Scone Abbey (originally Scone Priory) was a house of Augustinian canons located in Scone, Perthshire (Gowrie), Scotland. Dates given for the establishment of Scone Priory have ranged from 1114 A.D. to 1122 A.D. However, historians have long believed that Scone was before that time, the centre of the early medieval Christian cult of the Culdees (Céli Dé in medieval Irish meaning "Companions of God"). Very little is known about the Culdees but it is thought that they may have been worshiping at Scone from as early as 700 A.D. Archaeological surveys taken in 2007 suggest that Scone was a site of real significance even prior to 841 A.D., when Kenneth MacAlpin brought the Stone of Destiny, Scotland's most prized relic and coronation stone, to Scone.
For centuries the Abbey held the Stone of Scone (or Stone of Destiny) upon which the early Kings of Scotland were crowned. Robert the Bruce was crowned at Scone in 1306 and the last coronation was of Charles II, when he accepted the Scottish crown in 1651. The Stone of Scone is now in Edinburgh Castle (Historic Scotland) along with the Scottish regalia.
The priory was established by six canons from Nostell Priory [1] in West Yorkshire under the leadership of Prior Robert, who was the first prior of Scone (later Bishop of St Andrews). The foundation charter, dated 1120, was once thought to be a fake version of the original, but it is now regarded as a copy made in the late 12th century. Perhaps the copy was needed after a fire which occurred there sometime before 1163 A.D. and presumably damaged or destroyed the original. Scone Priory suffered a similar destruction of records during the Wars of Scottish Independence. The royal assembly site at Scone originated as a power centre in the early middle ages. [2]
In December 1164, during the reign of King Máel Coluim IV, Scone Priory was raised to an abbey. [1] Scone Abbey had important royal functions, since it was located next to the coronation site of Scottish kings and housed the Stone of Destiny until its theft by King Edward I of England. Scone Abbey was, according to King Máel Coluim IV, "in principali sede regni nostri" (RRS, no. 243; trs. "in the principal seat of our kingdom"). As such, Scone Abbey was one of the chief residences of the Scottish kings, who were hosted by the abbot during their stay at Scone. Most likely the king stayed in the abbot's own rooms within the abbot's palace. It is very likely that the abbey buildings (now gone) overlapped with the modern palace. The abbey also had relics of a now obscure saint by the name of St Fergus (also Fergustian), which made it a popular place of pilgrimage. Although the abbey long remained famous for its music since Robert Carver produced there some of Europe's best late medieval choral music into the late 16th century, its status declined over time.
In March 1540 one of the canons, Andrew Murehead, sent a gift of rose water made at the abbey to James V at Stirling Castle. [3]
In 1559 during the early days of the Scottish Reformation the abbey fell victim to a Protestant mob from Dundee who were whipped into a zealous frenzy by the reformer John Knox. The abbey was burned to the ground. In 1581 it was erected into a temporal lordship. [1] The abbey estates were later granted to Lord Ruthven, who later became the Earl of Gowrie. Lord Ruthven held extensive estates in Scotland including Ruthven Castle near Perth, now called Huntingtower Castle, and Dirleton Castle. The Ruthvens rebuilt the Abbot's Palace of the old abbey as a grand residence in 1580. In 1600, James VI charged the family with treason after the Gowrie Conspiracy, banned the use of the name "Ruthven" and confiscated their states. The Gowrie lands at Scone including the Abbot's Palace were granted to Sir David Murray of Gospetrie, who later was made the 1st Lord Scone and Viscount Stormont, as a reward for interceding on the king's behalf to quell the people of Perth in the chaotic aftermath of the Gowrie Conspiracy.
After the reformation in 1559, Scottish abbeys disappeared as institutions, although not overnight, as some suggest. There are existing documents describing repairs made to the spire of the abbey church dating from A.D. 1620. Scone Abbey and its attendant parish ceased to function in 1640 and was made a secular lordship first for the Earl of Gowrie, and then for Sir David Murray of Gospertie. The property and lordship have been in the possession of the Murrays of Scone ever since. Later, this branch of the Murray clan became the Earls of Mansfield. Scone Abbey flourished for over four hundred years.
The precise location of Scone Abbey had long remained a mystery, but a team of archaeologists (run by Doctor Oliver O'Grady [4] ) pinpointed the location using magnetic resonance imaging technology. The find revealed the structure to have been somewhat larger than had been imagined and revealed that the Moot Hill had at some point been surrounded by a ditch and palisade; marking it out not as a defensive position but as a hugely significant sanctum within which kings professed their vows to the people of Scotland. A stylised illustration of the abbey on one of its seals suggests that it was a major Romanesque building, with a central tower crowned with a spire. In 2008 an archaeological dig at the abbey revealed burials with three complete human skeletons. [5]
The Stone of Scone is an oblong block of red sandstone that was used in the coronation of Scottish monarchs until the 13th century, and thereafter in the coronation of English and later British monarchs. The Stone measures 26 by 16.7 by 10.5 inches and weighs approximately 335 lb. A cross is roughly incised on one surface, and an iron ring at each end aids with transport. Monarchs sat on the Stone of Scone itself, until a wooden platform was added to the Coronation Chair in the 17th century.
Holyrood Abbey is a ruined abbey of the Canons Regular in Edinburgh, Scotland. The abbey was founded in 1128 by David I of Scotland. During the 15th century, the abbey guesthouse was developed into a royal residence, and after the Scottish Reformation the Palace of Holyroodhouse was expanded further. The abbey church was used as a parish church until the 17th century, and has been ruined since the 18th century. The remaining walls of the abbey lie adjacent to the palace, at the eastern end of Edinburgh's Royal Mile. The site of the abbey is protected as a scheduled monument.
