The Boys' Book of Rulers

The history of Robert Bruce would not be complete without a brief account of William Wallace, which will help to give a clearer idea of the affairs of Scotland at that time.

William Wallace was descended from an ancient family in the west of Scotland. Having been provoked and insulted by an English officer, Wallace had put him to death, and therefore was obliged to flee for safety to the forests. Here he collected a large band of bold men. Some of these were outlawed for crimes; others, on account of bad fortune or hatred of the English, were willing participants in this daring scheme. William Wallace possessed gigantic strength of body as well as heroic courage, and so was admirably suited to become a leader in such a perilous enterprise.

This little band of Scottish warriors made many successful raids upon their English foes, until the fame of their exploits became so wide-spread that the English were filled with terror, and their enslaved countrymen were inspired with hopes of freedom from the galling yoke of oppression which fettered their hitherto independent country.

Wallace now determined to strike a decisive blow against the English government. Warrene, the governor of Scotland, had retired to England on account of his health, so that the administration of Scotland was left in the hands of Ormesby, the justiciary, and Cressingham, who held the office of treasurer. Wallace formed a plan of attacking Ormesby, at Scone; but the justiciary being informed of such intentions, fled in terror to England. All the other English officers imitated his example. The Scots, encouraged by these events, sprang to arms.

Many of the principal barons, including Sir William Douglas, openly countenanced the party of Wallace. Meanwhile, Warrene, earl of Surrey, collected an army of forty thousand men, in the north of England, and invaded Scotland. He suddenly entered Annandale, and came up with the enemy at Irvine, before the Scottish forces were prepared for battle. Many of the Scottish nobles, alarmed at this unforeseen event, submitted to the English, and renewed their oaths of fealty, and gave hostages for their fidelity, whereupon they received pardon for their rebellion. Others, who had not openly declared themselves, thought best to side with the English, and wait a better opportunity for avowing themselves as partisans of the Scottish cause. But Wallace persevered in his bold enterprise, and marched northwards and established his little army at Cambuskenneth. When Warrene advanced to Stirling, he found Wallace on the opposite banks of the Forth. Wallace had chosen a position near a narrow bridge which spanned the Forth, and as the English, with thoughtless precipitation, commenced to cross, Wallace attacked them before they were fully formed, and put them to rout, gaining a complete victory. Among the slain was Cressingham, who was so hated by the Scots that they flayed his dead body, and made saddle-girths of his skin. Warrene, finding his remaining forces much dismayed by this defeat, returned again to England.

Wallace was now made regent, or guardian of the country, by his enthusiastic followers; and his brave band, not content with their past exploits, invaded England, and laid waste many counties, returning to their native land loaded with spoils, and crowned with glory.

But now factions amongst the Scots themselves caused a disaster which deprived them of all they had gained. The Scottish nobles were unwilling that Wallace should be placed over them in power; and that patriot, to avoid jealousies and dissensions, resigned his authority as regent, retaining only his command over that body of warriors who refused to follow any other leader than the brave Wallace, under whose banner they had so often been led to victory.

The Scottish army was now divided into three bands. The chief power devolved on the steward of Scotland, and Comyn of Badenoch. The third band was commanded by the valiant Wallace. Edward, having collected the entire military force of England, Wales, and Ireland, marched into Scotland with an army of nearly one hundred thousand men.

When the two forces met in battle at Falkirk, the English archers chased the Scottish bowmen off the field, then shooting their arrows amongst the pikemen, they were thrown into confusion, and the English cavalry soon put the Scots to rout, with great slaughter. Some historians state that the loss of the Scots, upon this occasion, was fifty or sixty thousand men. In this general rout of the Scottish army, Wallace’s superior military skill and presence of mind enabled him to keep his band together, and retiring to the farther bank of a small river called the Carron, he marched along its banks protected from the enemy. Bruce, who was serving in the English army, recognized the valiant Scottish chief, and calling out to him, desired a conference. This being granted, he endeavored to convince Wallace of the helplessness of his rash enterprise, and advised him to submit. But the intrepid Wallace replied, that if he had hitherto acted alone as the champion of his country, it was because no other would assume the place. He exhorted Bruce to espouse the cause of his enslaved land, representing to him the glory of the enterprise, and hope of opposing successfully the power of the English. With enthusiasm he declared that he would prefer to give his own life, and the existence of the nation, when they could only be preserved by receiving the chains of a haughty victor.

