize him as "overlord";
and he intervened on behalf of John de Baliol, a grandson of David I. and chief
pretender to the throne of Scotland. A certain number of the Scottish nobility
formerly recognized Edward's "overlordship" in the dispute and, in 1292, after
leading an English army into Scotland, Edward proclaimed John de Baliol the new
king of Scotland.
The coronation of John Baliol is described by William Rishanger in his
Chronicle, written about 1327: "John de Balioll, on the following feast of St.
Andrew's, placed upon THE REGAL STONE, WHICH JACOB PLACED UNDER HIS HEAD when he
went from Bersabee to Haran, was solemnly crowned in the church of the canons
regular at Scone...."
However many Scottish nobles, and the OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of the Scottish
people, bitterly resented English interference in their national affairs. Giving
in to the wishes of the people for a termination of English control in the land,
Baliol formed an alliance with the French in 1295. At this time the French were
at war with England. Baliol then summoned the Scottish people to revolt against
Edward, who summarily crushed Baliol's army at Dunbar in April, 1296. As a
result, Edward decreed the annexation of Scotland to England; and John de Baliol
was deposed. Scotland was immediately placed under military occupation.
In order to THWART the Scottish royal line, Edward then seized the CORONATION
STONE and ordered it to be transported to Westminster Abbey in London:
It is said that Edward noted the Scots reverence for the "STONE OF SCONE." He
was aware of the TRADITION inspired by the ancient inscription of King Kenneth
II. that wherever the STONE should be, a king of GAELIC BLOOD would reign.
SEEKING TO DEFEAT THIS TRADITION, he had the STONE transferred to WESTMINSTER
ABBEY, where, ever since, it has been reverently cherished.
Not only was the STONE offered to Edward for safe-keeping but also the GOLDEN
SCEPTER, the CROWN OF SCOTLAND and some CROWN JEWELS. To show his respect for
the STONE OF SCONE, Edward had built a BEAUTIFUL CHAIR OF HARDWOOD, six feet,
seven inches high, in which to HOLD THE STONE. Known as "Saint Edward's Chair"
or the "Coronation Chair," it has ever since been kept in the chapel named for
him.
It [the stone] was later claimed by the SCOTS, in connection with the Treaty
of Northampton, in 1328, that EDWARD II. promised to restore the STONE to Robert
the Bruce. The CROWN, SCEPTER, emeralds, pearls, and rubies were returned. But
the STONE was held in such respect by the people of London that THEY WOULD NOT
ALLOW IT TO BE REMOVED. In SPITE of its location today, the ANCIENT TRADITION
that wherever the Stone should be, "a king of Gaelic blood would reign" HAS NOT
FAILED. KING JAMES VI. OF SCOTLAND was crowned on the Stone in Westminster Abbey
when he became JAMES I. OF ENGLAND; and, today Britain's lovely Queen is
SCOTTISH. -- "Jacob's Pillar," p.53.
Not only is Queen Elizabeth II. Scottish, SHE IS OF THE ROYAL LINE OF JUDAH!
Brigadier G. Wilson, in his tract "Co-Incidences? Pointers to Our Heritage,"
adds a few more details:
It is not generally known that when EDWARD I. seized the CORONATION STONE
from the Scots he also carried off their highly treasured symbols and regalia of
kingship and national sovereignty, as well as all the DOCUMENTS that could be
found relating to Scotland's freedom and independence.
In response to the Scots earnest entreaties for their return there is reason
to believe that Edward at least considered returning the 'ARCHIVES' and symbols
of sovereignty, including their treasured 'White Wand or Rod' and their 'Rood
Cross': but he FLATLY REFUSED to return the CORONATION STONE. Nothing was done
about it until the young EDWARD III. came to the throne. Younger and just
beginning his reign he was more ready to compromise than his grandfather Edward
I. He negotiated the TREATY OF NORTHAMPTON with The Bruce, and a MARRIAGE was
arranged between Bruce's son and heir and Edward's sister. Edward III. agreed to
return the 'Archives' and all the other national symbols which are mentioned in
the Treaty, but there is (conspicuously) NO MENTION of returning the STONE --
presumably because this was 'not negotiable'! It was reported that the CITIZENS
OF LONDON refused to allow him to consider parting with it! -- P.6.
The Stone Disappears!
