Month: April 2010

Many people assume that my interest in Scotland and its history must come from my heritage.  The truth is, I have absolutely no ancestral connection to Scotland.  In the strange ways of life’s paths, my interest in Scotland stems from my life as a musician, and a piece known to all trombonists, Blue Bells of […]

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Robert the Bruce had at least two wives, undoubtedly several mistresses, and eleven children.  Of several, a great deal is known; of others, very little and even that is sometimes uncertain. Robert first married Isabella of Mar, daughter of Helen of Wales and the Earl of Mar, one of the seven guardians of Scotland.  What little is known […]

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While sources disagree on the numbers and names of Bruce’s younger sisters, there is widespread agreement on his brothers.  Only one leaves out Alexander, the youngest.  Nobody could argue that Bruce’s sisters had easy lives.  Much less so he and his brothers.  Of the five, Bruce, Neil, Edward, Thomas, and Alexander, only Bruce died peacefully, though […]

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It is a shame that only the broadest strokes of Bruce’s family portrait have come down through history, because with an abundance of brothers, sisters, and, later, children, there must have been many wonderful stories to tell of their younger years.  What remains, however, is a list of names and fates, and a few sketchy ideas […]

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