Bruce was greatly moved by these sentiments of brave patriotism, and regretting his engagements to Edward, the enemy of his people, resolved to embrace the cause of his oppressed country.

We cannot follow the brave and valiant Wallace through his after career, and will but note his sad and unworthy fate. He was betrayed into Edward’s hands by Sir John Monteith, who had been his friend. Edward ordered Wallace to be carried in chains to London, where he was tried as a rebel or traitor, though he had never sworn fealty to England; and he was executed on Tower Hill. This barbarous cruelty of the English king only inflamed the Scots to fresh rebellions; and they now again sprang to arms, shouting, “Bruce to the rescue!”

Robert Bruce had long resolved to attempt to free his enslaved country. The death of William Wallace, and the memory of his patriotic exhortation after the battle of Falkirk, on the banks of the river Carron, added fresh impetus to this resolve; and his open avowal could be no longer delayed on account of two incidents which happened about this time.

Bruce had ventured to disclose this resolve to John Comyn, surnamed the Red, a powerful nobleman and warm friend. He found Comyn apparently in full accord with his avowed sentiments. But that nobleman afterwards treacherously revealed the secret to the English king. Edward did not immediately seize and imprison Bruce, because he desired also to ensnare his three brothers, who resided in Scotland. But he placed spies over Bruce; and a nobleman, Gilbert de Clare, one of the lords in Edward’s court, but also a friend of Robert Bruce, having learned of the danger which threatened him, and fearing to risk his own position by an open warning, sent Bruce a pair of golden spurs and a purse of gold by his servant, with this message: “My master sent these to thee, and bid me say, that the receiver would have sagacity enough to determine quickly to what use they should be put.”

Bruce was not slow in taking the warning. Evidently, some one at court had betrayed him! Ah, he had it! surely it could be no other than the Red Comyn!

There is a story told, that three days previous to this event, Robert Bruce was praying at the altar, in a chapel where afterwards stood St. Martin’s church. It was midnight, and Bruce was alone. With tearful eyes he exclaimed, —

“Yes, at the foot of this high altar, I’ll swear forthwith to fling the yoke from off me, in spite of hostile man and misleading fiend; knowing that if I put trust in, and pay obedience to, the King of kings, my triumph shall be sure, my victory complete!”

“Amen to that!” whispered a sweet and plaintive voice in the ear of the kneeling earl.

Bruce sprang to his feet, exclaiming, “Who art thou?” But he saw only a muffled figure glide swiftly behind one of the pillars. Bruce pursued; but the same soft voice replied: —

“I am neither foe to Scotland’s cause, nor shall be to him whose it is to see her righted, laggard although he be in responding to the urgent call. Farewell to the valiant Bruce! We may meet again, yet nevermore in this holy place; for even three days must not elapse and find him loitering near the stern and subtle Edward, or it will be woe to Scotland and to Scotland’s mightiest lord! Let the Bruce find his way to the altar, upon which I place a token for his keeping and his use – the bugle-horn of the immortal Wallace; with which he summoned to his standard his faithful countrymen, and led them to victory, till he was overcome by treachery and death. Take this sacred bugle-horn, and sound the call for Scotland’s freedom!”

Ere the astonished Bruce could answer, a figure shot past him, and was lost in the darkness. The earl, groping his way in the dim light to the altar, found there the precious relic promised; and he went forth under the starlit midnight sky, vowing to strike a blow for his enslaved country. Bruce needed no second warning of his danger, but the very night upon which he received the gilt spurs and purse of gold, he ordered two of his horses to be shod with reversed shoes, so that their course might not be traced, as snow had fallen, and the prints of the horses’ feet would therefore be plainly visible. Then Bruce and one faithful attendant, named Walter Kennedy, hastily mounted their horses, and rode out of London under cover of the darkness of the night.

As they left the great city behind them, Walter Kennedy ventured to say, —

“If I may be so bold, good master, where gang we on sic a night? Thou bidst me tell our talkative host at the inn, that Garrick’s lord had a love adventure on foot. But me thinkst thou art too true a knight for that.”

