BRUCE, ROBERT (1274-1329). Liberator of Scotland. and King of that country from 1306 to 1329. He was the grandson of Robert Bruce, the competitor of Edward Baliol for the throne in 1290, and was born July 11, 1274. In the early part of his career lie seems to have been guided entirely by selfish interests, and to have played fast and loose with both English and Scotch. At first he favored the English interests, in the expectation. doubtless. of his father being raised to the Scottish throne, and in 1296, as Earl of Carrick. he swore fealty to Edward I. at Berwick, and the following year he is said to have renewed his oath of homage at Carlisle. Shortly after, he abandoned the cause of Edward, joined the Scottish leaders in arms for the inde pendence of their country, made his peace with the English monarch by the capitulation of Irvine concluded July 9, 1297, and once more took the field against him., In 1299, the year after Wallace's defeat at Falkirk. Bruce, again in favor with Eduard. was made one of the four regents who ruled the kingdom in the name of Bahol. but apparently took no part in active hostilities, it in the three campaigns which took place previous to the final subjuga tion of Scotland, contrived to retain the friend ship of Edward. In 1305 he was consulted in the settlement of the government. With John Comyn, called the 'Red Comyn,' the nephew of Bohol. he had long been at enmity. In an inter view between them, in the church of the :Minorite Friars at Dumfries. on February 10, 1300, a quarrel took place, and Bruce stabbed COMSTI with his dagger. rushing out to his attendants, he exclaimed, it is said: "1 doubt I have slain the Red Comyn:" "You doubt!" cried one of them; "1 mak sikker!" (i.e. sure), and, running into the church with sonic others, slew Comyn and his brother. Bruce hastened to Lochmaben Castle, assembled his vassals, and proclaimed his right to the throne. On March 27 he was crowned King at Scone. An English army, under the Earl of Pembroke, nominated by Edward t;overnor of Scotland, took possession of Perth, and on June 19 attacked Bruce in the wood of Alethven, compelling him to retreat into the wilds of Athole. At Dairy, near the head of Loch Tay, Bruce was attacked by Alexander, lord of Lorn. chief of the Macdougals, related marriage to the Red Comyn, and compelled to retire. Sending his Queen and her ladies to Kildrummy Castle, Bruce fled to the highlands, and thence to the little island of Raehrine, mil the coast of Antrim; Ireland. In his absence the English took the Queen and the Princess Marjory from the sanctuary of Saint Duthae, Ross-shire. Many of Bruce's followers were be headed or hanged, all his estates werevonfiscated, and he and his adherents were excommunicated by the Pope's legate at Carlisle. Persecution. however, brought many adherents to Bruce. In the spring of 1307, with about 300 men. Bruce landed in Carrick, and at midnight surprised the English garrison in his own castle of Turnberry, but retired before a superior force into the mountainous districts of Ayrshire. At Loudon
Ili11, May 10, 1307, he defeated the English under the Earl of Pembroke, and three days after overthrew another army under the Earl of Gloucester. In less than two years he wrest•41 from the English nearly the whole of Scotland. Edward I. was (lead. and Edward I I. was without the ability to hold his father's conquests. In the fall of 1312 the Scots invaded England, but with little success. In the autumn of 1313 Edward Bruce, brother of Nobert, undertook the siege of Stirling Castle, held by Sir Philip Mow bray for the English. A treaty was entered into by which Mowbray bound himself to surrender the fortress if not relieved before the 24th of 'lilac in the following year. The anxiety of the English to save the stronghold from falling into the hands of the Seotch led to the memorable hat• tie of Bannockburn, June 24, 1314. in whirl Bruce commanded in person. Thc English. under Edward 11., numbering, it is said, about 100.000 men, were totally routed, leaving 30.000 dead upon the field; while the Spots, who were only 30,000 strong, with 15.000 camp followers. lost about 5000. In 1317 Bruce passed over to Ire land to assist his brother Edward, elected King of that country, and defeated the Anglo-Irish under the Baron of Clare. In the spring of 1318 the Scotch army invaded England by the way of Northumberland. The English King retorted by an invasion into Scotland. but was compelled to retreat, and was followed by Bruce, who be sieged No•ham Castle. and defeated Edward once inure at Biland Abbey, Yorkshire. A truce, to last for thirteen years, was concluded at Berwick on June 7. 1323. On the accession of Edward 11E, in 1327, hostilities recoinnienced; but the Scots Were again victorious. and a linal 1 Tt'a y was ratitied in a parliament at Northampton, April, 1328, recognizing the independence of Scotland and Bruce's right to the throne. A vic tim to leprosy, the King spent the last two years of his life at Car dross Castle, on the northern shore of the Firth of Clyde, and died June 7, 1329. His heart, extracted and embalmed, was delivered to Sir James Douglas to be carried to Palestine and buried in Jerusalem. Douglas was killed fighting against the Moors in Spain. and the sacred relic of Bruce. with the body of its devoted champion, was brought to Scotland and buried in the monastery of Melrose. Bruce's body was interred in the abbey church of Dun fermline, and in clearing the foundations for a third church on the same spot in 1819 his bones were discovered. Ile was twice married: ( ) to Isabella, daughter of Donald, tenth Earl of Mar, by whom he had issue, a daughter, :Marjory, wife of Walter, the High Steward, whose son ascended the throne as Robert II.; and (2) to Elizabeth, daughter of Aymer de Burgh, Earl of Ulster, who bore him a son, who succeeded him as David 11., and two daughters. Consult: Kerr, Life and Reign of Hobert the Bruce (Edin burgh, 1811); and LOTIgYlla 11, History of the Life and Times of Edward III. (London, 1869).