Lia Fail

The Stone Of Destiny

Lia Fail, also known as the Stone of Destiny, the Stone of Covenant, the Stone of Scone, Simon Pure, Jacob's Pillow, Jacob's Ladder, and the Saxum Fatale, is a block of sandstone measuring approximately 26" long, 16" wide, and 11" high. It has a weight of 336 lb (152 kg mass) and bears a single insciption : that of a Latin cross. Over a thousand years of the Stone's history is well documented, although it's origin goes back even further.

In the Old Testament, Jacob travelled from Beer-sheba toward Haran, stopping to rest in Luz (Genesis 28 : 10-22). That night, Jacob slept using a stone for a pillow. He had a dream of a ladder that reached to heaven, and had a vision of God who told him his descendants would multiply across the Earth. After waking, the Stone was set up as a pillar and annointed with oil to mark the meeting he had had with God. Jacob renamed the area Beth-El, which means "the house of God". The Stone remained with Jacob and his descendants, eventually traveling to Egypt, and then to Canaan during the Exodus. Some believe that this Stone was the one struck twice by Moses to produce water (Numbers 20 : 11), which prohibited him from entering Canaan (Numbers 20 : 12).

After that, the Stone remained in Jerusalem until the Babylonian seige around 586-583 B.C., when it was removed for safe keeping by the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah, his scribe Baruch, and Princess Tamar, the daughter of King Zedekiah (Mattaniah) of Judah, eventually traveled to Sicily, Spain, possibly even Norway and Denmark, and later, Ireland.

Sometime later, the three arrived in Ulster. Jeremiah was given the title Ollam Fodhla, which means "learned man", and became King of Ireland in 526 B.C. In Ireland, Baruch became known as (Simon) Brech and Tamar, as Tea (short for Teamhair) or Tara. Tamar married one of the later Irish Kings, Eochaid I, from which all the High Kings of Ireland descended.

The Stone was installed at the stronghold at the Hill of Tara, where it served as the place of coronation for all the early Irish and Dalriadic Kings. It was said that the Stone would "cry out" when the new King of Ireland was coronated on it.

In the early sixth century, Feargus Mor the Great, son of Earcha (Erc of Dal n'Araide), was given the Stone by King Murtough Mac-Earca of Ireland (his grand-nephew, who would be St. Columba's 4^th great-grandfather), for use at his coronation as the first King of the Dalriads of Albania. St. Patrick himself later blessed the Stone and proclaimed that wherever it lay, the descendants of King Erc of the Antrim Dal Riata tribe shall reign. After many years, Kenneth MacAlpin I (844-859), 36^th King of Dalriada, united the Scots and the Picts. He had the Stone moved to Dunstaffnage Castle, Perth for his coronation, but later moved his seat to Scone Abbey, in Perthshire, Scotland. The Stone had previously been moved from Tara to Iona, and later to Dunadd before this.

Kenneth MacAlpin was a decendant of King Erc, who was in turn a decendant of King Ugaine Mar of Ireland, 19^th great-grandson of Tamar of Judah. For over 1000 years, the decendants of the royal house of Judah used the Stone in thier coronation ceremonies as the royal house of Ireland.

When the Stone was moved from Ireland to Scotland in the early sixth century, it was used in the coronation ceremonies of the Scots Dalriatic Kings, which were also in a direct line of decent from King Erc, the royal house of Ireland, and the royal house of Judah. At least part of the Stone still remains in Ireland, however. The Blarney Stone, built into the roof of Blarney Castle, is supposed to be a fragment of the Stone of Destiny which was awarded to Brian Boru for his help during a battle.

When King Edward I of England usurped the throne of Scotland in 1296, he captured the Stone and brought it to England. A throne was built over it and it was placed in Westminster Abbey where the English Kings and Queens have been coronated ever since. Edward believed that possession of the Stone gave him sovereignty over Scotland. Through the years, legends have circulated that the Stone Edward captured was not the true Stone of Destiny, but a fake, and that the true Stone remained hidden in Scotland.

Robert the Bruce achieved independance for Scotland in 1306 and became King Robert I of Scotland. In 1328, the Treaty of Northampton between Scotland (ruled by Robert I) and England (then ruled by Edward Windsor III, grandson of Edward I) insured the return of the Stone to Scotland. It was however, not returned.

Robert I ruled until 1329. His son David, by his wife Elizabeth du Bourgh, became King David II of Scotland and ruled from 1329-1371. David II's nephew, Robert Stewart, ruled as King Robert II from 1371-1390.

Robert II was the son of Marjorie Bruce (daughter of Robert the Bruce) and Walter Stewart, the 6^th High Steward of Scotland. The Stewarts (alternately, Stewards or Stuarts) were decendants of the original Dalriatic and Irish Kings through Walter Fitz Alan, the 1^st High Steward of Scotland, who was a descendant of Kenneth MacAlpin.

Robert II's 6^th great-grandson, James, became King James VI of Scotland in 1567. The English and Scottish crowns were united in 1603, which gave James the additional title of King James I of England. St. Patrick's proclamation again held true - a decendant of King Erc was once again coronated upon the Stone of Destiny. James ruled until 1625. His son, Charles I, ruled from 1625 until 1649, when he was executed and the country became a Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell (1653-1658) and his son, Richard (1658-1659).

In 1660, the Stuarts were restored to the throne. Charles' son became Charles II and ruled until 1685. Charles II's brother, James, became James II of England, VII of Scots, and ruled from 1685-12/23/1688. Again, decendants of King Erc once again held the throne.

In 1688, the Whig Revolution placed William III and Mary II on the unified throne, both of them grandchildren of Charles I. In 1702, the throne went to Anne Stuart, daughter of James VII and II. Anne died without issue and in 1714 the throne was passed to George Hanover of the House of Guelph (George I), great-grandson of James I and VI. The current royal family is of direct decent from George I.

After over 2500 years and quite a few revolutions, the bloodline of the royal house of Ireland and Judah still held the throne.

On Christmas Day, 1950, the Stone was removed from Westminster Abbey by a group of Scottish Nationalists. It reappeared four months later in Arbroah Abbey and was promptly returned to Westminster. No charges were filed against those involved. Some believe that the true Stone was not returned and that the one taken back to Westminster was a forgery (just like the rumors in Edward I's time). In fact, the Scottish Knights Templar claim the stone returned to Westminster was a copy, and that they have been in possession of the true Stone since it turned up in Parliament Square in Edinburgh in 1965. Their stone was kept in St. Columba's Church at Lochee in Dundee until 1990 when it closed. It is now kept in a small church in the village of Dull, near Aberfeldy. Examinations of the Templar stone, however, indicate that it is a well executed forgery.

In 1996, Queen Elizabeth II announced that the Stone would be returned to Scotland. The event took plave on the 700^th anniversary of it's original "theft". Since November of 1996, the Stone has been kept in Edinburgh Castle.

Due to the Whig Revolution and, later, George I's coronation, some do not recognize the current royal family as the proper line of descent from the early Stuarts. Those that do not generally refer to the "true" line of Stuart decent as deriving from Charles I's daughter, Henrietta Anne, and passing to the royal house of Sardinia, currently represented by H.R.H. King Francis II, Duke of Bavaria, house of Wittelsbach. However, this de jure branch of Stuarts have not had access to the Stone.