'Police shut Scots border....' 'Scots enthusiasts suspected...'

On Christmas Eve 1950 the Coronation Stone was stolen from Westminster Abbey by a group of young Scottish Nationalists. The police closed the roads to the north. The Serpentine was dredged, and the CID brought in a Dutch mystic to help. The Dean of Westminster said he would go 'to the ends of the earth' to get it back. But the stone was slipped through the border to begin a series of hilarious adventures and near mishaps in Scotland. The Pinch reveals what the newsreels of 1950 dared not show, and in the living monochrome of the period presents the full comedy of what actually went on.

BBC Scotland
(A Gesture to Destiny: Radio 4, Christmas Day 10.5 pm)