Robert the Bruce

King Robert the Bruce is one of the great heroes of Scottish history. His victory at Bannockburn secured Scotland’s independence, and the day of the Declaration of Arbroath, 6 April 1320, when the Scottish nobles and churchmen made clear that he was King of Scots by their choice, is now celebrated as Tartan Day in the USA.

 

Since 1964, the great statue of Bruce at Bannockburn by the sculptor Pilkington Jackson has become the most widely recognised image of Bruce. This little character jug, purchased recently at the Scottish Antique and Art Centre in Doune for the Smith collections, records the popularity of an earlier icon. The jug was made in the Glasgow Govancroft Pottery, probably in the early 1960s and is modelled on the face of the Bruce statue by Andrew Currie of Darnick, erected on Stirling Castle esplanade in 1877. The potter has added a spider on the handle of the jug, referring to Bruce resolving to follow the example of the spider to “try, try and try again”.

Bannockburn 23 June 1314

 

This painting shows the first blow struck at the Battle of Bannockburn. Sir Henry de Bohun (pronounced “Boon”) nephew of the Earl of Hereford recognised King Robert the Bruce and galloped against him at full speed with his lance. Bruce, mounted on a small grey horse stepped aside and swung his axe so hard that it split de Bohun’s helmet and ‘clove skull and brain’ before the shaft broke. This was the start of a two-day battle which secured Scotland’s independence after a war with England lasting nearly 20 years.

The opening blow of Bannockburn is remembered in a little rhyme used by Battleaxe Toffee in the 1930s:

Bruce and de Bohun, were fightin’ for the croon,
Bruce taen his battle-axe and knocked de Bohun doon.

The painting by the artist John Duncan (1866-1945) was an entry in the art competition of 1914 held in Glasgow to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn. It was bequeathed by the artist to the Smith.