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THE BRUCE
THE BRUCE
BY JOHN BARBOUR Archdeacon of Aberdeen EDITED FROM THE BEST TEXTS WITH LITERARY AND HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION, NOTES AND APPENDICES, AND A GLOSSARY BY W. M. MACKENZIE, M.A., F.S.A. ( Scot. ) AUTHOR OF “AN OUTLINE OF SCOTTISH HISTORY,” ETC. LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1909...
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1. MSS. and Editions.
1. MSS. and Editions.
The poem The Bruce , by John Barbour, is preserved in only two manuscripts, one in the library of St. John’s College, Cambridge, and the other in the Advocates’ Library, Edinburgh. The former is hereafter denoted by the letter C, the latter by E. Of these E alone is complete in the sense of having both beginning and end; the first three Books and Book IV. 1-56 are missing in C. On the other hand, C bears to have been completed in 1487, E in 1489. Other things being equal, the earlier MS. must, o
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2. The Scribes.
2. The Scribes.
The Cambridge MS. bears witness that it was completed on August 18, 1487, by the hand of “John de R., chaplain”; the Edinburgh MS. that it was “hurriedly written” by “John Ramsay” in 1489, for a Fife vicar; and the latter signature is attached to the only MS. of The Wallace , which accompanies that of The Bruce but was transcribed two years earlier. Skeat immediately pronounces that the names signify but one person, that “John de R.” is also “John Ramsay,” apparently on the logic of Wonderland,
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3. The Present Edition.
3. The Present Edition.
The present edition of The Bruce is based upon the printed text of the Cambridge MS., collated throughout with that of E—that is, upon the versions of Skeat and Jamieson. I have, however, adopted rather more readings from E than does Skeat, also a few more from Wyntoun, and offer some slight emendations— e.g. , luffys for liffys in Bk. II. 527, oft for off in III. 194, Fyn all for Fyngall in II. 69, etc. I have profited, too, by criticism of the published text as in the adoption of Dr. Neilson’s
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1. “The Bruce” as Romance.
1. “The Bruce” as Romance.
The literary relationships of The Bruce may be briefly indicated. It stands at the beginning of Scottish literature; of its predecessors and contemporaries we have but the names, or possible versions whose place of origin is in dispute. In form and technique, including the octosyllabic couplet, it plainly depends on the French metrical romance, the most fruitful branch of a literature which, for quite two centuries, had been the mother of literatures in Western Europe. The opening line of The Br
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2. John Barbour.
2. John Barbour.
The year of John Barbour’s birth we do not know, an item which is lacking also for Chaucer: 1320 is a good round guess. Nor have we any knowledge of his family. If, however, the St. Ninian in the Legends of the Saints be of Barbour, a claim for which there is much to be said, [28] it may give us a clue. The adventure of Jak. Trumpoure, there told, connects with the fact that Jaq. (James) Trampour had land in Afberdeen bordering on that of an Andrew Barbour. [29] It may be conjectured that the la
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3. Historic Value of “The Bruce.”
3. Historic Value of “The Bruce.”
A comparison of judgments on the value of The Bruce as a contribution to history plunges us into a thicket of contradictions. Green’s verdict that it is “historically worthless” [43] is but a petulant aside. It repeats itself, however, in the pronouncement of Mr. Brown that “in no true sense is it an historical document,” [44] but Mr. Brown selects, as illustrative of this, examples, such as the Simon Fraser identification, [45] and the Stanhope Park inference, [46] which recoil to the confusion
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Death of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland.
Death of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland.
For fuller details of the more important works referred to see Bibliographical List....
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BOOK I.
BOOK I.
4 on gud maner. The best expansion of this phrase as an expression of Barbour’s ideal of style is in the Alexander : 15 tyme of lenth. In modern phrase, “length of time,” and Skeat accordingly follows Hart’s edition in so reading it. But “of lenth” is a common attributive phrase and may quite well stand here, though awkward to modern ears. In line 531 we have this warld of lenth for “the length of this world,” which is a close enough parallel, and will not admit of alteration. In Wyntoun , too,
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BOOK II.
