[In the following essay, Trace studies the supernatural and religious devices utilized by Barbour in The Bruce.]

Storyss to rede ar delitabill,
Supposs that thai be nocht bot fabill;
Than suld storyss that suthfast wer,
And thai war said on gud maner,
Hawe doubill plesance in heryng.
The fyrst plesance is the carpyng,
And the tothir the suthfastnes,
That schawys the thing rycht as it wes; …
Now god gyff grace that I may swa
Tret It, and bryng It till endyng,
That I say nocht bot suthfast thing!
(I. 1-36)¹

In the opening lines of his poem, John Barbour suggests that his story will be both "suthfast" in the historical sense and entertaining. Later he refers to his tale as a "romanys" (I. 444-445). Scholars of Scottish literature have differed in the relative amounts of stress which they believe he placed upon the historical and romantic elements of the poem. Agnes Mure Mackenzie considers Barbour's narrative "pure, undecorated," serious biography which makes no attempt to be "poetic,"² whereas George Neilson compromises by calling The Bruce the "great original historical chanson de geste" of all time.³ In his Preface to the 1856 Spalding Club edition of the poem, Cosmo Innes admits that Barbour used some of the graces of romance but is emphatic regarding its unimportance, for he states that "there is no artificial or far-sought ornament, no invention of machinery.… There is not a superhuman being nor a supernatural incident introduced into his poem."⁴

The historical valuation of the poem is best left to the historians. It is the purpose of this paper to consider one aspect of the romantic element by studying the supernatural devices which Barbour does, in fact, introduce. For the purposes of this paper, "supernatural" will be used in its accepted sense.

An analysis of this "supernatural" element is best conducted by dividing it into two categories. In the first place, it will be discussed in its "religious" sense; in other words, the extent to which Barbour employs a Christian belief in a supreme being will be shown. Secondly, the term "supernatural" will be treated in its "non-religious" sense. The question can be stated thus: What is the attitude of the poem toward non-Christian or pagan theories regarding miracles, prophecies, and other "magical" revelations? It is hoped that this analysis will reveal The Bruce to be more than a mere chronicle of events in the history of Scotland by showing that Barbour's treatment of the supernatural imaginatively embellishes the story, helping the poem to achieve the status of romance.

I

The Bruce, the Scots' great national epic, describes how they won their freedom from the English in the early fourteenth century under the daring leadership of Robert Bruce, King of Scotland, and James Douglas. In the many battles recounted in the course of twenty books (extending to a total of 13,550 lines), Bruce and his men are victorious even when the odds are overwhelmingly against them. The Scots in one confrontation number 300 men compared with 1500 Englishmen; other odds are 600 to 3,000, 50 to 1500, 6,000 to 20,000, and 10,000 to 50,000. King Robert is often outnumbered in single encounters with Englishmen or Scots traitors. In at least three crises he valiantly meets and slays an ambush party of three. Over a narrow ford, where only one English soldier can pass at one time, he makes a bold stand alone against 200 of the enemy. When his men arrive to help him, they find that he has slain fourteen.

How does Barbour account for the enormous successes of the Scots against the greater numbers of skilled warriors? Part of their success is attributed to the personal qualities exhibited by King Robert, Douglas, and the other chieftains. In a lengthy discourse on "vorschip" ("valour'), Barbour explains that it embodies more than mere "fule-hardyment":

For-thi has vorschip sic renoune,
That it is [mene] betuix thai twa,
                      for it
Has so gret varnasyng of vit,
That it all peralis weill can se,
And all avantagis that may be.…

For hardyment with foly is viss;
Bot hardyment, that mellit is
Vith vit, [is] vorschip ay, per-de;
For, but vit, vorschip may nocht be.
(VI. 346-358)

It is "vorschip" which Bruce displayed at the ford when he encountered alone the 200 English warriors:

His vit hym schawit the strat entre
Of the furde, and the ysche alsua;
He thoucht that thai mycht neuir our-ga
Apon a man that wes worthy.
Tharfor his hardyment hastely
Thoucht weill it mycht be vndirtane,
Sen that anis mycht assale bot ane.
Thus hardyment, gouemit vith vit,
That he all tym vald sammyn knyt,
Gert him of vorschipe haf the priss,
And oft our-cum his enymyss.
(VI. 362-372)

Even rash boldness, lacking any qualities of intelligence, is sometimes successful. It is responsible for Edward Bruce's routing the English in Ireland, "for hardyment withouten weir/Wan xv hundreth with fifty" (IX. 637-639).

