A History of Britain 04. Nations (22 of 30)

A History of Britain

Barely six weeks after he had murdered Comyn, Bruce had himself inaugurated king at Scone.
Instead of unifying the Scots behind a single leader, Bruce's actions only intensified what was already a Scottish civil war, one that he initially lost.
He fled Scotland and so created a vacuum of knowledge, filled by heroic mythology - the fable of the cave and the spider, whose patience gave Robert the resolution to persevere.
There was no cave, no spider, but there was something more extraordinary - the polished noble turning himself into a guerrilla captain.
It was Robert the Bruce, not William Wallace, who wrote the book on partisan warfare.
On his return, four months later, adversity now made him a great general, attacking his Scots and English foes alike.

In the end, Robert the Bruce simply outlived the old king, who breathed his last fearing the worst should ever his son, Edward of Caernarfon, have to meet Robert the Bruce on the field of battle.
Eventually, Edward died, here near Carlisle in 1307, en route to deal with Bruce himself.
Ironically, at the end of his life, Edward turned thoughtful, even writing that he wanted to promote "pleasantness, ease and quiet for our subjects."
If he really believed this, he must have died a truly disappointed man.