David II of Scotland Born

David II of Scotland was born this day, March 5th, in 1324.  He had big shoes to fill, following his father Robert the Bruce as king.  Inheriting the throne at the age of five (1329), the early years of his kingship were passed under guardianship.  There were many battles with the English during these years, and in 1333, David and Queen Joan of England were sent to France for safety.

Walter Scott devotes some time to this last male of the Bruce line in "Tales of a Grandfather", here picking up with David's return from France to a chaotic homeland: 'The nobles of Scotland, finding the affairs of the kingdom more prosperous, now came to the resolution of bringing back from France, where he had resided for safety, their young King, David II., and his consort, Queen Joanna. They arrived in 1341.


David II. was still a youth, neither did he possess at any period of life the wisdom and talents of his father, the great King Robert. The nobles of Scotland had become each a petty prince on his own estates; they made war on each other as they had done upon the English, and the poor King possessed no power of restraining them. A most melancholy instance of this discord took place, shortly after David's return from France.



I have told you how Sir Alexander Ramsay and the Knight of Liddesdale assisted each other in fighting against the English. They were great friends and companions in arms- But Ramsay having taken by storm the strong castle of Roxburgh, the King bestowed on him the office of Sheriff of that county, which was before enjoyed by the Knight of Liddesdale. As this was placing another person in his room, the Knight of Liddesdale altogether forgot his old friendship for Ramsay, and resolved to put him to death. He came suddenly upon him with a strong party of men, while he was administering justice at Hawick. Ramsay, having no suspicion of injury from the hand of his old comrade, and having few men with him, was easily overpowered, and, being wounded, was hurried away to the lonely Castle of the Hermitage, which stands in the middle of the morasses of Liddesdale. Here he was thrown into a dungeon, where he had no other sustenance than some grain which fell down from a granary above; and after lingering a little while in that dreadful condition, the brave Sir Alexander Ramsay died. This was in 1342. Nearly four hundred and fifty years afterwards, that is, about forty years ago, a mason, digging amongst the ruins of Hermitage Castle, broke into a dungeon, where lay a quantity of chaff, some human bones, and a bridle bit, which were supposed to mark the vault as the place of Ramsay's death. The bridle bit was given to grandpapa, who presented it to the present gallant Earl of Dalhousie, a brave soldier, like his ancestor Sir Alexander Ramsay, from whom he is lineally descended. The King was much displeased at the commission of so great a crime, on the person of so faithful a subject. He made some attempts to avenge the murder, but the Knight of Liddesdale was too powerful to be punished, and the King was obliged to receive him again into friendship and confidence. But God in his own good time revenged this cruel deed. About live years after the crime was committed, the Knight of Liddesdale was taken prisoner by the English at the battle of Neville's Cross, near Durham, and is suspected of having obtained his liberty by entering into a treacherous league with the English monarch. He had no time to carry his treason, however, into effect; for, shortly after his liberation, he was slain whilst hunting in Ettrick Forest, by his near relation and godson, William Lord Douglas. The place where he fell was called from his name, William-hope. It is a pity that the Knight of Liddesdale committed that great crime of murdering Ramsay, and entered into the treasonable treaty with the King of England. In other respects, he was ranked so high in public esteem, that he was called the Flower of Chivalry; and an old writer has said of him, " He was terrible in arms, modest and gentle in peace, the scourge of England, and the buckler and wall of Scotland; one whom good success never made presumptuous, and whom evil fortune never discouraged."...'

Robert the Bruce and John Comyn

On February 10, 1306, during the Scottish Wars of Independence, John Comyn and Robert the Bruce met at Greyfriars Church in Dumfries.  This conference of two claimants to the Scottish throne resulted in Comyn's death, stabbed before the high altar.

Scott's version of this event comes from his "Tales of a Grandfather":

“Robert the Bruce had fixed his purpose, as I told you, to attempt once again to drive the English out of Scotland, and he desired to prevail upon Sir John the Red Comyn, who was his rival in his pretensions to the throne, to join with him in expelling the foreign enemy by their common efforts. With this purpose, Bruce posted down from London to Dumfries, on the borders of Scotland, and requested an interview with John Comyn. They met in the church of the Minorites in that town, before the high altar.  What passed betwixt them is not known with certainty ; but they quarrelled, either concerning their mutual pretensions to the crown, or because Comyn refused to join Bruce in the proposed insurrection against the English ; or, as many writers say, because Bruce charged Comyn with having betrayed to the English his purpose of rising up against King Edward. It is, however, certain that these two haughty barons came to high and abusive words, until at length Bruce, who, I told you, was extremely passionate, forgot the sacred character of the place in which they stood, and struck Comyn a blow with his dagger. Having done this rash deed, he instantly ran out of the church and called for his horse. Two gentlemen of the country, Lindesay and Kirkpatrick, friends of Bruce, were then in attendance on him. Seeing him pale, bloody, and in much agitation, they eagerly inquired what was the matter.

" I doubt," said Bruce, " that I have slain the Red Comyn."
" Do you leave such a matter in doubt!" said Kirkpatrick.
" I will make sicker !" — that is, I will make certain.


Accordingly, he and his companion Lindesay rushed into the church, aud made the matter certain with a vengeance, by despatching the wounded Comyn with their daggers. His uncle. Sir Robert Comyn, was slain at the same time.

David II of Scotland

David II was the only surviving son of Robert the Bruce, when Bruce died in 1329. David was born in 1324, when Robert was 50. When David was 4, he was married to 7 year old Joan, sister of Edward III of England. On November 24, 1331, David was crowned at Scone, as King of Scotland.

David is included in Scott's Tales of a Grandfather: Liberation and Death of King David II. David died in Edinburgh Castle in 1371, without issue. The Bruce line thus ended, and the Stuart line began with the accession of Robert II of Scotland. King Robert Stuart was the son of Marjorie, who was Robert the Bruce's daughter, and Walter Stuart.

Skye

On September 2nd, 1773, Johnson and Boswell reached the Isle of Skye. MacDonald territory. They were to meet Flora MacDonald, who helped the Bonnie Prince Charlie escape; more on that in another post.

The Isle of Skye has hidden more than one famous fugitive. Scott was inspired by the story of Robert the Bruce's evasive journey, after killing John Comyn. Bruce was forced into hiding, not long after murdering Comyn, and being crowned King of Scotland (1306). He probably fled to Ireland, and returned to the mainland in 1307.

Scott visited Skye twice, first on his trip to the Western Isles, and later (1814) he joined the Commissioners for the Northern Lighthouse Service on their rounds in the Western Isles. That trip included Robert Louis Stevenson's grandfather (also Robert). This latter trip provided fodder for his Lord of the Isles, inspired by Bruce's flight and return.