In addition, Bruce owes some of his success in battle to his ability to elevate the morale of his troops. At the Battle of Bannockburn he encourages his men to fight bravely and boldly, reminding them that they "haue thre gret avantage" over the English:

The first is, that we haf the richt;
And for the richt ilk man suld ficht.
The tothir is, thai ar cummyn heir, …

And [has] broucht her, richt till our hand,Richess in-to so gret plentee,That the pouerest of yow sall beBath rych and mychty thar-with-all, …

The thrid is, [that] we for our lyvis
And for our childer and our vifis,
And for the fredome of our land,
[Ar strengheit] in battale for to stand,
And thai for thair mycht anerly,
And for thai leit of ws lichtly,
And for thai wald wald distroy vs all,
Mais thame to ficht.
(XII. 235-252)

On another occasion he exhorts his troops on to victory with thoughts of the great happiness attending their success:

Thinkis quhat gladschip vs abydis,
Gif that we may, as vs betydis,
Haf victour of our fayis heir!
(VIII. 253-255)

His men are emboldened by his words of encouragement:

"Schir, gif god will, we sail sa do
That no repruf sall ly thar-to."
"Than ga we furth now," said the king,
"And he, that maid of nocht all thing,
Leyd vs and sauf vs for his mycht,
And help vs for till hald our richt!"
(VIII. 259-264)

In this passage Bruce calls upon God for assistance in battle, as he does many times in the poem. Before the famous encounter at the ford, when Bruce dismisses two of his men, they ask him: "Quha sall vith yow be?" He replies: "God, forouten ma;/Pas on, for I will it be swa" (VI. 89-90). And when his men count the slain and find fourteen, "than lovit thai god fast, allveldand,/That thai thar lord fand haill and feir" (VI. 314-315). On another occasion, when three traitors approach to attack Bruce in his sleep, "throu goddis grace,/The kyng blenkit vp hastely" (VII. 202-203), just in time to see them approaching. Bruce then slays the traitors "throu goddis grace and his manheid." In another encounter against a set of three traitors, Bruce tells his men: "I slew bot one forouten ma,/God and my hound has slane the twa" (VII. 484-485).

Instrumental in the success of the Scots was the grace of God, "that maist is of all mycht," for "quhar god helpys, quhat may withstand?" (I. 456). Underlying the main action of the poem is the belief in God's ability to steer all things:

No manis mycht may stand agane
The grace of god, that all thing steris;
He wat quhat-to all thing efferis,
And disponis at his liking,
Eftir his ordinanss, all thyng.
(XI. 26-30)

The strong nationalistic convictions which emerge from Barbour's poem are ultimately based on the Scots' faith in the justice of their cause, a faith which is essentially moral and religious. When Edward I privately offers the crown of Scotland to Bruce if he will but recognize all final power to rest with England, Bruce replies:

"The kynryk yharn I nocht to have,
Bot gyff It fall off rycht to me:
And gyff god will that I sa be,
I sall als frely in all thing
Hald It, as It afferis to king."
(I. 158-162)

By means of this religious foundation, Barbour achieves an artistic unity of interest in the poem.

Kurt Wittig has remarked that although The Bruce is based upon religious convictions, it is "astonishing" that Barbour expresses so few specifically Christian ideas in the poem.⁵ He notes that there are few, if any, allusions to such matters as the Pope's attitude toward the Scottish cause, the excommunication of Bruce, Bruce's donations to the Church, the part played by the clergy in the war, or Biblical stories.⁶ It is true that Barbour nowhere mentions the Pope or the matter of Bruce's excommunication. Bruce was excommunicated after slaying John Comyn at the altar in the Friar's Church at Dumfries. Barbour does not entirely excuse this crime, for he firmly places the blame on the shoulders of his hero:

He mysdyd thar gretly, but wer,
That gave na gyrth to the Awter.
Tharfor sa hard myscheiff him fell,
That Ik herd neuir in Romanys tell
Off man sa hard [sted] as wes he,
That eftirwart com to sic bounte.
(II. 43-48)

Later, however, Bruce states, "Sa our lord me sayn,/I had gret causs hym for to slay" (IX. 24-25). Barbour leaves undertermined the question whether Bruce was justified, in the eyes of the Church, in slaying Comyn at the altar. On his deathbed Bruce thanks God for allowing him ample time to repent his sins, but there is no direct mention of Comyn's murder and Bruce's subsequent excommunication. A possible interpretation is that Barbour thought Bruce's action finally justified in the eyes of God, though perhaps not in those of the medieval Church. Wittig's thesis that Barbour is remarkably worldly in his religious outlook holds true in this instance at least, for Bruce communes with God face to face, rather than through the medium of the Church.

Barbour's anticlerical outlook may also be seen in his treatment of two other "church" crimes. The famous incident of the Douglas larder, at which James Douglas amassed in his cellar a weird mixture of "meill, malt and vyne" together with the blood of English warriors, occurred on a Palm Sunday. Douglas attacked the English in St. Bride's Church, where they were performing their devotions. Barbour treats the bloody massacre dispassionately, almost humorously, referring to it as "the douglas lardenere," and nowhere is Douglas censured or punished for his heinous crime. Later, however, the English are accused of an unpardonable lack of respect for the holy day when they attack the Scots on Easter Sunday. Their misdeed results in failure at battle:

In tyme of trewis yschit thai,
And in sic tyme as on paske day,
Quhen god raiss for to sauf mankyne
Fra vem of aid adammis syne.
Tharfor sic gret myschans thame fell,
That ilkane, as ye herd me tell,
War slane vp, or than takyn [thar].
(XV. 247-253)

God must clearly be on the side of the Scots to excuse Douglas' crime and punish the English for a similar misdeed. But is this God recognizably Christian? It is at least questionable that Church theologians would think so.

In most respects, however, the tone of the poem is essentially Christian. The Scots troops follow the rituals of loyal Christians. The Battle of Bannockburn is fought in a mood of religious and patriotic self-dedication. On a Sunday morning the Scots hear mass and are shriven:

On [sonday than] in the mornyng,
Weill soyn eftir the sonne-Rising,
Thai herd the mess full reuerently,
And mony shraf thame deuotly,
That thoucht till de in that melle,
Or than to mak thar cuntre fre.
To god for thair richt prayit thai.
Thair dynit nane of thame that day,
[Bot, for] the vigill of sanct Iohne,
Thai fastit bred and vattir ilkone.
(XI. 374-383)

At the height of battle they kneel down to pray:

The scottis men full deuotly
Knelyt [all] doune, till god to pray,

And a schort prayer their maid thai
Till god, till help thame in that ficht.
(XII. 476-479)

In still other ways Barbour keeps Christian ideas before his reader. There are two Biblical allusions in the poem. The first occurs in Book I, when Barbour likens the Scots troops to the Maccabees:

Thai war lik to the machabeys,
That, as men in the bibill seys,
Throw thar gret worschip and walour,
Fawcht in-to mony stalwart stour,
For to delyuir thar countre
Fra folk that, throw Iniquite,
Held thaim and thairis in thrillage.
(I. 465-471)

Later, Edward Bruce is compared to Judas Maccabeus:

This gud knycht, that vorthy was,
Till ludas machabeus that hicht,
Micht liknyt weill be in that ficht.
Na multitud he forsuk of men,
Quhill he hade ane aganis ten.
(XIV. 312-316)

In comparing the Scots to the Maccabees, Barbour strengthens the underlying theme that God is on the side of Scotland, for the Maccabees represent another small nation defending its God-given right to freedom, with God's active help, against vastly superior forces.

