Image: Barbour's The Bruce

Description: An 18thC edition of John Barbour's epic poem The Bruce in the National Museum of Scotland. It is open at the page which describes the people's grief at the death of Bruce. And when folk heard that he was dead From home to home the sorrow spread. Then might one see men tear their hair, And wring their hands in deep despair; And knights were seen to weep full sore And madly rend the clothes they wore; Lamenting for his nobleness, His wisdom, honour, manliness; Above all for his company That he bestowed so courteously. "Alas!" they said, "our leader just, Our king in whom was all our trust, Our strength, our wisdom in defence, All these have now been taken hence! His valour and his strength was such, And fired his followers so much, That every heart with courage shone While he was there to lead them on. Alas! What shall we say or do? For while he was alive 'tis true That all our neighbours feared our hand. In many a far and foreign land Our valiant exploits won renown; And all was due to him alone!" [modern translation by A. A. H. Douglas (1964)]
Title: Barbour's The Bruce
Credit: Own work
Author: Kim Traynor
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
License Link: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Attribution Required?: Yes