BOOK II.
17 Thai raid. The account in Fordun is that one night, “when the wine was giving its colour in the cup” ( cum merum splenderet in calice ), Edward, on his way to bed, explained that on the morrow Bruce would lose his life. Thereupon the hint of his danger was conveyed to Bruce by the Earl of Gloucester ( i.e. , Randolph or Ralph de Monthermer), in the form of twelve silver pennies and a pair of spurs ( Gesta Annalia , cxiv.). Gloucester was presently in the field against Bruce. Edward declared t
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BOOK III.
BOOK III.
1 The Lord of Lorne. Strictly this should be Alexander Macdougall of Argyll or of Lorn, but probably his son, John of Lorn, is meant, as on September 14 Edward writes to the Prince of Wales how “Sir John of Argyll has well served him and the Prince” ( Bain , ii., No. 1830). 3 his emys sak. Alexander of Argyle, according to Wyntoun ( Bk. viii., Chap, vi., 1171) had married an aunt of the murdered John Comyn, a daughter of Sir John Comyn “the Red” (!), of Badenoch, his grandfather. He was thus the
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BOOK IV.
BOOK IV.
10-12 off na degree ... Nothir of the kyrk , etc. The Lanercost writer notes that among those hanged at this time were not only “common folk and countrymen” ( simplices laici et rurales ), but also “knights, clerics, and prebendaries”—the latter in spite of their profession that they were “members of the church” (p. 204). 13 byschop Robert. Robert Wischard, or Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow since 1273. He had been, at one time, a Guardian of the Kingdom, and up to 1306 had taken the oath of fealty t
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BOOK V.
BOOK V.
1 in vere. “In spring”—February, 1307 (see note on Bk. IV. 338.) The description here is really of the “Poets’ May.” 23 na nedill had na stane ; i.e. , neither an actual needle magnetized, nor a piece of magnetic iron, loadstone, to serve as a compass. 24 in-till ane. “In a straight course,” guiding themselves by the fire. 90 till the toune. Cf. note on III. 556. Hemingburgh’s account is that Bruce, coming on him suddenly, attacked Percy by night and slew a few of his company (ii. 251). Cf. 95,
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BOOK VI.
BOOK VI.
3 the Umphrevell. See Bk. V. 483, 513, etc. 69 Gilbert de la Hay. See note on Bk. II. 237. 120 “ Since he was provided with armour.” 121 thurt. “Needed.” The word occurs once in Morte Arthure , in the present impersonal: “Hym thare be ferde (afraid) for no faces” (403). Cf. also Bk. VIII. 257. 128 For litill strynth of erd. “On account of a slight natural defence in the character of the ground.” 149 fiff-sum. “Five together.” The compound is still familiar in Scotland— e.g. , a “three-some reel,
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BOOK VII.
BOOK VII.
2 will of wayn. “Wild of weening” or thought— i.e. , quite at a loss. See on II. 471. 10 yhe. Ye from an inferior to a superior; you on the part of the latter, as in line 15. 17 I haf herd , etc. In a note to the Wallace , Bk. v. 25, Jamieson cites from “Bellenden, after Boece,” a long passage on bloodhounds, in which this occurs: “And thocht the thevis oftymes cors the wattir, quhair thai pas, to caus the hound to tyne the sent of thaym and the guddis, yit he serchis heir and thair with sic del
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BOOK VIII.
BOOK VIII.
9 Kyle. The central division of Ayrshire, between Carrick to the south and Cunningham (13) in the north. 14 He gert helde. “He made to submit” (O.E., hieldan , to incline; Anglian haeldan ). Cursor Mundi , “All folk to Rome suld heild ” (22,235, N.E.D.). 15 Bothweill. Bothwell Castle, on the Clyde. It had seen a good deal of fighting in the earlier war. In August, 1301, the castle and barony, which had belonged to William de Moray, were presented to Aymer de Valence and his heirs ( Bain , ii., N
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BOOK IX.
BOOK IX.
