This engrossing biography of Robert the Bruce, Scotland's famous warrior-king, is adapted from the epic verse of John Barbour - a famous Scottish poet, who wrote his life's work in the Scots language. We hear tell of how the great king dealt with conflicts between the noble houses of Medieval Scotland, and the ever-present threat of the encroaching English. Of particular highlight are the battle narratives, which count among the most elaborate and descriptive to survive from the period. Barbour places great emphasis upon the Bruce's heroism and daring feats of bravery both political and military, his work being written to commemorate the emergence of Robert's successor, Robert the Second. While modern histories offer a more even-handed and detailed look at both Robert's achievements and his shortcomings, Barbour's great poem - and modern English translations of it such as this - remain core sources for historians of Medieval Scotland.

Barbour's Bruce (c. 1375) is the oldest substantial piece of literature in Older Scots. It narrates in four-stress couplets the feats of Robert Bruce and his supporters, most notably James Douglas and Thomas Randolph. Their heroic activities, including battles against odds and clever out-manoeuvrings as well as open warfare, provide opportunities for discussion of good leadership, the celebration of freedom, and a construction of Scottishness alongside a narrative with enough verifiable historical detail to make it compelling and convincing. Barbour's narrative implicitly locates Bruce and Douglas against European traditions of the Nine Worthies, particularly Alexander, and shows a sophisticated sense of structure in the central placing of Bannockburn and Bruce's speech on freedom. This edition by McDiarmid and Stevenson, out of print for several years, is now reissued by the Scottish Text Society. In addition to the text, it provides a full introduction, notes and a glossary.

To Sanct Androws he come in hy, Quhar the byschop full curtasly Resavyt him and gert him wer His knyvys forouth him to scher, And cled him rycht honorabilly And gert ordayn quhar he suld ly. A weile gret quhile thar dwellyt he. All men lufyt him, for his bounte....

This is a full translation of the Scottish epic "The Bruce". The poem is regarded as one of the key sources for the life of Robert the Bruce. It contains detailed notes explaining and simplifying the narrative, as well as contemporary accounts. The book includes "The Declaration of Arbroath".

This engrossing biography of Robert the Bruce, Scotland's famous warrior-king, is adapted from the epic verse of John Barbour - a famous Scottish poet, who wrote his life's work in the Scots language. We hear tell of how the great king dealt with conflicts between the noble houses of Medieval Scotland, and the ever-present threat of the encroaching English. Of particular highlight are the battle narratives, which count among the most elaborate and descriptive to survive from the period. Barbour places great emphasis upon the Bruce's heroism and daring feats of bravery both political and military, his work being written to commemorate the emergence of Robert's successor, Robert the Second. While modern histories offer a more even-handed and detailed look at both Robert's achievements and his shortcomings, Barbour's great poem - and modern English translations of it such as this - remain core sources for historians of Medieval Scotland.