The final chapter in the story of Lia Fail is an intriguing one-- just as
exciting and full of mystery as all the previous ones! Let E. Raymond Capt
recount the fascinating story:
On Christmas Eve, 1950, the recesses of St. Edward's Chapel in Westminster
Abbey echoed to the sweet music of Noel. in the Chapel stood Britain's
Coronation Chair, under it the CORONATION STONE, standing just as they had stood
for SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS. In the silent, eerie dimness of the early hours of
Christmas morning, furtive figures stealthily entered St. Edward's Chapel, then
were gone -- AND SO WAS THE CORONATION STONE.
How and by whom, this Stone, weighing over 300 pounds, was so surreptitiously
spirited from its resting-place, out of the locked Abbey, was one of Britain's
greatest mysteries. A splinter broken from the leg of the Coronation Chair, a
short crowbar, some fingerprints, an unidentified wristwatch on the flagstones
of the Abbey floor, marks on the altar step's carpet where the Stone had been
dragged, and "J.F.S." carved on the chair itself were the ONLY EVIDENCE of the
"sacrilegious" crime which shocked all Britain. Naturally, the solving of such a
crime became the first priority of Scotland Yard.
Despite the lack of evidence, it was believed that the Stone was stolen by
persons having sympathy with the SCOTTISH NATIONALIST MOVEMENT. -- "Jacob's
Pillar," p.61.
A week after the theft a Glasgow newspaper -- the Daily Record-- received a
letter asking that one copy of the enclosed Petition should go to the police and
the other to the press. According to the Scottish Daily Express of December 30,
1950, the Petition stated the following:
The petition of certain of his Majesty's most loyal and obedient subjects to
his Majesty King George the Sixth humbly sheweth:
That his Majesty's petitioners are the persons who removed the STONE OF
DESTINY from Westminster Abbey:
That, in removing the STONE OF DESTINY, they have no desire to injure his
Majesty's property, nor to pay disrespect to the Church of which he is the
temporal head:
That the STONE OF DESTINY is, however, the most ancient symbol of Scottish
nationality and, having been REMOVED FROM SCOTLAND BY FORCE and retained in
England in breach of the pledge of his Majesty's predecessor, King Edward III.
of England, and its proper place of retention is among his Majesty's Scottish
people who, above all, HOLD THE SYMBOL DEAR:
That therefore his Majesty's petitioners will most readily return the STONE
to the safe keeping of his Majesty's officers if his Majesty will but graciously
assure them that in all time coming the Stone will remain in Scotland in such of
his Majesty's properties or otherwise as shall be deemed fitting by him:
That such an assurance will in no way preclude the use of the Stone in any
coronation of any of his Majesty's successors whether in England or Scotland:
That his Majesty's humble petitioners are prepared to submit to his Majesty's
Ministers or their representatives proof that they are the people able, willing,
and eager to restore the STONE OF DESTINY to the keeping of his Majesty's
officers:
That his Majesty's petitioners, who have served him in peril and peace,
pledge again their loyalty to him, saving always their right and duty to protest
against the actions of his Ministers if such actions are contrary to the wishes
of the spirit of his Majesty's people:
In witness of the good faith of his Majesty's petitioners the following
information concerning a WATCH left in Westminster Abbey on December 25, 1950,
is appended: (1) The mainspring of the watch was recently repaired; (2) The bar
holding the right-hand wrist strap to the watch had recently been broken and
soldered:
This information is given in lieu of signature by his Majesty's petitioners,
being in fear of apprehension.
Out of this theft of the Coronation Stone an interesting story emerged:
In pulling the Stone, by one of the IRON RINGS (one embedded in each of the
ends of the Stone), along the Abbey floor, an ancient CRACK in the Stone parted.
The STONE OF DESTINY lay in two pieces. Its weight divided into TWO PARTS
facilitated its removal from the Abbey.
Soon after the theft, an alarm was given and road-blocks were set up on all
roads leading out of England, and everyone was asked to be on the look-out for
the Stone -- to report any suspicious circumstances. The car, with the Stone
concealed as a cushion in the back seat with a coat covering it made a stop near
the Scottish border for gasoline. When the occupants of the car were asked by
the station attendant if they had the Stone of Destiny with them, they replied,
"Aye sure, its in there, its in the boot [trunk]. Letting the reward of over
$2000.00 for information leading to the recovery of the Stone slip through his
fingers the attendant laughing said, "Well, the police have been around once
asking me what Scotsman I've given petrol to. If they come back, I'll tell them
the Stone went through this morning." -- "Jacob's Pillar," pp.62-63.
