Questions and Answers
King Robert the Bruce
No amount of rubbing can erase that terrible day and God has been my judge. I would not presume to try to alter history’s account and suffice to say therefore that what happened on the 10th of February was an act of self-defence. There was never any love lost between John Comyn and myself – but I had no desire to see him dead and certainly not by my hand – it could not but serve me ill. As you now know that fateful day set in motion the most dreadful series of repercussions for my family and the dear and proud people of Scotland – civil and national wars. If this was Scotland’s and my destiny – then there was a heavy price to pay … for all of us … I am now in God’s peace and although I would have wished for an easier and less painful path to Scotland’s freedom this was the world we lived in back in those violent times.
I was always a good and true friend to William – I respected his brave heart, his loyalty and his commitment. In truth – I always believed he followed the wrong man and cause but that was William’s way and although I was unable to support him as well as history may think I should have – I would have done him no ill deed and in truth made every effort to protect him from his enemies. I would not have wished the horrific fate that befell him… on any man – least of all that brave soul and his death played its part in hardening my heart and resolve to bring Scotland out from under the influence of that cruel and vengeful heart… Edward I.
Yes it is true – if possibly somewhat embellished by me – for this was a story I would tell my men when the odds against us seemed almost too much to contemplate. As to when and where the incident that inspired the story – took place well that would have been shortly after we had returned to the south west in 1307.
We were camped south of Loch Doon in the forest and I had just been told by Sir Robert Boyd that my two dear brothers Tom and Alex had been ambushed after landing at Loch Ryan and then wounded and abused by their captors they were handed over to Edward by the treacherous McDougalls where they received no mercy meeting terrible deaths – hanged and beheaded.
Reeling from this terrible news I was then to discover my wife, sister, daughter and good friend Isabella had also been captured and most cruelly treated by this hateful man the King of England.
My brother Nigel’s fate unknown although I feared the worst – I was never so low – my men reduced to a guerrilla band and set against the awesome might of the English army. There seemed little hope at that moment …and then in this period of desperation I did see the little spider struggle …many times it tried to achieve its tenuous hold on the cave wall and I marvelled at this tiny creature’s tenacity and its perseverance.
The spider’s example plus my need to avenge the deaths of my family gave me the immediate will to carry on and yes. like the spider. I did persevere until victory was ours.
No I never had leprosy, this illness would have denied me the throne – my title and reputation would not have made any difference back in the 14th century – lepers were judged unclean and had to be isolated from society – kings were no different.
What I did suffer from was a form of scurvy which revisited me many times during my life. A condition brought on, or at best aggravated by the periods of time when I was forced to live in the wilds in all weathers and with poor diet. I was not alone in this condition which was shared by many of my men and although not the reason for my relatively early death it no doubt contributed.
There is no easy answer to this question but let me say I was always a patriot but I also believed absolutely in the rights of my family, as against those of the Balliols and the Comyns.
This was where William Wallace and I differed – not whether or not Scotland had an inalienable right to self determination but who held the rights and who would best see this aim through. I have to say to you that William had come round to this by the time of his tragic death… persuaded by Lamberton, our mutual friend and counsellor – Balliol having lost his credibility by this time. My dilemma was that I had to balance my family’s ambitions with my duty to my immediate family – this was not a black and white issue – good versus evil. And it was not until 1304 when my father died that I became truly the master of my own destiny – little knowing what lay ahead of me in the coming years.
I believed as did Lamberton that patience was a virtue in this instance – that Edward was a sick man and once dead his son and the English Parliament would be open to negotiation. Peaceful relations were to both our advantages with many of the days magnates having lands in both countries.
Fate however was as always to play its hand and in 1306 any plans to negotiate were gone, not only a war with England but civil war as well – could I have planned it worse?
The Gude Wife of Hightae in the Parish of Lochmaben
Indeed they were. I lost my father and two brothers fighting for him, to say nothing of cousins and neighbours. Everyone followed his standard around here – from Greenhill, Smallholm, Heck and Hightae. We were the first to rise to his cause, after the Comyn murder in 1306.
He was our feudal overlord, of course. This is Bruce country round here. King Robert’s father had a fine big castle on the lochside in the middle of Lochmaben. The men on his estates had to go for vassals have to ride with their lord when he summons them.
