From Whence We Came & May Again Go [..depth of history lacking in D.C.]

The Declaration of Arbroath, 1320

"Like the American Declaration of Independence (image) and full text , which is partially based on it, it is seen by many as the founding document of the Scottish nation.  It was drafted on the 6th April 1320..."  (quote source: BBC, History, Scottish History: The Declaration of Arbroath, 1320)  [ references: http://harrold.org/quotes ]

( images souce: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/media_museum/media_museum_index2_sections_4to6.shtml#independence )

Bannockburn

Values:   "Scots Wha Hae"  1] poem lyrics..text of "Bruce before Bannockburn" also known as "Scots wha hae", written by Robert Burns • Robert Burns b.1759-d.1796, 8May1794, The Morning Chronicle)  1] "Supposed to be addressed by Bruce to his soldiers before the Battle of Bannockburn against Edward II." 

• Listen  to the poem "Scots Wha Hae " read by Doug Robertson [3m55s],  Music by Steve McDonald from  "Bannockburn [Stone of Destiny]" (.mp3, 3.7MB)alternate  ScotWha2.ram  (rm, 3m55s) re [ Robert Bruce's March to Bannockburn, Robert I, the Bruce (1274-1329) also know as Robert the Bruce, "The Hammer of the Scots" ] plus  "Scots, wha hae Wi' Wallace Bled," (midi, Scottish Songs) & .midi sequenced with lyrics [src] ^***
and  Scots Wha Hae (bagpipes) by the 48th Highlanders of Canada (7MB, .mp3, 3m14s)
and  Scots Wha Hae, bagpipes solo (1.3MB, .mp3, 1m22s)
and  Scots Wha Hae (2.7MB, .mp3, 3m4s; 'The Corries' ["Battle songs of Scotland", sung by Ronnie Browne solo] &  Scots Wha Hae with pipes (4.3MB, .mp3, 4m29s)
· The Declaration of Abroath   from Wars of Independence (BBC, Scottish History) and Scran News: Declaration of Arbroath, 6 April 1320 [read/print in plain text]


Sir William Wallace (Scottish Gaelic: Uilleam Uallas; 1272 – 23 August 1305) was a Scottish knight and landowner who is known for leading a resistance during the Wars of Scottish Independence and is today remembered as a patriot and national hero.^[1]

Along with Andrew Moray, he defeated an English army at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, and became Guardian of Scotland, serving until his defeat at the Battle of Falkirk. A few years later Wallace was captured in Robroyston near Glasgow and handed over to King Edward I of England, who had him executed for treason.

Wallace was the inspiration for the poem, The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, by the 15th-century minstrel, Blind Harry and this poem was to some extent the basis of Randall Wallace's screenplay for the 1995 film Braveheart.  ( source:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Wallace )

The Declaration of Arbroath, 1320 

'It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.'  -- Extract from the Declaration of Arbroath, 1320.

The Declaration of Arbroath is without doubt the most famous document in Scottish history. Like the American Declaration of Independence, which is partially based on it, it is seen by many as the founding document of the Scottish nation. It was drafted on the 6th April 1320 - a day the United States of America has declared to be Tartan Day.

The Declaration is a Latin letter which was sent to Pope John XXII in April/May 1320. It was most likely drafted in the scriptorium of Arbroath Abbey by Abbot Bernard on behalf of the nobles and barons of Scotland. It was one of three letters sent to the Pope in Avignon, the other two being from King Robert Bruce himself and from four Scottish bishops, attempting to abate papal hostility. The document received the seals of several Scottish barons and it then was taken to the papal court at Avignon in France by Sir Adam Gordon.

Cunning Diplomatic Letter or Constitutional Document?
There is considerable debate over the Declaration's significance. For some it is simply a diplomatic document; while others see it as a radical movement in western constitutional thought.

