The mystery of the number 35 carved in Roman numerals on The Stone of Destiny may finally have been solved – thanks to a Scottish researcher’s efforts to uncover the whereabouts of its missing pieces.
The numerals XXXV were discovered during a “health check” of the sacred block of sandstone ahead of its transportation to Westminster Abbey for the Coronation of King Charles III in 2023.
The previously unrecorded inscription, which emerged thanks to cutting-edge digital technology including the first ever 3D scan of the historic object, left experts perplexed.
Professor Sally Foster, of the University of Stirling, believes the numerals represent the number of fragments that existed after the Stone was broken 75 years ago.
It split in two along a historic crack when it was dropped during its clandestine removal from Westminster Abbey by a group of Scottish nationalist students early on Christmas morning 1950.
Fragments were created during a crude repair overseen by stonemason and politician Robert (Bertie) Gray shortly before the Stone was left for the authorities to collect at Arbroath Abbey in April 1951.
Gray — a co-founder of the National Party of Scotland in 1928 — carefully numbered and curated 34 fragments and gifted these and further unnumbered fragments to family members, trusted political friends, nationalist politicians, and journalists at home and abroad, usually along with a letter confirming their authenticity.
Prof Foster, who carried out a rigorous study revealing the existence and fate of many of these fragments, believes Gray carved the numerals onto the stone to record the total number of pieces.
She said: “I believe Gray, having gathered the 34 fragments, applied the xxxv as part of his finishing touches to the Stone’s repair — the fragments plus the Stone equals 35.
“He used Roman numerals because these are easier to scratch into stone and, as a mason, he would have been familiar with historic masons’ marks.
“He had the rare and almost unique opportunity to access the underside of the Stone, he had the means, he had the sense of humour, and the number 35 would only have been meaningful and significant to him.”
The Roman numerals were among a number of markings, engravings and inscriptions discovered on the 152kg symbol of Scottish monarchy in 2023.
The discoveries were hailed as “new clues to the history of the Stone, how it was quarried and then worked over time as well as evidence of wear and human interactions over the centuries”.
Many of the markings were thought to be linked to the quarrying and shaping of the stone, with three different types of mason’s chisels evident and at least three phases of working by different hands.
But until now researchers have remained baffled by the Roman numerals and the significance of the number 35.
Ewan Hyslop, head of research and climate change at Historic Environment Scotland (HES), said at the time: “We’ve seen a number of markings, small engravings and inscriptions on the stone.
“We have newly revealed some Roman numerals on the underside. There are three Xs and a V — so 35 — and that’s never been recorded before.
“We don’t yet know what that means. This is new evidence that hopefully the historians can work with and make some sense of. We want people to look at that and the historians to dig a bit deeper.”
Prof Foster’s findings are revealed in a new research paper, which could “transform understanding of the history of the Stone of Destiny”.
The lives of several fragments are traced, only one of which was officially recognised when she began her research.
Some were gifted to SNP politicians, including the late former First Minister Alex Salmond and two former MPs, and one travelled halfway across the world to Australia and is now stored in a museum.
Others were handed down by families and friends as treasured heirlooms, or even encapsulated in items of jewellery.
Prof Foster added: “The use of the Stone in the recent coronation of King Charles and the Stone’s move to a permanent home in the acclaimed Perth Museum has stimulated new historical and scientific studies, however the existence and significance of a diverse, dispersed body of small fragments of the Stone has been overlooked.”
The Stone of Destiny — also known as the Stone of Scone — was used during the coronations of the Kings of Scotland until 1296 when it was seized from Scone in Perthshire by King Edward I of England.
Edward had the stone built into a new oak throne at Westminster, where it was used in the inaugurations of the monarchs of England and later of Great Britain.
It was officially returned to Scotland on St Andrew’s Day in 1996 and it now sits in the new Perth Museum.
It will only leave Scotland again for a coronation in Westminster Abbey.
* The paper, Life in pieces: lessons in the value of fragments from the secret lives of the Stone of Scone / Destiny, is published online in The Antiquaries Journal. The research was funded by a British Academy Fellowship.
History of the stone
The removal of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey, and the accidental damage caused, did not lead to criminal prosecutions because it was decided it was not in the public interest, and the authorities have not sought to prosecute those known to be in possession of fragments.
In 2018 a small fragment emerged at auction in Edinburgh, valued at £1000-3000. The 1.4cm piece was taken by stonemason Gray, who repaired the Stone.
Gray, who died in 1975, and the lawyer Ian Hamilton left the Stone at Arbroath Abbey four months later to be returned, although Gray would never reveal whether the stone that returned south was the genuine article.
The holder of the fragment and accompanying letter — now owned by Historic Environment Scotland — was not prosecuted, nor has anyone associated with the fragment ultimately donated to Alex Salmond.
However, the Stone remains a politically charged artefact.
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, the Conservative Secretary of State for Scotland who brought the Stone back to Scotland in 1996, has previously asserted that the fragment gifted to Salmond was “stolen property…obtained as a result of a criminal act”.
Displayed at SNP headquarters, the fragment was later passed to the Commissioners for the Safeguarding of the Regalia in 2014 and a decision on its future home is awaited.
Nationalist politician Winnie Ewing wore a locket containing a chip when interviewed on television by David Frost in 1967, and spoke of her desire to be arrested for being in possession of “stolen property”.
Margo MacDonald was given a fragment by Gray after she won the Govan by-election in 1973.
One fragment was enshrined in a silver brooch, while another was wrapped in tissue paper and placed in a Bluebell matchbox, locked in a safe at a family home in Bannockburn before being buried with its keeper.
Prof Foster, of the University of Stirling’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, said: “With the likely perception of the fragments as being stolen property, few people opted to brazenly flaunt and taunt with their possession, except for some politicians.
“Families cared for them, emotionally and physically, and we can also trace the progression of fragments to valued heirlooms.”