My poor mother wept and pleaded in vain but nothing would do but that my father and three of the boys would be off to the wars. Only Fergus, the second lad, was spared to us for he was sick with a fever at the time.
Oh, it was hard! All the work of the farm had to be done by the women (I was just a lass at the time), a handful of boys and the old men. There was barely a strong man in the parish. They’d taken the horses with them too.
I remember it as a cold, hungry winter. We were hard put to care for the livestock and there was barely time to search for fuel. And gathering in the harvest that first year… oh, that was hard labour with so few of us! My old back aches to think of it!
As time passed, some of the men limped back from the war and the young lads left behind grew older and took over more of the work… I suppose we just got used to managing without the menfolk.
Yes. God rest their souls! My father was struck in the arm by an arrow at the battle at Glentrool a year or so after he’d left Hightae. My mother’s cousin was with him at the time and tried to get the arrow out but it broke near the skin. They say the battle was a great victory for us but a day or two after it, my father’s wound began to fester and turn black and nothing could save him.
John, my eldest brother, went down into England with King Robert, twice, on raids, and fought on the field of Bannockburn and he came back safe. After that, however, he just couldn’t settle here and two or three years later he was away, off to Ireland to fight for Edward Bruce who had become the High King there.
We never heard what became of John there but he didn’t come home. Ay, and he left a wife and two bairns behind!
Oh, that was sad! Poor, wee Wattie! He was my favourite for we were closest in age – a bright, merry lad. He was only fifteen, you know.
Well, that first winter with King Robert was a hard one. They were on the move all the time with not enough to eat and enemies on every side. Poor Wattie took a fever – he just wasn’t strong enough for such hardship – and he died, out on an open hillside. It broke my mother’s heart.
Well, it was all long ago and things have been peaceable around here for many years time now. King Robert is long dead; God rest his soul.
I can tell you, we were glad to be rid of English soldiers! You always lose the odd fat hen when there are soldiers around but the English invaders took all they wanted, as bold as brass – bad cess on them!
And I must say, on winter nights, when they’re telling tales round the fire – my brother who returned safe, my husband and the other old men who were with them at Bannockburn – and they speak of King Robert and his courage and endurance and all the adventures they had, fighting, as they say, for our freedom, well, it does make me proud.
John Balliol
With my Liege Lord Alexander, and his family, dead, I was the next in line. I was the rightful and true King.
The Bruces, ugh! They’re a rough bunch of greedy upstarts trying to get beyond their place in life. They are an inferior family. As far as I am concerned it was only by chance they had a claim in the first place. I don’t trust them. They’ll stab you in the back if you turn away from them. Edward made the correct choice by choosing me. That showed their claim was inferior.
I was not. Definitely not. You have to understand the situation we were in. All our castles were occupied by Edward’s troops. We had no army. Our noble families were arguing amongst themselves and, as for the Bruces, they ran off to Edward. What could I do? I tried to get on with day to day kingship and I did that.
Look, I took advice from my Nobles. We all agreed that we could not turn to armed resistence. So we decided to follow Edward’s instructions, otherwise we could all have lost our lands. And I do have lands in England, you know.
I am not a disgrace and I don’t deserve that name. When there was nothing left to do I fought. But I was up against the strongest army in Europe. We had nothing to match Edward’s Army. I am dreadfully ashamed of what happened at Montrose. But Longshanks was a monster. A defeated King should never have been treated like that.
I thought it was best I stay away.
John 'The Red' Comyn, Lord of Badenoch
Aye, he did.
I was betrayed, that’s what happened. I was ambushed by a kinsman who killed me for power. I agreed to meet Robert to talk about the future of Scotland. The High Altar at the Kirk was the safest place. Aye, we argued and I might have called him a liar, I can’t remember. He stabbed me.
Nah, it was Bruce. I remember him stabbing me. I was lying, bleeding on the floor. The friars were around me asking how I was. I think I told them I would be OK if they brought a surgeon. But it began to get dark. I heard running feet coming towards me…then I passed out.
No. No. I would never have done such a thing. It was sacrilege. I just wanted to talk. Our arms were there for defence but I never got a chance to defend myself.
