NO STONE UNTURNED

This account, by its chief instigator and perpetrator, of the removal of the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey has not only the bold aplomb of its performance but is an imaginative gesture of deepfelt patriotism. For Hamilton, and his sympathizers in the Covenant Movement, hoped to stimulate a growing national self-awareness when they pulled off the theft of the stone, always associated with the right of government, in an operation which was certainly as symbolic as it was spectacular. Hamilton's first trip to London where he cased the Abbey and the several hundredweight stone; the return at Christmas with Kay and Alan and Gavin and the theft- in the small hours of morning with the added complication when a part of the stone, already cracked, broke off; the evasion of the police and the hiding of their trophy- on a grassy bank in Kent; the return a week later to bring the stone under cover in Scotland in the fear that it might deteriorate; the angry (British) and glowing (Scotch) reactions to the disappearance which puzzled the Yard for many months, all make up an exceedingly good show.... The Scottish thistle, once again pricking British pride, this exploit has impudence and spirit which carries well across the Border to any adventure minded audience.