THE CORONATION CHAIR

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 54, Issue 3899, 10 May 1937, Page 12 (Supplement)

THE CORONATION CHAIR

KINGS AND THE STONE OF DESTINY. A STRANGE HISTORY. In all English Coronations the famous Coronation Chair plays an important part. Its legendary history stretches down the reaches of the years, says the Rev. Reginald Kirby in “The Australasian.” The stone which forms the point of supreme interest in the Chair is one of the most curious relics of the past. The Coronation Chair is in St. Edward’s Chapel, Westminster, and upon this Chair every Sovereign since Edward I, with one exception, has been consecrated. That the stone, known sometimes as the “stone of destiny,” at other times as the “fatal stone,” has seen such a succession of monarchs is in itself unique. There are several legends connected with it; the most commonly accepted is that told by Gathelus, the Greek, who is credited with having brought from Egypt to Spain the identical stone on which Jacob slept, and on which he poured oil at Luz. In Spain this stone became the seat of wise rulership, and from Spain, passed to Ireland and thence to Scotland, where it remained until the reign of Robert I. But Holingshead, the Chronicler, also mentions that it came to Ireland 7010 years 8.C., and that “the first Fergus brought it from Ireland about 330 8.C.”; while another legend tells that in the time of heathenism he only was confirmed as King of Ireland under whom the stone groaned as he sat upon it. Be that as it may, the fact remains that long before the time of Edward

I, who brought the stone from Scone, in Scotland, in the year 1296, it had had a long history. It has been traced by the best authorities to Ireland, from whence it passed to Scotland, and was located in Argyllshire before the reign of King Kenneth, 834 A.D. PROPHECIES AND THE THRONE. For the subsequent 450 years, all the Kings of Scotland were crowned upon it. Stories gathered around it. Planchie says “that the substances composing it had accord in the grains with the sienite elf Pliny, the same as Pompey’s (or more properly, Diocletian’s) pillar at Alexandria, but the particles are much smaller.” However. Professor Ramsay described it as dull reddish or purplish sandstone, strongly resembling that of the doorway of Dunstaffnage Castle. It is certainly unlikely that it came from the rock around Bethel. It is also unlikely that it came, as has been claimed, from the “hill of Tara.” Whence it came is noW„ as in the past, shrouded in mystery. There is upon the stone a groove or indent about 14in. long, and at one corner a small cross is roughly cut upon it. It has been suggested that at one time an ancient plate containing the prophecy of the stone rested therein. It is possible for us to form an idea of this Coronation Chair. The height is 6ft. 9in.; the breadth of the seat 2ft. sin.; its depth Ift. 6in.; while from the seat to the ground is 2ft. 3Mn.; the height of the elbows ,Ift. 2in. The whole chair presents the aspect <|f age and dignity. It is built upon, or around, the Coronation Stone, supported from below by four roughly carved crouching lions. Originally there were traced around its base small shields, of which only four now remain. The chair itself is of solid oak, and the flat stone rests within the frame of the seat. ,