May 11, 2017 - I need four pictures today to tell one of the best stories of the trip.
It was a beautiful day here and we visited Edinburgh Castle. It is a mammoth series of battlements that sits high on a volcanic bluff and dominates the city. When you visit you can see the Stone of Scone.
This is an ancient stone that no one is sure where it came from but in 894 AD the first Scottish King was crowned sitting on it and so has every Scottish monarch since. ---- So fast forward to 1290 AD. The Scots are having a succession crisis and the English King Edward I invaded and said "I will be your King". AND HE TOOK THE STONE.
He then built his own coronation chair and put the stone at the base.
Every English monarch has been crowned on this chair (including the current one) since that time.
However, if you go to Westminster today you can see the coronation chair and you will notice no stone. (The last picture below)
So what happened? Keep in mind this thing weighs 336 pounds.
In 1950 five ordinary Scottish men after a few pints and with a crow bar broke into Westminster in the middle of the night AND STOLE IT BACK. They felt it was a symbol of Scotland. A Huge police search ensued. They got away with it.
After several days they felt they made their point and left the stone wrapped in the Scottish flag for the police to find. It now stays in Scotland but will return to Westminster if there is a coronation.
And so fulfills the Scottish motto - "Nemo me impune lacessit". (And this is true - Which translates roughly "If you f**k with us we will end you")
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