After October 1305 things changed markedly. While Edward I was seriously ill (and not expected to recover), according to the Scottish chroniclers Bruce made a daring proposal to his rival John Comyn. If John Comyn would be prepared to help Bruce become king of Scotland he would receive all Bruce’s estates and if, on the other hand, Comyn gave Bruce his estates Bruce would undertake to support him for the crown. It is difficult to believe that Bruce would keep his word to help a man he disliked so heartily to gain the throne but Barbour – always sympathetic to Bruce – had Comyn opting for the additional estates rather than the crown and even signing an agreement between them to this effect.8 On the other hand, although the English chronicler Walter of Guisborough also has Bruce contacting Comyn he maintained it was after Bruce had fled from the English court and followed the visit by Bruce’s two brothers, Thomas and Neil (sometimes called Nigel), to Comyn’s castle at Dalswinton with a request for Comyn to meet him at the Greyfriars Church, Dumfries, to discuss certain business, most likely the placing of Bruce on the Scottish throne.9
To everyone’s surprise Edward I quickly recovered and, with the capture of Wallace, certain documents were found which, while not directly incriminating Bruce, served to confirm his ambitions for the crown of Scotland. Edward’s attitude towards him cooled markedly and in September he ordered Bruce to place Kildrummy Castle into the hands of someone ‘for whom he would be responsible’, and Umfraville’s lands were returned to their original owner.
Any trace of friendly relationship still remaining between the king and Bruce was destroyed when, according to the Scottish sources, John Comyn told Edward I of Bruce’s plotting against him, even informing him about their mutual covenant concerning the throne of Scotland and undertook to produce the document signed and sealed by Bruce as proof.10 Edward decided to wait until he had the evidence and took pains not to arouse Bruce’s suspicions about the altered situation but, one evening when he had taken a large measure of wine, the king let slip he intended to arrest Bruce the next day and try him for treason. Among his guests was Raoul de Monthermer, Earl of Gloucester, a long-standing friend of the Bruces, who sent the keeper of his wardrobe to Bruce with twelve pence and a pair of spurs. The coins carried the king’s head and no doubt implied being sold or betrayed while the spurs clearly indicated the need for haste.11 The two men must have agreed on the signal beforehand for Bruce returned the twelve pence with his thanks and, after telling his staff he was not to be disturbed, took a squire for escort and leaving London, rode by day and night to Scotland. One Scottish chronicler, Fordun, even had them meeting a Scotsman travelling south to England whose suspicious conduct caused them to search him and find a letter from John Comyn enclosing the bond supporting Bruce’s bid for the Scottish throne.
Five days after leaving the English court Bruce reached his family at Lochmaben and told them what had happened. By chance the local magnates, including John Comyn, were attending sessions held by English justiciars at neighbouring Dumfries and Bruce sent word for the Comyn to meet him in Greyfriars’ Kirk there. There are conflicting versions of how their conversation went on 10 February 1306. The English chronicler Sir Thomas Grey said that after traditional words of greeting Bruce turned on Comyn and accused him of betraying him, while Guisborough – no lover of Bruce – has John Comyn refusing to listen to Bruce’s planned treason against Edward I.
Whatever was said there was a quarrel, daggers were drawn and the Comyn fell wounded on the steps of the altar.12 Comyn’s uncle, Sir Robert Comyn, struck Bruce with his sword but Bruce’s armour deflected it and Sir Robert was killed by Christopher Seton, Bruce’s brother-in-law. As Bruce came out of the church there is a strong tradition that another of his followers, Roger Kirkpatrick, asked what had happened and, being told he returned to the church and made sure John Comyn was dead.
Whether or not Bruce killed, rather than wounded, the Comyn is intriguing but not important. Responsibility for Roger Kirkpatrick’s actions rested with his master. In any event the murder was most unlikely to have been pre-planned. In medieval times a strong contender for the throne would never deliberately commit both murder and sacrilege. Undoubtedly Bruce and Comyn hated each other and if Comyn had alerted Edward to Bruce’s projected bid to be king and had caused him to flee from England these were even more reasons for a heated exchange to take place between them. Both were young, powerful and proud men and they had already come to blows over William Wallace.
Whatever the reasons the murder in the Greyfriars’ church committed Bruce irrevocably to the Scottish patriotic camp and caused him to face the justifiable anger of a failing but still formidable English king along with the full enmity of the powerful Comyns and their followers, who with the exception of the southwest, controlled most of Scotland. At this time, before Bruce or the Comyns were able to come out on top, Scotland’s leadership was more divided than ever.
Facing such terrible dangers Bruce needed above all to establish the legitimacy of his position, without which uncommitted men were unlikely to join him, while simultaneously securing a base from where he could build up his military forces. As his sister was Queen Dowager in Norway he could have moved away from his enemies and assembled a following with the object of returning to Scotland after Edward’s death. In fact he opted for the more hazardous course of remaining in his country from the beginning. In Scotland he could call on the support of his family and their traditional adherents who together with their retinues of fighting men offered him the framework of an army, however poorly it might compare with the strength of his opponents.
Of equal importance was the question of his legitimacy. This received a powerful boost from the Scottish church where men like Bishop William Lamberton had already acknowledged him as the best hope to recover their country’s independence. Bishop Wishart of Glasgow absolved him for his dual sin and in return Bruce agreed to respect the church’s traditional liberties.
In his perilous situation it was Bruce’s personal attributes that were likely to prove all-important. While he had already shown outstanding skills in the jousting field and before 1302 his activities as a guerrilla leader in the southwest had acted as a thorn in England’s side, after joining the English king he had given little indication that he had the ability to become a genuine military commander. Energy and resilience were vital now and the hot-headedness that had characterised his conduct against John Comyn – and which had placed him and his whole family in such jeopardy – had to be curbed.
To survive at all Bruce needed practical and strategic awareness. John de Soules, as guardian, had already demonstrated the effectiveness of manoeuvre and evasion against the English. Conversely Wallace’s victory at Stirling along with the initial achievements of Scottish spearmen at Falkirk showed that Bruce needed stand-up battles to win back Scotland from his Comyn enemies and hopefully eventually against the English too.
With so many powerful opponents and the strong likelihood of defeat and capture before him Bruce had little time for exhilaration at assuming what he had so long believed was his rightful role. Nor was there at this stage much opportunity to consider possible tactics before he knew the size or nature of the force he could raise. Decisions would have to be made in the saddle and longer-term thinking would be restricted to his short periods of rest. Whether the one-time self-seeking nobleman had the ability to take on the mantle and responsibilities of a warrior king was soon to become evident.
CHAPTER THREE
WINNING A KINGDOM
‘Potential is more than mass, decision and courage of more value than numbers, and energy the deciding factor.’
Hilaire