The Stone was evidently repaired by the high-jackers with doweling and
cement. Before marrying the two pieces together, a copy of the SCOTTISH
DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE was placed between them. Perhaps, then, this act
satisfied Scottish patriotism which cried out for the Stone's restoration to
Scone. Actually, the arguments presented in the petition to the Scottish Daily
Express are invalid. The TREATY OF NORTHAMPTON, referred to in the petition, was
negotiated between Edward III. of England and Robert, King of the Scots -- NOT
between the countries of England and Scotland. And, since the rights of BOTH
MONARCHES later became vested in Queen Elizabeth II. (the Queen of the UNITED
KINGDOM), no transfer of title between them can make a bit of difference today!
THE OWNERSHIP OF THE STONE OF DESTINY OR LIA FAIL IS INCONTESTABLE. It belongs
to the heirs and descendants of Queen Elizabeth II. who are able to trace their
line from both Edward III. of England and Robert, King of the Scots.
Capt concludes by saying that "Eventually the Stone of Destiny was recovered
by the English. It was wrapped up in the Scottish flag (St. Andrew's Cross) and
left upon the high altar of the ruined Abbey of Arbroath in Scotland, then the
British authorities were notified of where it could be found. It was at ARBROATH
ABBEY that King Robert the Bruce and the Scottish Barons drew up the famous
"Declaration of Independence" which included the following:
"For so long as a hundred of us are left alive we will yield in no least way
to English domination. We fight not for glory, nor for wealth nor for honour,
but only and alone for freedom, which no good man surrenders but with his life."
(Ibid, p.63).
A Chair or a Stone?
If you are at all observant, something in the story of the Coronation Stone
should have puzzled you -- some sources call it a STONE, whereas others call it
a CHAIR! What is it then, a chair or a stone?
Hector Boece stated that Gathelus placed a CHAIR OF MARBLE in the town of
Brigance in Spain; while Andrew of Wyntown mentioned that a son of Gathelus took
a STONE-THRONE to Ireland. Boece mentions that when Fergus son of Ferquhard went
to the aid of the colony from Scythia, he took the STONE of Destiny with him and
was crowned on it. Yet, elsewhere, in the same work, Boece says: "Fergus, son of
Ferchard...brought the CHAIR from Ireland to Argyll, and was crowned on it."
Following this -- according to Boece -- Fergus "built a town in Argyll called
Beregonium, in which he placed it [THE CHAIR]." However Evenus, the twelfth king
from Fergus, built a town called Evonium "to which the STONE was removed...."
Centuries later E. Raymond Capt records that: "On Iona the 'STONE Lia Fail'
continued to be used as the Coronation STONE of the Dalriadic kings until its
removal to Dunstaffnage...." Yet again, however, we have this same contradiction
when James Brown claims that the "marble CHAIR, the emblem of sovereignty," was
moved by Kenneth MacAlpin "from Dunstaffnage to Scone..."; while the
"Encyclopedia Britannica" states that "Kenneth [MacAlpin] is alleged to have
brought the STONE of Destiny...from Dunstaffnage...and to have deposited it in
Scone...."
In John of Fordun's account of the coronation of Alexander III. in A.D. 1249,
we find that the new king was placed "upon the regal CHAIR -- that is, the
STONE"! So I ask the question again-- was it a chair or a stone?
Finally, Edward I. of England, when he annexed Scotland to England in 1296,
moved the STONE to Westminster Abbey in London where "he built a beautiful CHAIR
of hardwood...to hold the STONE." Obviously, it was a stone, not a chair, that
was taken to London.
