Robert Bruce

“ But having married Lady Christina Bruce, third daughter of Robert, earl of Carrick, sister of Robert Bruce, he supported the claims of the Bruce to the Scottish crown, and was present at his coronation at Scone on 21 March 1306. At the battle of Methven on 13 June he saved Bruce when unhorsed by Philip de Mowbray. After this disaster he fled southwards, and shut himself in Loudoun Castle, Ayrshire, but it was captured by the English, and, being taken prisoner, he was carried to London, where he was hanged and quartered as a traitor. ”

“ There is something terrible in that strong emotion which sometimes suddenly and unexpectedly overpowers the calmest and most controlled natures. It speaks of an agony so measureless, so beyond the relief of sympathy, that it falls like an electric spell on the hearts of all witnesses, sweeping all minor passions into dust before it. Little accustomed as was Sir Robert Keith to sympathize in such emotions, he now turned hastily aside, and, as if fearing to trust himself in silence, commenced a hurried detail to Nigel Bruce of the Earl of Carrick's escape from London, and his present position. ”

“ Bruce being defeated Fraser was led captive from the field, but he succeeded in escaping, and after Bruce had resumed the campaign he rejoined him with his friends and vassals at the Mounth in the Mearns, and aided him in inflicting the crushing defeat on his enemies, the Comyns, known as the ‘harrying of Buchan.’ He was also present at the battle of Bannockburn, on the eve of which he received the honour of knighthood. Shortly afterwards Fraser married a sister of King Robert Bruce, Lady Mary Bruce, who for four years was imprisoned by Edward I in a cage in the castle of Roxburgh. ”

“ BRUCE, MICHAEL (1635–1693) , presbyterian minister, was the first of a line of seven Bruces, presbyterian ministers in Ireland in six successive generations. He was the third and youngest son of Patrick Bruce of Newtown, Stirlingshire, by Janet, second daughter of John Jackson, merchant of Edinburgh. Robert Bruce [q. v.] , who anointed Anne of Denmark at Holyrood, 17 May 1590, was his grand-uncle. ”

“ On June 11, only three days before 'his loyal and faithful Robert de Brus' did homage and fealty to Edward on succession to his father, Bruce met Bishop Lamberton at Cambuskenneth and formed with him a secret alliance for mutual aid and defence 'against all persons whatsoever.' Seeing dangers ahead, and wishing to fortify themselves against 'the attempts of their rivals,' they engaged to assist each other to the utmost of their power with counsel and material forces in all their affairs ”

“ Norham was defended by Sir Thomas Gray the elder against an inadequate body of 200 Scots. Edward displayed great energy of rebuke and counsel, while Robert steadily advanced southwards. On October 14, the English army barred the way on the ridge of Blackhowe Moor between Biland and Rievaulx; but Bruce's rapid action enabled139 him to strike a decisive blow before the Earl of Carlisle, who was at Boroughbridge with 2000 (surely not, as some say, 20,000) horse and foot, could effect a junction, if indeed he really meant to do so. ”

“ This was, in truth, the turning-point in Bruce's fortunes and that of Scottish independence. A letter written from Forfar on May 15, 1307, by one in the English interest whose name has not been preserved, announced to some one at King Edward's Court that Robert de Brus had never before possessed so large a degree of good-will, either among his own followers or with the people at large, as he did at that moment. "It now first appears," says the writer in Norman French, "that he has the right, and God is openly for him." ”

“ He promised! Please! God, I'll never give in again. Bruce—my darling—don't let him tell you. He promised he wouldn't. Don't tell him, Robert. Bruce, don't let him. Please, God—don't let him."
After a while, burning with the fever in her blood, she plunged, for the sedative of it, into the work before her. The first of a stack of reports on her desk was from the Adelphi Theater, Akron, Ohio.
"Three Melodious Sisters." 12 minutes. Well received. Wardrobe worn.
"Whistling Bicyclers." 14 minutes. Skillful. Comedy weak. ”

