Can you help me out please.

[Bruce_Clan]

I'm trying to learn as much as possible about my family in Scotland.Before my grand mother died she showed me this family tree type thing. What stuck out was the last name on this,it was Robert the Bruce.It caught my eye because i had just watched Braveheart the movie and that must have been the same Robert the Bruce they were talking about in the movie with William Wallace.Ever since then I've been so interested in finding out all kinds of history and faqs.SO if you can help,thanks.
Thank you,
Gary Gillispie

You could take a look at the Scottish History pages, www.scottishhistory.com for some general background reading. A search of www.amazon.com will produce any number of books on the subject, but I'd be careful about the quality of any books if you don't know anything about the subject. I have several good books at home which I may look out and post a few details of in a few days.

I would be sceptical of any claimed direct descent from King Robert Bruce of Scots. Everyone with a famous surname would like to think they are descended from the great person of that same name, but it is rarely so. I am not saying you are not descended from the Bruce, just that any such claim has to be viewed as unlikely. You must remember that Bruce was a King of Scots and so his family tree is well documented. It should, therefore, be reasonably easy to verify whether or not you have a family connection.

All that notwithstanding, Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, Lord of Annandale, King of Scots was unquestionably a great hero. It was by his hand that Scotland was finally freed from an English domination which had lasted nearly 30 years since the death of Alexander III. Bruce was the finest leader of guerrilla warfare of his or (arguably) any age. His campaign to free Scotland was brilliant and without equal and his place in history is well deserved.

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The man o' independent mind,
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

[Bruce_Clan]

Thanks for the help i really appreciate it.
The connection is lajit my uncle has this document with the signature of Robert.If it is the real thing WOW!!If not oh well.
Thanks for the help,
Gary Gillispie

[EJ]

Have you looked at the Society & Culture link on the home page of Scotland.com? Try Society & Culture -> Celtic Links -> Royal Registry. It shows all the Kings of Scotland and by clicking on each you will see their history/decendents.

My family history has been searched back to Scotland also. James Green married Jane Muir who is decendent of the Muirs of Caldwell and the Muirs of Rowallen. Elizabeth Muir, daughter of the house of Rowallen, became Queen of Scotland by marrying Robert Bruce-the second and was the mother of Robert Bruce the third. (so I'm told) I'm looking into it all now to see for myself. Supposedly the motto emblazoned on the sheild of the Muirs of Rowallen and Caldwell was "Kings come of us, not we of Kings"

Who knows, you and I may be distant relatives and not even know it...

EJ

[Paul_S_Marrs]

The book by 4 sisters was written when I was young. They connected me with Earl of Marr, and King of Scotland(Bruce), and it is on my coat of arms MARR, the mark of Bruce. Where can I find more on this information network? Paul Steven Marrs

[Paul_S_Marrs]

The book by 4 sisters was written when I was young. They connected me with Earl of Marr, and King of Scotland(Bruce), and it is on my coat of arms MARR, the mark of Bruce. Where can I find more on this information network? Paul Steven Marrs

Although Robert Bruce, King of Scots, was about the eighth of his line to bear the name Robert, he was the first and only King Robert Bruce. His son, David, had no living legitimate descendants, so the crown passed to Robert Bruce's grandson, Robert Stewart (son of Bruce's daughter) on the death of King David. Robert II was the first of the Stewart dynasty to sit on the throne of Scotland.

There were close family ties between the Bruces and the Earls of Mar, but King Robert Bruce was never himself Earl of Mar, nor were any of his descendants as far as I am aware. Bruce's first wife was a daughter of the Earl of Mar. At the time Bruce became King of Scots, his brother Sir Neil Bruce was the legal guardian of the infant Earl of Mar, who had recently inherited the title, and it was at the Earl of Mar's castle of Kildrummy that Bruce's Queen (his second wife, a daughter of the Earl of Ulster), 2 of his brothers (including Sir Neil) and the Countess of Buchan (who had recently placed the crown on Bruce's head at his coronation ceremony) were captured by Edward of England's troops. Bruce's brothers were executed and the ladies were taken to England to spend many long humiliating years on full public display in cages.

------------------
The man o' independent mind,
He looks an' laughs at a' that.