[CONTENTS]
| CHAPTER I | |
| PAGE | |
| The Ancestry of Bruce | [11] |
| CHAPTER II | |
| Opportunist Vacillation | [18] |
| CHAPTER III | |
| The Coronation of Bruce | [26] |
| CHAPTER IV | |
| Defeat and Disaster: Methven and Kildrummy | [36] |
| CHAPTER V | |
| The King in Exile | [53] |
| CHAPTER VI | |
| The Turn of the Tide | [58] |
| CHAPTER VII | |
| Reconquest of Territory | [69] |
| CHAPTER VIII | |
| Recovery of Fortresses | [84] |
| CHAPTER IX | |
| The Battle of Bannockburn | [92] |
| CHAPTER X | |
| Invasion of England and Ireland | [108] |
| CHAPTER XI | |
| Conciliation and Conflict | [119] |
| CHAPTER XII | |
| Peace at the Sword's Point | [134] |
| CHAPTER XIII | |
| The Heart of the Bruce | [149] |
KING ROBERT THE BRUCE
[CHAPTER I]
THE ANCESTRY OF BRUCE
When Sir William Wallace, the sole apparent hope of Scottish independence, died at the foot of the gallows in Smithfield, and was torn limb from limb, it seemed that at last 'the accursed nation' would quietly submit to the English yoke. The spectacle of the bleaching bones of the heroic Patriot would, it was anticipated, overawe such of his countrymen as might yet cherish perverse aspirations after national freedom. It was a delusive anticipation. In fifteen years of arduous diplomacy and warfare, with an astounding expenditure of blood and treasure, Edward I. had crushed the leaders and crippled the resources of Scotland, but he had inadequately estimated the spirit of the nation. Only six months, and Scotland was again in arms. It is of the irony of fate that the very man destined to bring Edward's calculations to naught had been his most zealous officer in his last campaign, and had, in all probability, been present at the trial—it may be at the execution—of Wallace, silently consenting to his death. That man of destiny was Sir Robert de Brus, Lord of Annandale and Earl of Carrick.
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