[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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