General Notes

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Elizabeth De Burgh was the daughter of Richard De Burgh the powerf ul Earl
of Ulster a close friend of Edward I king of England. There is little
information to say when Elizabeth first met the young Robert Bruce Earl
of Carrick, but it is likely that they may have met at the English court,
both being  frequent visitors, in the days of peace with England, when
Alexander I II was King of Scots.
With the death of Alexander, who died without heir. Edwa rd set his sights
on control of Scotland,  the new King of Scots was chosen a s John
Balliol. After the battle of Dunbar where Balliol and the Scots army
were defeated by Edward, many of the Scottish nobles were captured and
Ballio l was stripped of his Kingship and sent into exile in France.
Meanwhile the r esistance in Scotland continued  with Sir William Wallace
and Sir Andrew Mora y
With the capture and execution of Wallace, Bruce decided to make a stand
a gainst Edward. Robert the Bruce was crowned Robert I King of Scots at
Scone o n the 27 March 1306. After the coronation Elizabeth and her court
were sent t o the safety of Kildrummy castle under the protection of Nigel
Bruce. The new ly crowned King Robert I headed for Perth, held by the
English Earl of Pembro ke. Upon reaching the castle, Bruce roDe up to the
walls and challenged Pembr oke to come out and fight or surrender the
town. Pembroke replied that the da y was too far gone for combat but on
the following morning he would accept hi s challenge.
The English attacked the Scots camp in the night. During the atta ck Bruce
made for Pembroke and  slew his horse. Being outnumbered two to one Bruce
and his men had no choice other than to fight their way to the safety o f
the hills. It was a shattering defeat, the Scots army had all but been
De stroyed. At Kildrummy castle the situation was just as grave for the
Queen an d her Royal party. An English force had arrived and attacked the
castle, one of the strongest in Scotland and capable of withstanding a
long siege. The En glish were almost on the point of
abandoning the attack, when they managed to bribed the castle's
blacksmith, who set fire to the corn store which quickly spread until the
main gate was burned.  Though the defenders held out for a n ight and a
day they finally surrendered, and the Queen and those with here we re
captured. The blacksmith received his reward, of all the gold he could
c arry. The English fulfilled their bargain by pouring it molten down his
throat .
'.......all wives of his enemies were to be treated as outlaws, any man,
a s he might wish, could rob, rape or murder them immune from punishment'
Edward King of England, the so called
'hammer' of the Scots
The captured Royal par ty included  Queen Elizabeth, and the Countess of
Buchan, Bruce's daughter Ma rjorie, and his two sisters, Mary and
Christina. Nigel Bruce and all the othe r men taken with him were dragged
through the streets of Berwick, hung and th en beheaded. The Countess of
Buchan and Mary Bruce were shut up in wooden cag es erected on the walls
of Berwick and Roxburgh castles, exposed to the gaze of passers by and
treated as if they were animals in a zoo. Bruce's 12 year o ld daughter
Marjorie was sent to a nunnery.
Elizabeth represented perhaps Ed ward's greatest chance for revenge
against Bruce, though one thing was in her favour, her father. The Earl
of Ulster would have made an unwelcome enemy fo r Edward, Elizabeth was
placed under house arrest in England. Eight years lat er in 1314, Robert
the Bruce defeated Edward's son, Edward II  at Bannockburn , the Scots
captured over 100 English knights and Barons. These were exchange d for
Queen Elizabeth and fifteen other Scottish captives held in England. Ma ry
Bruce had been released in 1312, the Countess of Buchan appears to have
died in captivity.
In 1316 Bruce's pregnant daughter Marjorie was thrown from her horse and
killed, the surgeons were imme