Scone Palace last day

A slow start after the late night at the Tattoo. Late morning I did the tour of Scone Palace where we are staying. I followed this by a coffee in their lovely tearooms before we left for Stirling. But more about Stirling later.

Scone Palace is the home of the Earls of Mansfield (the Murray family) and a major attraction to visitors from all over the world. Fifteen hundred years ago it was the capital of a Pictish Kingdom and an important seat of the ancient Celtic church. Since then it has been the home of parliaments and the crowning place of Scottish kings. It houses a replica of the Stone of Scone and has been immortalised in Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

The Estate is 27,000 acres and contains some of the finest arable land Tayside. The river Tay runs through the centre of the estate and, as it is one of the world’s great salmon rivers, provides sporting fishing to fishermen from all over the world.

The palace contains so many wonderful paintings, sculptures as well as a huge collection of ceramics. The furniture, like most of these historic homes, is antique and rare. One piece in particular is a gorgeous delicate writing table owned by Marie Antionette who was a friend of David Murray, the 2nd Earl of Mansfield. It was a gift and was thought to have come from Versailles. It certainly would not look out of place at Versailles.Read more