BRUCE

Our patriot King, Robert the Bruce, belonged to a Norman family, which in the person of Robert de Bruis came to England with the Conqueror in 1066. He recieved Skelton in Yorkshire, and his son Robert, an associate of david I. of Scotland, obtained the Lordship of Annandale. At the battle of the Standard (1138) Robert Bruce fought on the English side; and his son, Robert, 2nd of Annandale, under David, and was taken prisoner, it is said, by his own father. He had two sons, Robert who died before 1191, and William, the eventual heir, who died in 1215. His son, Robert, 5th Lord, died in1245, having married Isabella of Huntingdon, great-granddaughter of King David I. Their son, Robert de Bruce, was ,in 1255, one of the Regents of Scotland, and guardian of Alexander III. In 1290 he claimed the Crown of Scotland, as nearest heir of Alexander III, and also alledged a verbal nomination. King Edward I, having been asked to preside in a Centumviral Court-Tribal with 104 other "tryours," and having considered the report of the 80 Scottish "tryours,' the Court adjudged the Kingdom of Scotland to Baliol as heir, according to the Scots law of succession, of Margaret, Lady of Scotland(the maid of Norway). Bruce died in 1295, aged 85. His eldest son, Robert De Bruce, was born in 1245, married Margaret, Countess of Carrick, and died in 1304. His eldest son, Robert the Bruce, was born 11 July 1274. Baliol having disgraced himself and abdicated, The Bruce asserted his claim to the Crown and was crowned at Scone., 27 March 1306. After many visissitudes, the power of King Robert I was finally cemented by his splendid and decisive victory at Bannockburn, 1314. He died at cardross, Dumbartonshire, 7 June 1329, and was interred in the Abbey Curch of dunfermline. The earls of Elgin, descended from Bruce of Clackmannan, who sprang from the cousin of King Robert's, are now acknowledged chiefs of the family. Edward, 10th earl, is the present chief. His seat is Broomhall in Fife. The baronial tower of Clackmannan still stands, and is an interesting example of scot's architecture.