SCONE, a parish, in the county of Perth, 2 miles
(N.) from Perth; containing 2422 inhabitants, of whom
1364 are in the village of New Scone, and .56 in that of
Old Scone. It is supposed to have derived its name,
signifying in the British language " an ascent", from the
situation of its ancient castle on an acclivity rising gradually
from the sliore of the river Tay to a considerable
height. No satisfactory account, however, of the origin
or derivation of the name has yet been given. The place
appears to have been at a very early period the residence
of the kings of Scotland, and the place of their coronation,
for which occasions the celebrated stone, called
from an inscription of prophetic import the Stone of
Destiny, is said to have been placed here by Kenneth
Mc Alpine, King of the Scots, who finally subdued the
Picts, and united both nations into one kingdom. An
establishment of Culdees flourished at this place, which
obtained the appellation of the royal city, till the time of
Alexander I., when it was superseded by a priory of
canons regular of the order of St. Augustine, to whom,
according to the chronicles of Melrose, the Culdees resigned
their church in 1115. Alexander had begun to
erect a castle and a palace at this place, but was obstructed
in the prosecution of that purpose by a rebellion
of his subjects of the counties of Mearns and Moray,
over whom, however, after much peril, he obtained a
complete victory; in gratitude for his success founding
the ABBEY of Scone, in which the inaugural stone was
preserved, and many of his successors were crowned.
After the death of Alexander HI., Edward I. of England,
availing himself of an assumed superiority over
the kingdom of Scotland, put an end to the contest of
the different aspirants to the throne by nominating
John Baliol, who took the oath of fealty, and was
crowned in the abbey in 1292. A parliament was held
here in 1294, in which some measures were resolved on
that excited the jealousy of Edward, who, entering
Scotland with a powerful army, demanded the surrender
of the principal fortresses, and, on his return
into England in 1296, took away with him the coronation
stone from the abbey of Scone, and placed it in
Westminster Abbey, where it forms the seat of the
chair of Edward the Confessor, used at the coronation
of the sovereign.
The abbey, which was dedicated to the Holy Trinity
and St. Michael, continued to flourish till the Reformation,
when, after all its ornaments had been destroyed,
it was burned together with the palace by a furious mob
from Dundee, in resentment for the loss of one of their
party who had been killed by a shot discharged from
the palace during their work of demolition. The revenues
of the abbey at this time were estimated at £1 140,
exclusive of considerable i)ayments in grain. Its lands
and other possessions belonged afterwards to the Earl
of Gowrie, on whose attainder they reverted to the
crown; and about 1605 they were erected into a temporal
lordship, and granted by James VI. to Sir David
Murray, Lord Scone, and afterwards Viscount Stormont,
ancestor of the Stormont or Mansfield family, the present
proprietors. Charles II. was crowned here in 16.')I,
in the church of Scone, built probably by the Gowrie
family, and subsequently enlarged by the first Lord
Stormont: after the ceremony. His Majesty returned to
the seat of (the third) Lord Stormont, which formed his
palace on the occasion. Of this palace the Pretender
took possession during his visit in 1*15, previously to
his flight to Dundee on the approach of the royal army;
as also did Prince Charles, on his visit in 1745.
After the destruction of the abbey the town fell
rapidly into decay. Some of the conventual buildings,
however, were occasionally occupied by the attendants
of James VI., when that king resorted to the place for
the diversion of hunting; and a building for some time
retained the appellation of the Earl of Errol's stables,
from its being occupied on those occasions by the earl,
who attended the king as hereditary grand constable.
There are still remaining an ancient gateway, and part
of the wall that surrounded the old palace; to the east
of which is the Cross, almost the otdy memorial of the
original town, a pillar thirteen feet high, slightly ornamented,
and rising from an octagonal pedestal, to which
is an ascent by a flight of steps. The only object of interest
in the old town is the splendid mansion of the Earl
of Mansfield, called indifferently the Abbey or Palace
of Scone, erected in ISOS, on the site of a former mansion
built partly by the Earl of Gowrie after the destruction
of the palace, and partly by the first Lord
Stormont, but never fully completed, and which was
taken down in 1803. The present palace is a spacious
and elegant structure in the later English style of architecture,
erected by the late earl, and containing a suite of
apartments fitted up in a style of sumptuous magnificence.
Of these the drawing-room is a splendid apartment,
commanding one of the richest prospects in the
county; the dining-room, music-gallery, and library are
also noble apartments, enriched with ornaments of every
variety, and a valuable collection of paintings by the
chief masters, with several family portraits. The windows
of the grand hall are embellished with stained glass,
in which are emblazoned the armorial bearings of the
family; and in various parts are disposed marble busts,
elegant and costly vases, cabinets of gems, and rare
antiques. Scone Palace is beautifully situated on a spacious
lawn sloping to the river Tay, and is surrounded
by an extensive park, with pleasure-grounds embellished
with plantations, and gardens tastefully laid out. Of
the most ancient of the trees are, an ash planted by
James VI., and a sycamore by Mary, Queen of Scots.
