Scottish Fact of the Day: Robert the Bruce’s heart

Published on 07/06/2012 14:56

Whilst on his deathbed in 1392, Robert the Bruce requested that his heart be carried into battle against the ‘Infidels’ because he himself had not been able to go on a Crusade.

(Removing internal organs after death was rather commonplace at the time). Bruce’s body was buried in Dunfermline Abbey, and upon exhumation in 1818, the ribs were found to have been sawn through, suggesting that Bruce’s heart was indeed removed. It is said that Sir James Douglas took Bruce’s heart in a casket to Spain in 1330, but died in a battle against the Moors. Sir William Keith brought Bruce’s heart back to Scotland, and it was buried in Melrose Abbey. During excavations beneath the Chapter House at Melrose Abbey in 1921, a conical casket was found, measuring 10 inches high. The casket was reburied, but was once again removed in 1996 for further examination. Whilst impossible to prove that the heart was Bruce’s, Historic Scotland concluded that it was ‘reasonable to assume that it is.’ on June 22nd 1998, the casket was reburied (again) at Melrose Abbey, and on June 24th, the anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn, a plaque was unveiled at the place where the heart now lies.