The spider and the cave
Just two days after being crowned King of Scots at Scone, Robert the Bruce was ambushed by an English force under Aymer de Valence at Methven near Perth on 27 March 1306. The attack came at night, catching Bruce's small army unprepared. The Scots were routed. Bruce barely escaped with his life.
What followed was the lowest point in Bruce's career. He fled west with a handful of followers, hunted by the English and by Scottish enemies loyal to the Comyn family. His wife, daughter, and sisters were captured. His brothers Thomas and Alexander were executed. Edward I placed Bruce's female relatives in cages hung from castle walls as a public humiliation.
Bruce spent the winter of 1306-07 in hiding, possibly in the western Highlands or the islands — Rathlin Island off the coast of Ireland is a traditional location. It was during this desperate period that the famous legend of the spider is said to have taken place: Bruce, sheltering in a cave, watched a spider repeatedly fail to swing its web from one beam to another before finally succeeding. The persistence of the spider, the story goes, inspired Bruce to continue fighting.
Whether the spider story is true or not, Bruce's persistence was real. From the nadir of Methven, he rebuilt his forces, won a string of small victories, and by 1309 controlled most of Scotland. Bannockburn in 1314 sealed his triumph. The lesson of Methven — and the spider — is that Scotland's greatest king was also its most resilient.