34 Enverrowry. Inverury, on the Don, fifteen miles north-west of Aberdeen. 64 a-pane. A curious use of the French adverbial phrase a peine , in, or with, difficulty; here = “hardly,” “scarcely.” The sense seems to be that even in a case in which a company is successful without a captain, which they can be only with difficulty, still they will not accomplish as much as if they had one. 107 the Slevach. Sliach in Drumblade parish, about sixteen miles north-west of Inverurie. Certain archæological
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BOOK X.
BOOK X.
9 toward Lorn. Barbour’s chronology is here not specific, but he apparently places the expedition against Lorn in the late summer or autumn of 1308. So does Fordun (see on Bk. IX. 204). On the other hand, there exists a letter from John of Lorn to Edward II., clearly referring to the present expedition. Unfortunately, it is not dated further than as an acknowledgment of the receipt of the King’s letters of March 11. About that date, in 1308, Bruce must have been in the North, beyond the Mounth (
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BOOK XI.
BOOK XI.
32 outrageous a day. “Day” has here the meaning of “a space of time,” as in Berners’ Froissart . “The truce is not expired, but hath day to endure unto the first day of Maye next” (I. ccxiii., N.E.D.): a sense of the Latin dies . For “outrageous,” see on Bk. III. 162. 44 Akatane. Aquitaine, the ancient southern duchy of France, the hereditary possession of the Kings of England. 46 The Lanercost chronicler affirms (1311) that in the war the Scots were so divided that sometimes a father was with t
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BOOK XII.
BOOK XII.
22 quyrbolle. Cuir-bouilli , or “boiled leather,” was not really boiled, as in that case it would become horny and brittle and so quite unsuitable for the purposes to which it was put—the strengthening of armour in the transition period of the fourteenth century prior to the full use of plate, and the making of sheaths, bottles, caskets, etc. The leather was steeped in a warm mixture of wax and oil, which made it pliable and fit to receive the designs cut or embossed on it. It was then slowly dr
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BOOK XIII.
BOOK XIII.
32 tynt the suet. “Lost their lives.” The phrase in this sense occurs also in the Wallace : “The Scottis on fute gert mony loiss the suete ” ( The Wallace , Jamieson’s edition, Bk. xii., line 194). 36 slew fire. “Struck out fire.” Also in Wallace , iv. 285: “ slew fyr on flint.” Cf. from The Buik of Alexander : “thare dyntis, That kest fyre as man dois flyntis” (p. 236, line 24). 51 the archeris war perelous. Baker says that the archers were not given a suitable position, as in his time, being p
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BOOK XIV.
BOOK XIV.
4 Scotland to litill wes. According to the Annalist, it was the Scots who were not satisfied with their own country; but this is merely a rhetorical comment ( Annals of Ireland , p. 344). The anonymous Chronicle in Stevenson’s Illustrations says that Edward Bruce, elated by the success of the Scots, aspired to the name of King ( ad nomen regium aspirans , p. 3). Fordun’s version is the same as that of Barbour: “Edward Bruce was not willing to live in peace with his brother unless he got half the
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BOOK XV.
BOOK XV.
8 In battale. The date of the English defeat at Connor is on or shortly after September 10, 1315. The Annals are not clear on the point, and the capture of William de Burgh on the 10th seems to refer to one of the earlier skirmishes mentioned in the previous book ( Annals , p. 346). 39 The barell-ferraris. See Glossary . Cf. “ Barell-ferrers they brochede, and broghte them the wyne” ( Morte Arthure , line 2714). 56 Quha mast , etc. “Who most would get the upper hand.” 63 That evir durst , etc. “
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BOOK XVI.
BOOK XVI.
8 in Scotland for till pas. Barbour, as he himself explains, now goes back to the beginning of the siege of Carrickfergus after the victory at Connor. According to the Annals of Ir. , Moray crossed to Scotland on September 15, 1315, to procure more soldiers, “at which time the said Bruce was besieging the Castle of Carrickfergus” (p. 346). Moray was back in November with five hundred men (p. 347). Barbour mentions but one trip on which he returned with King Robert (line 43), but that would have
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BOOK XVII.
BOOK XVII.
