Bruce

Bruce, the name of a family descended from a Norman knight, Robert de Brus, who came over with the Conqueror, and who obtained extensive grants of lands in Northumberland. Later the family received additional grants in Annandale from David I., and so took rank among the territorial lords of Scotland. Among the more renowned of the Bruces were: - (1) Robert Bruce, who was born in 1210, and was the rival of John Baliol for the Scottish crown on the death of Margaret, "the Maiden of Norway." He claimed as the grandson of David, Earl of Huntingdon, by the second daughter Isabel, while Baliol claimed as the great-grandson by the eldest daughter. Edward I. arbitrated in favour of Baliol in 1292, and to avoid swearing fealty to Baliol, Bruce, who died in 1295, resigned his Annandale estate to his eldest son. (2) Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, eldest son of the preceding, accompanied Edward I. to Palestine in 1269, and fought on the side of the English in the battle of Dunbar, when he applied in vain to Edward for the Scottish crown. He married Marjory, Countess of Carrick, in 1271, and died in 1304, the eldest son being (3) Robert Bruce, one of the most famous kings of Scotland. He was born in 1274. In 1296, as Earl of Carrick, he paid homage to Edward I., and in the following year assisted the English against Wallace. In 1298, however, he joined the national party, and in 1299 became one of the four regents of Scotland, of which John Comyn, nephew of Baliol, was the chief. For several years Bruce kept up an appearance of fidelity to Edward, and sometimes even resided at his Court, but the final severance came in 1306, when Bruce stabbed his rival Comyn. In the same year he was crowned king at Scone, and an English army was sent against him. Defeated twice, he disbanded his followers, and retired to Rathlin Island, on the N. coast of Ireland. Here he remained all winter, and he was supposed to have died, when suddenly in the spring of 1307 he landed on the Carrick coast and defeated the English at Loudon Hill. He soon cleared the English garrisons out of Scotland, excepting that stationed at Stirling Castle. It was to the relief of this garrison that the English forces were advancing under Edward II. in 1314, when Bruce encountered them at Bannockburn (q.v.) on June 24th. In 1317 he went to Ireland to the aid of his brother Edward, who was king of that country, and on his return made reprisals upon England for her inroads upon Scotland during his absence. At last, in 1328, by the treaty of Northampton, the independence of Scotland and Bruce's right to the throne were recognised. He himself fell a victim to leprosy, and in 1329 died at Cardross castle, on the Firth of Clyde. He was married - first to Isabella, a daughter of the Earl of Mar, by whom he had a daughter, Marjory, the mother of Robert II.; second to Elizabeth, daughter of Aymer de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, by whom he had a son, David II.