The crowning of a king
Robert the Bruce was crowned King of Scots at Scone Abbey on 25 March 1306 — just six weeks after murdering his rival John Comyn in a Dumfries church. It was a desperate act by a desperate man. Bruce was excommunicated, outlawed by Edward I, and surrounded by enemies. The coronation was hasty, improvised, and attended by only a handful of supporters.
The Stone of Destiny, upon which Scottish kings had traditionally been crowned, had been stolen by Edward I in 1296 and taken to Westminster. Bruce was crowned without it. Isabel, Countess of Buchan, performed the traditional MacDuff role of crowning the king — her husband was a Comyn supporter, and her action was an extraordinary act of personal courage. She would later be imprisoned by Edward in a cage hung from the walls of Berwick Castle.
Two days after the coronation, Bruce was defeated by an English force at the Battle of Methven. He fled west with a handful of followers, spending months as a fugitive in the western Highlands and islands. It was during this desperate period that the famous legend arose of Bruce watching a spider try repeatedly to attach its web — inspiring him to try, try again.
Bruce's perseverance was rewarded. Over the next eight years, he fought a brilliant guerrilla campaign, recapturing Scottish castles one by one, winning over the Highland clans, and gradually rebuilding his power. The climax came at Bannockburn on 23-24 June 1314, where Bruce's outnumbered army destroyed the English host of Edward II. The crowning at Scone had been an act of faith. Bannockburn made it reality.