Spanish tours to follow warrior's trail

Published on 24/03/2008 21:49

THE Scottish warrior who took Robert the Bruce's heart to the Crusades is to be commemorated for the first time with a museum and guided tours in Spain.

Sir James Douglas, also known as the Black Douglas, was Bruce's commander-in-chief at the Battle of Bannockburn.

He was killed in 1330, fighting the Moors in Spain as he carried Bruce's heart to the Holy Land, for burial in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. His body rests in a tomb at St Bride's in Douglas.

The new museum – the first of its kind dedicated to the Scot – is set to open in the Spanish town where Sir James was killed.

Tom McDade, an expatriate Scot who organised the exhibition, said it would be housed in El Castillo de Estrella (the Castle of the Stars) in the Andalucian town of Teba and would be the focus of guided tours documenting the little-known hero.

He said: "In Scotland, Robert the Bruce and William Wallace spring to mind when people think of great warriors. But the Black Douglas is arguably Scotland's greatest warrior. His name caused terror among the English. In the area of Spain where he died, he is called el Grande Douglas – the Big Douglas – and is regarded as a great hero."