The Culdees were members of ascetic Christian monastic and eremitical communities of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England in the Middle Ages. Appearing first in Ireland and then in Scotland, subsequently attached to cathedral or collegiate churches; they lived in monastic fashion though not taking monastic vows.
The Coronation Chair, also known as St Edward's Chair or King Edward's Chair, is an ancient wooden chair that is used by British monarchs when they are invested with regalia and crowned at their coronation. The chair was commissioned in 1296 by King Edward I of England to house the Stone of Scone, the symbol of royal authority in Scotland. Since 1308, it has been used at every coronation of English and British Monarchs at Westminster Abbey. The coronation chair is arguably the most valuable and revered piece of furniture in the world. The chair was named after Edward the Confessor, and is currently kept in St George's Chapel at Westminster Abbey, London, and was last used by King Charles the III at his coronation in 2023.
Dryburgh Abbey, near Dryburgh on the banks of the River Tweed in the Scottish Borders, was nominally founded on 10 November (Martinmas) 1150 in an agreement between Hugh de Morville, Constable of Scotland, and the Premonstratensian canons regular from Alnwick Abbey in Northumberland. The arrival of the canons along with their first abbot, Roger, took place on 13 December 1152.
Scone Palace is a Category A-listed historic house near the village of Scone and the city of Perth, Scotland. Ancestral seat of Earls of Mansfield, built in red sandstone with a castellated roof, it is an example of the Gothic Revival style in Scotland.
The Clan Ruthven is a Lowland Scottish clan.
Gille Brigte of Strathearn (1150–1223), sometimes also called Gilbert, was the 3rd Earl or Mormaer of Strathearn.
Ethelred was the son of King Malcolm III of Scotland and his wife Margaret of Wessex, the third oldest of the latter and the probable sixth oldest of the former. He took his name, almost certainly, from Margaret's great-grandfather Æthelred the Unready. He became the lay abbot of Dunkeld.
Mormaer Beth is a name of a Mormaer mentioned in an unreliable charter granted to Scone Priory, later Scone Abbey, by king Alexander I of Scotland.
The Abbot of Inchaffray, before 1221 Prior of Inchaffray, and then by the end of the 15th century, the Commendator of Inchaffray, was the head of the community of Augustinian canons of Inchaffray Abbey and their lands. Inchaffray is in Strathearn, in southern Perthshire, Scotland. The house was founded by Gille Brigte (Gilbert), mormaer of Strathearn in 1200 as a priory and was elevated to an abbey in 1221. By the late 15th century the monastery was becoming secularized. and after the resignation of Abbot George Mureff (Murray) in 1495, Laurence, Lord Oliphant, took over as commendator and thereafter it was held by commendators. It was turned into a secular lordship for Commendator James Drummond, Lord Maddertie, but the final formalization of the lordship did not come until 1669, when it was given to William Drummond.
The Abbot of Scone, before 1163 x 4, Prior of Scone, and then by the beginning of the 16th century, the Commendator of Scone, was the head of the community of Augustinian canons of Scone Abbey and their lands. The priory was established by King Alaxandair mac Maíl Choluim sometime between 1114 and 1120, and was elevated to the status of an abbey in 1163 or 1164. The abbey was turned into a secular lordship for William Ruthven, 1st Earl of Gowrie in 1581, but was forfeited when the earl was executed in 1584, given to William Foularton in the same year, but restored to the earl's son, James Ruthven, 2nd Earl of Gowrie. An independent secular lordship was established for David Murray in 1608.
St Andrews Cathedral Priory was a priory of Augustinian canons in St Andrews, Fife, Scotland. It was one of the great religious houses in Scotland, and instrumental in the founding of the University of St Andrews.
Political and military events in Scotland during the reign of David I are the events which took place in Scotland during David I of Scotland's reign as King of Scots, from 1124 to 1153. When his brother Alexander I of Scotland died in 1124, David chose, with the backing of Henry I of England, to take the Kingdom of Alba for himself. David was forced to engage in warfare against his rival and nephew, Máel Coluim mac Alaxandair. Subduing the latter took David ten years, and involved the destruction of Óengus, mormaer of Moray. David's victory allowed him to expand his control over more distant regions theoretically part of the Kingdom. In this he was largely successful, although he failed to bring the Earldom of Orkney into his kingdom.
The Westminster Stone theory is the belief held by some historians and scholars that the stone which traditionally rests under the Coronation Chair is not the true Stone of Destiny but a 13th-century substitute. Since the chair has been located in Westminster Abbey since that time, adherents to this theory have created the title 'Westminster Stone' to avoid confusion with the 'real' stone.
Gowrie is a region in central Scotland and one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It covered the eastern part of what became Perthshire. It was located to the immediate east of Atholl, and originally included the area around Perth, though that was later detached as Perthia.
Nicholas de Balmyle, also called Nicholas of St Andrews, was a Scottish administrator and prelate in the late 13th century and early 14th century. A graduate of an unknown university, he served his earliest years as a clergyman at St Andrews, moving on to hold churches in Lothian as well as deputising to two archdeacons of Lothian.
Scone is a town in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The medieval town of Scone, which grew up around the monastery and royal residence, was abandoned in the early 19th century when the residents were removed and a new palace was built on the site by the Earl of Mansfield. Hence the modern village of Scone, and the medieval village of Old Scone, can often be distinguished.
David Murray, 1st Viscount of Stormont was a Scottish courtier, comptroller of Scotland and captain of the king's guard, known as Sir David Murray of Gospertie, then Lord Scone, and afterwards Viscount Stormont. He is known for his zeal in carrying out the ecclesiastical policy of James VI and I, in which he was effective if crude.
Lord Kinfauns is a title of nobility and baronial rank granted in 1487 by King James III of Scots and granted anew in 1608 by King James I of Great Britain, France and Ireland.