Finding the Honours

I got off a bus on the way to the station to grab a quick shot of the Castle for today's Sir Walter Scott blip. Mistake - even as this picture was being taken there was a mixture of rain, snow and hail beginning to fall. By the time I got to Waverley I was soaked and cold. The sacrifices we make for blip!

At the Restoration in 1660 the 'Honours'- the Scottish Crown Jewels - were returned to Charles II and placed in Edinburgh Castle. In the absence of a resident sovereign, the regalia were taken to sittings of the Parliament in Edinburgh to signify the sovereign's presence and his or her consent to the passing of each Act. When the Scottish Parliament was dissolved in 1707, they were locked in a chest in the Crown Room at Edinburgh Castle where they remained, forgotten. For all intents and purposes - lost!

In 1818, the Prince Regent (later George IV) gave Scott permission to search Edinburgh Castle for the Royal Scottish regalia. The searchers eventually found them in the little strong room at Edinburgh Castle locked in an oak chest, covered with linen cloths, exactly as they had been left after the Union on 7th March 1707. They were put on display on February 4th, 1818 and have been on view ever since in Edinburgh Castle, where thousands come to see them each year. (And they can get in free on St Andrew's Day!) Nowadays the Honours have been joined by the famous Destiny Stane.