‘Past Grand Master conveys Stone of Scone to Westminster Abbey’

    

Reuters

Scottish Freemason Joseph J. Morrow, in his capacity as Lord Lyon King of Arms, brought the Stone of Scone from Edinburgh to London for the coronation of King Charles III Saturday. He is shown here at Westminster Abbey April 29.

No, I’m not surprised at all to see how a Freemason has conveyed the Stone of Scone from Edinburgh to London for the coronation of King Charles III. It is a stone, after all.

Joseph J. Morrow, who served the Grand Lodge of Scotland as its 108th Grand Master Mason in 2004-05, is serving in his capacity as Lord Lyon King of Arms, a position he has held since being appointed by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014. The Stone of Scone, also called the Stone of Destiny, is a 336-pound block of sandstone that has been central to coronations of English kings since 1307, but naturally has a history long predating that.

According to legend, it was the stone pillow on which the Patriarch Jacob rested his head, so there is that connection to Craft ritual. In more modern times (about 700 BCE), it had reached Ireland, at the place where its kings were crowned. A Celtic conquest of Scotland resulted in its removal to that land, and eventually its deposit at Scone in the ninth century. Here the history becomes more reliable, as the stone was installed in the seat of the Scottish coronation chair. It’s last use there for that purpose was 1292; four years later, England invaded Scotland, and King Edward I had the Stone of Scone brought to London.

Reuters

The Stone of Scone, or Stone of Destiny.

Since 1307, the Stone of Destiny has been in the seat of the very same coronation chair on which Charles III will sit on Saturday. In 1996, the government returned it to Scotland, ergo the reason it was brought thence to Westminster Abbey. It will be returned to Edinburgh Castle afterward.

Past Grand Master Morrow has been involved in the current royal succession since the death of the Queen last September. His duties include overseeing state ceremonial in Scotland, granting new arms to individuals/organizations; confirming claims to existing arms; recognizing clan chiefs; and registering new clan tartans. It was he who read the proclamation of the new king in Edinburgh.

“He then declared ‘God save the King,’ and the crowd shouted the phrase back to him,” according to a public statement from the Grand Lodge then. “The national anthem was sung, and the Lord Lyon led three cheers, saying ‘Hip hip,’ to which the crowd replied with ‘Hooray!’ The proclamation was followed by a 21-gun salute from the city’s castle.”

Earlier this year, Morrow was dubbed a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in recognition of his services in the wake of the Queen’s death.

Morrow was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Scotland in November 2004, but rather than customarily seek annual re-election for five consecutive terms, he resigned the post after one year due to “a change in personal circumstances and for health reasons,” according to a story in The Scotsman at that time.

“Earlier in the month, a Sunday newspaper reported how the Labour councillor, advocate and Episcopalian priest was openly gay and was planning to remove some of the mystique traditionally surrounding the secretive organization,” the periodical also reported.

Morrow was made a Mason in 1981 in Lodge Camperdown 317. He was Exalted in Camperdown Royal Arch Chapter 271 the following year, where he served as First Principal in 1989. He also has sought Masonic Light in Royal Ark Mariner and Cryptic degrees.

He has served as M.E. First Grand Principal of the Supreme Grand Royal Arch Chapter of Scotland since 2018.

SGRAC of Scotland

I think it is to his great credit that when Elizabeth II invested Morrow with the Commander of the British Empire honor, he was attired in a kilt of the Royal Arch tartan!

The hour of the coronation will be 11 a.m. local time, so if you want to watch it live in New York, you will have to tune in at six in the morning.