It could be viewed as a cunning diplomatic ploy by the Scottish barons to explain and justify why they were still fighting their neighbours when all Christian princes were supposed to be united in crusade against the Muslims. All this, just at the point when they were about to retake Berwick: Scotland's most prosperous medieval town. As an explanation, it failed to convince the pope to lift his sentence of excommunication on Scotland.  Others analyse what the Declaration of Arbroath actually says. The Scots clergy had produced not only one of the most eloquent expressions of nationhood, but the first expression of the idea of a contractual monarchy. Here is the critical passage in question:

'Yet if he (Bruce) should give up what he has begun, and agree to make us or our kingdom subject to the King of England or the English, we should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy and a subverter of his own rights and ours, and make some other man who was well able to defend us our King; for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom - for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.'

Extract from the Declaration of Arbroath
The threat to drive Bruce out if he ever sold Scotland to English rule was a fantastic bluff.  There was nobody else to take his place.  The point is that the nobles and clergy are not basing their argument to the pope on the traditional notion of the Divine Rights of Kings.  Bruce is King first and foremost because the nation chose him, not God, and the nation would just as easily choose another if they were betrayed by the King.  The explanation also neatly covers the fact that Bruce had usurped John Balliol's rightful kingship in the first place.


In spite of all possible motivations for its creation, the Declaration of Arbroath, under the extraordinary circumstances of the Wars of Independence, was a prototype of contractual kingship in Europe. 
(source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/independence/features_independence_arbroath.shtml )

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Declaration of Arbroath

"...as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

Declaration of Arbroath

Video giving an explanation of the Declaration of Arbroath.  If the audio/video doesn't play, you may need to download the free RealPlayer plug-in.RealOne (for Windows 98/2000/XP and Mac OS X users) or RealPlayer 8 Basic (for Windows 95 and Mac OS 9 users). BBC WebWise has a step-by-step guide to help you.  Video presented by Professor G.W.S. Barrow with a narration of part of the Declaration.

Like the American Declaration of Independence - which is partly based on it - the Declaration of Arbroath on 6 April 1320, by 38 Scottish Lords, is seen as a founding document of nationhood.


Background - John Balliol had been adopted by the English king, Edward I, as his favoured candidate for the Scottish throne. He was chosen above twelve other claimants which included Robert Bruce. Balliol was inaugurated at Scone in 1292. His short reign was dominated by Edward's attempts to control the governance of Scotland, as he claimed, in the role of feudal suzerain.

Balliol Surrenders Crown - Edward stripped King John Balliol of this English estates and the kingship in 1296.  This action earned Balliol the nickname "Toom Tabard' (empty tunic) which referred to his loss of knightly trappings.  Initially, Edward kept him prisoner but eventually he was exiled to his feudal lands in France where he died, later than Edward, in 1313.

The throne went to his rivals, the Bruces, but his support in Scotland remained strong and he was allied through marriage to the very powerful family of Comyn, who were Lords of Badenoch and Earls of Buchan. The Red Comyn was his nephew.


Although the English armies under Edward II had been defeated at Bannockburn in 1314, they continued to mount attacks into Robert the Bruce's Scotland over the succeeding years. They claimed Scotland was not independent and, in fact, a previous claimant to the Scottish throne had made a deal with Edward.


Pope John XXII of Avignon, France, had not accepted Scottish independence, perhaps because Robert the Bruce had been excommunicated for killing John Comyn in a church in Dumfries in 1306. It was the Red Comyn who had formed an alliance with Edward, and perhaps had more of a right to be King than Bruce.

Murder of Red Comyn  1306 - Murder Of The 'Red Comyn'

In 1304, John Comyn II, known as the Red Comyn after his grandfather, moved his allegiance over to England’s Edward I and sat on his ‘Scottish Council’.

When Robert the Bruce set his plans to resume the War of Independence in 1306, he and Comyn met together in southerly Dumfries at the isolated Franciscan priory Church of the Minorite Friars. Either because he would not back Robert, or because he threatened to expose his intentions, Bruce stabbed Comyn to death at the altar rails.

As well as the military benefits, Comyn’s death that 10th of February also favoured Bruce by removing another competitor to the throne of Scotland.

The Pope is Petitioned - Thus the Declaration of Arbroath was prepared. It was drawn up in Arbroath Abbey on the 6th April 1320, on behalf of the nobles and barons of Scotland. Its most likely author was the Abbot, Bernard de Linton, who was also the Chancellor of Scotland.

