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Clan Bruce

WE HAVE BEEN


Clan Bruce can trace its heritage back to the Norman conquest, when Sir Robert de Brus accompanied William the Conquerer to England. Although de Brus was awarded lands in England and fought against the Scots in the Battle of the Standard in 1138, a marriage between the 4th Lord of Annandale and the daughter of David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntington and heir to the Scottish throne. This union set the foundation for the Bruce claim to the throne, and the clan would later produce two Scottish monarchs.

The most famous Bruce king was Robert Bruce, 7th Lord of Annandale, later known as King Robert the Bruce. Victor of the Battle of Bannockburn, he was acknowledged as the rightful ruler of Scotland after the treaty of Northamption was signed in 1328. He died a year later and was buried in Dunfermline Abbey in Fife; his heart is buried in Melrose Abbey in the Scottish Borders. His son, David II of Scotland, inherited the throne and ruled from 1329 until his death in 1371, at which point the monarchy transferred to the Stewarts.

The Bruce clan motto is "Fuimus" (We Have Been) and the clan crest is a lion with its tail extended.

Scottish History

of Clan Bruce


Staking claims

There can be no prouder name in Scottish history than that of Bruce. Yet originally the Bruces were a French family, who came to England as part of the peaceful Norman Conquest of that country. They were granted their first lands in 1101, when King Henry I bestowed the manors of Collingham and Righton in Yorkshire on Robert de Bruis.

Robert was one of five sons of Adam, Lord of Bruis in Normandy, where the remains of the family’s stronghold can still be seen at Brix, to the south of Cherbourg. The family estate passed to Adam, the eldest Bruis son, and, as younger brother, Robert therefore came across the Channel to seek his fortune as best he could in England.

It was while he was at the royal court of King Henry that he first encountered the young Scottish Prince David. The two youths got on well and when the prince became King David I of Scotland he remembered his French friend by making him Lord of Annandale in the south west of Scotland.

By the start of the 14th century the French and Yorkshire branches of the Bruce family had died out, but the Bruces of Annandale continued to flourish. As early as 1291, Robert Bruce of Annandale made a bid for title to the throne of Scotland. In that year he became one of the 13 Competitors as the claimants to the Scottish throne became known. His right to the crown was soundly based on the fact that as the eldest son of the daughter of David of Huntingdon, he was the closest relative to King Alexander II, whose son Alexander III died without a direct heir, when he fell from his horse and fell over the cliff onto the rocks near Kinghorn, while riding home to spend the night with his young French bride.

At first it was agreed the Scottish throne should pass to Princess Margaret, the Little Maid of Norway, but when she died in Orkney on her journey to Scotland the way was left open for Robert Bruce and his rivals to stake their claims.

Bruce along with the other Competitors agreed that King Edward I of England should be the judge of these claims. Edward took a whole year to decide in favour of John Balliol, grandson of the eldest daughter of David of Huntingdon, who was known for his weakness and willingness to be an English puppet.

Despite his bitter disappointment, Bruce immediately looked to the future of his family, by announcing that from then on he would champion the right to the throne of his eldest son, Robert. Robert never succeeded in making good that claim, that honour having to wait for his son and namesake.

Robert, son of Bruce the Competitor, married Marjorie, Countess of Carrick. Their first son Robert, the future King of Scotland, was born at Turnberry on the Ayrshire coast in 1274. During his boyhood and youth, he travelled widely, not just visiting his father’s estates around Lochmaben in Annandale, Aberdeenshire and Yorkshire, but also in Kintyre and across the St. George’s Channel in Ireland.

When he was eighteen he succeeded his father as Earl of Carrick. He married Isabel of Mar and she bore him a daughter, Marjory, before her death at a young age.

Like his father, Robert refused to acknowledge John Balliol as English puppet king of Scotland, but like his father and most other Scottish lairds did swear loyalty to King Edward. In those days the concept of nationality was less developed.

While his father remained faithful to Edward until his death, Robert declared, “I must be with my own” and joined Sir William Wallace and John Comyn as Guardians of Scotland. In 1302, when Edward offered a truce he accepted it and gave some support to the English king’s campaign during the following year.

Bruce remarried, his wife this time being Elizabeth de Burgh. Shortly afterwards, his father died in 1304 and upon inheriting the Bruce estates south of the border, Robert became one of the richest men in England. In spite of all he now possessed, and ran the risk of losing, Robert threw in his lot with the fight for Scottish independence at the beginning of 1306.

In February of that year Robert met his fellow Guardian John de Comyn in the church at Dumfries. In a furious quarrel during which the Comyn refused to support him and apparently threatened to reveal Robert’s plans to John Balliol, the Bruce stabbed him to death.

