A PUBLIC consultation has been launched into the future location of the Stone of Destiny.

One proposal is for it to be the centrepiece of a new £23 million museum at the former Perth City Hall, which is expected to open in 2022.

If it remains at Edinburgh Castle, Historic Environment Scotland plan a major redevelopment of the display.

Here are 20 facts about the historic stone:

  1. The Stone of Destiny – or Stone of Scone – is a legendary lump of sandstone used in the coronation ceremonies of Scottish monarchs.
  2. In Gaelic it is known as Lia Fail – “the speaking stone”.
  3. It is said to be the Jacob’s Pillow referred to in the Bible which then travelled to its spiritual home via Syria, Spain and Ireland.
  4. It ended up as a feature of the kingdom of Dalriada – roughly modern day Argyll.
  5. Kenneth I, 36th king of Dalriada, brought it east when he united the Scots and Picts as a single kingdom around 840AD.
  6. The Stone sat atop the Moot Hill at Scone, near Perth, for most of its existence as the mythical legend grew.
  7. It was snatched by Edward I, Hammer of the Scots, in 1296 after defeating the Scots in a series of battles and taken to London.
  8. Legend has it that Edward may not have got his hands on the genuine Stone but one carved by monks as a replacement to thwart him.
  9. Sub-texts of legend say that what he grabbed was nothing more than a cesspit cover.
  10. Whatever the truth, from the 13th century, the Stone from Scone was kept in Westminster Abbey housed in a special Coronation Chair fashioned in 1301.
  11. For the next seven centuries it was used in the coronation of English monarchs – the first being Edward II – and every king and queen since.
  12. On Christmas Day 1950 the Stone was liberated from the Abbey and repatriated to Scotland by a quartet of SNP-supporting students.
  13. The following April, after an extensive police hunt across two countries, a deal was done between kidnappers and authorities to allow a Stone to be returned and restored to its empty place in the Coronation Chair.
  14. Immediately, rumours began circulating that a fake stone had once more been handed over and rival stones popped up in many places, including the Arlington Bar in Glasgow.
  15. A 2008 film was made of the incident, including how the Stone broke in two when lifted into the boot of their escape car.
  16. In 1996, Tory Secretary of State Michael Forsyth came up with a wheeze to return the Stone to Scotland as a distraction from the 1997 devolution referendum.
  17. On St Andrew’s Day the full panoply of the UK establishment was there as it was escorted up the Royal Mile, escorted by the members of the Royal Company of Archers.
  18. It didn’t work from a devolution-opposing Tory point of view as the referendum soon afterwards returned a thumping majority in favour a Scottish Parliament with tax-raising powers.
  19. The Stone, secure in its own symbolism and mythology, now sits in Edinburgh Castle as part of the Honours of Scotland display.
  20. An arrangement is in place to allow it to be returned to London so that the next king or queen can sit on it at their coronation.