It was one of three letters sent to the Pope. The others were from King Robert Bruce and from four Scottish bishops. Sir Adam Gordon took the Declaration to the papal court  in France.

The Declaration urged the Pope to see things from a Scottish perspective and not to take the English claim on Scotland seriously. It used strong words, indicating that without acceptance of the Scottish case that the wars would continue and the resultant deaths would be the responsibility of the Pope.

Signing Tableau

Do we Know the True Purpose of the Declaration? - There is some debate over the purpose of the Declaration.  Some see it as an explanation about fighting in the British Isles when the Pope expected Christian Princes to be on Crusade in the Holy Lands.

There is other evidence to suggest that it was an attempt to have King Robert the Bruce received back into the Church, as he wished to go on crusade and excommunicants were excluded.

Others see it as the first formal statement of nationhood and rights which also puts expectations on the King by those he rules.  It certainly follows Magna Carta of 1215.

"Yet if he (Bruce) should give up what he has begun, and agree to make us or our kingdom subject to the King of England or the English, we should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy and a subverter of his own rights and ours, and make some other man who was well able to defend us our King..."

Crowning Bruce

The People and Their King - And the extract above does seem to state the people choose their King to represent what they - the people - believe in.  That, in itself, was an almost unknown public view at this period. Monarchies were based on the Divine Right of Kings: they were chosen by God. That being said, Bruce almost certainly believed in Divine Right.  After all, he had himself crowned.  He didn't take a vote 

Robert the Bruce - However, it also cleverly gives an explanation of Bruce's killing of John Comyn.  After all, that murder could be viewed through the above argument as the people choosing their King because Comyn was seen as acting against the wishes of the people in forming an alliance with Edward.  With all that being said, the Declaration of Arbroath remains surprising, adept and important.  It was a step towards the sort of constitutional monarchy we see now.

Related Information  - The Declaration of Arbroath was written in Latin. Here is an English translation.

Declaration of Arbroath Translation

To the most Holy Father and Lord in Christ, the Lord John, by divine providence Supreme Pontiff of the Holy Roman and Universal Church, his humble and devout sons Duncan, Earl of Fife, Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, Lord of Man and of Annandale, Patrick Dunbar, Earl of March, Malise, Earl of Strathearn, Malcolm, Earl of Lennox, William, Earl of Ross, Magnus, Earl of Caithness and Orkney, and William, Earl of Sutherland; Walter, Steward of Scotland, William Soules, Butler of Scotland, James, Lord of Douglas, Roger Mowbray, David, Lord of Brechin, David Graham, Ingram Umfraville, John Menteith, guardian of the earldom of Menteith, Alexander Fraser, Gilbert Hay, Constable of Scotland, Robert Keith, Marischal of Scotland, Henry St Clair, John Graham, David Lindsay, William Oliphant, Patrick Graham, John Fenton, William Abernethy, David Wemyss, William Mushet, Fergus of Ardrossan, Eustace Maxwell, William Ramsay, William Mowat, Alan Murray, Donald Campbell, John Cameron, Reginald Cheyne, Alexander Seton, Andrew Leslie, and Alexander Straiton, and the other barons and freeholders and the whole community of the realm of Scotland send all manner of filial reverence, with devout kisses of his blessed feet.

Most Holy Father and Lord, we know and from the chronicles and books of the ancients we find that among other famous nations our own, the Scots, has been graced with widespread renown. They journeyed from Greater Scythia by way of the Tyrrhenian Sea and the Pillars of Hercules, and dwelt for a long course of time in Spain among the most savage tribes, but nowhere could they be subdued by any race, however barbarous. Thence they came, twelve hundred years after the people of Israel crossed the Red Sea, to their home in the west where they still live today. The Britons they first drove out, the Picts they utterly destroyed, and, even though very often assailed by the Norwegians, the Danes and the English, they took possession of that home with many victories and untold efforts; and, as the historians of old time bear witness, they have held it free of all bondage ever since. In their kingdom there have reigned one hundred and thirteen kings of their own royal stock, the line unbroken a single foreigner.

