Did you know...

 that the present Crown of Scotland, on display with its companion Regalia in Edinburgh Castle, is believed to have as its base the identical gold circlet with which King Robert the Bruce was crowned in 1314? Since he has been anciently depicted as wearing a similar gold coronet around his helmet at the Battle of Bannockburn, also in 1314, it is logical to deduce that this same gold circlet was later used as the foundation or lower ring of the more elaborate jewelled Crown which a King of Bruce's stature most certainly would have commissioned. The unpolished and unfaceted gems - diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sapphires, topazes, amethysts, and pearls - and their plain settings are characteristic of 14th Century jewellers' style.

 that in 1651, as Cromwell was suppressing Britain, the rapid advance of the English Army threatened such danger to the Regalia of Scotland in Edinburgh, that it was sent out of the City for safekeeping? Carried first to Dunnottar, it was soon in danger again when that Castle was under siege. The courageous wives of the Lt. Gov. Ogilvy and the Rev. Grainger, guided by the Countess-dowager Mareschal, spirited them out of the Castle concealed in their clothing and in bundles of flax, under the noses of the English guards, to Kinneff Parish Church, where Rev. Grainger buried them beneath one of the paving stones in front of the pulpit! Here they remained from March 31, 1652 until the Restoration, when they were disinterred and returned to the reinstated King, Charles II, crowned in 1661.

 that at the Union of Parliaments in 1707, when Scotland and England became the United Kingdom under one Crown, feeling was running so high in Scotland against this action, that the English dared not remove the Regalia to London as they had originally intended, but were forced to add a stipulation to the 24th Article that the Regalia would forever remain in Scotland?

 that to avoid further trouble, the Regalia were deposited in a huge oaken chest in the small Crown Room of Edinburgh Castle; the chest being secured by three great locks, and the doors of the Room uncompromisingly fastened with locks, bolts, and bars?

 that the Regalia of Scotland, the Crown, the Sceptre, and the Sword of State, and with them the Lord High Treasurer's Mace, were, after a time forgotten and lost from sight in Edinburgh Castle from 1707, when they were hidden for protection at the Union of Parliament, until 1818?Then, at the urging of his romantic and patriotic friend, Sir Walter Scott, the Prince Regent (the future King George IV) ordered a Commission to search for them.

 that the precious Regalia of Scotland were located in Edinburgh Castle by the Commission, of which Sir Walter Scott was a member, in the same Crown Room and in the same oaken chest where they had been hidden one hundred and eleven years before; but only after the doors and locks had been hacked open by the Castle blacksmith, because the keys could not be, nor have they ever been, found?

 that the residents of Edinburgh had been previously alerted to the Commissioners' search for the Crown Jewels of Scotland, and, immediately upon their discovery, intact in their one-hundred-eleven-year-old, dust-covered wrappings, a salute was fired from the Castle Battery to announce the news to the eager populace?
 

 that on the day following the discovery of the Regalia in Edinburgh Castle, when the Commissioners, along with a number of guests, returned to view again the precious objects, and one of the Officials playfully attempted to "Crown" one of the young ladies present, he was violently intercepted by that doughty Champion of Scotland's Dignity, Walter Scott, who fiercely exclaimed: "No, by God! No!"? Never, in his presence, would the Royal Crown of Scotland, which once had graced the head of King Robert the Bruce, he dealt with facetiously or disrespectfully, nor rest upon any head save that of the rightful King or Queen of Scotland!