Как это может случиться

Разве ликвидасы не должны создавать эту таблицу для себя ...

Это база данных в памяти, созданная для модульного тестирования.

public void setUp(String contexts) {
    try {
        ResourceAccessor resourceAccessor = new FileSystemResourceAccessor();
        Class.forName("org.hsqldb.jdbcDriver");
        holdingConnection = getConnectionImpl();
        HsqlConnection hsconn = new HsqlConnection(holdingConnection);
        liquibase = new Liquibase(CHANGE_LOG, resourceAccessor, hsconn);
        liquibase.dropAll();
        liquibase.update(contexts);
        hsconn.close();
    } catch (Exception ex) {
        LOG.error("Error during database initialization", ex);
        throw new RuntimeException("Error during database initialization", ex);
    }
}
private Connection getConnectionImpl() throws SQLException {
    return DriverManager.getConnection(CONNECTION_STRING, USER_NAME, PASSWORD);
}

То же, что в примерах hsqldb

Трассировка стека:

 2014-06-15 21:50:34,195 [DEBUG] [PropertySourcesPropertyResolver,getProperty(),103] - Could not find key 'spring.liveBeansView.mbeanDomain' in any property source. Returning [null]
 2014-06-15 21:50:34,195 [DEBUG] [CacheAwareContextLoaderDelegate,loadContext(),93] - Storing ApplicationContext in cache under key [[MergedContextConfiguration@5879ff89 testClass = SampleUnitTest, locations = '{}', classes = '{class context.RepositoryContextConfig, class context.repoConfig}', contextInitializerClasses = '[]', activeProfiles = '{}', contextLoader = 'org.springframework.test.context.support.DelegatingSmartContextLoader', parent = [null]]].
 2014-06-15 21:50:34,198 [DEBUG] [AbstractBeanFactory,doGetBean(),249] - Returning cached instance of singleton bean 'org.springframework.transaction.config.internalTransactionAdvisor'
 INFO 21:50 15/06/14: liquibase: Successfully acquired change log lock
 INFO 21:50 15/06/14: liquibase: Dropping Database Objects in schema: PUBLIC.PUBLIC
 INFO 21:50 15/06/14: liquibase: Creating database history table with name: PUBLIC.DATABASECHANGELOG
INFO 21:50 15/06/14: liquibase: Successfully released change log lock
   2014-06-15 21:51:17,842 [ERROR] [HsqlDatabase,setUp(),41] - Error during database initialization
 liquibase.exception.LockException: liquibase.exception.UnexpectedLiquibaseException:      liquibase.exception.DatabaseException: Error executing SQL select count(*) from      PUBLIC.DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK: user lacks privilege or object not found:   DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK
at   liquibase.lockservice.StandardLockService.acquireLock(StandardLockService.java:214)
at liquibase.lockservice.StandardLockService.waitForLock(StandardLockService.java:153)
at liquibase.Liquibase.update(Liquibase.java:182)
at liquibase.Liquibase.update(Liquibase.java:174)
at context.HsqlDatabase.setUp(HsqlDatabase.java:38)
at context.SampleUnitTest.onlyOnce(SampleUnitTest.java:19)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(Unknown Source)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Unknown Source)
at org.junit.runners.model.FrameworkMethod$1.runReflectiveCall(FrameworkMethod.java:47)
at org.junit.internal.runners.model.ReflectiveCallable.run(ReflectiveCallable.java:12)
at org.junit.runners.model.FrameworkMethod.invokeExplosively(FrameworkMethod.java:44)
at org.junit.internal.runners.statements.RunBefores.evaluate(RunBefores.java:24)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunBeforeTestMethodCallbacks.evaluate(RunBeforeTestMethodCallbacks.java:74)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunAfterTestMethodCallbacks.evaluate(RunAfterTestMethodCallbacks.java:83)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.SpringRepeat.evaluate(SpringRepeat.java:72)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:233)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:87)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$3.run(ParentRunner.java:238)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$1.schedule(ParentRunner.java:63)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.runChildren(ParentRunner.java:236)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.access$000(ParentRunner.java:53)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$2.evaluate(ParentRunner.java:229)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.java:61)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.java:71)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.run(ParentRunner.java:309)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.run(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:176)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit4.runner.JUnit4TestReference.run(JUnit4TestReference.java:50)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.TestExecution.run(TestExecution.java:38)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:459)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:675)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.run(RemoteTestRunner.java:382)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.main(RemoteTestRunner.java:192)
 Caused by: liquibase.exception.UnexpectedLiquibaseException: liquibase.exception.DatabaseException: Error executing SQL select count(*) from PUBLIC.DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK: user lacks privilege or object not found: DATABASECHANGELOGLOCK
at liquibase.lockservice.StandardLockService.isDatabaseChangeLogLockTableInitialized(StandardLockService.java:121)
at liquibase.lockservice.StandardLockService.init(StandardLockService.java:95)
at liquibase.lockservice.StandardLockService.acquireLock(StandardLockService.java:187)