CHRISTMAS Day on Friday marks the 70th anniversary of one of the most daring anti-establishment acts in Scotland’s modern history.

On that day in 1950, four young Scots caused a national outcry and made global news when they snatched the iconic Stone of Destiny from under the nose of the UK Government to bring it home to Scotland.

Used to crown Scottish kings and queens in ancient times, it was stolen by Edward I in 1296, and used to crown English, then British monarchs. By 1950 it was kept in Westminster Abbey.

In today’s Sunday National, writer Gerry Hassan outlines why the recovery of the Stone caused consternation south of the Border and joy in Scotland.

He tells how Glasgow University students Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Alan Stuart and Kay Matheson succeeded where others failed and why the timing was so important.

There was speculation that “Scottish nationalists” were behind the break-in at Westminster and the liberation of the Stone was argued over at the highest level with the then Labour Government seeking the opinion of the attorney general over whether the plotters, if caught, should face prosecution.

Kept hidden for some months, the Stone was eventually taken to Arbroath Abbey on April 11, 1951, a fitting location given the 1320 Declaration of Arbroath.

The Labour Cabinet was unhappy it had turned up there and reluctant to let it stay because of its symbolism. It was taken back to Westminster Abbey but its brief return to Scotland, as Hassan points out, “kept alight an account of Scottish difference and defiance”.

The Stone was finally officially restored to Scotland in November 1996, 700 years after its removal, brought back at the behest of then Scotland secretary, Michael Forsyth, in the dying days of the Tory administration of John Major.

After testing to prove it was the actual Stone and not one of the many alleged fakes, it was placed in Edinburgh Castle with onlookers underwhelmed and one banner declaring: “Scotland Asked for a Parliament and Got a Stone”.

“Whatever symbolism it once had, which some thought translated into political power, the latter had now long gone as the unreformed Westminster system of governing Scotland had discredited itself – and the vast majority of Scots wanted real power and a real Parliament,” says Hassan.

He goes on to state that although the return of the Stone was a romantic adventure it was also an expression of romantic and symbolic nationalism that played some part in the revival of a more political nationalism.

“All nationalisms and movements need symbols, stories and mythologies with which they can make a sense of history,” says Hassan. “Such romantic politics do not ultimately address power, but on the other hand political power without emotional resonance can descend into stale managerialism.

“The account of the Stone is one of the great stories of Scotland. But the difference is that this one connected the ancient myths of Scotland to the modern day.”