[373]. In a charter by Malcolm IV. to the canons of Scone, it is said to be ‘in principali sede regni fundata’ (Scone Chart. No. 5); and in narrating the foundation of the monastery by Alexander I., Fordun says, in his earliest compilation, ‘Fundata enim est, ædificata et dedicata, ut dictum est, apud Sconam, ubi antiqui reges, Cruthne primo Pictorum rege, sedem regni Albaniæ constituerant,’ which he afterwards alters to ‘quam fundatum ædificavit loco, quo reges antiquitus tam Scoti quam Picti sedem regni primam constituerunt.’—Fordun, Chron., ed. 1871, pp. 430, 227. This shows the tradition that it was at an early period the principal seat of the kingdom. The Pictish Chronicle records a meeting at Scone between Constantine, king of Scotland, and the bishop of St. Andrews, in which the laws of the Church were regulated, and adds, ‘ab hoc die collis hoc meruit nomen, id est, Collis Credulitatis.’—Chron. Picts and Scots, p. 9. The word ‘meruit’ does not imply that it was then first named, and it appears, as we shall see, in 728, under the name of Caislen Credi or Castellum Credi, that is, the Castle of Belief. At Scone, too, William the Lion decreed in council with his magnates that the Church should be maintained in its laws, rights, and privileges.—Act. Parl. Scot. vol. i. p. 60.
[374]. See Chron. Picts and Scots, p. 136. Tighernac has at 713, ‘Cinaedh mac Derili et filius Mathgernan jugulati sunt. Tolarg mac Drostan ligatus apud fratrem suum Nechtan regem.’ As Nechtan was son of Derili, he could not have been brother of Tolarg, son of Drostan, and the expression ‘fratrem suum’ must refer to Cinaedh, who was also son of Derili, and was probably slain by Tolarg. Again, in 734 the Ulster Annals have, ‘Talorggan filius Drostan comprehensus alligatus juxta aciem Ollaigh;’ and in 739 Tighernac has ‘Tolarcan mac Drostan rex Athfhotla a bathadh la h’Aengus’ (drowned by Angus). The process of change in the name is first Athfhotla—then Atheodle—then Atholl.
[375]. Qui lapis in eodem monasterio reverenter ob regum Albaniæ consecrationem servatur. Nec uspiam aliquis regum in Scocia regnare solebat, nisi super eundem lapidem regium in accipiendum nomen prius sederet in Scona, sede vero superiori, videlicet, Albaniæ constituta regibus ab antiquis.—Fordun, Chron. ed. 1871, vol. i. p. 294.
[376]. See the author’s Tract on the Coronation Stone in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, vol. viii. p. 68, and separately published by Messrs. Edmonston and Douglas, 1869, for an analysis of these legends.
[377]. In the sixth and seventh lives of Saint Patrick we are told that he brought with him from Rome a stone altar (altare lapideum), which had been consecrated by the Pope, and that when crossing to Ireland a leper wished to be taken on board, but being refused admission by the sailors, Saint Patrick threw the stone altar into the sea, and desired the leper to sit upon it, which he did, and it floated with him to Ireland (here called ‘tabula lapidea’).—Colgan, Tr. Th. 71, 123. It is again mentioned as following him through the air, and as having been left at Domhnach Patraicc, where it was the subject of special veneration. In the Tripartite Life it is called his ‘Lec’ or stone. In the lives of St. Bridget it is said that when a girl she made a stone altar (altare lapideum), and an angel came and perforated it at the four corners and placed it upon four wooden legs.—Colgan, Tr. Th. p. 538.
In the sixth life of Saint Patrick we are told that he came to Cashel, and at his preaching the king of Munster believed and was baptized; and then follows this sentence: ‘Remansit in loco illo tabula lapidea, super quam Sanctus fortasse celebraverat divina sacramenta; vocatur autem ab Hibernicis Leac Phadruig, id est, lapis Patricii: super quam ob reverentiam illius solent reges Casselenses in principatum promoveri, et in regni solium sublimari.’—Colgan, Tr. Th. 82.
It was customary among the Celtic as well as other races that their kings and chiefs should be inaugurated standing upon a rock or large natural stone, but the coronation stone was a movable slab kept in the church, and the use of it formed part of the religious ceremony, the king sitting upon it while he is being consecrated, and the coronation of the Cashel kings appears to be the only strictly analogous case.
[378]. 717 Expulsio familiæ Iæ trans dorsum Britanniæ a Nectono rege.—Tigh.
[379]. 724 Clericatum (N)echtain regis Pictorum, Druxst post eum regnat.—Tigh.
[380]. 719 Cath Finglinne itir da meic Fearchar Fata (between the two sons of Fearchar Fata), in quo Ainbhceallach jugulatus est die quinti ferie Id. Septembris.—Tigh.