“ For, on December 15 and 16, Edward roused his officers in the north-western counties, and in Wales and Ireland, to counteract Bruce's reported purpose 'to send his whole fleet in the present winter to take the Isle of Man, and seize all the supplies therein for the sustenance81 of his men.' Bruce's adherents in Man are stated to have caused much trouble and mischief. A week before Christmas, Clifford and Sir Robert Fitz Pain met Bruce at Selkirk to discuss terms of peace, and another interview was arranged with the Earls of Gloucester and Cornwall near Melrose ”

“ His father was the eldest son of Helen Bruce of Kinnaird, [1] and David Hay of Woodcockdale, descended from an old and respectable branch of the Hays of Enroll, distinguished in ancient Scottish history by their bravery, and who received from Robert I. the hereditary office of high-constable of Scotland. Bruce's mother was the daughter of James Graham, Esq., of Airth, dean of the faculty of advocates, and judge of the high court of admiralty in Scotland: a man distinguished by his abilities, and respected for his public and private virtues. ”

“ His father bought for him a donkey, on which he rode into Newcastle and back daily; and there are many still living who remember the little boy, dressed in his suit of homely grey stuff, cut out by his father, cantering along to school upon the “cuddy,” with his wallet of provisions for the day and his bag of books slung over his shoulder.
When Robert went to Mr. Bruce’s school, he was a shy, unpolished country lad, speaking the broad dialect of the pitmen; and the other boys would occasionally tease him, for the purpose of provoking an outburst of his Killingworth Doric. ”

“ According to Father Hay, he received from Robert the Bruce the grant of Pentland Moor in free forestry and the office of great master-hunter of Scotland on account of the prowess of his two dogs, ‘Help’ and ‘Hold,’ in capturing a fleet white deer which repeatedly baulked the efforts of Bruce's hounds (Genealogy of the Sinclairs, p. 16) . He was one of the knights chosen to accompany Sir James Douglas (1286?–1330) [q. v.] to the Holy Land with the heart of Bruce; and, in view of the service which he was expected to render him, received from Bruce a pension of 40l. (Exchequer Rolls, i. 209) . ”

“ It is only the servile adulation of later writers that has pictured Bruce as animated by patriotism. He was simply a great Anglo-Norman baron in quest of aggrandizement; and it took many years to satisfy the people generally that their interests were safe in his keeping. But he was a man with deep reserves of strength, freed at last from the paralysis of worldly prudence by a sudden shock, and compelled to defend his crown and his life with his back to the wall. Happily, if only incidentally, such self-defence involved the championship of the independence of Scotland. ”

“ Barbour recounts various exploits of Bruce and Douglas between the landing in Carrick and the first retreat to Glen Trool; but, if they represent facts, they must clearly be spread over a longer period.
For example. Sir Ingram Bell, the governor of Ayr—Barbour writes Sir Ingram de Umfraville, who was probably in Cumnock Castle—intrigued with a personal attendant of Bruce's, a man of local importance, a one-eyed, sturdy rascal, nearly related to Bruce. The villain was promised a reward of £40 in land to compass the King's death. ”

“ Bruce is joined by Sir Alexander Fraser and Simon Fraser—the famous Sir Simon's brother and son—who had apparently been acting in his interests in the north, opposed mainly by Comyn (Earl of Buchan) , Sir John de Mowbray, and Sir David de Brechin. At Inverurie Bruce fell very sick. He could neither eat nor drink; no medicine did him any good; he became too weak to ride or to walk. Sir Edward Bruce, says Barbour, tried to comfort the men, but it seems much more likely that Sir Edward remained in command in Galloway, while Douglas made excursions towards the eastern border. ”

“ So he looked again at the steep path, and the deep river, and he thought that they gave him so much advantage, that he himself could defend the passage with his own hand, until his men came to assist him. He therefore sent his followers to waken his men, and remained alone by the river.
The noise and trampling of the horses increased, and the moon being bright, Bruce beheld the glancing arms of two hundred men, on the opposite bank. The men of Galloway, on their part, saw but one solitary figure guarding the ford, and the foremost of them plunged into the river without minding him. ”