Let me put it this way – I wrote letters to Edward keeping him informed of events in the land. So did many
Why would I want the Throne of Scotland? There was none more powerful than me in the whole kingdom. I had the ear of almost everyone, except the Bruces and their supporters. If the strings needed pulling, I was the one to do it.
Jon Braidfute, Pikeman with Bruce's army on the eve of Bannockburn.
A Weel, ma faither said I was just turned 14 when we joined up with King Robert. That was in the summer the year efter he had killed the Comyn. We met him in the woods above Tynron. That’s near Dumfries ye ken. If I mind right it wasnae sae long before, that King Robert had beaten the English at Glentrool. So I suppose I must be about 20 but ah cannae count very weel.
Nah, he was killed a couple of years after we joined The Bruce. He went wi Prince Edward, that’s the King’s brother, down tae the West tae chase the Mcdoualls. They were sworn enemies of the Bruce. Frae what I heard frae chaps wha came back they said my faither was killed in a battle at the River Dee. He was hit in the throat by an arrow. He only lasted a couple of hours. I never saw him again. I sent word to my mother and wee brothers and sisters, there are four, but I dinna ken if they got the message.
We wanted to. We live a couple of miles up the valley frae Moffat. We knew the Bruce had been tae Dumfries and killed the Comyn. He met Sir James (Douglas) on the hill above the ferme we work on. We heard he became king and then we never heard anything mair. The English sodjers were everywhere. They took everything. Every time they came up the valley ma mother and sisters had tae run and hide in the woods. It was often raining or snawing. Yin time yin of them hit my faither ower the head with the flat end of his sword. He was gonna finish him off, ower nothing but an argument on some eggs, but his pals took him away. It was then my faither decided we should go and the next time we heard the King was near Dumfries we went off. We walked through the woods, often at night, missing the English sodjers, and in the end we came up with him at Tynron.
A I’ve got this knife. It’s a guid yin. I took it off an Englishman who was deid. An I’ve got this auld sword but its a bit rusty. I usually helped out in the camps until I got a bit stronger. I’ve been on wee fights and I remember the first man I killed. I knocked him off his horse and jumped on him and stuck my knife in his throat twae or three times. There was a lot of blood and gurgling. It wasnae nice and I still think aboot it although there have been mair. You just get used to it. I was wi the Douglas when we took Roxburgh Castle back about Shrove Tuesday. We crawled aboot in the fields at night pretending to be coos. Then Simmy was ower the wa and knifed yin o the guards. Then we were aw in. They were full of the wine and it was ower before the shouting.
Well, we’re no sure we’ll either fight or, mair likely, nip back through the woods and re group the other side of Stirling. I think we should fight but there’s an awfu lot of them arrogant buggers ower there. They say some have brought cairts with furniture for the castles they’re gonna get when they win. I think we’ll gie them a shock though. King Robert’s had us working wi these pikes and he’s got a lot of traps set. The high heid yins are aw talking aboot it now.
We’ve been training to fight together in big number, fifteen hunder. We can march forward, sideways, backwards and keep this big square formation. Ye see King Robert thinks the Wallace lost at Falkirk because his squares couldnae move. So we’ll have a better chance. There’ll be archers in wi us and maybe we’ll grab a few Knights to earn some money. We’ll ken the morn.
King Edward I.
Well, at the end of my life I was exasperated . Oaths of Allegiance had been broken and terrible events had taken place. Remember I was crowned on the death of my father, King Henry III, in 1272 and Robert the Bruce was born 2 years later in 1274. , I had no hatred or aspirations to conquer Scotland;. Alexander III was a good King – he was my brother-in-law and owned land in England.
There was a long established ‘tradition’ that Scottish Kings married the English King’s sister or one of his daughters. This resulted in the Scottish King having more land in England.
I liked the Bruce family – they were always loyal. I remember young Robert’s father and grandfather came with me on the Crusades to the Holy Land! .
It was when King Alexander III died prematurely and the heir to the throne, the Maid of Norway was then only 3 years old. I was the Great Uncle of the ‘The Maid’.. Her future marriage was arranged by myself with her father, the King of Norway and the Pope. She was to be married to my son, Edward.
