Bruce is crowned for the second time in two days by Isabel MacDuff, Countess of Buchan. Colour litho by Williams, Morris Meredith (1881-1973).

With attention focused on the approaching 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, it’s worth taking a look at the events and figures instrumental in the lead-up to the momentous battle. Strangely absent from the legends surrounding Bannockburn is the role played by women, even though one largely looked-over heroine enabled Robert the Bruce’s claim to the Scottish throne on this day 708 years ago.

Like a lot of periods in Scottish history, the early 14th century was a rather tumultuous time. Fresh of the back of the the 13th century’s succession disputes, and William Wallace’s failed uprising, Scotland was then ruled as a province of England by Edward I. Bruce had become a guardian of Scotland, alongside his biggest rival for the Scottish throne, John III Comyn, Lord of Badenoch. In 1306, Bruce quarreled with Comyn and stabbed him to death at Greyfriars Kirk in Dumfries, cementing a deep hatred between the Bruce and Comyn families.

The killing of John Comyn in the Greyfriars church in Dumfries, as seen by Felix Philippoteaux, a 19th-century illustrator.

Isabel MacDuff, second cousin to Robert the Bruce, had the great misfortune of being married a few years earlier to Comyn’s cousin, John Comyn, Earl of Buchan. Some historians and authors believe she may also have been one of Bruce’s lovers. Following the murder at Greyfriars, it’s safe to say times were tough for Isabel. She took the contrary view to her husband, instead supporting the Bruce by taking the Scottish side in the Scottish Wars of Independence.

Robert’s coronation took place on either March 25 or 26 1306 in Scone, however tradition at the time stated all Kings must be crowned near the stone of destiny and/or anointed by the Kirk. Unfortunately the stone had been removed by Edward I a few years earlier, and the Kirk would have been hardly willing to crown Bruce following his actions at Greyfriars. Another tradition was sought to cement the claim, and it just so happened that the MacDuff clan held a hereditary right to crown Kings of Scotland.

Robert the Bruce and Isabel MacDuff immortalised in stone at Edinburgh Castle

Meanwhile, Isabel’s husband John was in England at this time so, on hearing the news of the impending coronation of the new king, she took her husbands horses and rode to Scone, unfortunately arriving a day late. However, because so many traditional elements of the crowning were absent from the first crowning, a second crowing with Isabel representing the MacDuff family tradition on either the 26th or 27th of March solidified Bruce’s right to the kingship of Scotland, thus effectively cutting off Isabel’s ties to her Comyn family.

Isabel stayed on with Bruce, but was betrayed and captured shortly after Bruce’s defeat at the Battle of Methven in June 1306. Edward I of England ordered her sent to Berwick-upon-Tweed with these instructions:

“Let her be closely confined in an abode of stone and iron made in the shape of a cross, and let her be hung up out of doors in the open air at Berwick, that both in life and after her death, she may be a spectacle and eternal reproach to travellers.”

She was imprisoned in this cage for four years, then moved to the Carmelite friary at Berwick. This was not necessarily a humanitarian move; it is suggested that by this stage Bruce was gaining support, his female relatives were potentially valuable hostages, and the English did not want them to die of ill-treatment. The last clear mention of her is being transferred again in 1313, one year before the Battle of Bannockburn, with her eventual fate uncertain.

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Dall House, surrounded by Dall Estate

An excessively magnificent and utterly luxurious highland estate with clan links has been placed on the market, boasting an equally impressive price tag. Once home to Clan Robertson, the sprawling Dall Estate is located on the south shore of Loch Rannoch in Perthshire with the estate agent currently accepting offers of over £2.3 million. The lands of the estate are also steeped in history, directly linking to historical-titans such as Robert the Bruce and King James I.

One of the many bedrooms inside Dall House

The estate is home to Dall House, which has 80+ rooms including 38 bedrooms, a cinema, library, chapel, sports hall and gun room. The grounds are even more impressive; hosting multiple bungalows and cottages, tennis courts, a boat house on the shore of the loch, an assault course and a fire engine that the estate agent states is “handy for cleaning the windows that come with the estate”.

