Douglas had the heart of Bruce embalmed and enclosed in a silver case, and wore it on a silver chain about his neck. He set out for Jerusalem, but resolved first to visit Spain and engage in the war waged against the Moorish king of Granada. He fell in Andalusia, in battle. Just before his death he threw the silver casket into the thickest of the fight, exclaiming, “Heart of Bruce, I follow thee or die!”
His dead body was found beside the casket, and the heart of Bruce was brought back to Scotland and deposited in the ivy-clad Abbey of Melrose.
Douglas was a real hero, and few things more engaging than his exploits were ever told under the holly and mistletoe, or in the warm Christmas light of the old Scottish Yule-logs.
Word Exercise.
- Te´vi-ot
- rĕv´el-lers
- weapons (wĕp´pns)
- Jedburgh (jĕd´bŭr-rŭh)
- wassail (wŏs´sil)
- Andalusia (an-da-lu´she-a)
- haunting (hänt´ing)
- Roxburgh (rŏx´bŭr-rŭh)
- Doŭg´las
- Sepulchre (sĕpul-ker)
- Mel-rōse´
- găr´ri-son (-sn)
- dĭs-si-pa´tion
- Gra-nä´dä
- Je-rū´sa-lĕm
- Ban´nock-burn
XXII.—BRUCE AND THE SPIDER.
Eliza Cook.