“Well said, my faithful Walter!” replied Bruce. “’Tis in truth a love adventure, but concerns no lady fair, for my good wife is fairer to me than all other women. But ’tis for love of country we go forth, – to free our bonny Scotland. Surely that were love adventure worthy of both a valiant knight and loyal husband. Still it is for sake of lovely woman also; for my sweet wife and fair daughters are e’en now in Scotland, and I fear me that their liberty, if not their lives, will soon be in danger, as I am warned that the wily King Edward is my bitter enemy and treacherous spy.”

“Ha! ’tis well spoken, good master!” exclaimed Kennedy, with enthusiasm, and lifting his Scotch bonnet from his head, he cried aloud, “Bruce to the rescue.”

“Hist, man!” said Bruce, laying his hand upon the bridle-rein of his faithful and loyal retainer; “knowest thou not that these English forests secrete hostile ears, to whom thy wild cry wouldst betray us? Not till I have gathered my forces and blown the bugle-horn of the valiant Wallace, will it be safe to openly sound that war-cry.”

The snow still fell thickly, and it was difficult to follow the right route through the blinding storm; but ere long the moon shone out with brightness, and seemed to smile upon their perilous adventure, and promise success.

After a few days Bruce arrived at Dumfries, in Annandale, the chief seat of his family interests. Here he found a great number of the Scottish noblemen assembled, and among the rest the treacherous John Comyn. These noblemen were astonished at the appearance of Bruce amongst them, and still more when he avowed his determination to live or die with them in the defence of the liberty of Scotland. All the nobles declared their unanimous resolution to rise to arms in the cause of their enslaved country. Comyn alone opposed this measure. Bruce, already sure of his treachery, followed Comyn on the dissolution of the assembly, and attacked him in the cloisters of the Gray Friars, through which he passed, and piercing him with his sword, left him bleeding on the ground. As Bruce rushed into the street, pale and agitated, Sir Thomas Kirkpatrick, one of his friends, asked him if all was well. “I fear I have slain Comyn,” replied Bruce, as he hastily mounted his horse.

“Such a matter must not be left to doubt,” exclaimed Kirkpatrick; “I’ll mak sicker!” – and dashing into the sanctuary, he ran his dagger into the heart of the dying Comyn.

This deed of Bruce and his friend, which would be justly condemned in the present age, was at that time regarded as an act of valiant patriotism and commendable policy. The family of Kirkpatrick were so proud of the deed that they took for the crest of their arms a hand with a bloody dagger, and chose for their motto those words, “I’ll mak sicker!” meaning, “I will make sure of it.”

Bruce now raised the standard of independence. Some priests and lords gathered round him, and boldly crowned him at Scone. On the day of the Annunciation, 1306, Scotland received her ninety-seventh king in the person of the valiant Robert Bruce; and all Scotland rang with the joyful war-cry, “Bruce to the rescue!”

The undertaking of Bruce was one of a gigantic nature. Yet amidst all the seemingly insurmountable obstacles which surrounded him from English foes and Scottish grandees, – who were many of them in league against him, for the faction of Baliol and the powerful family of Comyn were his avowed enemies, – and though he was subjected to frequent perils, dangerous ambuscades and escapes, and many individual conflicts of daring courage, Robert Bruce persisted firmly in his patriotic design of restoring his enslaved country to freedom, and giving protection to the people who had formerly called his ancestor their king.

Edward I. had now become aged and unwieldly, so that he could not readily mount on horseback. When he was informed of this daring attempt of Bruce to wrest from his power a kingdom which had cost him so much to gain and hold, he despatched a messenger to the Pope, praying him to issue the thunders of the Vatican against this bold traitor and murderer of Comyn, and that he would place under interdict all who should endeavor to aid him or draw a sword in defence of liberty. This sentence of interdict, which the Pope often issued against sovereigns for the most trivial offences, involved a nation in the greatest misery. The people were deprived of all the services of the church; no sacred rite was performed for them except the baptism of infants, and the administration of the communion to the dying.

