How Robert the Bruce’s family grew in influence in Scotland

I believe I have shown from the start of this series on Lowland clans just how vital they were in the development of Scotland, and in writing last week about the Wallaces, I averred that both Sir William Wallace and King Robert the Bruce prove that assertion, as both were products of Lowland clans that exist to this day.

First of all, however, may I acknowledge my indebtedness to the excellent main websites of the Family of Bruce, www.broomhallhouse.com and familyofbruceinternational.org for some of the information contained in this column but, as always, I carried out my own research in my own computerised archive and my library of books on Scotland and therefore responsibility for any mistakes is mine alone. I would recommend anyone wishing to learn more about Clan Bruce to check the two websites.

I like the fact that Clan Bruce calls itself the Family of Bruce – clan being the Gaelic for family or group of families. As a Lowland clan, they are quite right to term themselves “the Family” but there is no doubt that they are a Scottish clan as they fulfil all the requirements to be recognised as such, and more so. For instance, the clan chief is the Earl of Elgin, a remarkable individual about whom we will learn more. Now 98, he is convener of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs and the clan is of course recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms as is its crest and long-held motto “Fuimus”, Latin for “we have been”.

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That motto is so appropriate for Clan Bruce, as at one point they were the most powerful family in the land, and held the throne of Scotland from 1306 to 1371, as well as having a disputed High King of Ireland in their ranks, albeit briefly. As we shall see, Bruce blood continued into the Stewart dynasty, and as such, the current UK royal family can trace their ancestry back to the Bruces.

Like the Wallaces, the foundation history of Clan Bruce shows that the family were immigrants from the Continent to what we now call Scotland in the 12th century.

Though some contend that nobles of the name de Brus came with William the Conqueror in 1066, there is no direct evidence of that and it would appear more likely they were part of a later influx of Normans.

There has been dispute over the origin of the surname, with some saying that it comes from the Flemish de Bruce which would put their origin at Bruges in what is now Belgium, while tradition has it that the original Bruces were Norman, and hailed from the area that is now Brix.

Some accounts are quite specific, saying that the family was originally de Brus or de Bruis and that they hailed from the Chateau d’Adam at Brix between Cherbourg and Valognes in Normandy, which was built by one Adam de Brix – it was recorded as being destroyed on the orders of King Philip II of France after he won back the English lands in Normandy in 1204.

The first of the family to be recorded in written history was Robert de Brus, who came to England to serve King Henry I and was given lands in Yorkshire where he founded Gisborough Priory for the Augustinian order and became Lord Skelton.

He witnessed numerous royal charters and church documents in the final years of the 11th century and first quarter of the 12th century, and at some point he became friends with Scotland’s Prince David, with whom he had fought for Henry I in France.

When he ascended to the throne as King of Scots in 1124, just as he did with other imported Anglo-Norman friends from Henry’s court, so David gave Robert de Brus the lands of Annandale. There is some doubt as to whether he actually lived in Scotland, but nevertheless this Robert de Brus, 1st Lord of Annandale, is recognised as the progenitor of Clan Bruce.

THE family, which still had large landholdings in England, split over the issue of who should succeed Henry I when he died on December 1, 1135. David supported his niece the Empress Matilda and her husband Geoffrey of Anjou, but the Lord of Annandale renounced his friendship with David and joined the forces of King Stephen.

He also resigned his lordship of Annandale which passed to his second son, also called Robert. Tradition has it that at the Battle of the Standard on August 22, 1138, the elder Robert de Brus took his son prisoner as the English army roundly defeated the Scots under King David.

Those lands in England certainly complicated the position of the Bruce family. When war broke out between the Scots under King William the Lion and the English in 1173, Robert de Brus chose to abandon Annandale and sided with Henry II. Annandale was forfeited, but after William the Lion was captured at the Battle of Alnwick in 1174, the lands were restored to the Bruces and eventually they grew closer to the Scottish royal family.

Like so many clans, both Highland and Lowland, the Bruce family grew in influence and power – not to mention land wealth – by marriage. Robert, the 4th Lord of Annandale, married Isabel, daughter of Prince David, the Earl of Huntingdon, the grandson of King David I.

In turn, the 5th Lord Annandale, who became known as Robert the Noble, married Isabella of Gloucester and copious lands in England were part of the dowry. He became both a senior member of the court of King Henry III of England, who made him keeper of Carlisle Castle, and then Regent of Scotland while his second cousin King Alexander III was a child on the Scottish throne. He also married his son and heir Robert to Marjorie, the Countess of Carrick and so the earldom came into the Bruce possession.

