Bruce’s Cave
The situation was intense. Bruce had murdered Comyn, the most powerful man in Scotland and his only rival for the throne; this action may have invoked the wrath of as many as two thirds of the Scottish population; King Edward I of England, leader of the post powerful army in Europe, was out to get Bruce, and to cap it all, Pope Clement V, arguably the most powerful man in the known world, had excommunicated him.
Robert the Bruce had been brought up on the Ulster-facing coast of Ayrshire, and his wife Elizabeth was the daughter of the Earl of Ulster, so he may well have been very familiar with Rathlin Island from a young age. At this point in his life the isolation and security of Rathlin must have been very attractive, so in September 1306 King Robert the Bruce and his men fled from Dunaverty Castle on the Mull of Kintyre and headed across the North Channel to Rathlin Island.
Was it really Rathlin?
Yes it was. Two features on Rathlin - a cave, known as Bruce’s Cave, and the ruins of a castle known as Bruce’s Castle - are still there to this day. Both the cave and the castle have views towards Scotland, and even though there are three caves in Scotland which claim to be Bruce’s Cave, Rathlin is acknowledged as the true location by the best experts – the Bruce family, and the historian of the 1300s who first recorded the Bruce story.
The Earl of Elgin, 37th Chief of the Bruce Family
The Earl of Elgin, a direct descendant of King Robert the Bruce, says that Rathlin is definitely the authentic location. The Earl visited Rathlin about 40 years ago when he was President of the Boys Brigade, on the invitation of his cousin, the Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O’Neill.
In an interview during 2006 with The Scotsman newspaper, the Earl said: "We think his cave is on Rathlin Island. I have been over there and it is pretty fantastic... I was very intrigued by Rathlin. It seemed to me to be absolutely perfect because he (Bruce) knew the waters between Ayrshire and Northern Ireland very well because that was where he was brought up... he was very much a seafaring man. There are currents at Rathlin and in the days of sailing you wouldn't have been able to approach it swiftly. He would have seen anybody and been able to defend himself... "
We have been in correspondence with the Earl, who is thrilled that King Robert the Bruce is being remembered in Ulster, and we are hopeful that some of the Earl of Elgin’s family will take part in this year’s Bruce 700 commemorations.
John Barbour’s The Brus
But what about the writers and historians of the time? Much of Bruce’s story has been exaggerated over the years, but there is little doubt that he did indeed spend his period in exile on Rathlin Island. The best record of Bruce’s life was written by John Barbour (believed to have been the Archdeacon of Aberdeen, and often described as “the father of Scots language poetry”). His twenty-book epic, known as“The Brus” was first published in 1377. Here is the English translation of Barbour’s account of the refuge on Rathlin:
“in Dunaverty he dwelt three days and more. Then he made his men prepare to go over sea to Rathlin.
This is an island midway between Cantyre and Ireland, where the tides run as strong and perilous to sea-farers as is the Race of Brittany or the Strait between Morocco and Spain. They set their ships to the sea, and made ready anchors, ropes, sails and oars, and all things needed for a voyage. When they were prepared, they set out with a fair wind. They hoisted sail and fared forth, and quickly passed the Mull, and soon entered the tide-race. There the stream was so strong that wild breaking waves were rolling as high as hills.
The ships glided over the waves, for they had the wind blowing from the right point. Nevertheless had one been there he must have seen a great commotion of ships. For at times some would be right on the summit of the waves, and some would slide from the heights to the deeps, as if they would plunge to hell, then rise suddenly on a wave while the other ships at hand sank swiftll to the depths. Much skill was needed to save their tackle in such a press of ships, and among such waves; for, ever and anon, the waves bereft them of the sight of land when they were close to it, and when ships were sailing near, the sea would rise so that the waves, weltering high, hid them from sight.
Nevertheless they arrived at Rathlin, each one safely, and each blithe and glad to have escaped the hideous waves. There they landed, armed in their best fashion.
When the people of the region saw armed men arrive in their island in such number they fled hastily with their cattle towards a very strong castle in the country near that place. Women could be heard crying aloud and seen fleeing cattle here and there.
