I have a small book, my copy, 1953, " No Stone Unturned . A story of the Stone of Destiny " by Ian R. Hamilton, & signed ,( probably in 1957,) by him. The Forward is by Compton Mackenzie. After so many years, I need to reread the book, but, a quick glance, it seems that it was about Christmas 1950, that the Stone was returned to Scotland, by some young Scots. Some months after this, on April 11 th 1951 , the Stone was secretly left in the ruined Abbey of Arbroath, was then uplifted by authorities & taken back to London. Mary -----Original Message----- From: Brenda & Tony MacCulloch [mailto:ajmac@internet.co.nz] Sent: Monday, 26 November 2007 10:24 a.m. To: australia-new-zealand@rootsweb.com; Mary Legarth Subject: how the stone of destiny came to be returned to scotland Hi all, I refer you to a bbc web page, about how the Stone came to be returned to Scotland. As you will see, it was decided in the 1950's to return it but it never happened, as shown when Govt. papers were released. Its worth a squizz to read. Cheers, Brenda http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/6183050.stm The stone had been taken to London in the 13th Century by Edward I, who had removed it from Scone, the capital of the ancient Pictish kingdom. It it is believed to have been the coronation seat of Scottish kings. In 1296 it was placed beneath the Coronation Chair of Westminster Abbey. Seven hundred years later it was being returned to Scotland. Another 10 years on and I've been finding out how exactly did the Stone come home? Well, one man was key. Lord Forsyth of Drumlean. In 1996, Michael Forsyth was the Conservative MP for Stirling, the secretary of state for Scotland ... and about to take everyone completely by surprise. He had been approached about the possibility of releasing a series of Government papers from the 1950s which showed that the Cabinet had agreed to return the Stone to Scotland. But it never happened. If the papers were released, he calculated there would be an outcry from his political opponents. John Major Conservative Prime Minister John Major announced the Stone's return He says he also believed bringing the stone home would be the right thing to do - in fact faced with these Cabinet papers he told me it was "a no-brainer." But John Major's announcement to the House of Commons on 3 July, 1996 certainly didn't please everyone. Especially at Westminster Abbey. They were given just two days' notice and had no time to protest at this historic flitting. Four months on from John Major's announcement and D-day was fixed for Wednesday 13 November.