Posted on 02/21/2008 6:01:19 PM PST by blam
Doubts over Blarney Stone talked down
By Tom Peterkin, Ireland Correspondent
Last Updated: 4:11am GMT 21/02/2008
The custodians of the Blarney Stone yesterday disputed claims that pilgrims have been romancing the wrong stone.
Kissing the Blarney stone
For centuries, travellers including Winston Churchill and Sir Walter Scott, have gone to Blarney Castle, Co Cork, in the hope that the supposed magical properties of the ancient stone will bestow on them the gift of the gab. But a book launched last night raised questions about the authenticity of the lump of bluestone built into the castle battlements, which attracts 400,000 tourists a year. The book was dismissed as a "load of blarney" by Sir Charles Colthurst, the castle's aristocratic owner.
Blarney Castle, its History, Development and Purpose devotes a chapter to the provenance of the stone, which one legend suggests was a piece of Scotland's Stone of Scone.
Robert the Bruce is supposed to have given part of the stone to the Irish King Cormac MacCarthy in gratitude for the 4,000 soldiers who fought with the Scots when they defeated the English at Bannockburn.
In their efforts to uncover the mythology surrounding the Blarney Stone, authors Mark Samuel and Kate Hamlyn state: "True believers will be shocked to hear that the stone which is currently kissed is not the stone always believed to have been the stone."
Having examined many antiquarian records and papers, the archaeological consultants from Ramsgate, Kent, suggest that the original stone was housed in an inaccessible turret. In order to kiss the stone, visitors had to perform a death-defying manoeuvre that saw them dangled by the ankles.
The theory was that those bold enough to reach it deserved their reward of eloquence or, as one 1789 source put it, "the privilege of telling lies for seven years".
According to the book, the first account to suggest that "reverence was transferred to the present stone" was in 1888. Back then, a writer described the current location while remarking: "The situation of the stone has shown a tendency to vary according to the predilections of the guides." Although today's visitors do not have to put their lives at risk, kissing the stone requires them to lie on their backs over a gap in the battlements while supported by someone else.
A theory examined by the authors is that the focus shifted to a more accessible stone to encourage the burgeoning Victorian tourist industry. Ms Hamlyn said that the change could have occurred when the then baronet leased Blarney to a group of local businessmen financing a railway from Cork to Blarney, who were keen to encourage trade at the castle.
"They wanted people to buy joint tickets for the railway and the castle, so perhaps they picked somewhere more suitable and less dangerous."
But Sir Charles disagreed. "I would like to assure the millions of people who have kissed the stone in the past, that this is the exact location and has been since as far back as all historical records show.
"To question the authenticity of the stone is simply a load of Blarney and should be treated as such," he said.
The article casting doubt posted here earlier today:
Well, Blarney. I hate it when I kiss the wrong stone!
So, is this, or is this not, the stone the local teenage boys pee on in the dark of the night?
Didn’t LUCY try to steal the Blarney stone or am I thinking of another comedian.
I think I'd rather sacrifice a chicken by the light of the full moon for luck first.
as blam noted:
Ireland’s Blarney Stone may be baloney: study [surprised?]
Yahoo! | Wednesday, February 20, 2008 | AFP
Posted on 02/21/2008 4:48:58 PM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1974136/posts
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Gods |
Thanks Blam. Due to the earlier topic, I'm not sending a general distribution. |
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PS. That's his creator...You don't think SHE kissed his stones, eeek. 
If you believe a stone can give you powers of oratory, it doesn’t matter what stone you kiss.
And I’ve been there, done that, and got the teeshirt.
This is just an evil plot to get tourists to have to come back to kiss the correct stone.
I think you’re thinking of Lucy when she stole John Wayne’s footprints from in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater.
Well, maybe it’s the wrong stone, but it worked for me.
A buddy of mine lived in Ireland (attending college) and knew some of the tour guides at the site.
Human nature (Guys being Guys) you do not want to kiss the stone.
Too late. I should have known... ~S
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