T. H. Kean disagrees with Wittig's thesis that Barbour virtually ignores the role of the Church by pointing out that in medieval Scotland it was from the clergy that the lessons of patriotism were learned, and that Barbour portrays the clergy as active participants in the war.⁷ Barbour relates the story of how Robert, Bishop of Glasgow, is captured by the English and later ransomed back to Scotland at the end of the war (IV. 10-15, XIII. 680-686). In another episode Bishop William of Lambertoun pleads with Edward of England to return Lord Douglas' estates to him (I. 407-444) and later sends Douglas, with his blessing, to join the new king of Scotland (II. 91-133). It is interesting to note that Bishop William sanctions the murder of John Comyn. He is encouraged when news of Comyn's death reaches him, expressing "gret hop" that Robert Bruce will be king, "and haiff this land all in leding" (II. 90). William Sinclair, Bishop of Dunkeid, actually joins in battle, "armyt lolely," and riding "apon a stalward steid." At the head of a company of sixty well-armed knights, he plunges into the heat of battle, slaying many of the English (XVI. 572-674). We learn from Barbour that during one of the later battles 1,000 Englishmen perished, 300 of whom were priests (XVII. 582-588). In the light of these examples, it is evident that Barbour has not totally ignored the role of the clergy in the wars.

Barbour reveals an interest in enhancing his chronicle with Christian imagery in his story of St. Margaret's prophecy. St. Margaret, "the gud haly queyne," predicted the Scottish conquest of the Castle at Edinburgh "throw reveling/Of him that knawis and wat all thing":

Scho left ane takyne Richt loly;
That is, that scho in hir chapell
Gert weill be portrait ane castell,
A leddir wp to the wall standand
And a man thar-on clymande,
And wrat owth him, as old men sayis,
In franch: gardiss wouss de francoiss.
And for this word scho gert vrit swa,
Men wend the franch-men suld it ta.…

Scho wrat that as in prophesy;
And it fell eftirward suthly
Richt as scho said; for tane it wes,
And francoiss led thame vp that place.
(X. 741-755)

St. Margaret's prophecy came true because she received her revelation directly from God. Another prophecy, although not determinably Christian in origin, adds to the romantic interest of the poem. Bruce and his men set their sails toward islands off Scotland, and the men of the Isles are amazed:

For thai wist throu ald prophesy
That he that suld ger schippis swa
Betuix the seis [with] salis ga
Said vyn the Ilis swa til hand,
That nane with strynth suld him withstand.
(Xv. 292-296)

On the strength of this prophecy, the men of the Isles surrender to Bruce without resistance, and there "wes nane that withstude his biddyng" (XV. 298).

The description of Bruce's death in the last book follows a conventional pattern of the medieval Christian biography. On his deathbed King Robert donates silver "in-to gret quantite" to religious of "seir statis" for the health of his soul. He offers thanks to God for allowing him sufficient time in his life to repent of his sins:

And I thank god that hass me sent
Space in this liff me till repent.
For throu me and my warraying
Of blud thar hass beyne gret spilling, …

Tharfor this seknes and this payne
I tak in thank for my trespass.
(XX. 171-177)

He orders his heart to be carried to the Holy Land in a crusade "apon goddis fayis." After the good Sir Douglas' death, Bruce's heart is preserved and buried in the Abbey at Melross, "quhar men [prayis] ay / That he and his haffe paradiss" (XX. 600-601). The poem then ends with a prayer to God, asking His grace for the successors of the noble Scots:

He, that hye Lorde of al thing is,
Vp till his mekill bliss thame bryng,
And grant [his] grace, that thar ofspryng
Lede weill the Land …

[The] afald god in trinite
Bryng ws hye vp till hevynnis bliss,
Quhar all-way is lestand liking is!—AMEN.
(XX. 612-620)

Thus the poem ends in a traditional Christian manner with an invocation to "god in trinite."

Wittig's view that Barbour does not rely on conventional religious attitudes and techniques holds true mainly in respect to the omission of Bruce's excommunication, which may indeed seem surprising in the light of its historical fact. It must be remembered, however, that Barbour was writing a national epic. First and foremost he wishes to tell the story of how the Scots won their national independence from the English. A digression into the matter of Bruce's excommunication, therefore, would be incidental to the story and would add nothing to the "romanys" element. And, although his attitudes may not always be conventional, Barbour accepts little not guaranteed by religious (i.e., Christian) authority. This fact becomes more evident in a review of the "non-Christian" supernatural elements contained in the poem.

