The Brave Heart of Robert The Bruce

The human heart can soar and be lifted or fall shattered and broken. It can be open or cold, trusting or wicked. Thanks to the film Braveheart we also know that a heart can be brave, but did you know that the historical reference never referred to Mel Gibson’s heroic character William Wallace? I’m no Milton, but if it’s poetry you seek, consider the tale of a heart taken from the chest of a fallen

king only to journey for seven centuries before finally reaching its intended resting place. Legends are most amazing when they’re true, as this story is.

You see, today’s a big anniversary in my family; although none of us have ever really thought about it much. March 27th was a great day for my 27th great-grandfather. Yes, that’s a long time ago, over 700 years to be exact. On this date in 1306, Robert the Bruce was crowned King Robert I of Scotland.

This legendary figure came to international attention after the movie Braveheart was released in 1995. For as much as I love that film, the story is more fiction than fact. That’s good news for those upset at the thought of Robert the Bruce’s dastardly betrayal of William Wallace at Falkirk. In real history, no such treason ever took place. The Bruce was, however, a brutal warrior.

Like William Wallace, Robert’s rival was the powerful King Edward I “Longshanks” of England. Robert became king only a few months after Wallace was executed by Longshanks in 1305 (the movie actually watered that scene down. Seriously…). For the new Scottish king, the fight for Scottish independence would last years longer. Longshanks arrested and imprisoned Robert’s wife, daughter, and sisters. His brother Nigel was captured and executed in the same manner as Wallace.

Longshanks died in 1307 and left the kingdom to his son, Edward II. Unfortunately for Scottish rebels, the son wasn’t quite as incompetent as the movie makes out. The fight for freedom lasted until 1314 when the Scottish warriors “fought like warrior poets and won their freedom” at Bannockburn.

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Robert I ruled until his death in 1329. His dying wish was requested of longtime companion Sir James Douglas–a supporter of William Wallace and the knight in charge of the army’s left-wing at Bannockburn. King Robert asked that his heart be removed and carried “against the enemies of the name of Christ.”  The heart was placed in a casket and carried by Douglas, a legend in his own right, to Granada in Spain.

 While carrying the chest, Douglas was ambushed as he tried to aid a fellow warrior. About to be slain, the courageous knight held out the casket and said, “Onward brave heart, Douglas shall follow thee or die.” He didn’t make it.