[MR] BBC: Robert the Bruce's Lost Tomb
Garth Groff via Atlantia
atlantia at seahorse.atlantia.sca.org
Fri Apr 10 02:08:22 PDT 2015
Noble Friends, Especially Fellow Scots,
Well, here we go again. Robert the Bruce's tomb was destroyed during the
Scottish Reformation in 1560, but fragments survive, apparently along
with pieces of his body as well. Some of them are to go on display at
Abbotsford, the home of Sir Walter Scot:
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-south-scotland-32196387 .
Robert the Bruce's heart is thought to be buried in the ruins of Melrose
Abbey: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melrose_Abbey . How it came to be
there is a story as great as any from The Bruce's life. To atone for his
sins, including the killing of rival John, The Red Comyn, in the
Greyfriars' church, King Robert had vowed to fight in a holy crusade.
That never happened. As he was dying in 1329, The Bruce ordered Sir
James Douglas to remove his heart and take it on crusade. The heart was
placed in a small casket. Douglas and some other knights got as far as
Spain, where the only crusade action was happening at that time. Here
Douglas joined the fight against the Moors. At the battle of Teba near
Granada in 1330, Douglas threw the heart into the midst of the Moors
with a great oath, and plunged into the fray. He and most of the
Scottish knights were killed, but the heart was recovered and returned
to Scotland.
Yours Aye,
Lord Mungo Napier
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