[MR] Wikipedia: Death of Robert the Bruce, and His Heart

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends, especially fellow Scots,

On this date in 1329, Robert the Bruce, King of Scots, died at his Cardross
estate just a month shy of his 55th birthday:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_the_Bruce .

The actual cause of King Robert's death is unknown, though he had been in
poor health for several years. English sources claim it was leprosy, though
that is very likely a slander.

The Bruce's body was entombed before the altar in Dunfermline Abbey. The
abbey church was trashed in 1560 during the Protestant reformation, and his
alabaster tomb was destroyed. Later the church completely collapsed. During
restoration work in 1818, the tomb was rediscovered and opened. Examination
of his skull and other bones showed no traces of leprosy.

King Robert had vowed to go on a crusade, because that's what kings were
supposed to do. He also needed to atone for the killing of his rival, The
Red Comyn, during a 1306 parlay before the Greyfriars Church altar. King
Robert was too busy defending Scotland (and eliminating the Comyns) during
most of his reign to fulfill the vow. Upon his death bed, he ordered his
heart removed and taken on crusade by his faithful knights. The heart was
duly cut out (probably then dessicated) and placed in a silver casket
suspended from Sir James Douglas' neck by a chain.

As there were no crusades going on in the Holy Land at that time, Douglas
and some other Scottish knights headed instead to Spain to join Alfonso XI
of Castile in his war against the Moors of Granada. At the 1330 Battle of
Teba, the Scots were either cut off or made a suicidal charge into the
Moorish ranks. Douglas is said to have thrown the casket into the Moorish
press, shouting "Now pass thou onward before us, as thou wast wont, and I
will follow thee or die." Douglas got his wish, as he and most of the other
Scots were killed.

The heart casket was recovered after the battle and returned to Scotland by
the surviving Scots. The heart was buried in Melrose Abbey. During
archaeological excavations in 1996, a human heart in a lead cylinder was
found. It was presumed to be King Robert's as there are no other known
heart burials at Melrose. It was reburied under a memorial stone:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melrose_Abbey .

King Robert's heart is proudly depicted on the Douglas arms:
http://www.douglashistory.co.uk/history/_borders/doug_arms.gif .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