“ Bruce lost comparatively few men in the battle—the 7000 of the Meaux chronicle need not be considered—but a number of his ablest supporters were taken prisoners, notably Thomas Randolph, his nephew, Sir Alexander Fraser, Sir David Barclay, Sir Hugh de la Haye, Sir David de Inchmartin, and Sir John de Somerville. The Bishop of St Andrews had surrendered to Valence before the battle, but had taken care to send his household to fight for Bruce. ”

“ At sunrise on Sunday, June 23—the eve of St John—the Scots heard mass. Bruce then devoted special attention to the pits that were still preparing. After midday—the Scots observed the fast on bread and water—the English were reported to be advancing from the fringe of the Torwood. Bruce issued his final orders. Then he is said to have addressed his men in terms of high resolution, bidding every man depart that was not ready for either alternative—to conquer or to die. Not a man moved from the ranks. ”

“ The Earl alleges that, on Monday, the day after the coronation, Bruce sent to him the Abbot of Inchaffray, requiring him to repair forthwith to his presence to perform homage and fealty. On his refusal, Bruce, with the Earl of Athol, entered Strathearn in force, occupied Foulis, and despatched another summons, with a safe conduct, to the Earl, who took counsel with his followers in the wood of Crieff. Bruce's messenger seems to have been Sir Malcolm de Inverpeffry, who had been Edward's sheriff of Clackmannan and Auchterarder, and had been one of the first to go over to Bruce. ”

“ Edward, however, was in deep trouble with his 'Ordainers,' and Bruce was beforehand with him. On August 12, Bruce burst into England at the Solway, burned the whole of Gilsland, the town of Haltwhistle, and great part of Tyndale, returning to Scotland in eight days with great droves of cattle. The Lanercost chronicler admits that he killed few besides those that offered resistance, and that, though he took several of the canons, and did infinite mischief during the three days he made the monastery his headquarters, yet he released the canons of his own accord. ”

“ Bruce, as we have seen, bears testimony to the same fact, and it was unanimously our opinion that in no country within our knowledge is the average of female beauty so high as in the Aures Mountains. It is true that, owing to hard labour from earliest childhood, and constant exposure to the sun, they become old before their time, and even in infancy their skin becomes of a dark brown colour; but the classic regularity of features, which nothing can mar, occasionally combined with light hair and blue eyes, marks in an unmistakable manner their European origin. ”

“ May I dedicate to you the following pages, written to illustrate the earliest travels of your ancestor, James Bruce; and to make known a portion of that priceless collection of drawings, too long shut up in the muniment room of Kinnaird, which you have so kindly and so unreservedly placed at my disposal?
Although you are the sole heiress of the illustrious traveller, all the world are co-heirs with you in his fame and in the result of his explorations; and they will tender to you their sincerest thanks for restoring to them so important a part of their heritage. ”

“ They crashed against Sir Edward Bruce's division, which received them 'like a dense hedge' or 'wood.' The great horses with their eager riders dashed themselves in vain against the solid and impenetrable schiltron. Those behind pressed forward, only to bite the dust, like their comrades, under the spears and axes of the Scots. ”

“ But as they could only pass the ford one by one, the Bruce, who stood high above them on the bank where they were to land, killed the foremost man with a thrust of his long spear, and with a second thrust stabbed the horse, which fell down, kicking and plunging in his agonies, on the narrow path, and so prevented the others who were following from getting out of the river. ”

“ After receiving the intelligence from Scotland, Bruce was lying one morning on his wretched bed, and deliberating with himself whether he had not better resign all thoughts of again attempting to make good his right to the Scottish crown, and, dismissing his followers, transport himself and his brothers to the Holy Land, and spend the rest of his life in fighting against the Saracens. ”

“ Probably it is the incident in Bruce's career most widely circulated and most popularly believed. The critic who expresses doubts of its veracity will be exposed to the charge of irreverence; if he professes disbelief, to that of rank blasphemy. Yet where is evidence to be found in support of it? Not in the writings of Barbour, Fordun, or Wyntoun, those most nearly contemporary with the Bruce and least likely to suppress a circumstance so picturesque, and illustrating so aptly the perseverance and patience of the national hero under desperate difficulties. ”