13 Redis Swyr. The pass over Cheviot to the valley of the Rede, a tributary of the Tyne. By it went the road from Jedburgh, and in it is the site of the Battle of Otterburn, 1388. Swyr is A.S. swira or swera , the neck. 15 Outakin Berwik, it allane. “One town in Scotland was left to the King” ( Vita Edw. Sec. , p. 234). On September 20, 1317, and January 30, 1318, certain burgesses were going to England and France to purchase provisions “for the munition of the town” ( Bain , iii., Nos. 575, 588
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BOOK XVIII.
BOOK XVIII.
3 A day forrouth thair arivyng. So, too, Gray declares that Edward Bruce “from over-boldness ( pur surquidery ) was not willing to wait his reinforcements ( soun poair ) which had lately arrived, and were within six leagues (miles) of him” ( Scala. , p. 143)— i.e. , within a day’s march. Gray, it will be observed, applies the same quality to Edward Bruce as Barbour does in line 183. The same explanation occurs in the Annals of Clonmacnoise (pp. 281, 282). The Lanercost chronicler, on the contrar
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BOOK XIX.
BOOK XIX.
6 a fell conjuracione. Barbour post-dates this conspiracy. It took place in 1320. 11 The lord of Sowlis. Probably the grandson of Sir Nicholas Soulis, one of the competitors in 1292. Sir Nicholas claimed through his mother, a niece of Alexander III. ( Bain , ii., liv.). His forfeited lands in Liddesdale were given to Bruce’s illegitimate son Robert (Robertson’s Index , p. 12; 54, etc.); others to Robert Stewart, son of Walter ( ibid. , 10; 13). 16 Male-herbe. As in E, is the correct form; or Mal
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BOOK XX.
BOOK XX.
1 Soyne eftir. “Not long after” ( nec multum post. Gesta Edw. , p. 97). It was “lately,” on September 22, 1327 ( Northern Registers , p. 344). 5 A gret host. “With a great army” ( North. Reg. , p. 344). 7 to Norhame. Besieged Norham Castle ( ibid. ; also Fœdera , iii., p. 975; and Scala. , p. 155). Robert himself was at Norham ( Scala. ). For this and next note, cf. Scotichronicon , ii., p. 288. 10 Awnwyk. Alnwick. “Besieged the castle of Alnwick for more than fifteen days” ( Gesta Edw. , p. 97)
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APPENDIX A THE SITE OF THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN
APPENDIX A THE SITE OF THE BATTLE OF BANNOCKBURN
It will be noticed that the conception of this battle, alike as to position and tactics, elaborated in the notes in strict conformity with Barbour, differs entirely from that now universally accepted. The engagements of the first day (Sunday) were the outcome of attempts to clear the two paths of approach to Stirling—that through the New Park, and the other on the level below St. Ninians. Both failed, and the means by which their failure was brought about determined the operations of the followi
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APPENDIX B BRUCE’S SPEECH AT BANNOCKBURN
APPENDIX B BRUCE’S SPEECH AT BANNOCKBURN
Book XII. 210-327 It is the privilege of early historians to equip their leading personages with speeches, and in its pertinent, practical character the speech here provided for King Robert is a good example of such—so good, indeed, as to suggest the probability that Barbour is working up some transmitted material. There is on record another speech attributed to Bruce, which formed part of a Latin poem on Bannockburn by Abbot Bernard of Arbroath, Bruce’s Chancellor, portions of which are quoted
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APPENDIX C THE NUMBERS AT BANNOCKBURN
APPENDIX C THE NUMBERS AT BANNOCKBURN
English : One hundred thousand men and ma. Scots : Thretty thousand, and sum deill mare. These figures have given rise to much discussion, without any very certain result. Yet official data are not wanting—sufficient, at least, to check what is only another example of the wild conjectures of mediæval chroniclers when dealing with numbers. Hemingburgh gives Wallace at Falkirk “about three hundred thousand men” [64] —rather more, probably, than the whole male population of Scotland. We need not be
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APPENDIX D THE THROWING OF THE HEART
APPENDIX D THE THROWING OF THE HEART
Book XX. *421-*432 These lines are found only in Hart’s printed edition. Pinkerton thought there was “no reason to view them as an interpolation,” and Jamieson regarded their agreement with the account in the Howlat [103] “a strong presumption of authenticity.” By Skeat they were at first accepted as genuine, but afterwards, influenced by the reasoning on Barbour’s rhymes of P. Buss in Anglia , [104] he surrendered them as an interpolation. In the passage of twelve lines three rhymes occur, whic
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APPENDIX E THE “ALEXANDER” AND THE “BRUCE”
APPENDIX E THE “ALEXANDER” AND THE “BRUCE”
The Buik of the Most Noble and Vailyeand Conquerour, Alexander the Great is an anonymous Scots translation of three French romances in the Alexander cycle, dated, in a rhyming colophon, 1438, and published for the Bannatyne Club in 1831. Between this translation and the Bruce there is a remarkably intimate and undisguised connection, not only in spirit and method, but in “the diction as a whole, the choice of words and the arrangement of the sentences, (and) the abundant use of alliteration,” to
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APPENDIX F MR. BROWN’S “SOURCES” FOR THE “BRUCE.”
