THE SCENE: The Stone of Scone is an artifact which has been associated with Scottish royalty since the ancient beginning of the Scottish nation. In this passage, the 15th Century historian Walter Bower gives three different origins for stone.
THE TEXT: Now there was a king of the Scots in Spain called Milo who had several sons. Yet he loved one of them whose name was Simon Brecc more than all the other, although he was not the oldest nor the heir. So his father sent him to Ireland with an army and presented him with a marble throne of very ancient workmanship, carved by a careful craftsman, on which the kings of the Scottish people in Spain used to sit. So it was kept carefully in its own particular place as it were an anchor. Now this Simon Brecc set out for the aforesaid island accompanied by a great crowd of people. And after subduing it under his rule he reigned there for many years. He placed the aforesaid stone, that is the throne, in a place in his kingdom of some height which was called Tara. For the future this was to be his royal seat and the chief place in his kingdom, and there the kings descended from his line used to have their seat throughout many ages, adorned with the insignia of royalty.
One story is that Gaythelos took this seat with him from Egypt to Spain together with the other royal appurtenances; but others say that Simon Brecc let down anchors from his ship and secured them in the sea near the Irish coast. When he was forced by adverse winds to pull them up again from the stormy waves, he only just managed to do so with the utmost possible effort, and along with the anchors he raised from the depths of the sea and pulled into the ship a block of marble cut in the shape of a chair. So he accepted this stone as a precious gift bestowed on him by the gods and as a sure omen he would be king, and besides himself with excessive joy he gave solemn thanks to his gods with such great fervor, as if they had absolutely handed both the kingdom and the crown over to him.
He also received there a prophecy about it from his gods, as is affirmed in writings, that in future in whatsoever kingdom or lordship they found the stone after it had been forcibly removed from them through the power of their enemies, the prophets bade them regard it as certain that they and their descendants would reign thereafter in that same place. This has been expressed in prophetic verse as follows:
If destiny deceives not, the Scots will reign ‘tis said
In that same place where the stone has been laid.
– Scotichronicon, Walter Bower, 15th Century AD
