This stone has been improperly associated in some way with St. Columba
by the common people, but it has an equally interesting history, having
been the crowning stone of the O'Neill clan for centuries. At his
installation the newly chosen king was placed upon this stone, his bare
feet in the footmarks, a willow wand was put into his hands as an emblem
of the pure and gentle sway he should exercise over his people, an oath
was administered to him by the chief ecclesiastic that he would preserve
inviolable the ancient customs of the clan; that he would administer
justice impartially among them, that he would sustain the right and
punish the wrong, and that he would deliver the authority to his
successor without resistance at the command of the tribe. Having taken
this oath, "The O'Neill" turned his face to the four corners of Ireland
to signify that he was ready to meet all foes from whatever quarter they
might come; kissed his sword and his spear to signify that he was ready
to use them wherever necessary, and then descended from the stone and
was hailed with wild acclamations as the chief of the O'Neills, while
his knights knelt before him pledging their loyalty and devotion.
At the time of Ireland's conversion to Christianity by St. Patrick that
holy man visited Londonderry, where Owen O'Neill, the King of Ulster,
was converted from paganism to the new faith and baptized. And, at the
same time, St. Patrick consecrated this stone and blessed it for ever.
The long line of the O'Neill ancestry was terminated in 1607 by the
flight of Hugh, Earl of Tyrone, after his unsuccessful rebellion against
Queen Elizabeth, and the O'Dohertys, who were not so powerful, were
compelled to surrender to the English. They were expelled from their
lands, with all the followers of the Earl of Tyrone. All of the county
was confiscated and sold or granted to Englishmen and Scotchmen, who
came in and took possession and hold it still. Large areas still belong
to the guilds of London, to whom it was granted for money loaned by them
to King James I. The Tailors' Guild owns the city of Coleraine, a clean,
busy town of seven thousand population, famous for its whisky and linen.
It is governed by officials appointed by the Tailors' Guild in London,
which collects ground rents from all the inhabitants and derives a
considerable revenue from the salmon fisheries. The Fishmongers' Guild
owns the town of Kilrea, the Drapers' Guild owns Draperstown, and other
ancient organizations of merchants in the city of London own other towns
and villages in this country which they obtained in a similar manner.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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