Scotland's Stone of Scone

Gone Medieval

History Hit

History

4.6 • 2.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 November 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How did a medieval Scottish stone become the centre of a daring heist in the 1950's?

This is the extraordinary saga of the Stone of Scone, aka the Stone of Destiny, a relic that created the kings of Scotland, is shrouded in myth and legend and was taken by the English.

Matt Lewis is joined by Professor Dauvit Broun to unravel the truth behind the tales and to revisit one of the most audacious acts of student rebellion in British history.

Check out a 3D model of the Stone of Scone here: https://skfb.ly/oFNIT

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Gone Medieval is presented by Matt Lewis. The audio editor is Amy Haddow, the producers are Amy Haddow and Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music used is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

Gone Medieval is a History Hit podcast.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Matt Lewis. Welcome to Gone Medieval from History Hit, the podcast that delves into the greatest millennium in human history.
0:08.7	We've got the most intriguing mysteries, the gobsmacking details and latest groundbreaking research from the Vikings to the printing press, from kings to popes to the crusades.
0:19.9	We cross centuries and continents to delve
0:22.8	into rebellions, plots and murders, to find the stories big and small that tell us how we got here.
0:29.9	Find out who we really were with Gone Medieval.
0:45.3	Yeah. It's a cold. It's a cold and misty December.
0:48.3	In the biting icy winds, two Ford Anglias are chugging discreetly south along the A-74, passing through Carlisle and over
0:56.7	the border into England. The drivers of these inconspicuous vehicles are treading a path that many
1:03.1	Scotsmen had taken before them in the fight for independence. History is full of fierce examples.
1:12.7	1315 saw the siege of Carlisle in which Robert the Bruce plagued the borderlands.
1:17.5	Life in the marches has been wrought with bloodshed and devastation.
1:23.7	But the year now is 1950, and instead of spearmen and cavalry leading the charge,
1:30.0	four ordinary University of Glasgow students sit behind the wheel as they trundle through the night
1:35.5	towards their target, Westminster.
1:39.8	The paved A-roads may now be less treacherous than those which saw the end of Alexander III
1:45.5	and the beginning of the wars over Scotland's nationhood.
1:49.7	They may still be less arduous than the road taken by the disgraced King John Balliol.
1:54.7	But for the students, they may as well be those same dirt-trodden tracks.
1:59.3	They make their journey with caution, full of anticipation.
2:07.1	After 18 long hours, the Ford Anglias weave their way into the capital
2:11.5	and through the streets of London.
2:13.7	The shadows of Aldgate, St Pauls, and the Palace of Westminster fall across them.
	...

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