part
of the piercing being filled up by a small ruby. From the Maltese cross
issued four imperial arches composed of oak leaves and acorns,
thirty-two pearls forming the acorns. From the upper part of the arches
were suspended four large pendant, pear-shaped pearls with rose diamond
cups.1 Writing in 1850, Barbot, the French jeweler, placed the value of this crown at $600,000.
The crown of St. Edward, the official crown of England, is used at each coronation.2
The original crown of this name was destroyed by the republicans in
1649, hut at the time of the coronation of Charles II, another crown
was made to take its place, under the direction of Sir Robert Viner. As
far as can be known, this crown was an exact copy of the older one,
which was worn by Edward the Confessor, and perhaps even by King
Alfred. The crown in use at present is of gold, richly studded with
pearls and precious stones of various kinds : diamonds, rubies,
emeralds, and sapphires. There is a mound of gold on top, and on this a
cross of gold ornamented with very large oval pearls, one attached to
the top and the two others pendant from the ends of the cross. The
present arrangement of the jewels cannot date back earlier than 1689,
as the crown was found to be despoiled of them at the time of the
accession of William and Mary. Those now in the crown are acknowledged
to be inferior to the former ones.
The
orb or mound which is placed in the king's hand immediately after his
coronation, is a ball of gold, six inches in diameter, surrounded by a
band of the same metal ornamented with roses of diamonds set around
other precious stones, and bordered with pearls. It is surmounted by a
cross, embellished with four larger pearls at the angles near its
center, and three others at the ends. The orb, including the cross, is
eleven inches high, and it is figured on the coins of many of the
English kings, who are represented holding it in their left hands.
The regalia of Scotland,3
consisting of the crown, scepter, and sword of state, are preserved in
the castle of Edinburgh. It is not certainly known at what time this
crown was executed. At the coronation of Robert Bruce (1274-1329) a
simple circlet of gold was used ; this fell into the hands of the
English after the battle of Methven in 1306. In 1307 Edward I issued a
pardon at the request of his "beloved Queen Margarate," to a certain
Galfredus de Coigniers, who was said to have concealed and kept "a
certain coronet of gold with which Robert the Bruce, enemy and rebel of
the King, had caused himself to be crowned in our own Kingdom of
Scotland."
- Abridged from a description by Professor " Sir Walter Scott, "Description of the Re-
Tennant.
galia of Seotland," Edinburgh, 1869.
2 Davenport Debrett, "Dictionary of the Coronation," London, p. 52.