The high qualities and deserts of these people, were they not otherwise manifest, gain glory enough from this: that the King of kings and Lord of lords, our Lord Jesus Christ, after His Passion and Resurrection, called them, even though settled in the uttermost parts of the earth, almost the first to His most holy faith. Nor would He have them confirmed in that faith by merely anyone but by the first of His Apostles -- by calling, though second or third in rank -- the most gentle Saint Andrew, the Blessed Peter's brother, and desired him to keep them under his protection as their patron forever.

The Most Holy Fathers your predecessors gave careful heed to these things and bestowed many favours and numerous privileges on this same kingdom and people, as being the special charge of the Blessed Peter's brother. Thus our nation under their protection did indeed live in freedom and peace up to the time when that mighty prince the King of the English, Edward, the father of the one who reigns today, when our kingdom had no head and our people harboured no malice or treachery and were then unused to wars or invasions, came in the guise of a friend and ally to harass them as an enemy. The deeds of cruelty, massacre, violence, pillage, arson, imprisoning prelates, burning down monasteries, robbing and killing monks and nuns, and yet other outrages without number which he committed against our people, sparing neither age nor sex, religion nor rank, no one could describe nor fully imagine unless he had seen them with his own eyes.

But from these countless evils we have been set free, by the help of Him Who though He afflicts yet heals and restores, by our most tireless Prince, King and Lord, the Lord Robert. He, that his people and his heritage might be delivered out of the hands of our enemies, met toil and fatigue, hunger and peril, like another Macabaeus or Joshua and bore them cheerfully. Him, too, divine providence, his right of succession according to or laws and customs which we shall maintain to the death, and the due consent and assent of us all have made our Prince and King. To him, as to the man by whom salvation has been wrought unto our people, we are bound both by law and by his merits that our freedom may be still maintained, and by him, come what may, we mean to stand.

Yet if he should give up what he has begun, and agree to make us or our kingdom subject to the King of England or the English, we should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy and a subverter of his own rights and ours, and make some other man who was well able to defend us our King; for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.

Therefore it is, Reverend Father and Lord, that we beseech your Holiness with our most earnest prayers and suppliant hearts, inasmuch as you will in your sincerity and goodness consider all this, that, since with Him Whose Vice-Regent on earth you are there is neither weighing nor distinction of Jew and Greek, Scotsman or Englishman, you will look with the eyes of a father on the troubles and privation brought by the English upon us and upon the Church of God. May it please you to admonish and exhort the King of the English, who ought to be satisfied with what belongs to him since England used once to be enough for seven kings or more, to leave us Scots in peace, who live in this poor little Scotland, beyond which there is no dwelling-place at all, and covet nothing but our own. We are sincerely willing to do anything for him, having regard to our condition, that we can, to win peace for ourselves.

This truly concerns you, Holy Father, since you see the savagery of the heathen raging against the Christians, as the sins of Christians have indeed deserved, and the frontiers of Christendom being pressed inward every day; and how much it will tarnish your Holiness's memory if (which God forbid) the Church suffers eclipse or scandal in any branch of it during your time, you must perceive. Then rouse the Christian princes who for false reasons pretend that they cannot go to help of the Holy Land because of wars they have on hand with their neighbours. The real reason that prevents them is that in making war on their smaller neighbours they find quicker profit and weaker resistance. But how cheerfully our Lord the King and we too would go there if the King of the English would leave us in peace, He from Whom nothing is hidden well knows; and we profess and declare it to you as the Vicar of Christ and to all Christendom.

But if your Holiness puts too much faith in the tales the English tell and will not give sincere belief to all this, nor refrain from favouring them to our prejudice, then the slaughter of bodies, the perdition of souls, and all the other misfortunes that will follow, inflicted by them on us and by us on them, will, we believe, be surely laid by the Most High to your charge.

To conclude, we are and shall ever be, as far as duty calls us, ready to do your will in all things, as obedient sons to you as His Vicar; and to Him as the Supreme King and Judge we commit the maintenance of our cause, sating our cares upon Him and firmly trusting that He will inspire us with courage and bring our enemies to nought.