Let Hector Boece, in his "Chronicles of Scotland" (1527 edition), summarize
the outline I have just given:
Gathelus, a Greek, the son of either the Athenian Cecrops or the Argive
Neolus [the same person], went to Egypt at the time of the Exodus, where he
married Scota, the daughter of Pharao, and after the destruction of the Egyptian
army in the Red Sea, fled with her...till he arrived in Portingall [Portugal],
where he landed, and founded a kingdom at Brigantium, now Compostella. Here he
reigned IN THE MARBLE CHAIR, which was the "lapis fatalis cathedrae instar," or
FATAL STONE LIKE A CHAIR, and wherever it was found portended kingdom to the
Scots. In after ages it bore the following inscription:
Ni fallat fatum, Scoti, quocunque locutum
Invenient lapidem, regnare tenentur ibidem.
which Ballenden [translator of Boece's work] thus translates:
The Scottis sall brwke that realme as native ground,
Geif wierdis faill nocht, wherever this CHAIR is found.
....a descendant of Gathelus, brought the CHAIR from Spain to Ireland, and
was crowned in it as King of Ireland.
Fergus, son of Ferchard, was first King of the Scots in Scotland, and brought
the CHAIR from Ireland to Argyll, and was crowned in it. He built a town in
Argyll called Beregonium, in which he placed it [the CHAIR]. From him proceeded
forty kings of Scotland. The twelfth king, Evenus, built a town near Beregonium,
called after his name Evonium, now called Dunstaffnage, to which the STONE was
removed, and the remainder of the forty kings are all crowned in Dunstaffnage,
reign there, and are buried there. The Scots are expelled to Ireland under the
last of the forty kings, but return under his nephew Fergus Mac Erc, who is
crowned in the MARBLE CHAIR. He builds a church at Iona, and commands it to be
the sepulchre of the kings in the future.
Kenneth MacAlpin, the last of these kings, conquers the Picts, and brings the
FATAL STONE from Argyll to Gowry, and places it in Scone, because it was there
that his principal victory over the Picts had taken place. Some say that he then
caused the verse to be inscribed on the STONE beginning "Ni fallat fatum."
How, then, do we resolve the puzzle?
Pennant, whom we have already quoted, has the answer! "In the church of the
abbey (at Scone) was preserved the FAMOUS CHAIR, WHOSE BOTTOM [SEAT] WAS THE
FATAL STONE...." (Tour in Scotland, vol.iii, p.116). This "bottom" was the SEAT
or CUSHION that rested in the marble chair! An example of this can be found in
the Marmorne Stuhl, or MARBLE CHAIR, in which Charlemagne is said to have sat,
and the emperors of Germany were at one time crowned. This chair is still
preserved at Aix la Chapelle. It is a plain, heavy chair of white marble on five
steps, and is believed to have been covered with plates of gold during a
coronation. William F. Skene says that "the Scotch stone may have been similarly
raised, and the SEAT ALONE taken to England, and inserted in the wooden chair
made by Edward I." ("The Coronation Stone," p.15).
That there was both a MARBLE CHAIR and a STONE SEAT at Scone is made plain by
Skene:
We find that the kings of Scotland were not only crowned at Scone, but held
parliaments there. these parliaments met on the MOOT HILL OF SCONE. Thus Robert
II. was crowned at Scone on the 26th day of March, 1371, by the Bishop of St.
Andrews, in presence of the prelates, earls, barons, and other nobles of
Scotland, and of a great multitude of the people; and on the following day
convened the prelates, earls, barons, and nobles before him, 'the king SITTING,
as use is, IN THE ROYAL SEAT, UPON THE MOUNT OF SCONE....'
In a footnote to this passage Skene states:
Rege sedente in Sede Regia super montem de Scone ut est moris.-- Act Parl.
Scot., p.181. This "Sedes Regia" must NOT be confounded with the STONE SEAT
which was used at the CORONATION only, and was kept in the Abbey church, to
which the name of "CATHEDRA" is always applied. The ROYAL SEAT here referred to
was placed on the Moot Hill, and used when the king PRESIDED AT A PARLIAMENT or
court of justice. It was on this SEAT [CHAIR] ON THE MOOT HILL that Robert Bruce
was crowned in 1306, "in sede positus regali," AFTER THE SEAT [CUSHION] CALLED
THE "CATHEDRA," OR STONE HAD BEEN REMOVED TO ENGLAND. -- "Fordun a Hearne,"
vol.IV. P.997.
In other words, for a coronation the STONE, or Jacob's Pillar, was brought
out of the Abbey church and placed IN THE MARBLE CHAIR; and then, after the
ceremony, was returned to the Abbey for safekeeping! The MARBLE CHAIR or THRONE
was used by the king for state occasions -- without the SEAT or cushion called
the Fatal Stone.
