Salmond given part of Stone of Scone by man who financed ‘thieves’
ALEX SALMOND was given part of the Stone of Scone, also known as the Stone of Destiny, by the son of the man who bankrolled the students who stole it from Westminster Abbey, newly released Scottish Cabinet papers have disclosed.
Prof Sir Neil Maccormick presented the then first minister with part of the stone, on which kings and queens of Scotland were traditionally crowned, in 2008. Sir Neil’s father, John Maccormick, advised and financed the Glasgow University students who took the 150kg stone from the Abbey on Christmas Day 1950.
Files released by the National Records of Scotland disclosed that Mr Salmond consulted his government’s most senior mandarin over whether he was allowed to own the fragment. Permanent Secretary Sir John Elvidge agreed the piece “need not be surrendered to Historic Scotland”, the government’s conservation quango, The Herald reported. The size of the fragment was not recorded.
For centuries, the stone was kept at the now ruined Scone Abbey near Perth where it was used as the seat for the inauguration of Scotland’s ancient kings.
In 1296, the English King Edward I seized it as spoils in the Wars of Independence and incorporated it into the Coronation Chair in Westminster Abbey. It has been used in the coronation cere- monies for every British monarch since.
The stone made headlines on Christmas Day 1950, when the four students removed it from the abbey, breaking it in two in the process. After being stuck back together, it was found three months later at the high altar of Arbroath Abbey.
It was returned to Scotland in 1996 and is normally housed at Edinburgh Castle. However, it was temporarily moved back to Westminster Abbey last May for the coronation of King Charles III. However, Mr Salmond called for the stone not to be used for the ceremony.
The final item of the Scottish Cabinet minutes dated Sept 16, 2008 was titled “The Stone of Destiny”. It read: “The First Minister said that he had met with Professor Sir Neil Maccormick who had presented him with a fragment of the Stone of Destiny as a personal gift.
Sir Neil was a former special adviser to Mr Salmond and a former SNP MEP. The legal academic was suffering from terminal cancer when he gifted the fragment and died in April 2009.
His father John helped found the SNP and was rector of Glasgow University at the time of the stone’s theft. He reportedly gave the students £50 to help them and signed a note testifying to the stone’s authenticity.
The Scottish Ministerial Code of that year advised ministers to seek Sir John’s advice on accepting gifts. Those received in their ministerial capacity were the property of government but low-value personal gifts could be kept.