For committing such a deed in a holy place Bruce was excommunicated by the church, but despite the shame, he gained a great deal of support in Scotland for his claim to the throne. He was crowned at Scone by Isabella, Countess of Buchan. This open act of defiance spurred Edward to send his troops in pursuit of Robert. The Bruce was defeated in attacks at Methven and at Dalry near Tyndrum. Many of his followers, including three of his brothers were caught and executed, but Robert succeeded in making his escape to the Western Isles.

Robert’s little daughter Marjory was arrested along with the Countess of Buchan at Tain, where they had sought sanctuary in a holy shrine and was sent by the English to the Tower of London. There she was imprisoned in a small iron cage and forbidden to talk to anyone apart from the Constable of the Tower. She was later sent to a nunnery before being returned to Scotland.

Meanwhile Robert came back from the isles to the mainland where he continued to gather support, marching through the Great Glen, all the way north to Inverness. By 1308 he controlled all castles north of the Forth and gave orders that they be destroyed so that they could not be re-occupied by the English.

Gradually his power grew throughout the Lothians and Borders and Linlithgow Palace was regained for him thanks to the wily Farmer Binne, who tricked the English garrison into opening the portcullis gate.

By 1314 Stirling Castle alone remained in English hands defying the Bruce, but instead of attacking and trying to capture it, Bruce’s eldest brother Edward, who never grasped the logic of his leader’s policy of destroying castles, agreed a one year truce. By this the castle’s Governor, Philip de Mowbray promised to surrender unless it was relieved by midsummer’s day 1314. The scene was thus set for the final showdown. King Edward II was forced to march his army north to Stirling’s defence and Robert the Bruce to prepare for the battle, which neither leader was really confident that they wanted, but which in the end was to win Scotland’s freedom!

Bannockburn

On the eve of the Battle of Bannockburn in June 1314, Robert the Bruce and his Scottish soldiers knelt and repeated the Lord’s prayer. Seeing the Scots on their knees, King Edward II of England, son of the old Hammer of the Scots, is said to have jeered and declared, “See they are already begging for mercy!” Riding by his side, his esquire De Umfraville replied, “Yes, your majesty, they ask for mercy, but not from you. I tell you these men will not flee for any fear of death”.

Bruce and his supporters might well have felt like fleeing, because as they settled for the night on the banks of the Bannock Burn, they must have been able to see that they were very heavily outnumbered, their six thousand infantry and five hundred lightly armed horsemen comparing miserably with the sixteen thousand English infantry and two thousand five hundred cavalry.

Just before darkness fell on that brief June night, Bruce rode out on his pony to review the lines, when suddenly he was confronted by the fully armour clad English knight, Henry De Bohun. As the knight pulled his sword to slay the Scottish king and leave the Scots leaderless for the next day’s fray, Bruce hit back with the only weapon he carried, his small battle axe. With one blow he felled his great English adversary and as he rode back amongst his men, his followers deemed his success the best possible omen they could have for the battle, which was to begin at dawn, on June 24.

At first light King Edward began to deploy his troops, but the swollen waters of the

Bannock Burn made the job difficult because of the limited space. Looking down from the higher ground to the north, King Robert observed the difficulties which the English were experiencing getting into position. Contrary to his usual practice, the Bruce therefore decided to sacrifice the advantage of the high ground to launch the attack. Swiftly he gave orders for three of his four blocks of infantry to advance and attack, while holding his own infantrymen back in reserve.

The three forward squares of Scottish infantry soon came under heavy attack, but thanks to the homework, which the Bruce had done the previous day, they were spared the worst of attack by the much feared English cavalry. For Bruce had had his men dig knee high ditches and fill them with sharp pointed branches of trees and now the English horsemen found themselves floundering in these watery pits.

The Bruce then sent his own five hundred horsemen forward to disperse the English archers. The flooded Bannock Burn made it difficult for Edward to move up his reinforcements and the situation was made even more congested by his own retreating bowmen.

Now, Bruce judged, was the moment to lead his block of Scottish infantry forward to win the day. Seeing that victory was theirs, even his camp followers left their vantage point on nearby Gillies Hill, waving white sheets. The English mistook them for a further regiment of reinforcements. Taking to their heels, the rout was complete. Many of the Englishmen, who had survived the fray, died as they fled, falling into the swollen waters of the Bannock Burn, which was said to have turned red with the blood of the vanquished.

Edward and five hundred of his cavalry at first sought refuge in Stirling Castle, but were refused entry by Governor de Mowbray, who realised that he must soon surrender to the Bruce, who when that time came treated him with all honour.

Meanwhile Edward and his nobles rode fast, not stopping until they reached Winchburgh, half way between Linlithgow and Edinburgh, and finally making good their escape by commandeering a small sailing boat at Dunbar and sailing south to England.

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