How wonderful it would have been for everyone if the Maid had succeeded to the Scottish throne and then married King Edward II – a Union of the two Crowns. Alas, it was not to be, and I feared mightily that there would now be Civil War in Scotland.
I was invited, nay, begged to arbitrate amongst the contenders and the malefactions. Someone had to arbitrate if only to stop them slaying each other. All of this was in October 1290.
Travelling with my forces to provide a peace keeping army, alas, my beloved Queen Eleanor of Castille died – a grievous loss as we had been married for 35 years. She had a calming influence on me and it made me realise that time was running out for me and many things were unsettled.
The claimants and noblemen assembled at Norham in June 1291 and swore allegiance and loyalty to me as their feudal superior in Scotland as well as in England. I guess they had no choice – none of the claimants could overcome the others as they did not have the resources. Just over a year later the Scots’ own Court appointed John Balliol to be their sovereign. This pleased me much. My concern was that they might choose Robert Bruce ‘the Competitor.’ He was a good and experienced campaigner – too good!. . He died in May 1294 and so your young Robert the Bruce, was now the Earl of Carrick aged 21. He seemed a reliable and trustworthy supporter… How wrong I was – at least William Wallace never swore allegiance to me.
Robert, was, I thought, a fine fellow and was frequently at my Court in London. He was reliable and was given the Guardianship of my Castle in Carlisle. He did not get on with Balliol and did not support the treacherous move made by the so called ‘King John’ to re-activate the ‘Auld Alliance’ with our enemy, France.
What you say is true, but his family were always close contenders for the Scottish throne so I had to be careful. Keep them both busy as Guardians was my plan, so in 1299 to stop further feuding between Bruce and Comyn, Bruce was sent to recover Lochmaben Castle for us and Comyn to Argyllshire to crush a civil war organised by his own brother.
To my surprise Bruce resigned as a Guardian and returned to Carrick. He had his own problems as the Comyn family were trying to gain the support of the people of Galloway to wage war on Bruce’s Carrick lands. Comyn was a troublesome fellow.
In 1302 I commended Bruce to a marriage to Elizabeth de Burgh whom he had met at the Court in London. She was the daughter of the Earl of Ulster, a good friend and ally of mine. I had good reason for this. The Pope had released Balliol from custody and he was likely to return to Scotland with a French army. Bruce’s lands in Scotland, let alone those in England, could have been lost should he decide to rebel or support Balliol. For me this was a guarantee of future loyalty much needed as I was old and not in good health. I knew that my son Edward was weak and I wanted the problems in Scotland to be settled by the new Constitution.
I was exceedingly angry. I had trusted him of all people. Of course, I had my men spy on Bruce and Comyn and I had noted that Bruce was absent at the time of the new Constitutional Proclamation. There was word of a secret pact between Bruce and Comyn, with Bishop Lamberton acting as intermediary for Bruce, so that Comyn would assist Bruce in obtaining the throne of Scotland and Comyn would receive the substantial Bruce lands, but no proof.
On that fateful day in Dumfries on 10 February 1306 Comyn agreed to leave his castle at Dalswinton and meet Bruce because it was to be within the sanctity of the church itself at Greyfriars – safe ground and a holy place.
You have probably heard the rest of the story – an argument turned to violence, fatal for John Comyn.
My garrisons were taken by surprise, Dumfries Castle was destroyed and within six weeks Bruce was crowned at Scone Palace as King. Bishops Lamberton and Wishart, a most worldly and unholy pair in my book, joined in the proceedings of this so called coronation.
These people made a fool of me.. I had been tolerant of Robert the Bruce’s past acts of disloyalty, putting it down to youth. At that time I did think of myself for good reason as ‘the Hammer of the Scots’.
Worse was to come at Glen Trool. Appearing from nowhere, Bruce’s small force overcame my army lead by the stupid Pembroke. They retreated back to Carlisle.
Bruce was now gaining ever more support as each day passed. I had to fight him myself…
Alas, my age and infirmity defeated me at Burgh outside Carlisle. I died in July 1307 and so it was all left to my hapless son . Successive monarchs tried with varying success, even Scottish Kings, to unite the two nations but. eventually there was a United Kingdom exactly 400 years later with the Act of Union.
I wish you well good fellow; you may take your leave – wiser, I warrant, from hearing these, my words.
