Scone Palace

Scotland was one of the last kingdoms to adopt and benefit from the written word and the legal system it upheld. Only at the end of the 11th century did Scotland see a growth of record keeping, with property rights logged via legal charter and royal government practice noted in writing.[2] It is likely that there were a few documents written before the 11th century, however, Scotland's particularly turbulent history is likely to have been witness to the loss or destruction of many documents. The first piece of hard evidence that relates to Scone is a charter dating to 906. This date could represent the period in which Scone first came to prominence as a center of power and government, or it could simply be the first concrete date we have in what is actually a much longer history. Many historians writing previously to the 20th century have suggested without any (unless it was subsequently lost) decent evidence that Scone's history was not just "post" but in some cases even "pre-Roman". Modern historians for this very reason are very non-committal regarding the early history of Scone as there is simply too much doubt and very little evidence.

It is not known why exactly the area is called "Scone" (pronounced "Scoon"). The search for a meaning to the word has not been helped by the fact that throughout the last 10 centuries, Scone has been written as Scon, Scoon, Scoan, Scoine, Schone, Skoon, Skune, Skuyn, Skuyne, Sgoin, Sgàin and Sgoinde. It is difficult thus to know where to start in terms of the etymology of Scone. It is known that Scone was at the heart of the ancient Pictish kingdom and thus one would think that the name would derive from the Pictish language. The existence of a distinct Pictish language during the Early Middle Ages is attested clearly in Blessed Bede's early 8th century Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum, which names Pictish as a language distinct from that spoken by the Britons, the Irish, and the English.[3] Bede states that Columba, a Gael, used an interpreter during his mission to the Picts. The problem is that no record of written Pictish has ever been found. Given Bede's description of Columba's encounter with the Picts; for many years it was thought that the Picts spoke an ancient Pre-Indo-European language, a relic of the Bronze Age. Contemporary historians, however, believe that the Pictish language in fact had Celtic origins. The inhabitants of Britain that the Romans fought, and in part subjugated, spoke various dialects of Celtic: P-Celtic Brittonic and Q-Celtic Goidelic. Scottish Gaelic, a language still spoken by thousands of people in the west of Scotland, stems from the Q-Celtic language. It is easy to mistakenly conclude that Scottish Gaelic and Pictish must have both derived singularly from the ancient Q-Celtic language and thus that the place name "Scone" has Gaelic origins. This theory was popularized by 19th-century historians and through persistent folklore. Many contemporary historians, however, now believe that Pictish was a northerly dialect of the P-Celtic Brittonic languages and thus related to the Cumbric (Cumbrian) and Welsh languages, and less so to the Irish Q-Celtic language. The mistaken 19th-century historians may have been led astray by the fact that Scottish Gaelic, a Q-Celtic dialect, adopted many Pictish (Brittonic) words and much of the P-Celtic syntax and grammar. It is likely that Scone came to prominence prior to the gaelicization of Pictavia, the ancient Pictish kingdom, in the 9th century. Scone's pre-Gaelic prominence suggests that the name "Scone" has evolved out of a Brittonic influenced Pictish language.

It was thus believed that "Scone" derives from the P-Celtic word "Sken" meaning "cut" or "cutting". This has been gaelicized as "Sgàin" (pronounced "Skene"). And may be a fine example of the amalgamation of the Pictish and Gaelic cultures and languages. The Brittonic origin of the place-name "Scone" is of great importance regarding the history and status of the place, and may explain why the famous Kenneth MacAlpin, first King of Scots, chose Scone as his capital. If the place name, "Scone", was indeed Gaelic in origin and thus post-dating Kenneth MacAlpin's seizure of power in 843; then it would be safe to say that Scone's rise to prominence was from 843 onwards. Given that the origin of the name "Scone" is most likely not Gaelic, then it suggests that both the origin of the place and name of "Scone" is Pictish.

