Allan Burnett - Robert the Bruce and All That

The ground started trembling like jelly around King Robert the Bruce as he sat on his little grey pony. Thundering towards the king was an enemy knight on a giant heavy horse aiming for the kill.

So did Bruce get out of the way? Not on your life.

The bloodthirsty knight gathered speed as he galloped closer, aiming his lance straight at Bruces heart.

But did Bruce budge an inch? No chance.

As the lances shining tip sped towards its target, it looked like Bruce would be skewered for sure.

What was Bruce waiting for? Well... he was waiting for the right moment to strike, of course.

Just as the knight was about to puncture him like a balloon, Bruce fooled his attacker by quickly sidestepping his pony out of harms way.

Quick as a flash, Bruce stood up in his stirrups while the knight passed in front of him. Bruce then brought down his huge battleaxe upon his opponents head.

Bruces blade smashed through the knights helmet and split his skull in two. The knight fell off his horse and into a lifeless, crumpled heap.

The knight had learned the hard way that you should never, ever mess with King Robert the Bruce. But for those of you who would like to learn about Bruce the easy way, please read on.

As you have already gathered, Bruce was a quick-witted and mighty warrior. He was also Scotlands greatest king.

Born on 11 July 1274, Bruce would be more than 700 years old if he were still alive today. His armour would be very rusty.

Of course, Bruce is not around any more, but you can still find statues of him standing all over Scotland. By the way, not all Bruce statues are completely solid. When you look closer, some of them might be a bit wobbly.

Bruces life story is a bit like his statues. Some bits of Bruces story are true, which makes them solid. But some bits may or may not be true, which makes them wobbly.

Historians call the solid bits facts and the wobbly bits legends. Because Bruces story is so old, and many facts about his life have gone missing or have been muddled up, there are lots of Bruce legends and legends are not to be trusted.

These days, the legendary Bruce casts a long shadow over the real Bruce, like a stone statue towers over a real person.

But if its the real Bruce youre after, dont panic. This book will help you to tell the difference between Bruce facts and Bruce legends while you follow his amazing real-life adventures.

By the way, going up real stone statues and wobbling them yourself is not recommended. You might end up like one of Bruces enemies splattered!

To begin Bruces story, lets turn our clocks back a few hundred years and imagine we are in the bedchamber where baby Bruce has just been born.

In the chamber are little baby Bruce and his mother, Marjorie, a tough Gaelic noblewoman no doubt accompanied by midwives, maids and other courtiers.

Our picture of the chamber is very shadowy, but thats not because Marjorie gave birth by candlelight. Its because one of the most important bits of the picture is a legend.

You see, we dont know for sure which castle the chamber was in. In fact, we cant even be certain which country it was in!

Trouble is, theres no birth certificate stating plainly where Bruce was born. Instead, there are three legends:

1. Bruce might have been born at Lochmaben Castle in Annandale, which was a wild border country close to England. Bruces dads family had lived there for many years as Lords of Annandale.

2. On the other hand, Bruce might have tumbled out into the world next to skinned rabbits and plucked pheasants at a hunting lodge also owned by his dad. It was in a place called Writtle, Essex, which is in southern England.

3. A third possibility is that Bruce was born at Turnberry Castle on Scotlands Ayrshire coast. This is the best bet.

Why is Turnberry the legend thats most likely to be true? Because it was in the earldom of Carrick, and Marjorie was the countess of Carrick.

In other words, Turnberry Castle was in Marjories ancestral homeland. It was the place where she probably felt safest and most secure. Oh, and it also had a very relaxing view of the pudding-shaped rock of Ailsa Craig, the beautiful island of Arran and the misty Mull of Kintyre.

In fair weather, you could even look across the sea to the kingdom of Ireland. A very pleasant spot for recuperating after youve just given birth to a king, wouldnt you say?

Theres another important reason why Marjorie probably had her son on her own patch at Turnberry she wore the trousers in the Bruce household. If Marjorie wanted her own way, she got it.

Unlike his wife and son, Bruces dad was a weakling. Apparently, he didnt even want to get married at all. The rumour was that Marjorie locked him up until he agreed to wed her!

All things considered, then, it is most likely that Bruce was born in Turnberry although we cant be certain.

Turnberry Castle is just a ruin now, next to a lighthouse. If you ever go and visit it, though, you can imagine that it was once a great fortress watched over by armed guards. Turnberry was to play a very important role in Bruces grown-up adventures but more about that later on.

If you want to get to know mediaeval (very old) heroes like Bruce properly, the puzzle of Bruces birthplace is the kind of tricky problem you sometimes have to solve. Just make sure you think hard about the clues put before you and ask yourself which legend is most likely to be true?