heroic as well as the most patriotic monarch which Scotland ever produced, was born on the 21st of March, 1274. He was the grandson of Robert Bruce, lord of Annandale, who in 1291 contested the right to the crown with John Baliol. The events which followed upon the decision of that momentous question are elsewhere detailed to the reader, [in the preceding life of John Baliol, and the subsequent one of William Wallace;] it is therefore unnecessary to advert to them in this place, unless in so far as they have reference to the family of Bruce, and in particular to the illustrious individual now under notice.
Upon the decision of Edward I. in favour of Baliol, the grandfather of king Robert, being possessed of extensive estates in the north of England, resigned the lordship of Annandale to his eldest son, on purpose, it may be supposed, to evade the humiliating necessity of doing homage to his successful rival. No other particular regarding him is known; he died at the family residence of Lochmaben, not long after, at the advanced age of eighty-five.
Robert Bruce, the son of the competitor and father of king Robert, became possessed, by this last event, of the English as well as of the Scottish estates belonging to his family. He had also acquired, in right of his wife, the heiress of Carrick, the earldom of that name,[1] and, in every respect, might justly be considered one of the most powerful barons in the kingdom. Either from disinclination, or, as some have suspected, from motives of policy, Robert Bruce, the second of the name, early avoided taking any share in the affairs of Scotland. When his son was yet a minor, he made resignation to him of the earldom of Carrick, and, shortly thereafter, retiring into England, left the administration of his ancient patrimony of Annandale in the same hands. During the ill-concerted and disastrous revolt of Baliol, in 1296, the Bruces maintained their allegiance to the English king. The lordship of Annandale was, in consequence, hastily declared forfeited, and the rich inheritance bestowed by Baliol upon John Comyn, earl of Buchan, who immediately seized upon and occupied the castle of Lochmaben; an injury which, there is reason to believe, the young earl of Carrick, long after, but too well remembered, and fatally repaid.
It is asserted that Edward, in order to gain securely the fidelity and assistance of the lord of Annandale and his son, had promised to bestow upon the former the kingdom of which Baliol was now to be dispossessed. It is not probable that the English monarch ever seriously entertained such an intention, and still less likely if he did, that in the flush of successful conquest he should be capable of putting it in execution. After the decisive battle of Dunbar, Bruce reminded Edward of his promise: "Have I no other business," was the contemptuous reply, "but to conquer kingdoms for you? The elder Bruce once more retired
- ↑ The circumstances attending this alliance, related by Mr Tytler, were of a romantic and singular description. "It appears that a short time after his return from the crusade, Bruce was riding through the beautiful domains of Turnberry Castle, the property of the widowed Countess of Carrick, who, in consequence of the death of her husband, had become a ward of the crown. The noble baron, however, if we may believe an ancient historian, cannot be accused of having visited Turnberry with any design of throwing himself in the way of the heiress of Carrick; and indeed any such idea in those days of jealous wardship would have been highly dangerous. It happened, however, that the lady herself, whose ardent and impetuous temper was not much in love with the seclusion of a feudal castle, had come out to take the diversion of the chase, accompanied by her women, huntsmen, and falconers; and this gay cavalcade came suddenly upon Bruce, as he pursued his way through the forest, alone and unarmed. The knight would have spurred his horse forward, and avoided the encounter, but he found himself surrounded by the attendants; and the Countess herself riding up, and with gentle violence taking hold of his horse's reins, reproached him in so sweet a tone for his want of gallantry in flying from a lady's castle, that Bruce, enamoured of her beauty, forgot the risk which he run, and suffered himself to be led away in a kind of triumph to Turnberry. He here remained for fifteen days, and the adventure concluded, as might have been anticipated, by his privately espousing the youthful Countess without having obtained the concurrence of the king, or of any of her relations."
