The Legend of Robert the Bruce and the Spider

Six times Robert the Bruce and his army had fought against the English, and six times they had lost. The army of Scotland was completely scattered, and Robert the Bruce was forced to go into hiding.

According to the legend, Robert the Bruce lay inside a cave. He was tired, and ready to give up all hope. He noticed a spider overhead about to weave her web. He watched, as she worked with great care. Six times she tried to throw her thread from one edge of the cave wall to the other. Six times her thread fell short. "Poor thing," said Robert the Bruce. "You, too, know what it's like to fail six times in a row."

But the spider did not lose hope, and made ready to try for a seventh time. Robert the Bruce watched, fascinated. She swung herself out upon a slender line, and this time the thread was carried safely to the cave wall and fastened there.

"Yes!" cried Robert the Bruce. "I, too, will try a seventh time!"

He gathered his army together, giving hope to the discouraged people of Scotland. June 23 – 24, 1314, The Battle of of Bannockburn was fought and won by Robert the Bruce and his army, who were greatly outnumbered by the English army. 

King Henry II was forced to return to England, but despite Bannockburn and the capture of the final English stronghold at Berwick in 1318, Edward II still refused to give up his claim to the overlordship of Scotland. In 1320, the Scottish magnates and nobles submitted the Declaration of Arbroath to Pope John XXII, declaring that Robert was their rightful monarch and asserting Scotland’s status as an independent kingdom. In 1324 the Pope recognized Robert as king of an independent Scotland, and in 1326 the Franco-Scottish alliance was renewed in the Treaty of Corbeil. In 1327, the English deposed Edward II in favour of his son, Edward III, and peace was temporarily concluded between Scotland and England with the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton, by which Edward III renounced all claims to sovereignty over Scotland.

To this day, the victory and independence of Scotland is traced to a spider who kept trying again and again to spin her web in a cave, and inspired the King of Scotland, Robert the Bruce.

I hope you enjoyed reading about Robert the Bruce and the Spider!

Gwyn