William Skene continues: "Dr. Joseph Robertson adds, "that there appears some
reason to suppose that THERE WERE TWO STONES AT SCONE -- (1) The STONE OF FATE,
now at Westminster; (2) a STONE CHAIR in which it would seem THE STONE OF FATE
WAS PLACED when kings were to be inaugurated...." (Ibid).
It is uncertain whether Gathelus brought the MARBLE CHAIR from Egypt to
Spain, or whether he had the chair made in Spain as a receptacle for Jacob's
stone. There is some indirect evidence in the "Cronicon Rythmicum" that states
"that Gaythelus brought the stone, which it calls 'lapis Pharaonis,' or Pharao's
stone from Egypt, and applies to it the epithet of 'anchora vite,' probably the
origin of Fordun's second account that it was raised with the anchor." ("The
Coronation Stone," by William F. Skene. Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh.
MDCCCLXIX. P.16).
"Fordun's second account" referred to here is a fabulous and mythical story
about how Simon Brec, the youngest son of the king of Spain, "having cast anchor
on the shore of Ireland, and again weighed anchor in consequence of a storm,
raised, with his anchor, a STONE OF MARBLE, CUT IN THE SHAPE OF A CHAIR."
In any event, it seems quite clear that Jacob's Pillar-stone was placed in a
MARBLE CHAIR every time a descendant of Judah was crowned king; and between
coronations it appears to have been kept in an abbey or church for safekeeping.
Ancient Links
We walked in the shadow of Jacob's Pillar-Stone as it was carried from Luz to
Egypt by JACOB and his family; we found our sea legs as GATHELUS AND SCOTA
transported the Stone to distant Norway through the "northern straight" that
separated Europe from Asia; we brandished our swords as Gathelus and his
warriors plundered the eastern shores of Scotland; we searched the horizon for
the distant land of Spain; we burned with rage when the body of valiant ITH was
returned from the green pastures of Ireland; we prayed to the gods for
deliverance from the fearful storm that threatened to disperse the mighty fleet
of the invading MILESIANS; we wept with sorrow at the death of loyal SCOTA; we
rode into battle with the valiant FERGUS as he conquered the western lands of
Scotland; we carried the Lia Fail from Tara to mysterious Iona with COLUMBA and
his twelve assistants; we triumph- antly rode with the victorious troops of
KENNETH MAC-ALPIN as they mov- ed the Coronation Stone to the Abbey of Scone
from the castle of Dunstaffnage; we groaned inwardly as EDWARD I. of England
removed the Stone and the royal jewels from their Scottish owners; we marched in
the streets of London to protest the proposed return of the Stone of Destiny to
Scotland, and we read with fascination the daily news reports of the baffling
Christmas Day theft of the Royal Stone.
We have observed almost 3,500 years of history involving a block of
red-veined sandstone that has changed the course of events in nation after
nation that received this Stone of Destiny as its own. What else could this
stone be BUT the one anointed by the father of the Israelites in the plain of
Luz? How could a battered and worn stone of such common appearance have changed
the ebb and flow of history UNLESS it was ordained and engineered by the great
Eternal God?
On June 28, 1837 -- eight days after VICTORIA was crowned Queen of the United
Kingdom and Ireland -- the "London Sun" ran an article about the Coronation
Chair that CLEARLY links the stone within it to the Pillar-Stone of Jacob:
This CHAIR, commonly called St. Edward's chair, is an ANCIENT SEAT of solid
hardwood, with back and sides of same variously painted, in which the KINGS OF
SCOTLAND were in former periods CONSTANTLY CROWNED, but, having been brought out
of the Kingdom by Edward I., in the year 1296, after he had totally overcome
John Baliol, KING OF SCOTS, it has EVER SINCE remained in the Abbey of
Westminster, and has been THE CHAIR in which the succeeding kings and queens of
this realm have been inaugurated. It is in height six feet and seven inches, in
breadth at the bottom thirty-eight inches, and in depth twenty-four inches; from
the seat to the bottom is twenty-five inches; the breadth of the seat within the
sides is twenty-eight inches, and the depth eighteen inches. At nine inches from
the ground is a board, supported at the four corners WITH AS MANY LIONS [SYMBOL
OF JUDAH]. Between the seat and this board is ENCLOSED A STONE, commonly called
JACOB'S, or THE FATAL MARBLE STONE, which is an oblong of about twenty-two
inches in length, thirteen inches broad and eleven inches deep; of a steel
colour, mixed with some veins of red. HISTORY RELATES THAT THIS IS THE STONE
WHEREON THE PATRIARCH JACOB LAID HIS HEAD IN THE PLAINS OF LUZ.
