[MR] Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots

[Garth Groff]

Noble friends,

Well, I almost missed this date. I couldn't post this message to the 
Tavern yesterday because I was at home and my IP address there isn't 
recognized by the group server. So here it is, a day late.

March 25 was the day Robert the Bruce was crowned King of the Scots in 
1306. The Bruce had a lot of sins to answer for, including playing 
footsie with Edward I of England. His biggest black mark was the killing 
of the John, The Red Comyn in February 1306 during a parley in 
Greyfriars Church, Dumfries. Whether Comyn had betrayed Bruce to Edward 
is not certain, but not unlikely, since they both had a fairly good 
claim on the Scottish throne. Nor does anyone know for certain who drew 
their blade first. In one account,  upon leaving the church The Bruce 
reportedly told his men, "I have just slain John Comyn." His men rushed 
into the church and found Comyn in the care of his men, wounded but not 
dead. Bruce's henchmen finished the job and sort of cleaned house on 
Comyn's supporters as well. (Sigh! The English might be right describing 
the Scots as "dagger happy".)

Robert the Bruce went on to raise rebellion in Scotland, and spent the 
next several years giving the English a lot of grief, especially with 
his guerrilla tactics. Finally in 1314, The Bruce brought out his field 
army at Bannockburn. In a carefully orchestrated battle on ground of his 
choosing, the Scots utterly destroyed Edward II's English forces over 
two days of fighting. So Scotland won its independence from England, 
though there were many more battles, and the row still hasn't subsided.

So if you would like to read a bit about King Robert the Bruce, try this 
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_the_Bruce .

And by the way (proudly!), some of my real Napier ancestors stood beside 
The Bruce at Bannockburn.

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, A Proud Scottish Descendant
(Who is listening to bagpipe music as I write this)