A Surprising Symbol of Scottish Sovereignty

Fascinating, and timely obit of Ian Hamilton, 97, who in 1950 was part of a crew that broke into Westminster Abbey and absconded with an ancient 336-pound stone, a symbol of Scottish sovereignty, later conveying it back to Scotland from whence it had been taken to England in 1296. Hamilton and his cohorts broke into the Abbey with just a crowbar, and located the heavy relic under the Coronation Chair where kings were crowned. Moving it, the stone split into two pieces, but they somehow got it out of the building and into a car.

This was of course long before the current popular movement agitating for Scotland’s independence from the UK. Ever since Brexit was imposed on the UK in 2016, I’ve been lamenting its impact on the country, and in particular on Scotland. With the third British Prime Minister of the past seven weeks now taking office, the chaos Brexit has engendered is clearer all the time.

As a lover of Scotland, my hope is that the country will become independent in coming years and re-join the EU as an independent nation. Hop-skipping along the map from the Republic of Ireland to Scotland and then onto the European Continent, the EU could in the future become a strong economic and political bulwark as the chaotic 21st Century advances toward what kind of future we know not.

I must add this: I love Great Britain, and England, too, but, the UK is not apt to rejoin the EU—even the Labor party, which I hope to see win a majority in Britain’s next general election, is not yet advocating a re-do on Brexit—so I hope to see Scotland independent one day soon. I know Mr Ian Hamilton, RIP, would have approved.

A tip of the cap to NY Times reporter Richard Sandomir, who wrote the obit of Ian Hamilton.