In 2010 the current laird Malcolm James came under fire for his ambitious plan to turn the property into an exclusive billionaires resort. He announced that the minimum liquid net worth of clients using the estate would be set at 100 million, with membership fees of 2m and annual dues of 500,000. The plans received a great deal of opposition from local community and conservation groups who claimed the development would threaten one of Scotland’s most picturesque and unspoilt landscapes.

Inside Dall House

Members of Perth and Kinross Council voted 21-3 to reject the development of Dall, which was set to include a 104-room luxury hotel, two 18-hole golf courses and clubhouse, a state-of-the-art health spa, a concert hall, a “body-enhancement clinic” with surgery facilities, a retail arcade and a shore-side restaurant based on the design of a crannog. The plans were met with a storm of local and national protest, with local politicians calling the development inappropriate and damaging to the environment and ecology of Loch Rannoch.

The origin of the estate can be traced back to beginning of the 14th Century during the First War of the Scottish Wars of Independence. At this time Clan Robertson were known by their original name ‘Clan Donnachaidh’ – named after chief Duncan the Stout. In 1314 Duncan led his clan to battle at Bannockburn in staunch support of his friend, King Robert the Bruce. The lands of Dall were later gifted to the clan in 1347 for their support in this battle and the final years of the war.

100 years later chief Robert Riach (the Grizzled), known for his intense loyalty to the Stewarts, was responsible for capturing the murderers of King James I in 1437. In return the Crown granted him the feudal barony of the lands at Struan, with the chief then on known as Robertson (from Robert of Struan).

Struan became the clan seat until the aftermath of the Battle of Culloden (1746), in which the clan had their lands forfeited by the Government. The lands were returned (along with old debts) in 1784 however the clan found it increasingly difficult to make a living and break free of the debt. In 1853 Struan was sold, leaving only the lands at Dall remaining. Dall House was built in 1855, becoming the seat of the clan until 1926.

The house was commissioned by clan chief George Duncan Robertson and built by the renowned architect Thomas Mackenzie, who was responsible for the present Ballindalloch castle (1847) and Aldourie Castle (1853). Dall House was the only house he ever designed and built himself in Scots Baronial style, which is known for its 16th Century features including turrets. In 1926 the estate was sold, and Dall House became offices of the Forestry Commission before being established as an independent boarding school in 1959. The school’s remote location forced its closure in 2002.

You can view the property listing for Dall Estate by clicking here.

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Alexander had been a good king and, for the most part, was friendly with his English counterpart, Edward I. Indeed his first wife, who had died, was Edward’s sister.

Edward had often demanded fealty from Alexander. He viewed England as the superior race, but he declined forcing the Scottish king to bend to his will. Such was their friendship, cemented by the ties of marriage.

Unfortunately for Scotland, Alexander’s children, two sons and a daughter had predeceased him. One of his sons died at the age of nine, the other on his twentieth birthday. He left as his heir a granddaughter Margaret, known to us as the Maid of Norway. She was the child of the marriage of Alexander’s daughter, also Margaret and now dead, and the King of Norway.

The Community of the Realm which, following Alexander’s death, ruled Scotland through six guardians, was keen to safe-guard the minority of the Maid and thus ensure her succession to the Scottish Crown.

In negotiations with the English king the young girl, about six or seven years old, was promised in marriage to Edward’s infant son, the future Edward ll. To the Scots it was a move which sought to maintain the peace which the country had enjoyed during the lifetime of Alexander lll; to Edward l a means by which he would eventually achieve total domination of his northern neighbour. The agreement was ratified at the Treaty of Birgham.

However Margaret died in Orkney on her way to Scotland from Norway in 1290, some say of seasickness. Her death put an end to any alliance of the two countries by marriage and any consideration that Edward had for the Scots as an independent nation.