The stone's ancient link with the Holy Land is recorded by Hollingshed's
"Chronicles":
"When our king (Edward I.) went forth to see the mountains [of Scotland], and
understanding that all was at peace and quiet [after the occupation], he turned
to the ABBEY OF SCONE which was of chanons regular, where he TOOK THE STONE,
called the REGAL OF SCOTLAND, upon which the kings of that nation were wont to
sit at the time of their coronation for a throne, and sent it to the ABBEY OF
WESTMINSTER. The SCOTS claim that this was the stone whereon JACOB SLEPT WHEN HE
FLED INTO MESOPOTAMIA."
Historian Weaver, in his essay on "Certain Monuments of Antiquity," pens (on
page 118) the following information about the Coronation Stone:
It appears that the IRISH KINGS, FROM VERY ANCIENT TIMES UNTIL A.D. 513, were
crowned upon a particular SACRED STONE CALLED 'LIATH FAIL,' 'THE STONE OF
DESTINY,' that, SO ALSO, were the SCOTTISH KINGS UNTIL THE YEAR 1296, when
Edward I. of England brought it here [to England]. And it is a CURIOUS FACT that
this stone has not only remained in England unto now, and is existing still
under the coronation chair of our British sovereigns in Westminster Abbey, but
that all our kings, from James I., have been crowned in that chair. This being a
fact so curious, we shall quote its particulars in a note taken from TOLAND
[1670-1722 -- English deist and author], in his 'History of the Druids'
(pp.137-9).
Toland's statement is this:
The FATAL STONE (LIAG FAIL) so called, was the STONE on which the SUPREME
KINGS OF IRELAND used to be inaugurated, IN THE TIME OF HEATHENISM ON THE HILL
OF TARAH; it was superstitiously sent TO CONFIRM THE IRISH COLONY in the north
of Great Britain, where it was CONTINUED as the CORONATION SEAT OF THE SCOTTISH
KINGS ever since Christianity; till in the year 1300 [1296 A.D.] Edward I., of
England BROUGHT IT FROM SCONE, placing it under the coronation chair at
Westminster, and there it still continues. I had almost forgot to tell you that
it is now called by the vulgar, JACOB'S STONE -- as if this had been Jacob's
pillow at Bethel!
The "Westminster Abbey Official Guide," mentioned earlier in this article,
states: "The CORONATION CHAIR was made for Edward I. to enclose the famous STONE
OF SCONE, which he seized in 1296, and brought from Scotland to the
Abbey....Tradition identifies this stone WITH THE ONE UPON WHICH JACOB RESTED
HIS HEAD AT BETHEL...Jacob's sons CARRIED IT TO EGYPT AND FROM THENCE IT PASSED
TO SPAIN WITH KING GATHELUS, SON OF CECROPS, THE BUILDER OF ATHENS....it appears
in Ireland, whither it was carried by the Spanish king's son on his invasion of
that island. There it was placed upon the SACRED HILL OF TARA, and called
Lia-Fail, the 'FATAL STONE,' or 'STONE OF DESTINY'...."
The popularly-received account of the Coronation Stone is stated in the words
of Pennant:
In the church of the abbey (of Scone) was preserved the FAMOUS CHAIR, WHOSE
BOTTOM WAS THE FATAL STONE, the palladium of the Scottish monarchy; the stone,
which had first served Jacob for his pillow, was afterwards TRANSPORTED INTO
SPAIN, where it was used as a seat of justice by GETHALUS, CONTEMPORARY WITH
MOSES. It afterwards found its way to DUNSTAFFNAGE IN ARGYLLSHIRE, continued
there as the CORONATION CHAIR till the reign of Kenneth II., who, to secure his
empire, REMOVED IT TO SCONE. There it remained, and in it every Scottish monarch
was inaugurated till the year 1296, when Edward I., to the mortification of
North Britain, translated it to Westminster Abbey, and with it, according to
ancient prophecy, the empire of Scotland. -- "Tour in Scotland," vol.iii, p.116.
