Some guests at the castle today were caught up in a fracas in Perth this afternoon. The glass case containing the Stone of Destiny, in the Perth Museum, ws smashed just before 2PM.
Of course this act of vandalism, no doubt, is inspired by the theft of the stone from Westminster Abbey by Scottish students in 1950. I had thought the story of this theft, which had kept the newspapers of the time humming, would make a good film.
.webp)
I checked out IMDB and sure enough a film called "Stone of Destiny" had been made in 2009. I was bracing myself for some awful product of the parochial Scottish film industry. However, the film, IMHO, is probably one of the best Scottish films around. Obviously, it is primarily an audience-pleasing comedic heist movie, and is somewhat formulaic but serious themes are touched upon and above all the movie has a great heart. The cream of Scotish acting talent provides great support.
I was sufficiently inspired by this under-rated and little-known film, to buy the source work called "The Taking of the Stone of Destiny" written by one of the students called Ian Hamilton. I saw him interviewed in later life on the Scottish news, and he was a wonderful character. He became a highly respected Queen's Council, so being called a "vulgar vandal" by the press of the time was still causing him great amusement.
I told the castle guests that I would show them the book, so took it off my booksheves. This evening, I was sitting in the kitchen idling through my copy of the book (still unread), and spotted to my huge surprise that it was a signed copy. I screamed with delight. Ryan thought I had seen something overly ribald in the pages. :-) The copy was not sold as signed on eBay.
So if it had not been for the vandalism today, I would not have made this delightful discovery. Destiny?