It is not known how Edward l became involved in the succession for the throne of Scotland but he was seen by the Scots to be a man who could be trusted to make the right decision. Why should they question his involvement? To that time he had always treated the Scots with fairness. More-over he was well respected. He had the authority, the reason, the power and persuasion. He was perceived as a man with a formidable legal mind, the best in Europe it is said. He would sort the wheat from the chaff and chose the rightful successor from the thirteen claimants, the ‘Competitors’, who now squared up to each other in their quest to become the king of Scotland.

Edward’s involvement would, however, come at a considerable cost. He demanded that the Scots accept that England was superior to Scotland and that he was its Overlord. Indeed before he would begin his deliberations on who should be king he had demanded fealty from the Scottish lords. Most had accepted his dictates, the Bruce included, and signed what are now known as the Ragman Rolls which still exist. One name missing from the Roll is that of Wallace, synonymous now with ‘Braveheart’, a name that would resound throughout the lands of Scotland within a few short years.

Edward, satisfied that he was about to gain more than a foothold for the Plantagenet dynasty in the lands north of the Border, gathered the thirteen claimants at Norham Castle.

Norham Castle

The deliberations on who should be king lasted nigh on two years. They would become known as the ‘Great Cause’.

Both countries would suffer as a result.

The two main ‘Competitors’ for the throne of Scotland were the families of de Brus and Balliol. Eventually Edward chose John Balliol as the Scottish King. He would become a mere ‘puppet’ in Edward’s hands and eventually rebel in late 1295. In that year Edward demanded fealty from Balliol; demanded that he join the English in their wars in France. It was a move to far for Balliol; As king of Scotland he would not be treated as an ordinary English Baron whose lands were held at the behest of the King. He made an alliance with the French and invaded northern England.

The English Border people were savaged by the Scottish attacks into their lands. Not suspecting any inroads from the north, their lands were devastated by the Scots; crops and houses burned, both people and animals butchered in the merciless acts of retribution from the humiliated Scottish king.

Edward l Monument at Burgh by Sands, Cumbria

Edward’s response was quick and savage. At Easter 1296 he invaded Berwick, then in Scottish hands, and put all to the sword it is said. Tytler, a historian, tells us that 17000 folk lost their lives in the English attack on Berwick. Men women and children, he said, were put to the sword. Whilst this is not true, the population of Berwick in 1296 would be little more than 500, it is an indictment of Edward l’s policy of Scottish domination, that he was utterly ruthless in his treatment of the people of Berwick: people who, for the most-part were not in a position to defend themselves.

River Tweed

Thus began the Scottish Wars of Independence with the emergence of William Wallace (Braveheart) and Robert the Bruce.

The Wars would last, off and on, for 250 years.

The people on both sides of the English Scottish Border would suffer untold loss for their birthright. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Vast armies of English or Scots would lay waste the lands that they inhabited; their houses, harvests and beasts were razed, burned or stolen to satisfy the hatred of the soldiers of a foreign nation or fill the bellies of an army on the move.

The Border folk lost life, limb and loved one in the relentless surge for domination and were left destitute of the basic needs of life and living.

They were nothing if not hard and obdurate and they reacted in the only way left open to them in such dire circumstances. They stole where they could, be it from erstwhile friend on the same side of the Border Line or enemy on the other.

The Borderer became the Border Reiver. His dominance of the English-Scottish Border lands would last for centuries as feud, blood-feud, murder, death and extortion and blackmail would become the norm; a result of allegiance to the only people he could trust – his clan or family. It seemed, for centuries, that there was no answer to his disreputable activities.

In 1603, the Union of the two crowns of England and Scotland would eventually bring a form of peace to a troubled land. The two nations would be united under one King, James VI of Scotland and l of England. The Border Line from the Solway Firth in the west to the North Sea at Berwick in the east would still exist, indeed it still does to this day, but it would no longer divide two peoples.

The Border country became the Middle Shires of a new United Kingdom.

The Border Reivers were summarily executed, transported to the bogs of Roscommon in Ireland or conscripted to the protestant Low Countries in their fight against catholic Spain. They would slowly disappear from the landscape.

It would take another century but peace would eventually reign in the lands of the Scottish English Border.

The Statue of Robet the Bruce at Bannockburn

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