e ancient
Irish supposed that, in whatsoever country this stone remained, there
one of their blood would reign. They pretended to have authentic
memoirs of the stone for a period extending backwards more than two
thousand years. In the practical tales of Ossian we find:

"Though the sun glitters upon the heath, I will not
behold her golden rays; though the stag should start
by me, Ossian will chase him no more. Although Manus
should cross the ocean again to invade Albin, my sword
is not victorious in the slaughter, and my fame is not
celebrated by the bards. I am not invited to a feast.
My kiss is scorned by the virgin. My esteem is not
equal to a king's son; one day is like a year to me.

"It was the reverse in Innis-phail, also in Selma, the
mansions of my mighty father: Ossian was honoured
above the rest: behold the uncertainty of everything
under the sun."

After the enchanted stone--for it was regarded as such--had long been
kept at Tarah, it was sent to Fergus, the first actual king of Scots;
and it remained in Argyle (the original seat of the Scots in Britain)
until about the year 842. Three hundred and thirty years before the
Christian era, Fergus was crowned and seated on the famous chair.
Kenneth, the second son of Alpin, having enlarged his dominions by the
conquest of the Picts, transferred the stone to Scone. As the supreme
kings of Ireland and the kings of the Scots used to be inaugurated by
being seated on the ancient chair before it was carried to Scone, so
were the kings at Perth installed into regal office down to the time
that Edward I. carried to England the sacred relic, highly prized by
every Scotchman. As soon as the news of the loss spread, great concern
was manifested. The death of a beloved monarch, or the loss of many
battles, where brave sons and fathers had fallen, would have been as
nothing compared with the national loss sustained. In fact, many in
the highest circles conceived that the glory of the kingdom had
departed.

It appears from a document found among the records of England, that
King Edward treated the relic with great veneration. With the
intention of using it for the same purposes in England as it had been
used for in Scotland and Ireland, he proposed to make it a part of a
throne or royal seat, and ordered his goldsmith to prepare a copper
case for it. He changed his mind, and gave instructions for a