Brewer's: Lia-fail

(of Ireland). The Fatalé Marmor or Stone of Destiny. On, this stone the ancient Irish kings sat at their coronation, and according to tradition, wherever that stone might be the people there would be dominant. It was removed to Scone; and Edward removed it from Scone Abbey to London. It is kept in Westminster Abbey under who royal throne, on which the English sovereigns sit at their coronation. (See Coronation Chair, Scone.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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