ANNALS

OF

SCOTLAND.

ROBERT І.

1306.

ROBERT BRUCE had many and formidable obstacles to surmount in his progress to sovereign power; the solemn oaths, and even the general inclinations of the nobility; the revenge of the potent house of Comyn; the whole force of England; and the guilt of what was commonly held to be a sacrilegious murder.

Without any resources but in his own valour, and in the untried fidelity of a few partisans,* Bruce ascended the throne of his ancestors, (at Scone, 27th March 1306).'

* " Manum erexit contra omnes et singulos de regno Scotiae, exceptis paucissimis sibi benevolis;" Fordun, L. xii. c. 9.

Fordun, xii. 9.

VOL. II.

The Earls of Fife, descendants of the celebrated M'Duff, had the privilege of crowning the Kings of Scotland. At this time Duncan Earl of Fife favoured the English interest; but his sister Isabella, wife of the Earl of Buchan, secretly withdrawing from her husband, repaired to Scone, asserted the pretensions of her ancestors, and again placed the crown on the head of ROBERT I.* (29th March).

Posterity ought to remember the chief associates of Bruce in his arduous attempt to restore the liberties of Scotland.3

They were, William of Lambyrton, Bishop of St Andrews; Robert Wisheart, Bishop of Glasgow; the Abbot of Scone; the four brothers of Bruce, Edward, Nigel, Thomas, and Alexander; his nephew, Thomas Randolph of Strahdon; his brother-in-law, Christopher Seaton of Seaton ; Malcolm (5th) Earl of Lennox; John of Strathbogie (10th) Earl of Athole; Sir James Douglas ;

* In Scalae Chron. ap. Leland. Collectanea, vol. i. p. 542. this bold action is ascribed to her mother-in-law, Elizabeth de Quinci, daughter of Roger de Quinci, Earl of Winchester, Constable of Scotland, and widow of Alexander Comyn, Earl of Buchan. "The Countess of Boughan, because her sunne was absent, lying at his manor of Witnick, (r. Whitwick) by Leicestre, toke upon her to corone Robert Bruse at Scone in Scotland." This authority is very express ; yet I incline to follow the writers of that age; Trivet, p. 342. and M. Westm. p. 454. M. Westm. accuses this intrepid lady of a criminal partiality for the new King; "transgresso maritali thoro, exarserat in speciem et concupiscentiam fatui coronati." The monk who calls Robert Bruce a fool, may be permitted to call the Countess of Buchan an adulteress: such idle stories are always circulated by malice and credulity in times of public disorder.

1

Gilbert de la Haye of Errol, and his brother Hugh de la Haye; David Barclay of Cairns in Fife; Alexander Fraser, brother of Simon Fraser of Oliver-castle; Walter de Somerville of Linton and Carnwath; David of Inchmartin; Robert Boyd; and Robert Fleming.*

* Randolph, afterwards Earl of Moray; Seaton, ancestor of the Duke of Gordon, Earl of Winton, Earl of Dunfermline, and Viscount Kingston; De la Haye, of Earl of Errol; Fraser, of Lord Lovat and Lord Salton; Somerville, of Lord Somerville; Inchmartin, of Earl of Findlater, Earl of Airley, and Lord Banff; Boyd, of Earl of Kilmarnock; Fleming, of Earl of Wigton. Math. Westm. p. 452. adds, Alan Earl of Menteth. Nigel Campbell, the predecessor of the Duke of Argyle, &c. and Fraser of Oliver-castle, were also engaged in the cause; but it does not appear that they assisted at the coronation of Robert I.

To this list David Moray, Bishop of Moray, might be added. The English asserted that he preached to the people of his diocese, "that it was no less meritorious to rise in arms for supporting the cause of Bruce, than to engage in a crusade against the Saracens. Quia dedit eis intelligere, praedicando, periculo animae suae, quod non minus possent mereri, qui cum Domino Roberto in ipsius auxilium contra Regem Angliae et suos insurgerent, et partem ipsius Roberti juvarent, quam si in Terram Sanctam contra Paganos et Saracenos proficisserent." (Sic MS.) Records, London. This bishop was the founder of the Scots College at Paris; Keith, Catalogue, p. 82.

As there will be frequent occasion for quoting the metrical life of Robert Bruce, by John Barbour, it may be proper to premise some particulars concerning the author. He was bred to the church, and obtained the office of Archdeacon of Aberdeen: While he enjoyed that office he had leave to study at Oxford, 31mo, Edw. iii.; Calendars of Ancient Charters, p. 219. He finished his history in 1375, and he died an aged man in 1396. This circumstance is to be learned from The Chartulary of Aberdeen, fol. 115. where, 10th August 1398, mention is made of " quondam Joh. Barber Archidiaconus Aberd." and where it is said that he died two years and a half before; therefore, in 1396. Barbour, when he describes the person of Thomas Randolph, Earl of Moray, seems to speak as from his own observation. Randolph died in 1331. Supposing Barbour to have been 80 at his death, he was 15 at the death of Randolph. Fordun, L. xii. c. 9. says, "Magister Johannes Barbarii, Archidiaconus Aberdonensis, in lingua nostra materna

Edward I. was at Winchester when tidings of the revolution in Scotland arrived; he immediately appointed Aymer de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, to be guardian of that kingdom,* and despatched a messenger to the Pope, informing him of the violation of the sanctuary, and of the slaughter of Comyn. With equal diligence, the Pope issued an order authorizing the Archbishop of York, and the Bishop of Carlisle, to excommunicate Bruce and his adherents.4

Edward, now become infirm, and having lost the use of his limbs, proceeded to London by slow journeys.ts At his arrival there, he conferred the honour of knighthood on his son the Prince of Wales, on the Earls of Warenne and Arundel, and on near 300 more. At a feast given on occasion of this solemnity, the King, although aged and debilitated, made a vow, that he would take ven

disertè et luculenter satis ipsa ejus particularia gesta, nec non multùm eleganter peroravit." There is reason to believe that the language of Barbour, obsolete as it may now seem, has been modernized by some officious transcriber.

* The letters-patent to Pembroke are drawn up in an enraged and vindictive style. In them Edward says, That Bruce was a person in whom he reposed entire confidence; (de quo plenam fiduciam habebamus); Foedera, T. ii. p. 988. The Pope's bull is dated from Bourdeaux, 18th May 1306; Foedera, T. ii. p. 997.

"Movit se Rex versus Londonias currizando, quia ob infirmitatem quam habuit in tibiis, non potuit equitare;" Trivet, p. 342. ‡ The circumstances attending this vow, as related by M. Westm. p. 454. are singular. "Tunc allati sunt in pompatica gloria duo cygni vel olores ante Regem, phalerati retibus aureis vel fistulis deauratis, desiderabile spectaculum intuentibus. Qui