Kay Matheson (7 December 1928 – 6 July 2013) was a Scottish teacher, political activist, and
Gaelic
Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...
scholar. She was one of the four
University of Glasgow
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, image_size = 150px
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, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
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students involved in the
1950 removal of the Stone of Scone
On Christmas Day 1950, four Scottish students from the University of Glasgow ( Ian Hamilton, Gavin Vernon, Kay Matheson and Alan Stuart) stole the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in London and took it back to Scotland. The students were m ...
.
Life
Matheson was born in
Inverasdale near
Loch Ewe
Loch Ewe ( gd, Loch Iùbh) is a sea loch in the region of Wester Ross in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. The shores are inhabited by a traditionally Gàidhlig-speaking people living in or sustained by crofting villages, the most notab ...
in 1928, to a
crofting
Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production particular to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man.
Within the 19th century townships, individual crofts were established on the bette ...
family.
She attended the University of Glasgow, studying domestic science, and taught in both English and Gaelic.
Following the Christmas Day raid she returned to Inverasdale to live with her mother, and teach locally.
She taught home economics, Gaelic, and physical education at
Achtercairn School in Gairloch, also taught at various primary schools in
Wester Ross
Wester Ross () is an area of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland in the council area of Highland. The area is loosely defined, and has never been used as a formal administrative region in its own right, but is generally regarded as lying to the ...
.
She was involved with
An Comunn Gàidhealach
An Comunn Gàidhealach (; literally "The Gaelic Association"), commonly known as An Comunn, is a Scottish organisation that supports and promotes the Scottish Gaelic language and Scottish Gaelic culture and history at local, national and internat ...
, an organisation that promotes the teaching and use of Gaelic. She ran against
Charles Kennedy
Charles Peter Kennedy (25 November 1959 – 1 June 2015) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1999 to 2006, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ross, Skye and Lochaber from 1983 ...
in the
1983 United Kingdom general election
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of the Labour Party in 1945, with a majority of 1 ...
as an
SNP candidate, and was an active member of the party.
During the 1980s she participated in the
Ceartas campaign to raise the profile of the Gaelic language.
Christmas day raid
Matheson met
Ian Hamilton,
Gavin Vernon
Gavin Harold Russell Vernon (11 August 1926 – 19 March 2004) was a Scottish engineer who along with his accomplices, removed the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in London on Christmas Day 1950 and took the Stone to Scotland.
Background ...
and Alan Stuart while studying in Glasgow, (all four were members of the
Scottish Covenant Association
The Scottish Covenant Association was a non-partisan political organisation in Scotland in the 1940s and 1950s seeking to establish a devolved Scottish Assembly. It was formed by John MacCormick who had left the Scottish National Party in 1942 wh ...
), with whom she made the plan to liberate the Stone of Destiny from Westminster Abbey.
On Christmas Day 1950, they gained access to the Abbey and removed the stone to Scotland, following which action check points were put on roads, and the border between Scotland and England closed.
Matheson broke two toes during the action, and was also the getaway driver.
The stone having broken in two during the raid, Matheson took one piece, leaving it with a friend in England before collecting it at a later date.
A description of her car was issued, however the stone was not found for four months.
Police attended her family home to question her about the theft, at which point she lied, and told them that it was in a nearby peat bog.
No charges were brought against either Matheson or her fellow students.
She is quoted as having said ''"Our recovery, not theft, of the Stone informed our whole lives."''
Matheson was 22 at the time of the raid, and was not named in initial reports following the incident; she later confirmed to a newspaper by phone that she had been involved.
In 1996, the Stone was returned to Scotland, in a ceremony at
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
at which Matheson was present.
Her obituary states that she was the only one of the four to attend,
though this is disputed in the obituary of Gavin Vernon.
In popular culture
In 2000,
BBC Alba
BBC Alba is a Scottish Gaelic-language free-to-air public broadcast television channel jointly owned by the BBC and MG Alba. The channel was launched on 19 September 2008 and is on-air for up to seven hours a day with BBC Radio nan Gàidheal s ...
broadcast a short film entitled ''An Ceasnachadh: Interrogation of a Highland Lass,'' about the police's interrogation of Matheson.
Matheson's younger self was portrayed by
Kathleen MacInnes
Kathleen MacInnes, or Caitlin NicAonghais in Scottish Gaelic, (born 30 December 1969) is a Scottish singer, television presenter and actress, who performs primarily in Scottish Gaelic. She is a native of South Uist, Outer Hebrides, Scotland, and ...
, and her older self by Dolina MacLennan. In the 2008 film ''
Stone of Destiny'' she was played by
Kate Mara
Kate Rooney Mara ( ; born February 27, 1983) is an American actress. She is known for work in television, playing reporter Zoe Barnes in the Netflix political drama ''House of Cards'' (2013–2014; 2016), computer analyst Shari Rothenberg in t ...
.
Death
Matheson never married, and died at the age of 84, in
Aultbea
Aultbea (Gaelic: ''An t-Allt Beithe'') is a small fishing village in the North-West Highlands of Scotland. It is situated on the southeast shore of Loch Ewe, about 30 km west of Ullapool. The village has a Primary School and a small Post Off ...
's Isle View Nursing Home, where she had lived for 20 years, and cared for by a relative, and former pupils.
In the wake of her death, she was celebrated as a key figure in modern Scottish Nationalism, by
Angus MacNeil (MP) as a ''"feisty and funny woman",'' and by Charles Kennedy, with whom she became friends after standing against him in 1983, as an ''"inspirational force."''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheson, Kay
1928 births
2013 deaths
20th-century Scottish women
21st-century Scottish women
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
People from Ross and Cromarty