APPENDIX F MR. BROWN’S “SOURCES” FOR THE “BRUCE.”
In pursuance of his “hypothesis of fifteenth-century redaction” of the Bruce , Mr. Brown applies what he claims to be “fair and ordinary tests” to six “selected examples,” in order to show that his hypothesis “has a basis in demonstrable fact.” [134] I shall notice such of these very briefly, premising that I do not consider Mr. Brown’s use of his tests either “fair” or “ordinary.” So much, I think, will appear. 1. The Trojan War , Alexander the Great , Julius Cæsar , and King Arthur . ( a ) The
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APPENDIX G LANGUAGE AND ORTHOGRAPHY
APPENDIX G LANGUAGE AND ORTHOGRAPHY
The language of the Bruce is Northern English, the dialect spoken north of the Humber. Barbour himself calls it “Inglis” (Bk. IV. 253), and Scottish writers down to the sixteenth century do the same. The name “Scots” is therefore a term of pure convenience, signifying the English spoken within the political borders of Scotland, which continued to be an independent literary medium after the Northern English of England had ceased to be such, and had yielded place to the standard dialect of Chaucer
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APPENDIX H GRAMMAR
APPENDIX H GRAMMAR
Singular—Possessive Case. —1. The inflected genitive or possessive is formed by adding ys or is ; MS. E, on the whole, shows a preference for the former. Sometimes the final consonant is doubled. Cf. a manis hand (VII. 580), to mannys fude (X. 189). 2. Nouns denoting relationship are uninflected, as in Anglo-Saxon: Mordreyt his sistir son (I. 557). Till his brothiris pes (XI. 652) is an exception found in both MSS. For And sperit of his brotheris fair (XVI. 21) in C, E has brodyr . Note. — Wode-
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LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS IN REFERENCES
LIST OF PRINCIPAL WORKS IN REFERENCES
R. S. = Rolls Series. R. C. = Record Commission. Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland , vol. i. Alexander, The Buik of : Bannatyne Club. Anglia: Band IX. (Article, Sind die von Horstmann herausgegbenen schottischen Legenden ein Werk Barberes , P. Buss). Annals—Fragment (Irish) in Chartularies of St. Mary’s Abbey , vol. ii. Annales Hiberniæ , or Annals of Ireland , frequently cited as Annals in Chartularies of St. Mary’s Abbey , vol. ii. Annales Londonienses in Chronicles of Edward I. and Edward I
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LINENOTES
LINENOTES
[i_15] S following H reads lenth of tyme , characterising the expression in E “an obvious error.” But cf. analogous phrase in line 531, and see note. [i_48] E inserts gret before discencioun , but W and H omit. [i_54, 55] E gives war and so in J: but wes from W is preferable. For als nere (W) E has alsner . [i_61] From H. E has How that in his evyn descendand , which does not make sense. W gives That be lyne war dissendand , which halts metrically. See note. [i_77] Sulde in W. E omits. [i_129] S
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