May the Most High preserve you to his Holy Church in holiness and health and grant you length of days.

Given at the monastery of Arbroath in Scotland on the sixth day of the month of April in the year of grace thirteen hundred and twenty and the fifteenth year of the reign of our King aforesaid.

Endorsed: Letter directed to our Lord the Supreme Pontiff by the community of Scotland.

Additional names written on some of the seal tags: Alexander Lamberton, Edward Keith, John Inchmartin, Thomas Menzies, John Durrant, Thomas Morham (and one illegible).
( source: http://www.scran.ac.uk/news/news.php?id=261&PHPSESSID=46b22295ba3cb83b5fc16da0d5f77a67 )
Related Information

Read a full feature on the Declaration of Arbroath. Click here to view.

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Robert the Bruce  Although these data have been compiled from many sources usually deemed reliable, no sources or references are provided because no guarantee of scholarly accuracy is offered.  If your researches reveal differing results, please let us know.

Please note that this page is presented, not as historical fact, but as legend. It is worthwhile to not confuse legend with facts. Legends are, by definition, not necessarily fact. Although these data have been compiled from many sources usually deemed reliable, no sources or references are provided because no guarantee of scholarly accuracy is offered. For all I know, the entire article may be inaccurate. If your researches reveal differing results, it is perhaps not surprising. While I will be happy to receive your updated data, and will even consider posting it, I will neither defend nor argue about the content of this article, nor will I cite information sources. That being said, I hope you enjoy this page.  ( source: http://www.clanmcalister.org/robbruce.html Webmaster )

Robert de Bruce, the soldier king Scotland
Although William Wallace and Robert the Bruce were of the same period in Scottish history, their aims were, to begin with, very different. Wallace was driven by patriotism and hatred of the English invaders, Bruce on the other hand, was initially motivated by his personal ambition. The family of Bruce was Anglo-Norman and known as de Brus. His grandfather had been one of the claimants to the Scottish throne when Balliol was nominated by the English King, Edward I. The Bruce had originally sworn fealty (allegiance) to the English king too but changed sides as Wallace became recognized as the leader of the Scottish armies by virtue of his various successes against the English.

However as the success of Wallace waned, Bruce once more switched his allegiance, along with many more of the Scottish Lords who originally joined Wallace, back to the English King. When Wallace was out of the country and Edward I was warring in France, the way was open for Bruce to take the initiative. His own patriotism had been instilled in him by his first wife, the daughter of the earl of Mar. It was the daughter of this union, through her marriage to Walter the Steward, that became the mother of the first great Scottish Stewart dynasty. Later relations in this line included Charles I, and Bonnie Prince Charlie.

At this time the English Parliament had written up a Constitution for Scotland that had failed due to a lack of consent by the Scots who had strong resentment toward the English and their involvement in Scotland. In 1306 Bruce's patriotism was enhanced when he killed his hereditary enemy, the Red Comyn during a quarrel in the Church of the Convent of the Minorite Friars, in Dumfries. Bloodshed on sacred ground was sacrilege, and this act put Bruce outside the parameters of Christendom, and enraged Edward.

With the backing of a few friends and a small host gathered round him, Bruce went to Scone where the Kings of Scotland were crowned and became the King of Scotland. The coronation was conducted by two Scottish Earls and three bishops. Bruce was crowned by the Countess of Buchan in place of her brother who held the hereditary right to crown the Kings of Scotland, since he refused to attend in this case. The real crown having been stolen by Edward was replaced by a golden coronella. Thus Robert the Bruce, the greatest soldier king Scotland ever had, began his battle against the English. He also began his fight to capture the hearts and minds of the Scottish people and bring back pride and independence to the beleaguered Scots.

Edward was enraged by Bruce's actions and sent a strong force north of the border that crushed the smaller Scottish force, aided by treachery by some Scots. Bruce and some of his followers took refuge in the wild mountainous areas of Athol and Argyle. He was accompanied by Sir James Douglas, known as 'the Black Douglas', whose clan was one of the strongest in Scotland at the time. Edward sent many forces to find Bruce, Douglas and the rest of the small band, but they were unable to bring them to captivity. There were many close encounters where Bruce, through sheer guts and determination, was able to avoid capture. These various encounters have gone down in Scottish folklore, but at the time they gave the Scots a focus for their hopes of independence.