There is no direct evidence to support the story that Robert had returned from the Crusades to give Marjorie the news of her husband’s death, only for the Countess to take a fancy to him and imprison the young Bruce until he agreed to marry her. Meanwhile, the 5th Lord added even more English lands to his holdings when his first wife died and he married Christina de Ireby, the widow of the Sheriff of Northumberland.

When Princess Margaret, the Maid of Norway, died on Orkney during her journey to claim the Scottish throne, Robert Bruce, as he was now called, was among the claimants to the Scottish throne. As we know, King Edward Longshanks judged that John Balliol should get the crown and thus the wars of independence began.

We know that the Bruces sometimes switched sides, supporting Balliol and Edward in turn – most noble families in Scotland did so in the face of Longshanks’ brutal hostility – until Robert the Bruce finally declared against Edward as both Earl of Carrick and 7th Lord of Annandale who, in his view, was rightful King of Scots – given the abdication and exile of John Balliol.

I HAVE written extensively about Robert the Bruce before and you can view these articles online, and there should be no need to tell The National readers of the tragedies and eventual triumph of King Robert. Suffice to say that the influence of the Bruces was never greater than under the victor of Bannockburn. The king’s brother Edward Bruce led a brief foray into Ireland and had himself crowned High King, but that project ended in defeat and death for Edward.

Unfortunately for Clan Bruce, Robert’s son King David II died childless, and the throne passed to the family of the Stewarts through Robert’s daughter Marjorie.

Sadly, we do not know the exact relationship of Thomas Bruce to King Robert and his son King David II. He may have been nephew of the former and thus cousin of the latter, but there is no doubt that he was given the Lairdship of Clackmannan, probably for organising David’s supporters to resist the usurpation tried in the 1330s by Edward Balliol with English support.

Though other branches of the Bruce family have flourished from time to time – Lord Balfour of Burleigh (1849-1921) was Alexander Hugh Bruce – the main line of the Bruces descends from Thomas of Clackmannan. There were Bruce branches in Airth, Blairhall, Kinross, Kinnaird, Powfoulis and elsewhere in Scotland, and the Bruces remained prominent in Scottish life. It was another Thomas who boosted the family’s prestige. Born in 1599, he succeeded to his father’s title of Lord of Kinloss after the 2nd Lord was killed in a duel with the Earl of Dorset.

Thomas Bruce became a favourite of King Charles I and was made Earl of Elgin in 1633. His son Robert was the 2nd Earl of Elgin and the first Earl of Ailesbury after he helped secure the Restoration of the Monarchy. He and his wife Diana née Grey had 17 children of which nine survived to adulthood, and as with the clan in Scotland, the 2nd Earl made sure his children married well. The 3rd Earl of Elgin and clan chief sided with King James II during the usurpation of the throne by Prince William of Orange and his wife Mary Stuart, but managed to complete his extensive memoirs before he died in exile in Brussels – they remain a very important source for historians of the period.

In 1702, Sir William Bruce designed the original Broomhall House, the clan seat ever since. It was rebuilt by John Adam in 1766 and re-designed and enlarged in 1798 by Thomas Harrison. It remains a stunning place to visit.

Probably the most famous clan chief, or infamous depending on your point of view, was the 7th Earl of Elgin, Thomas Bruce, who was also the 11th Earl of Kincardine. He succeeded to those titles at the age of just five when his elder brother William Robert Bruce died.

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Though famed as a diplomat, it’s not generally recognised that the Earl had a career as a soldier and raised his own regiment of “fencibles” before becoming a general. He had been appointed envoy to several royal courts on the Continent before the mission that brought him both fame and notoriety. He was made ambassador to the Ottoman Empire based in Turkey which then occupied Greece, and being a student of ancient times and art, he saw that the Acropolis was in a fast-deteriorating condition, particularly the Parthenon temple. He obtained permission from the Ottomans to remove many of the marble friezes and sculptures and got them to London, where they are still located now, as the Elgin Marbles.

The Earls of Elgin continued to play major role in the administration of the British Empire. As the Broomhall House website states: “The 8th Earl guaranteed parliamentary democracy in Canada and later negotiated treaties with Japan and China. He was the first Viceroy of India to be appointed by the Crown, while the 9th Earl followed his father to India as Viceroy, where he built over 4000 miles of railways.”

The current clan chief, the 11th Earl of Elgin, Andrew Bruce, is a Knight of the Thistle who had a distinguished record of public service as well as being a war hero who survived serious wounds sustained in France after D-Day.

Now 98, his message on the Family of Bruce website is very forward-looking: “Honour past endeavours but our Name is our most vital possession. What Bruces achieve in years to come must be our pride. Let us note the past with heartfelt and joyous emotion but relish with enthusiasm the persistent values of our Name.”