The Scone Palace

June 23

After leaving St. Andrews, we enjoyed more scenic driving. Sheep are a common site along the Scottish roads.

The next stop after St. Andrews was the Scone Palace (pronounced "skoon").

The lands upon which the Scone Palace stands hold a rich history. Fifteen hundred years ago, this was the capital of the Pictish kingdom. In later years, between the 9th and 13th centuries it became the place where Scottish Kings were crowned while seated on the "Stone of Scone", also known as the Stone of Destiny.

This stone gave legitimacy to the reign of Scottish kings. Famous historical figures such as MacBeth and Robert the Bruce were throned at Scone. However, in 1296, the Scots were fighting England and the English King Edward I stole the stone and placed it in Westminster under a wooden throne. Since then, English kings were crowned over the Stone of Scone---or were they?

In 1950, four Scottish students stole the stone from Westminster Abbey. While doing so, the stone broke in two. They had it repaired in Glascow and then tried to return it to Scone. However, the palace currently housed a girl's boarding school at the time and the headmistress refused to accept the stolen stone. It was eventually returned to England.

However, questions began to arise about the authenticity of the stone. It is red sandstone which matches the local stone in Scone, but ancient accounts of the stone claim it came from elsewhere and their descriptions do not match the current stone. Perhaps, the abbey fooled King Edward and hid the real Stone of Destiny from him. If this is true, no one knows today where the real stone lies. The current Stone of Scone was returned to Scotland 1996 and now resides in the Perth Museum (Perth, Scotland not Perth, Australia).

We toured the inside of the palace, but like Holyrood Palace, no pictures were allowed. It was beautifully decorated.

Outside, we passed by the Scone Palace Chapel atop Moot Hill.

Then we headed through the archway to explore the gardens briefly before our time to meet the bus.

Within the gardens, was the Old Scone Graveyard where many residents of Scone, both servants and nobles, chose to be buried over the centuries.

We then made the final leg of the journey to Aviemore where we would rest for the night.

Upon arriving in Aviemore, we had a short time to freshen up in our rooms before heading out to a nearby restaurant for a traditional Scottish dinner. We were let by a Scottish bagpiper.

He serenaded the group with some traditional Scottish tunes and then read out the "Address to the Haggis" written by the famous Scottish poet, Robert Burns.

Haggis is the traditional Scottish dish which has a dubious reputation in other parts of the world as it is typically made with the inner parts of the sheep - like the heart, lung and liver and all cooked together in the sheep's stomach. Today, they usually use a plastic casing instead of the sheep's stomach. I gave it a try and it tasted a lot like meatloaf, although the mustard sauce it was covered in was not my favorite. It was served with "neeps and tatties" (mashed turnips and potatoes).