The meaning "cutting" could relate to what is now known as "the Friars' Den".[4] The Gaelic origin of the place name "Scone", if not entirely discredited, is rendered more unlikely by modern analysis of place names in the east of Scotland where Scone is situated. Such analysis supports the above argument that an Insular Celtic language related to the more southerly P-Celtic Brittonic languages was formerly spoken in Pictavia (and thus not a Q-Celtic language).[5]

Scone was from at least the 9th century the crowning-place of the Kings of Scots and home to the Stone of Scone, more commonly referred to as the Stone of Destiny. Kenneth MacAlpin (traditionally known as the first King of Scots), Shakespeare's Macbeth, Robert the Bruce, and Charles II number amongst the 38 kings of Scots inaugurated and crowned at Scone. It was believed that no king had a right to reign as king of Scots unless he had first been crowned at Scone upon the Stone of Scone. In the Middle Ages, the land was the site of a major Augustinian abbey, Scone Abbey, nothing of which now remains above ground level except detached architectural fragments. Scone was also the site of the first Parliament of Scotland, or Council/Assembly. King Constantine II in 906 called for an assembly to meet at Scone. The assembly was recorded in the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba; Alba being the early name for the early medieval Kingdom of Scotland. The Chronicle records that:

King Constantine and Bishop Cellach met at the Hill of Belief near the Royal City of Scone and pledged themselves that the laws and disciplines of the faith, and the laws of churches and gospels, should be kept pariter cum Scottis.[6]

Scone was thus the centre of power in the ancient Kingdom of Alba, doubling up as the site of both Scottish coronations and parliaments. Further to this in medieval times Scone acted as a royal residence and hunting ground. Robert II would have spent most of his life calling Scone home. He was eventually laid to rest in the Abbey itself, although his grave has never been located. A popular old saying suggests the significance of Scone's status in the Kingdom of Alba's, and later Scotland's, governance and rule:

As the Bell of Scone rang, So mote it be.[7]

This saying has often been re-quoted as "When the Bell of Scone tolls, the law of the land has been made". It is a statement of the great significance of the ceremonies held at Scone, and the judgments made from a top the Moot Hill. It is old sayings like this which frustrated historians, as the sayings clearly detail Scone's important role in Scottish history, and in the early formation of the Scottish nation. The primary source of much of Scone's early history and modern reputation is reliant upon Scottish folklore. An example of another piece of Scottish folklore which reminds us of Scone's position as the premier seat of power in the evolving early medieval Scottish nation is the Gaelic:

Comhairle clag Sgàin: An rud nach buin duit na bean dà.[8]

"Counsel of the bell of Scone, Touch not what is not thine own."

In Gaelic poetry Scone's association more specifically with kings and king-making gave it various poetic epithets, for instance, Scoine sciath-airde, meaning "Scone of the High Shields", and Scoine sciath-bhinne, meaning "Scone of the Noisy Shields".[9] The "Noisy Shields" here refer to a folkloric ceremony in which magnates would gather at Scone for a Council. As they entered the Great Hall each magnate in turn would hang their shield displaying their coats of arms on the walls before beating their weapons against them.

The mons placiti or Scone Moot Hill is the inauguration site of the Scottish Kings. It is also called 'Boot Hill', possibly from an ancient tradition whereby nobles swore fealty to their king whilst wearing the earth of their own lands in their foot-bindings or boots, or even by standing upon the earth that they had brought with them from their respective homelands (carrying the soil in their boots). The tradition being that the Moot Hill, or rather 'Boot Hill', came into being as a result of this tradition of nobles bring a piece of their own lands to Scone. The kings of Scots, themselves inaugurated upon the Moot Hill, were thus making during these ceremonies a hugely symbolic commitment to the people of Scotland, the Scots. This commitment was made from atop a hill which, if one believes the tradition, represented all parts of the kingdom of Scots and thus allowed the King to make his oaths whilst standing symbolically upon all of Scotland.[10]

The Moot Hill and chapel at Scone, perhaps the Hill of Belief of 906[11]