Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions

The Lia Fail, or the Stone of Destiny. 315
Broucht this Stane wytht in Scotland
Fyrst gwhen he came and wane that land,
And fyrst we set in Ikkolmkil,
And ScLine pare-estyr it wes broucht tyl ;
And there it was syne mony day,
Owhyll Edward gert have it away.
Nor will I the werd rehars
As I fynd of that Stane in wers
;
Ne fallat fa/inn, Scoti qiiocung locahmi^
Invenicnt Lapidon^ rei^nare tclientur ibidem ;
But gyf werdys faly hand be,
Owhare euer that Stane yhe segyt se
Thare sail the Scottis be regnand.
And Lorddys hale oure all that Land."
The Latin inscription said to have been on the stone has
been thus rendered by another—
" Except old seers do feign,
And wizards' wits be blind,
The Scots in place must reign.
Where they this stone shall find."
This has been fulfilled, say some, by James VI. of Scotland,
but of Irish descent, becoming James I. of England or, by
;
so many Irish and Scotch holding official posts in England
and the colonies.
But James Mason did not believe the story, when he
called the stone in Westminster " a spurious relic, and
utterly worthless " ; as " not the ancient coronation stone
of Scotland at all," but a base imitation palmed off on
Edward I. That the Scots in their retreat should abandon
the real stone, is to him "the most monstrous of suppositions."
Hidden awhile, it may have been lost sight of in
the subsequent wars, or lost
as many another treasure has been.
by the death of the custodian,
Geikie, the geologist, who found it perfectly resemble
the sandstones of the Scone district, says, " To my eye the
stone appears as if it had been originally prepared for
building purposes, but had never been used." Even
Shakespeare in Richard III. called it
" A base, foul stone, made precious by the foil
Of England's chair."