Scottish Coronations: Their form and legacy. A lecture from Elizabeth Roads.
Saturday 8 July saw the society gather at Edinburgh’s Royal Scots Club for a lecture from our council member Elizabeth Roads, LVO, followed by a very convivial lunch.
Our speaker is one of the most significant players of her time in her chosen field. Currently Secretary to the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, for over 30 years Lyon Clerk and Keeper of the Records, she became, in 1987, the first female Officer of Arms in the world.
Elizabeth began with the first record of a Scottish king’s inauguration: that of Aidan, King of Dalriada, by St Columba, on Iona in 574 AD. John of Fordoun tells us St Columba received the mysterious ‘Glass Book’ from the Angel of God, detailing the form of the king’s inauguration. This included the laying on of hands, emphasising the sacred nature of kingship.
Even in the sixth century, the 10 elements of the king’s initiation – election, declaration, inauguration on the Stone, the oath, the assembly of supporters, investiture with sword and sceptre, recitation of the pedigree, Mass and the banquet – were already in place, nearly all central to the modern Coronation rite of not many weeks ago.
The Stone was central to the Scottish rite from earliest times. However, the current Stone of Destiny was not the earliest of its type and neither are such stones unique to Scotland. They were, for example, equally significant in Ireland, whence come many of our ancient royal traditions.
Before the first millennium succession was not by primogeniture, but by election of the most appropriate candidate, a pattern that resolved itself into the crown alternating between two branches of the House of Macalpine. After Malcolm II the throne passed through the female line. The last survivors of the Macalpine male line were the Macduffs, who would become central to subsequent coronations.
We usually think of Scone as the place where Kings of Scots were inaugurated. This seems to have taken place, not in the abbey, but out of doors, on the Stone of Destiny, placed upon the Moot Hill of Scone. In 906 Constantine II proclaimed new laws from Scone and it is clear Scone’s royal significance grew during the 10th century. However it wasn’t until the reign of Alexander I that the priory was built, dedicated ‘to the glory of the Holy Trinity and St Michael the Archangel’ and sited at Scone as ‘the chief seat of the realm.’
Little detail survives on the inauguration of David I, although we know he was crowned at Scone, probably in early May 1124. William the Lion and Alexander II were likewise inaugurated there, and Walter Bower tells us Alexander was inducted with more pomp and ceremony than any before him. Significantly, we are told Alexander was taken to Scone by the earls and members of the Three Estates, there to be offered the crown on behalf of the community of the realm. A vestige of this practice survived into 17th century Scotland, when both Charles I and Charles II were offered the crown by the Estates of the Realm.
The first detailed account we have is of the coronation of Alexander III, related by both Bower and Fordoun. Recent work by Dr Dauvit Broun reveals Fordoun’s account was founded on contemporary material, from Alexander’s reign. Central to events were the Bishop of St Andrews and the Earl of Fife, as Chief of the Macduff kindred. The young king is depicted wearing a crown, and it may be that this is the first inauguration where an actual coronation took place. The content of the service was secular, with no anointing, for example, but the king nonetheless clearly believed he owed his kingdom to God, a point he himself made in refusing homage to the English king in 1278. The king was led by Malcolm Earl of Fife, wearing his crown and carrying his sceptre, to be seated on the Stone. Fordoun tells us this stone was kept reverently in the monastery and that no King of Scots had ever reigned until first seated upon the Stone of Destiny.
Many of these elements appeared in the recent coronation, but one part that was missing, central to Scottish inaugurations. Historically the High Sennachie recited the genealogy of the new king, back to the first of the nation, Iber Scot, said to be the grandson of a Pharaoh. (In 1953, Lord Lyon Innes of Learney offered to recite the new queen’s genealogy in either English or Gaelic. His offer was declined and Scotland was instead recognised by the rather mundane ceremony of the Moderator presenting her with a Bible.)
Scone was important the struggles that followed Alexander’s death, recognising its importance to the legitimacy of Scottish monarchy. John Balliol was enthroned here in 1292. The Earl of Fife was then a child but his right of inauguration was confirmed. When Robert the Bruce seized the throne after the murder of the Red Comyn in 1306, Scone was clearly regarded as the one place where his reign could be legitimised. His court moved quickly to Scone along with Bishop Lamberton of St Andrews, who supervised his enthronement. The Earl of Fife was absent, but his sister, Isabel Macduff, Countess of Buchan, is said to have placed the crown upon his head.
Robert’s son David II was the first to be granted the sacred right of Unction by the pope on his coronation at Scone in 1371. His wife, Edward II of England’s daughter Joan of the Tower, was crowned with him, the first record of a queen being crowned alongside her husband. That pattern became established and in 1371 Robert II was crowned at Scone, with the now traditional Parliament held immediately afterwards. The Earl of Fife was not present, but it is argued his role had become symbolic; the Bishop of St Andrews was now the key player. The king nominated his son, John Earl of Carrick, as his heir, which was confirmed by Parliament, further confirmation of the elective principle of monarchy.
After James I’s coronation, Scone falls out of favour, not least because its Stone had been removed to England. James II was crowned in the Chapel Royal in Edinburgh, although James IV returned to Scone for his 1488 coronation.
Both Mary Queen of Scots and James VI were crowned as infants, and hastily, to establish their undisputed right. By the time of Charles I’s coronation, which took place eight years after his accession, much more detail went into the planning, as the need for urgency receded. Scone was not considered – accommodation was limited, and the abbey had been destroyed during the Reformation – so Holyrood Abbey was used instead. He spent the previous night in Edinburgh Castle, where next day he was conducted to the Great Hall by the Lord High Constable and the Earl Marischal. They asked him to receive the Three Estates into his protection and to govern according to Scots law – so again, the elective element remained. In his extensive account of this glittering event, Lord Lyon Sir James Balfour of Denmylne says this was ‘the most glorious coronation that ever was seen in this kingdom.’
Charles II’s 1651 coronation was a more secular affair, without anointing or communion, the crown placed on his head by the Marquis of Argyll. It took place at Scone, in the tiny church which had replaced the abbey after the Reformation. There are, of course, precedents for largely secular events, but by this time it was due to the beliefs of the Presbyterian kirk, now in the ascendant. However the Earl of Clarendon confirms the proceedings were conducted with great reverence and dignity.
That was the last coronation to take place in Scotland and the Honours would not again see the light of day until George IV’s 1822 visit to Edinburgh. They have since been presented to her late majesty and to the present King during post-coronation services in Edinburgh.
We are grateful to Elizabeth for a most enlightening talk, highlighting some of the unique and lesser known elements of our kings’ inaugurations.