Another old document, probably written by Hector Boece and recorded by
Keating in "The History of Ireland," shows the Coronation Stone's ancient
origin:
Concerning the STONE, they [the Scots] had it accordingly some space of time,
age to age, till it reached after that TO ENGLAND, so that it is there now in
the CHAIR in which the king of England is inaugurated, it HAVING BEEN FORCIBLY
BROUGHT FROM SCOTLAND, OUT OF THE ABBEY OF SCONE; and the first Edward king of
England brought it with him, so that the PROPHECY of that stone has been
VERIFIED in the king we have now, namely, THE FIRST KING CHARLES, and in his
father, THE KING JAMES, WHO CAME FROM THE SCOTIC RACE (that is to say, from the
POSTERITY OF MAINE SON OF CORC SON OF LUGHAIDH, WHO CAME FROM EIBHEAR SON OF
MILEADH [GATHELUS] OF SPAIN); who assumed the style of kings of England UPON THE
STONE aforesaid. -- Vol. I. Irish Texts Society, London. 1902.
Finally James Logan, in his book "The Scottish Gael," confirms the ANCIENT
ORIGIN of the Coronation Stone in Westminster Abbey:
The practice of crowning a king upon a stone is of EXTREME ANTIQUITY. The
celebrated CORONATION CHAIR, the seat of which is formed of the SLAB on which
the kings of Scotland were inaugurated, is an object of curiosity to those who
visit WESTMINSTER ABBEY. The history of this stone is carried back to a period
FAR BEYOND ALL AUTHENTIC RECORD [according to Logan]; and the IRISH say that it
was FIRST IN THEIR POSSESSION. According to WINTOUN, its original situation was
IN IONA. It was certainly in ARGYLE, where it is believed to have remained long
at the CASTLE OF DUNSTAFFNAGE, before it was removed to SCONE, the place of
coronation for the kings of Scotland, whence it was CARRIED TO LONDON by Edward
the First....It was looked on with GREAT VENERATION by the ancient SCOTS, who
believed the fate of the nation depended on its preservation. The Irish called
it CLOCH NA CINEARNNA, THE STONE OF FORTUNE, and the SCOTS preserve the
following oracular verse:
Cinnidh Scuit saor am fine,
Mar breug am faistine:
Far am faig hear an lia fail,
Dlighe flaitheas do ghab hail.
"The race of the free Scots shall flourish, if this prediction is not false:
wherever the stone of destiny is found, they shall prevail by the right of
Heaven." Its possession was considered of so much importance, that its
RESTITUTION was made an express article in a treaty of peace, and the subject of
a personal conference between David the Second and Edward. The office of placing
the king on this STONE was the hereditary right of the EARLS OF FIFE.
Saxo Grammaticus, lib. 1, says it was the ancient custom in Denmark to crown
the kings sitting on a stone. In 1396, in the circle called Morasten, near
Upsall, this ceremony was performed. It is curious to find this CELTIC PRACTICE
retained in the kingdom of Britain, AND TO FIND ITS REVERED MONARCH A DESCENDANT
OF THE ANCIENT KINGS OF THE "FREE SCOTS." -- John Donald Publishers Ltd.,
Edinburgh. Reprinted in 1976. Pp.200-201.
The Stone of Scone has remained at Westminster Abbey in London since 1296 --
except for the brief time when it was stolen by Scots Nationalists. The IRISH
and SCOTTISH KINGS, FERGUS and EDWARD I. HIMSELF were ALL DESCENDANTS OF JUDAH
THROUGH THE LINE OF ZARAH. In fact history records that Edward I. used to boast
of his DESCENT FROM THE TROJANS who were descended from DARDA the brother of
CALCOL -- who was the grandson of Judah! This was the joining of two lines of
Judah -- a topic to be covered in another article!
This incredible story of the Lia fail, while as intriguing and fascinating as
a thriller or adventure novel, serves to show the HAND OF THE ETERNAL GOD in the
affairs of nation after nation that received the Pillar-Stone of Jacob upon its
soil. In every land the stone passed through, THE ROYAL RACE OF JUDAH ruled over
the peoples of Israel as they made their way to the "appointed place" in the
West -- the isles of Britain!
|