But the king’s folk, who were swift of foot, overtook and stopped them, and brought them back to the Bruce without any of them being slain. Then the king so dealt with them that they all, to please him, became his men, and faithfully undertook that they and theirs, under all circumstances and in all things, should be at his will. Also, while he chose to remain there, they would send victuals for three hundred men, and would hold him as their lord, but their possessions were to be their own, free, against all his men.
The covenant was thus made, and on the morrow all Rathlin, man and page, knelt and did homage to the King, and therewith swore him fealty and loyal service. And right well they kept the covenant, for while he dwelt in the island they found provision for his company, and served him very humbly...”
Alliances and Strategies
Bruce was accompanied by powerful allies like his three brothers – Edward, Thomas and Alexander - James “The Black” Douglas, Robert Boyd and James Stewart (one of the Guardians of Scotland). Stewart, like Bruce, also had influential Ulster connections – he too married into the de Burgh family of Ulster (his wife was Egidia, the sister of Richard de Burgh, the Earl of Ulster), and Stewart owned a castle and estate in the Roe Valley and Lough Foyle. During the stay on Rathlin, Bruce’s men may well have visited mainland Ireland and the western isles of Scotland, forging agreements and strategies with local nobles and earls, most profitably with the Macdonalds of Islay, who made their fortune by supplying Scottish soldiers (known as Gallowglasses) to fight in numerous wars in Ireland.
The Legend of the Spider
So what about the famous spider story? Most people know the legend of how Bruce waited on Rathlin, in the cave, pondering his next move. A determined spider came into view, trying to build a web. Six times the spider failed, but it refused to give up and succeeded on the seventh time. This inspired Bruce to return to Scotland where he won a number of battles against the English, ultimately winning the Battle of Bannockburn and Scottish independence.
Sadly, most experts, including the Robert the Bruce Commemoration Trust, say that the spider is a myth created by Sir Walter Scott, “the world’s greatest storyteller”, in his 1827 book “Tales of a Grandfather”. This is the first time that a spider was ever mentioned in the Robert the Bruce story. Scott may even have taken the idea from the history of the Douglas family (in particular James “The Black” Douglas - one of Bruce’s allies who was also on Rathlin) which had been published in the 1600s.
The Return to Scotland
Spider or not, Rathlin is most definitely the place where Bruce sought refuge and found his inspiration to return to Scotland. He had also assembled an army of about 1000 men from Ulster, which, combined with the 200 – 300 men that had accompanied Bruce to Rathlin, gave him a formidable force.
By this stage Bruce and his men may have felt that they were becoming a burden on the Rathlin Islanders. So in February 1307, James “The Black” Douglas and Robert Boyd were sent from Rathlin on a reconnaisance mission to Kintyre and the Isle of Arran. Ten days later they were joined by King Robert the Bruce, his brother Edward and a force of about 300 men in 33 boats. They launched a successful surprise attack on the English army who had occupied their family home of Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire, in Bruce’s own Earldom of Carrick. The Bruces were back – but they had old Scottish enemies nearby.
Meanwhile the other two Bruce brothers who had been on Rathlin – Thomas and Alexander – led an advance party into Loch Ryan, near Stranraer, on 10th February 1307. They were to head for the other family Earldom at Annandale, near Dumfries. They had about 1000 men with them, but they were met by the army of their long-time enemy Sir Dougal Macdowall. The Bruce army was crushed. Thomas and Alexander were captured, along with William Wallace’s uncle Sir Reginald Crawford, the Baron of Kintyre, two “Irish Kinglets” and Sir Brice Blair. They were all handed over to the English and were executed at Carlisle just one week later.
The Bruce Backlash – Guerilla Warfare
It is hard to imagine how King Robert the Bruce must have felt – by now three of his brothers had been executed, most of the nobles who attended his crowning had also been executed, and his wife, sister and daugher were all imprisoned in England.
The response of King Robert and Edward Bruce was a seven year campaign of relentless guerilla warfare across Scotland. The campaign would reach its climax on the battlefield of Bannockburn in June 1314, and would bring them back to County Antrim in May 1315 in an effort to create a powerful Scottish-Ulster/Irish alliance, with the Bruces as the Kings of both countries.
