The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Historian casts doubt on Declaration of Arbroath’s show of Scottish unity
ANNIVERSARY: Document’s signing 700 years ago today was quickly followed by bloody cull
It was the ultimate symbol of national unity, a statement that Scotland was an independent nation under one lawful king ruling with the consent of his people.
On the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath today, a leading Scottish historian has revealed signatories may have been plotting against Robert the Bruce and how the king took vengeance against his perceived conspirators in a bloody cull.
Dr Fiona Watson says that within months of the Declaration, Bruce arrested those he could not trust.
Some nobles who had added their seal to the Declaration of Arbroath were executed or imprisoned. Others fled to England or France with their followers to escape the king’s wrath.
Dr Watson said: “The Declaration of Arbroath was a supposed show of unity but the truth is very different.
“Within a few short months, some of the nobles who sealed it were up for treason, conspiring against the king.
“The details of the plot are murky. Robert the Bruce may simply have had information that some of these nobles were not truly loyal, but at least seven signatories were accused.
“Some are sentenced to be drawn, hanged and beheaded along with lesser men in their retinues. Others escaped to England where they were accepted by King Edward II.”
The Declaration of Arbroath was drafted in the scriptorium of Arbroath Abbey by Abbot Bernard on behalf of the nobles and barons of Scotland.
Dated April 6 1320, the document, in Latin, was sealed by 51 magnates and nobles and sent to Pope John XXII in Avignon, France.
A plea for recognition of Scotland’s status as an independent kingdom, it is widely recognised as the first declaration of contractual monarchy in Europe.
The document presented Bruce as a lawful king ruling with the consent of his people.
Dr Watson says the reality was something different.
“Robert the Bruce is a great military leader but he’s a usurper,” she said.
“Scottish nobles had no choice but to accept him as king but that doesn’t mean all of their hearts were in it.
“Many Scots regarded Edward Balliol as the rightful king. There is no doubt that is where some of their sympathies lie.”
Sir David Brechin had fought for both the Scots and the English before he added his seal to the Declaration of Arbroath.
Just a few months later, following “The Black Parliament” held at Scone, he was drawn, hanged and beheaded for treason, failing to inform Bruce of the alleged plot.
Dr Watson, author of a new book, Scotland’s History, added: “Whether there was a plot to kill Robert we don’t know for sure.
“With Brechin, there is certainly evidence of double dealing. Although he submits to Bruce after 1314, he is also in touch with King Edward to say he is loyal to him.
“But the punishment was swift and a brutal example for others.”