The churches were deserted, and the altars were stripped of all the sacred ornaments. The dead lay uninterred, for the consecrated ground was prohibited; and when at last the corpses must be buried, they were hurriedly piled up in ditches and covered over, without any church service to soothe the surviving mourners or hallow the last rites to the dead. The thunders of the Roman pontiff, however, fell powerless upon Robert the Bruce, for he had previously secured the alliance of the Scottish clergy; and as they wished to remain independent of the English bishops, they braved the thunders of the hierarchy, and persisted in celebrating divine worship, notwithstanding its prohibition by the head of the church.

In spite of old age and sickness, King Edward began to make extensive preparations for marching personally against the Scots. Prince Edward, his son, was twenty-two years of age, and having not yet been knighted, the king conferred this distinction upon him and bestowed upon him his spurs. Whereupon the young knight then conferred the same honor upon two hundred and seventy young lords who were about to become his comrades in arms. All the company then met at a magnificent banquet. A golden net was placed upon the table, containing two swans, emblems of constancy and fidelity. Then the king, placing his hands upon their heads, swore to avenge the death of Comyn and to punish the rebels of Scotland, without sleeping for two nights in the same place, and to start immediately afterwards for Palestine, in order to rescue the Holy Sepulchre. The young men swore the same oath as the king, and then they started for the frontiers, the king following more slowly, as he was too feeble to travel except upon a litter.

The earl of Pembroke had been sent by King Edward, with a small army, into Scotland while the king was preparing his forces. Pembroke met the Scots at Methven, where a battle was fought in which the Scots were defeated, and many of them killed and taken prisoners; these were afterwards put to death with great cruelty by Edward’s orders. Bruce retired into the mountains with five hundred men. King Edward had only been able to proceed as far as Carlisle; but on his dying bed he was cruelly ordering the Scottish prisoners to be beheaded, and still directing the operations of his troops. Bruce was living in the forests with a few faithful companions. His wife, daughter, and sister shared his adventuresome life.

But as winter approached, the ladies were sent to the castle of Keldrummie, but they met with a sad fate here. The castle was stormed and taken by the English; Nigel Bruce, Robert’s younger brother, was cruelly put to death, and the queen of Scotland and her daughter, and also the sister of Bruce, were sent to England, where the queen was imprisoned, and the daughter and sister of King Robert were shut up in wooden cages at Berwick and Roxburgh, and were exposed to the public gaze.

Bruce’s little band were attacked by Lord Lorn, the Red Comyn’s nephew, and therefore a bitter foe. Finding that his faithful followers were falling under the battle-axes of their enemies, King Robert sounded a retreat; and with marvellous bravery Robert Bruce, mounted upon his war-horse and clad in armor, took his position in the defile and defended the approach alone. At length three men, famous for their strength, sprang forward together upon the royal champion, who calmly held his long sword on guard, and whose bright eyes glittered beneath his helmet. One seized the bridle of the horse; but Bruce raised his sword, and the arm of the assailant fell helpless, his hand being severed. Another fastened himself on the leg of the horseman; but the fiery war-horse reared, and again the invincible sword split his head open. The third now clutched the king’s cloak; but again the sword dealt its fatal blow, and the three assailants soon lay dead, while the valiant king escaped without a wound. Robert Bruce was now obliged to flee, and he took refuge in the small island of Rachrin. His retreat was unknown to his enemies, and a large reward was offered to whoever would give news of “Robert Bruce, lost, strayed, or stolen.”

During this time the Scottish king met with many adventures. One day, leaving the island of Rachrin, he sailed with his little band in some small boats to the isle of Arran. On landing they met a woman, of whom the king inquired if there had been any military arrivals.

“Surely, sir,” she replied, “I can tell you of some who lately blockaded the English governor’s castle. They maintain themselves in the woods near by.”