About fifty yards from the palace are the only remains
of the church erected after the destruction of the abbey,
consisting of an aisle built most probably by the first
Viscount Stormont, to whom there is an elegant marble
monument, on which he is represented in armour, kneeling
before an altar, with an armed figure on each side,
one supposed to represent the Marquess of TuUibardine,
and the other the Earl Marischal; all most beautifully
sculptured in alabaster. The chief approach to the
house is by a drive through the park, over a bridge built
across a deep ravine at no great distance from the
terrace-gate on the south. There is also an ancient gateway
leading to it from the cast. Among the remains of
antiquity carefully preserved in the palace are, an elegant
velvet bed embroidered by Mary, Queen of Scots,
during her captivity at Lochleven; and the bed and
furniture of the chamber in whicii King Charles slept at
the time of his coronation. Her present Majesty Queen
Victoria, accompanied by Prince Albert, honoured the
Earl of Mansfield with a visit in September 1842, and,
after passing the night of the 6th here, returned on the
day following to Dunkeld. Previous to her departure,
a deputation from the magistrates of Perth waited upon
Her Majesty, requesting the royal signature in the
guildry books of the city, in which Her Majesty and
Prince Albert accordingly inscribed their names.
The PARISH is bounded on the west and south-west
by the river Tay, and comprises an area of nearly 6000
acres, whereof about 2500 are arable, and the remainder
meadow and pasture, with some extensive plantations,
and a moderate portion of waste land. Its surface rises
gradually from the banks of the river to a considerable
elevation, commanding many richly-varied and extensive
views; and the scenery, which is generally of a
pleasing and interesting character, is in many places
beautifully picturesque. The streams that flow through
the parish are small. The Annaty, however, in its
course has several falls for giving motion to machinery;
and there is also a canal from the Tay, which turns
several mills, and affords an abundant supply of water
for some bleach-works. The soil is in parts light and
gravelly, but near the banks of the river a strong rich clay;
the crops are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes, and turnips.
Considerable improvements have taken place in the system
of agriculture; the lands have been drained, and in
many places properly inclosed; the farm buildings and
offices are substantial and well arranged, and every
attention is paid to the management of the dairies. In
this district the substratum is mostly of the sandstone
formation, intersected with dykes of trap, which afford
excellent materials for the roads. Nodules of compact
limestone are occasionally found in the sandstone
quarries, of which those at Lethendy are extensively
wrought; and in the softer beds occur small pieces of
jasper. The annual value of real property in the parish
is £9600. The village of New Scone, which has been
almost entirely built within the present century, on lands
belonging chiefly to the Earl of Mansfield and to Andrew
Murray, Esq., is situated on the turnpike-road from Perth
to Cupar-Angus, along which it extends for a considerable
distance, consisting of houses neatly but irregularly
built. It has a post-o/fice subject to the office of Perth,
and a small library is supported by subscription. About
300 of the inhabitants are occupied in hand-loom weaving.
At Stormontfield, on the banks of the Tay, in the
north-west of the parish, is an extensive bleachfield belonging
to John Maxton, Esq., in which about thirty
famihes are constantly employed, for whose residence
cottages have been erected: there is also a school, built
by the late Earl of Mansfield, for the instruction of their
children. These works are abundantly supplied with
water by the canal, and are conducted with due regard
to the comfort of the persons employed. The fisheries
on the Tay have much diminished during the last twenty
or thirty years, within which period the annual rent has
fallen from the sum of £1100 to £100; the fish taken
here are salmon, grilse, sea-trout, yellow-trout, pike,
perch, and eels.
For ECCLESIASTICAL purposes this place is within the
limits of the presbytery of Perth and synod of Perth
and Stirling. The minister's stipend is £267. 11. "2.,
with a manse, and a glebe valued at £55 per annum;
patron, the Crown. The jiarish church erected in 1*84
was taken down and rebuilt with the same materials in
the present village in 1804; an aisle was added to it in
1834. It is a neat structure, and has a seat, or pew,
about twelve feet in length, with a splendid canopy of
richly-carved oak, supported in the front by four pillars
of the same. In this seat, which was then in the parish
church enlarged by the first Lord Stormont, King
Charles II. sat to hear the sermon, at his coronation;
it forms the only remnant of the ancient abbey of Scone,
or of its furniture, and is reserved as the family pew of
the Earls of Mansfield. The number of sittings in the
church is 638. There is a place of worship for members
of the United Presbyterian Church. Scone parochial
school is attended by about 150 children; the master
has a salary of £34. 4. 4., with a house and garden, and
the fees. The master of the school at Stormontfield
receives an allowance of £4 from the Earl of Mansfield,
and £2 from the proprietor of the works, in addition to
the fees. There are also female schools in the parish.
In the immediate vicinity of the present palace there
have been found at various times some remnants of the
ancient abbey, and numerous stone coffins. In 1841
some workmen discovered part of a cell, in tolerable
preservation, from ten to twelve feet in diameter, and
surrounded with stone seats fifteen inches in breadth.
There are also portions of the eastern gateway, flanked
on each side by a round tower, and from which are
traces of the walls leading to the monastery: above the
gateway is a tablet on which are sculptured the royal
arms. The parish gives the title of Lord Scone to the
Earl of Mansfield, a descendant of William, the first earl,
lord chief justice of the Court of King's Bench, who
is supposed to have been a native of this place. David
Douglas, the eminent botanist, who died while making
botanical researches in the Sandwich Islands, in 1834,
was born here.