While in hiding from the English, Bruce's lands were confiscated and his wife and young daughter were imprisoned in English castles. The Countess of Buchan who had dared crown Bruce was imprisoned in an open cage made of wickerwork and fixed to the walls of a castle in Berwick. Three of Bruce's brothers were put to death. Many others who opposed Edward and supported Bruce or Wallace suffered similar fates with their heads being placed on spikes to discourage others from acting against their English overlords.

These brutal actions undertaken by Edward, however had the opposite effect and Scots from the Clergy, nobles, gentles and commons rallied to Bruce's banner swearing fealty to him as their rightful King. For about a year Bruce was a fugitive in great danger but fate was on his side. King of England, Edward I - the 'hammer of the Scots' - died, failing in his great purpose of life to totally annex Scotland under English rule. Such was the hatred of Edward that his dying wish was to have his bones carried to Scotland the next time a rebellion broke out.

Edward II was not the same type of character as his father, though he led an army into Scotland to obey his father's dying behest only to be defeated in Ayrshire. Bruce continued to enhance his position by defeating his enemies, those who had conspired with the English, within Scotland. Philip IV of France attempted to bring about a truce between Scotland and England but as Bruce enjoyed more success in getting Scotland behind him, these attempts were ignored.
Another important step for Bruce was to get the Clergy to support him after the incident in the church when he had slain Comwyn. This was eventually achieved with the clergy swearing fealty to him as their rightful King and amending their seals accordingly. 

Tit for tat exchanges occurred between the English and the Scots across the borders, with Bruce and the Scots being more successful than their English counterparts. Various castles in Scotland that had been taken by the English during the time of Edward I, returned to their legitimate owners. Dumbarton, Perth, Roxburgh and the great stronghold of Edinburgh Castle were recaptured with daring and cunning, often with the Black Douglas acting as leader. 

The most important stronghold of Stirling remained in the hands of the English, so Bruce assigned the taking of it by his brother, Edward Bruce. The English governor of the Castle suggested a sporting challenge by offering to surrender were the Castle not relieved before the twenty-fourth day of the following June. This allowed time for an English army to attempt to relieve the much besieged garrison and offered a chance for the Scots to face the might of the English army once and for all. The challenge was accepted out of chivalry and the stage was set for the best known battle in Scottish history. 

Duly the English marched north with the biggest force yet to face the smaller Scots army. As the English approached Bruce was riding a small mount, not expecting any attack at that point. Sir Henry de Bohun, an English knight, recognized Bruce and seized the chance to fight him as, unlike Bruce, he was dressed in full armor and riding a great war horse. On seeing the oncoming attack, Bruce turned and rising in his stirrups, with one blow, clove de Bohun's skull in two with his battle axe, which consequently broke. 

The morning of the battle followed a night of revelry for the English, so sure were they of victory, the Scots on the other hand had spent it in"silence and devotion." Bruce prepared the ground around the Bannock Burn, placing his troops in strategic positions that allowed for retreat if victory proved impossible. The army was divided into four 'schiltrons' or circles, under Edward Bruce, Sir James Douglas, Sir Thomas Randolph and Walter the Steward. The King himself was in charge of the reserves. The ground between the Scots and the approaching English was full of marshes and watercourses. The Bannock Burn gave some protection to the Scottish front, as did two great bogs that threatened to slow the English progress. 

The English attack commenced with a hail of arrows over the Scots. In the hand to hand fighting the defenders had the upper hand as the English, fighting in spaces too close, were caught up in the submerged pits and bogs. Men and horses plunged helplessly, and knights, hampered by heavy armor could not rise. The English ranks, in total disorder, suffered the final blow when a group of observers tore down the hill where they had been eagerly watching shouting the Bruce's battle cry and making the English think that Scots reinforcements had arrived. Edward II fled the field leaving some intrepid English still fighting. 

