The incessant demands of war left Robert but scant leisure for internal administration, notwithstanding the diligent service of his eminently capable lieutenants. Apart from necessary inference and from incidental indications, his care for civil order and good government is conspicuously manifested in the legislation of the Scone Parliament, December 3, 1318; and there is abundant evidence of his fostering watchfulness over the commercial traffic with Continental countries. The Cambuskenneth Parliament, July 15, 1326, has a constitutional interest, as the first great council where burgesses are known to have sat with the baronage. The trading communities were worth consultation when a heavy war tax was to be levied, and the country was so cruelly impoverished. There can be no doubt that Robert's management of home affairs was watchful, energetic, and liberal.
In the conduct of his foreign relations, the Bruce proved himself an adept in diplomacy. His dealings with the Continental princes, mainly in regard to shipping and commerce, were conciliatory and businesslike. His political transactions with the English sovereign and with the Pope were uniformly characterised by astute perception, reasonableness to the point of generosity, courteous but rigid firmness on every essential point, and fidelity to engagements.
The occupations of the King's late and brief leisure may be read between the lines of the Exchequer Rolls: how he kept open house at Cardross, dispensed gifts and charities, pottered (with Randolph) at shipbuilding, sailed his great ship between Cardross and Tarbet, built Tarbet Castle, added a wing to his mansion, tended his garden, and so forth; and how he kept a pet lion at Perth, where he seems to have spent parts of his last two years.
Bruce was twice married. First, to Isabel, daughter of the Earl of Mar, the mother of Marjory. Second, to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of De Burgh, Earl of Ulster, who bore him two sons and two daughters: Matilda and Margaret, after 1316; David, March 5, 1324; and John, who died in infancy. The most distinguished of his other children, Sir Robert de Brus, fell at Dupplin in 1332.
Bruce has been called by Lord Hailes (after Rapin) the 'restorer of Scottish monarchy.' The monarchy was a small matter; Bruce was the restorer of Scottish independence. But the conditions of the case are apt to be misconceived. The incalculable services of Sir William Wallace, through nearly ten years of incomparably heroic struggle against the great Edward in his full vigour, are too often forgotten, or belittled. But for Wallace, it is more than probable that Bruce would never have been King of Scotland. He built on Wallace's foundations.
Comyn being dead, Bruce possessed the admitted right to the crown, without even the semblance of competition—a powerful aid in his enterprise. He started in the acquisitive spirit of an Anglo-Norman baron, and was carried through largely by his personal gallantry, his military capacity, his consummate prudence, and his indomitable resolution. Though the mass of the people rallied to him but slowly through many years, yet he at once gained the more ardent patriots; and, in particular, he had the instant support of the leading prelates, and, at the Dundee Parliament on February 24, 1308–9, the formal adhesion of the clergy generally. Nor is it easy to overestimate the aid of three such paladins as Edward de Brus, Randolph, and Douglas. And not the least of the grounds of Bruce's success is to be sought in the feebleness and foolishness of Edward II. and the stupid oppressions practised by his local officers. Still, with full acknowledgment of these supports, King Robert was and is the central figure in the final establishment of the independence of Scotland.
One is strongly inclined to believe that the services of Sir Edward de Brus, Lord of Galloway and Earl of Carrick, have been seriously underrated, partly no doubt through his own besetting fault. When we remember how boldly he is said to have counselled action on the return from Rathlin, how vigorously he cleared the English out of his lordship of Galloway, and how ably he bore the brunt of the heaviest fighting at Bannockburn, we cannot but suspect that his glory has been unduly dimmed by the splendour of his brother, and by the inappreciation of his monkish critics. The main certainty about his hapless expedition to Ireland is the certainty that he fought with the most chivalrous ardour. He was not only 'hardy' but, according to Barbour, 'outrageous hardy'—a prototype of Hotspur. His habitual exaltation of mind is well expressed by the Archdeacon, when he describes him in face of vastly superior numbers at Kilross:
'The more they be,
The more honoùr allout have we,
If that we bear us manfully.'
Undoubtedly his 'hardiment' overbore his 'wit'; yet one may safely doubt whether the Archdeacon was the man to take his military measure. At the very least, he must have been a powerful force in urging unmitigated hostility against the English; and his dash in battle must have proved a potent force on many a stricken field.
In the absence of Sir Edward, Randolph ranked as first lieutenant. He was Bruce's nephew, son of Isabel de Brus and Thomas Randolph of Strathdon.[2] From Lord of Nithsdale, he blossomed into Earl of Moray, and Lord of Annandale and of Man. As soldier, diplomatist, and statesman, he displayed pre-eminent ability. Barbour represents him as of moderate stature, proportionably built, 'with broad visage, pleasing and fair,' and a courteous manner. 'A man he was,' says Lord Hailes, most justly, 'to be remembered while integrity, prudence, and valour are held in esteem among men.' He survived King Robert a little over three years.