pilgrimage. Although the abbey long remained famous for its music since Robert Carver produced there some of Europe's best late medieval choral music into the late 16th century, its status declined over time. In March 1540 one of the canons, Andrew Murehead, sent a gift of rose water made at the abbey to James V at Stirling Castle. Scottish Reformation In 1559 during the early days of the Scottish Reformation the abbey fell victim to a Protestant mob from Dundee who were whipped into a zealous frenzy by the reformer John Knox. The abbey was burned to the ground. In 1581 it was erected into a temporal lordship. The abbey estates were later granted to Lord Ruthven, who later became the Earl of Gowrie. Lord Ruthven held extensive estates in Scotland including Ruthven Castle near Perth, now called Huntingtower Castle, and Dirleton Castle. The Ruthvens rebuilt the Abbot's Palace of the old abbey as a grand residence in 1580. In 1600, James VI charged the family with treason after the Gowrie Conspiracy, banned the use of the name "Ruthven" and confiscated their states. The Gowrie lands at Scone including the Abbot's Palace were granted to Sir David Murray of Gospetrie, who later was made the 1st Lord Scone and Viscount Stormont, as a reward for interceding on the king's behalf to quell the people of Perth in the chaotic aftermath of the Gowrie Conspiracy. After the reformation in 1559, Scottish abbeys disappeared as institutions, although not overnight, as some suggest. There are existing documents describing repairs made to the spire of the abbey church dating from A.D. 1620. Scone Abbey and its attendant parish ceased to function in 1640 and was made a secular lordship first for the Earl of Gowrie, and then for Sir David Murray of Gospertie. The property and lordship have been in the possession of the Murrays of Scone ever since. Later, this branch of the Murray clan became the Earls of Mansfield. Scone Abbey flourished for over four hundred years. Rediscovery The precise location of Scone Abbey had long remained a mystery, but archaeologists pinpointed the location using magnetic resonance imaging technology. The find revealed the structure to have been somewhat larger than had been imagined and revealed that the Moot Hill had at some point been surrounded by a ditch and palisade; marking it out not as a defensive position but as a hugely