Bannockburn was the greatest defeat that the English ever suffered at the hands of the Scots and the victory provided great booty, but more important, independence and Bruce as master of Scotland. The succession to the throne was quickly organized by Parliament and ensured that if there was no male heir to Bruce, that his brother Edward and his male heirs would succeed. The only child of Bruce was Marjorie who died in child birth, after a fall from a horse, the surviving infant of the Princess later became Robert II. 

The Pope intervened between the two warring countries by proclaiming a two-year truce. Bruce ignored this as the Pope refused to recognize him as the rightful King, and sent forces to Berwick to retake the city that had been in the hands of the English since Edward I had butchered its inhabitants. The English remained oblivious to Scotland as independence and the Scots sent an appeal to the Pope stating that, "While there exists a hundred of us we will never submit to England. We fight not for glory, wealth or honour, but for that liberty the loss of which no virtuous man will survive." 

Hostilities between the countries continued, Edward II running out of supplies returned south after ravaging the Scottish border area only to be surprised by Bruce heading north after raids into Yorkshire. Treachery was waiting for Edward II after he fled south to escape Bruce; first, by the Earl of Carlisle who was in league with the Scots and was summarily executed; and secondly, by his wife who, with her lover, was conspiring against him. With various problems hanging over him, Edward called for a thirteen-year truce with the Scots, although this did not include recognizing Bruce as the 'King of Scotland'. Bruce also got papal approval and with the birth of his son, he was universally recognized as King. The uneasiness between the English and Scottish neighbors continued and Bruce was able to raise more taxes for his armies through the Scottish Parliament. The situation remained the same as Edward II was replaced by Edward III, though a treaty was initially signed which attempted to bring peace. Finally a large English army was forced to disband when faced by a smaller Scottish army and with this and other pressures playing on the English, overtures for peace were made. The terms were concluded in Edinburgh the following year with Scotland being formally recognized as an independent Kingdom, her King an independent Sovereign, her inhabitants a free and independent people. 

Robert the Bruce saw the fulfilment of his highest hopes and he was able to live out the last years of his life in peace at Cardross, where he died in his fifty-fifth year. His last request was that his heart be taken on the crusades against the infidel. James Douglas carried out this last wish throwing it in front of him into the fighting, and following it as he so often had done. The Black Douglas was killed in Spain but the Bruce's heart was returned to its native Scotland.
Bruce and the North East of Scotland.

Bruce was crowned in 1306 on the 26th of June, however his struggle over the enemy from the south continued for many years after. Kildrummy Castle lies some 30 miles west of Aberdeen and it was here that Bruce sent the Queen, and his brother Nigel for safety. Unfortunately the Queen was taken prisoner by the English. 

Bruce defeated his sworn enemies, the Comyns, at Old Meldrum, north west of Aberdeen on Christmas eve in 1307. After this, the whole of the north east swore fealty to him, and legend has it attacked the garrison in the castle at Aberdeen who supported Edward I, and put them to the sword. The Aberdeen motto 'Bon-Accord' on the city Coat of Arms, was said to have been given to the town by Bruce in thanks for their defeat of the English garrison. However, the historic accuracy of this is open to speculation. 

Keeping peace in the north of Scotland depended on Aberdeenshire (now Grampian). To this end, many strong fortifications were built such as Kildrummy, Kindrochit in Mar (Braemar - 70 miles west of Aberdeen and 15 miles from Balmoral, the summer home of the present Queen) and later Hallforest (a hunting lodge built by Bruce) outside Kintore. 

Bruce spent much time in Aberdeen especially as it was the first area of Scotland to offer its support to him. To show his thanks to the Aberdonians once his authority become the dominant force in Scotland, heconferred a Royal Charter to the city in 1314. The Royal Forest of Stocket also became the property of the city and the Brig (bridge) of Balgownie was probably built by funds from Bruce.

Bruce also shaped the future of the area by giving lands, some from the Comyns, to various families who became the main dynasties of the area. The names that dominated the area, such as Gordon (Gordon of Khartoum), Keith, Lesley, Fraser, Irvine, Burnett, Hay and Johnstone, are still in evidence today and much of the local history is in the context of these names and families.

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"There are times when words alone fall short." -- rfh