Scone History, Etiquette and More

Freshly baked blueberry scones sit properly on their lofty perch, the top of the 3–tiered tea stand, as biscuits or scones are traditionally eaten first at tea time. The etiquette for tiered tea stands is simple. The order of items eaten is from the top tier to the bottom tier, with the bottom tier’s treats eaten last.  – “There are all manner of variations: afternoon-tea scones, cheese scones, herb scones and spice scones, to name a few. Try the Scottish Cream Scones with the addition of your favorite herb or spice and create your own royal version.”

There is a village in Perthshire, in central Scotland west of the modern village of New Scone, called, simply, Old Scone. It was the seat of Scottish Kings and Parliaments until the 15th century and it was here with the Coronation Stone the Scottish Stone of Destiny, called The Scone that the Kings of Scotland from Kenneth I to Charles II were crowned. A most Royal beginning for this humble breakfast and tea-time treat. The root of the word scone is probably Dutch, Schoonbrot or Schoonbrood, which means fine bread.

Although scones have a reputation for being dry, when they are made correctly, with the proper ingredients, they are, oh, so fine. Scones are a plain, homey mixture and should have a low fat content, a lot of baking powder to give them an open, light texture and a high proportion of liquid to ensure a soft, elastic dough. They should be mixed just until large lumps form, are gently gathered, pressed together and then lightly kneaded with the finger tips for a few minutes to develop some elasticity. Lovingly shaped into inch-thick rounds, they are placed on a baking sheet and cut into four quarters that are left in place or, sometimes, separated slightly. They may be brushed with a milk or egg wash to insure some browning, but traditionally they are simply dusted with flour. There are all manner of variations: afternoon-tea scones, cheese scones, herb scones and spice scones, to name a few. Try the Scottish Cream Scones with the addition of your favorite herb or spice and create your own royal version. 

Muffins in the British Isles are, of course, English Muffins. So popular, they were once sold on the streets of London by the Muffin Man with his tray and bell. English muffins should always be pulled apart never cut! You may use a fork for the operation or there are special pronged instruments available for this delicate maneuver that is imperative if you want to experience the crunchy, toasty hills and valleys so necessary to contain gobs of fresh butter and jam. –Santa Cruz Sentinel 1990

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Tea Rituals and Scone Etiquette

This looks delicious, but it is not "the done thing" to cut a scone, slather clotted cream and jam on, then put the scone back together to form a kind of bulky sandwich. Scones are broken, much like a bread roll. The scone (pronounced as in “gone” not as in “cone”) is to be eaten in a very particular way. Scones are served whole and preferably warm from the oven, and as with bread you break a scone with your fingers, and spread the jam and cream on, bite-size by bite-size piece. One should never be seen to cut a scone with a knife.

The Beginnings of the Afternoon Tea Ritual 

The British ritual of afternoon tea is attributed to Anna Maria, 7th Duchess of Bedford. The Duchess was staying as a guest of John Manners, the 5th Duke of Rutland, at Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire when she found herself experiencing a “sinking feeling” during the long hours between midday luncheon and late evening dinner. 

She requested a snack of tea and cake to curb her hunger and found that she so enjoyed it that she invited her friends to join her. She continued the social gatherings when she returned to her home at Woburn Abbey and even took her own silver tea equipment with her when she went to visit her friends in their castles and palaces.

A stunning, late 19th century silver and enamel tea service. Tea services added to the ceremony of Victorian afternoon tea we know today.  

As the popularity of this new found ritual spread amongst the upper and middle classes the Victorians unsurprisingly began producing new specially designed apparatus to further enhance the enjoyment of afternoon tea. So up sprang all the elegant tea pots and kettles and creamers and tea strainers, and subsequently the ceremony of afternoon tea grew into what we know today.– Contributor Rachel North Contributor Rachel North is an etiquette and afternoon tea enthusiast with a love for anything -ancient and historical. Etiquette Enthusiast Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Tea Etiquette in Scotland

It is a most distracting matter to decide whether to take strawberry, raspberry or black currant or damson jam...

We asked Clarice this morning if tea drinking is as general a custom in Scotland as it is in England, and she immediately threw up her hands.

"Oh, much more so," she said, "especially in Glasgow: I must tell you about the Glasgow tearooms, which are just about the brightest spots in that very interesting city, and so inexpensive. Fancy being able to lunch to repletion on 6 pence that's 12 cents of our money, you know; and where too, the girls with a taste for sweets can indulge in it for the same price, since nearly everything in sight is sweet!

Every variety of bread known to Scotland– scones, potato scones, sweet milk scones, currant scones, brown scones

"Fancy a table spread with every variety of bread known to Scotland– scones, potato scones, sweet milk scones, currant scones, brown scones, all rather heavy and suggesting indigestion, but so good: bread and butter with carvies (caraway seeds covered with sugar), "bawbee baps," oatcakes, and endless other varieties of doughy confection. Then come cakes, and cookies, and buns, and little tarts, and then, best of all, arranged in a neat square in the center of the table, diminutive pots of jam each holding enough for one person of good, but not too greedy, appetite."

Take a small cup of tea for two pence, on the chance of not wanting another, or to take the large cup for three pence in the beginning, and in the end save a penny! ~ When stirring your tea, do so quietly, without clinking your spoon on the cup. When done stirring, quietly place your tea spoon to the right of the cup on the saucer, in the 5:00 position. Always leave your saucer on the table if you are seated. Do not lift it up with the cup. Lastly, keep your pinky finger curled! A pinky finger up in the air exhibits an affectation and poor manners when drinking from a cup, regardless of what you've heard or read!

But after your artistic sense has been delighted by a birds eye view of all these glories your real difficulties begin. In the first place it is a most distracting matter to decide whether to take strawberry, raspberry or black currant or damson jam, and having decided to chase the last to lose the berry around and around the bottom of the jar before catching and depositing it on your plate."


"Then, unless you are of such extravagant turn of mind that you disregard the price list propped up in a neat frame in the middle of the table, there are other most complicated calculations to be made. If a potato scone and butter cost a penny and a sweet milk's scone cost two pence, and a bun also costs a penny, shall I eat a sweet milk scone, which I like, or a potato scone and a bun, which I do not care for, but which will appease my ravenous appetite better than the sweet milky scone? It is a dreadful problem, but no more so than to decide whether to take a small cup of tea for two pence, on the chance of not wanting another, or to take the large cup  for three pence in the beginning, and in the end save a penny."                   

Oh yes, they drink tea in Edinburgh too!

"On the whole, the better way is to say 'never mind expenses,' and eat regardless, and then, when having consumed so many scones and cakes, that the suggestion of 'another bun' is horrifying, you begin a laborious calculation of what you have really eaten, and experience and unexpected thrill at discovering you have devoured the enormous sum of eight pence, half penny."

"Oh yes, they drink tea in Edinburgh too, but then Edinburgh is so beautiful that you do not need anything like tea to brighten you up. Edinburgh is conceded by globe trotters to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and the view from Calton Hill is always a favorite with the tourist." – San Francisco Call, 1909

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura Graber, is the Site Moderator for Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia