The Bruce
Erdit with richt gret worschip was.
The banys have thai with thame tane, 575
And syne ar till thair schippes gane.
Quhen thai war levit of the Kyng,
That dule had of thar sorowyng.
Till se thai went, gud wynd thai had,
Thair cours till Ingland haf thai maid, 580
And thair saufly arivit thai;
Syne toward Scotland held thar way,
And thar ar cummyne in full gret hy.
And the banys richt honorabilly
In-till the kirk of Dowglas war 585
Erdit, with dule and mekill car.
Schir Archibald his sone gert syne
Of alabast bath fair and fyne
Ordane a towme full richly,
As it behufit till swa worthy. 590
[Sidenote: JULY 20, 1332] _Death of the Earl of Murray_]
Qwhen that on this wis Schir Wilyhame
Of Keyth had broucht his banis hame,
And the gud Kyngis hert alsua,
And men had richly gert ma
With fair affeir his sepulture, 595
The Erle of Murreff, that the cure
That tyme of Scotland had haly,
With gret worschip has gert bery
The Kyngis hert at the abbay
Of Melros, quhar men prayis ay 600
That he and his haffe paradis.
Quhen this wes done that I devis,
The gud Erll governit the land,
And held the pure weill to warand.
The law sa weill mantemyt he, 605
And held in pes swa the cuntre,
That it wes nevir led or his day
So weill, as I herd ald men say.
Bot syne, allas! poysonyt wes he;
To se his ded wes gret pite. 610
The lordis deit apon this wis.
He, that hye Lord of all thing is,
Up till his mekill blis thame bryng,
And grant his grace, that thar ofspryng
Leid weill the land, and ententif 615
Be to folow, in all thair liff,
Thair nobill elderis gret bounte!
The afald God in Trinite
Bring us hye up till hevynnis blis,
Quhar all-wayis lestand liking is!--AMEN. 620
[610: In H _By a false Monk full traiterously_.]
NOTES
_For fuller details of the more important works referred to see
Bibliographical List._
BOOK I.
4 _on gud maner._ The best expansion of this phrase as an expression of
Barbour’s ideal of style is in the _Alexander_:
“To mak it _on sa gud manere,
Sa oppin sentence and sa clere
As is the Frenche_” (p. 441).
15 _tyme of lenth._ In modern phrase, “length of time,” and Skeat
accordingly follows Hart’s edition in so reading it. But “of lenth”
is a common attributive phrase and may quite well stand here, though
awkward to modern ears. In line 531 we have _this warld of lenth_ for
“the length of this world,” which is a close enough parallel, and will
not admit of alteration. In _Wyntoun_, too, occur such phrases as, “a
merke schot large of lenth” (_Bk._ ix. 27, 419).
37 _Quhen Alexander the King was deid._ As in the first line of the
well-known double verse given by Wyntoun as a fragment of the time;
“Quhen Alexander our Kinge was dede.” Wyntoun, in his extract from _The
Bruce_, here reads _oure_. Alexander III. was killed by falling, with
his horse, over the cliff at Kinghorn in Fife, on March 19, 1286.
39 _six yher._ Rather less. Alexander “was dead” on March 19, 1286,
which Barbour would reckon as 1285. The dispute over the succession
began on the death of Queen Margaret on September 26, 1290.
40 _lay desolat._ Barbour, it may be from considerations of space or
symmetry, or as a Bruce partisan, omits all mention of the child-Queen
Margaret (1286-1290); Bruce “the Competitor,” indeed, held that his
claim was superior to hers, and on Alexander’s death started a rising
apparently against the succession of a female contrary to the ancient
customs of the country. In his pleadings before Edward he claims to be
“higher in degree and more worthy in blood” even than she (_Palgrave_,
pp. 30-31). To the reign of Balliol (1292-1296) there is reference
later; but no notice is taken of the rising under Wallace (1297-1298)
nor of the Barons’ War (1299-1304); the former was carried on in the
name of King John, and the latter was mainly a Comyn affair. Robert
Bruce (King) took a fitful share in both operations on the national
side, but ended as an active partisan of Edward I. (but see note on
611).
49 _sum wald haiff the Balleol king._ The active heads of his party
were Sir John Comyn of Badenoch and William Fraser, Bishop of St.
Andrews, two of the Guardians (_Palgrave_, p. 18). These two had
assumed the control of the government (p. 16).
51 _eldest systir was._ The direct line of William the Lyon having
failed, recourse was had to that of his brother, David Earl of
Huntingdon. David’s only son died without issue. His eldest daughter,
Margaret, was the mother of Devorgoil, or Devorgilla, mother of John
Balliol who was thus the great-grandson of the Earl, and of the senior
female branch. David’s second daughter, Isabella, had married Robert
Bruce of Annandale father of the Competitor, who was thus the son of
the second daughter, as Devorgilla was the daughter of the first.
54 _in als nere degree._ The legal phraseology used throughout by
Barbour corresponds with the pleadings submitted by Bruce. These
(Anglo-French) are given in full by Palgrave in his _Documents and
Records_, vol. i.; the Latin version from the _Great Roll_, printed
in Rymer’s _Fœdera_, vol. i., is only a notarial summary. Barbour,
however, does not put the issue clearly. In the “branch collaterale”
(_en lyne collateral_) of Earl David, Bruce was “in als nere degre”
(_aussi pres en degre_) as Devorgilla. But Devorgilla was dead before
the vacancy in the throne occurred; she had never been vested in the
succession, and thus had no rights to transmit to her son (_cf._ 59,
60). The heritage, therefore, on the death of its possessor, came
by law to him who was then nearest in blood--that is, to Bruce, as
grandson of Earl David; for John Balliol, as great-grandson, was a
degree further away (_qe en Sire Roberd de Brus meilleur dreyt deit
reposer qe est plus procheyn du saunk qe en Sire Johan de Balliol qe
est en plus loyngteyn degree._--_Palgrave_, p. 34, § 8). Though modern
historians have scouted Bruce’s plea, it was quite sound for the Middle
Ages. Bruce himself cites a contemporary case in Castile, where a
younger brother was, by the law of the Visigoths--_i.e._, their version
of Roman law--preferred to the son of the elder.
58 _nocht to lawer feys lik._ Balliol urged that the same law applied
to kingdoms as to earldoms, and that thus a kingdom should pass to the
next heir by seniority, “without any regard to nearness of degree”
(_Palgrave_, 27, § 3). To this Bruce replies that kings are above the
laws, and that the right to a kingdom should not be judged by common
law, nor by laws applying to subjects and subject fiefs (29, § 5; 27,
§ 3), but by “the laws by which kings reign,” the “law of nations”
(_dreit naturel_, 25, § 5); and he therefore appeals to Edward as “his
Emperor” to judge accordingly (29, § 6), on the analogy of the German
or Holy Roman Emperor, who was, in theory, the superior of Christian
kings in temporal matters (_cf._ on 153). Balliol rebuts this with
the further contention that the issue is not one of “imperial law,”
since “the kingdom of Scotland is held of the Crown of England and of
no Empire”; and that it would be to the prejudice of Edward’s Crown
rights (_en prejudice de la coroune notre Seigneur le Roi_) if he
judged the matter in his Court by imperial law (p. 43). Bruce, it will
be observed, takes higher ground than Balliol, and presents a special
interpretation of the (alleged) overlordship, on which see further note
on 153. The distinction may seem over-refined to modern minds, but to
the medieval mind, with its own “imperial” idea, it was both real and
important. Bruce had other pleas in support of his main position, but
on these Barbour does not touch (_cf._ on 153).
61 _in lyne evyn descendand._ The correct reading is fixed by the legal
phrase, _en la dreyte lyne descendant_ (_Palgrave_, p. 31, § 2).
62 _Thai bar ... on hand._ Skeat says that “to bear on hand often
signified to ‘assert strongly,’” and interprets it here as, “They
asserted.” But this is meaningless in the present context, and the
correct significance is as in Chaucer, “For _he bar hir on honde_ of
trecherye” (_Complaynt of Faire Anelida_, line 158); and in _Troilus_
(1154-1155), “She _bar him on honde_ that this was don for malice”:
hence, here “accused” in the sense of “controverted,” on the lines laid
down in 59-64. The weaker sense is probably seen in _Prologue of the W.
of B.’s Tale_, 380, 575, etc.
67 _Erle off Carryk._ The Competitor was not Earl; it was his son,
father of King Robert, who married the widowed Countess of Carrick.
71-5. _thai all concordyt._ “The nobles, by unanimous consent, decreed
among themselves to send serious (_solemnes_) messages to Edward King
of England that in this cause he should be their higher judge” (Fordun,
_Gesta Annalia_, lxx.). The parties were at bitter variance, and there
was no other authority strong enough to enforce a decision (_ibid._).
In fact, civil war was impending. On this account, Bishop Fraser of St.
Andrews had already written to Edward on the matter (October, 1290).
From this letter we gather that Balliol was about to approach Edward
on his own behalf. The “Seven Earls” appealed in support of their own
rights to elect a king (_Palgrave_, p. 14). Bruce submitted his claim
to Edward, as against the guardians, who favoured Balliol (_ibid._,
pp. 17, 18). Hemingburgh says that the Guardians of Scotland, fearing
a popular outbreak, by the advice of the magnates sent to the King
of England, that in a matter of such great doubt they might have the
benefit of his advice (_ejus consilio fruerentur_, ii., p. 31).
88 _as freyndsome compositur_--_i.e._, “as a friendly arbiter” (_cf._
Hemingburgh in previous note). Fordun urges that the appeal did not
imply any confession of overlordship, but Edward was appealed to as
a “friendly and distinguished neighbour” (_amicabilis et vicinus
præstantior_), to settle the difference “in the manner of a friendly
compositor and for the sake of neighbourliness” (_Gesta Annalia_,
lxx.). The first notice in Sir Thomas Gray’s _Scalacronica_ puts it
that the Scots asked Edward to interfere in the interests of peace,
and that he replied that he would consider the matter. At Norham
the Scottish magnates are said to have asked him to try the case as
sovereign lord (pp. 112, 119).
100 _Walis ... Ireland._ Edward I. crushed the main Welsh rising in
1282, and in 1284 annexed the principality. He took no special part in
the conquest of Ireland, which belongs to the reign of Henry II. (1171).
103 _ryn on fute._ This, I take it, reflects the fact that Edward
usually drew upon Wales and Ireland for the foot in his army. At
Falkirk, indeed, Hemingburgh says that nearly all the English foot were
Welsh. _Cf._ also XIII. 419 _ff._
140 _on Saracenys warryand._ Edward was in England. His crusading took
place before he ascended the throne (1270-1272). The _Scalacronica_
says he was at Ghent (p. 112).
146 _ane assemble._ Edward met the prelates and barons of Scotland at
Norham, May 10, 1291. In his safe-conduct granted to these, Edward
declares “that this shall not be a precedent to the prejudice of
Scotland” (Bain’s _Calendar_, ii., No. 474): _i.e._, their meeting him
on English ground.
151 _all the senyhowry._ Edward had meanwhile (March 8, 23) sent writs
to the cathedrals and chief monasteries of England, requesting to be
furnished with extracts from histories and chronicles respecting the
relations between England and Scotland. The responses are given in