Robert Bruce, thinking that it was of brave Douglas of whom she spoke, blew his horn. It was answered by Sir James Douglas, who recognized the bugle of his sovereign, and when he hastily approached the king, they kissed for joy at such fortunate meeting. The small bands of King Robert and Douglas now crossed in boats to the opposite shore, and concealed themselves in a cavern, called the Cave of Colean. Learning that a large party of English were settled in the town of Turnberry, Bruce made a bold attack upon them, with three hundred men, and put two hundred of the English to the sword. The garrison, in the castle near by, were afraid to sally forth, as it was a dark night, and Bruce carried off the spoil, among which were the war-horses and household plate of the governor. Bruce now retired with his brave band to a green hill, called afterwards the “Weary Neuk.” Here they rested for three days, when they returned to the mountains to wait for reinforcements. It was then that King Robert learned of the sad fate of his wife, daughter, and sister, and the cruel death of his brother. But he humanely spared the life of every captive who fell into his hands, and did not yield to the temptation to revenge himself by their death, in retaliation for the wrongs he had suffered. In consequence of his privations and exposures, he was attacked with a severe sickness, and having found relief from a certain medicinal spring, when he had afterwards established himself upon his throne, he founded a priory of Dominican monks there, and ordered houses to be built around the spring for eight lepers, and a certain sum of money and meal was settled upon the lands of Fullarton, for their support. In compliment to Sir William Wallace, the relatives and descendants of that knight were invested with the right of placing the lepers upon this establishment, known as the “King’s Ease.” This was secured by charter, and the leper’s charter-stone, which was a large stone of elliptical shape, has been handed down to modern times.

King Robert had some very narrow escapes from death. It is reported that at one time, Sir Ingram Umfraville bribed an inhabitant of Carrick, with his two sons, to kill Bruce. These peasants, knowing that the king was accustomed at an early hour every morning to retire for meditation, accompanied by a single page, who carried his bow and arrows, determined to select such time for the attack. As the assailants approached, Bruce suspecting their design, took his bow and arrows from his attendant, bidding him retire to a place of safety, saying, “If I vanquish these traitors, you will have a sufficiency of arms, and if I fall, you can flee for you life.”

As the peasants drew near, the king discharged an arrow, which hit the father in the eye; upon which, the son, brandishing his battle-axe, rushed to the combat, but missing his blow, he stumbled and fell, and Robert severed his head in two at one stroke. The third peasant, with spear in hand, then rushed upon the king, but Bruce cut off the steel-head of the spear, and laid him also dead at his feet. When the page approached, he found the king wiping his good sword, while he remarked, “These would have been three gallant men had they not fallen victims to covetousness.”

At another time, King Robert was surprised by a party of two hundred men with bloodhounds. Bruce was accompanied by only two men. The king was in a most perilous situation, but he stationed himself in a narrow gorge and despatched his companions in haste for succor. But before his band of brave Scots arrived, King Robert had slain with his dreadful sword, fourteen of his enemies, who were found piled up in the gorge, men and horses above each other.

A party of English, under the command of John Lorn, now determined to search for the brave Bruce among the mountains of Carrick, where he was intrenched; and in order to track the valiant Scottish king, Lorn carried with him a sagacious bloodhound which belonged to Bruce. This bloodhound proved of great use to Lorn, for it discovered his master by its scent, and the English pursued him so closely that Bruce divided his men in small bands and dispersed them, that they might thus more easily flee. Still being pressed sorely by the relentless foe, Robert dismissed all his men, each one to look out for his own safety; and attended only by his foster-brother, who would not leave him, the brave Scottish king fled, still pursued by five of Lorn’s men, led on by the bloodhound who tracked his master with sure scent. Meanwhile the dog was outrun by the five powerful mountaineers, and the king and his foster-brother at last stood at bay to receive them. Bruce singled three of these assailants, leaving his companion to combat with two. As the first approached, the king cleft him through the skull with one blow of his weapon, and as the other two fell back for a moment, stunned by this unexpected disaster, Bruce sprang to the assistance of his foster-brother, whom he saw was in danger, and severing the head of one of his assailants from his body, he quickly laid his other two enemies dead, while the fifth was killed by his companion. When the king graciously thanked his faithful foster-brother for his aid, “It’s like you to say so,” he replied, “but you yourself slew four of the five.”

But now the cry of the hound was heard again, for Lorn and his band were on the trail. The king and his companion hastily entered a small stream near by, to break the scent of the hound, and as the dog bounded up and down the banks, having lost all scent of his master, the foster-brother of King Robert shot him dead with an arrow, from their retreat in the forest. They then fled in safety from their pursuers, who gave up the chase. But King Robert had escaped from the bloodhound only to fall into other dangers. Three freebooters, pretending to be friends of the Scottish king, joined him and his foster-brother in their retreat through the forest. Bruce, suspecting these companions, desired them to walk at some distance before.