II

The Bruce receives a great deal of its romantic color from Barbour's discussion of various popular methods of foretelling the future. One of his most interesting fables centers in the death of Edward I of England. In a campaign against Bruce, Edward is attacked by illness in a town called "Burgh-on-the-Sand." "Men said" that Edward had years before been informed by "ane spirit" that he would meet with death at "the burch of Ierusalem." Consequently, when he discovers himself at a "burch," Edward easily succumbs to his doom: "Now may I no wiss forthir ga" (IV. 214). Edward's superstitious belief in the power of evil spirits reminds Barbour of a story about Earl Ferrand of Flanders. In a war between France and Flanders, Earl Ferrand's mother raised a spirit who told her that the King of France should fall in battle without the honor of burial and that her son

Sall richt to pariss went, but weir,
Followand him gret company
Of nobill men and of worthy.
(IV. 257-259)

The fiend, through his subtlety, deceived the lady, for her son was later taken captive and sent to Paris, while the French king received only a wound in battle. Upon raising the evil spirit a second time, she is told:

"I said [the], that the kyng suld fall
In the Battale, and sua did he,
And falis Erdying, as men may se!
And I said, that thi sone suld ga
To pariss, and he did rycht sua, …

Now seis thow I mak na gabbing."
(IV. 293-301)

It is significant to note that Barbour does not dismiss the existence of fiends (which might have detracted from the fairytale element of his story), although he dismisses their trustworthiness and makes fun of those who listen to their prophecies. With regard to Edward I he states:

Bot he wes fule, forouten weir,
That gaf treuth to that Creature.
For fendis ar of sic natur,
That thai to mankynd has Invy;
For thai wat weill and wittirly,
That thai that weill ar liffand heir
Sall syn the segis, quhar-of thai weir
Tumlit doune throu thair mekill pryde.
(IV. 222-229)

Edward dies at Burgh-on-the-Sand, but not because his end has been predetermined by a supernatural agency. As he lies ill in camp, some prisoners of war are brought to him for judgment. He orders them to be hanged and drawn. How can Edward expect God to have mercy on his soul when he shows no mercy to his prisoners?

How mycht he trastly on hym cry,
That suthfastly demys all thing,
To haf mercy for his crying
Of him that, throu his felony,
In-to sic poynt had no mercy?
(IV. 327-331)

Later in the same book a woman of Arran tells King Robert his fortune, predicting that he will soon occupy all of Scotland (IV. 635-774). The king is comforted "sumdeill" by her words, while not quite believing her:

The quhethir he trowit nocht full weill
Hir spek, for he had gret ferly
How scho suld wit it sekirly.
(IV. 671-673)

The story of the old woman's prophecy leads Barbour to a discussion of astrology and necromancy. His first argument against those who attempt to know the future by the stars is the fact that they are unable to make three certain predictions in a lifetime. Secondly, although he does notdeny that astrologers can determine, by the position of the planets, men's natural dispositions, they can go no farther:

For quhethir sa men Inclynit be
Till virtu or to mawite,
He may richt weill refrenye his vill,
Outhir throu nwrtour or throu skill,
And to the contrar turne him all.
(IV. 729-733)

For many men, though their inclinations may be analyzed, are able to control their natures in spite of the stars. Such was the case with Aristotle:

As arestotill, gif, as men redis,
[He] had followit his kyndly dedis,
He had beyn fals and couatuss;
Bot hit vit maid him virtuouss.
(IV. 739-742)

Necromancy, the science of conjuration, is another unreliable method of divining the future. Again, Barbour does not deny that spirits may be raised, for the Pythoness "rasit, throw [hyr] mekill [slycht], / Samuell sperit als tit" (IV. 756-757). But those who claim to know the future by this method are not to be believed: "Me think, quha sais he knawis thingis / To cum, he makis gret gabbingis" (IV. 767-768).

Barbour does not sanction these sacrilegious methods of prediction, for he recognizes that only God may reveal the future, and only to a chosen few. This belief is exemplified in the story of St. Margaret's prophecy. David and the prophets could also foretell things to come through divine inspiration:

As dauid wes, and Ieromy,
Samuell, Ioell, and ysay,
That throu his haly grace can tel
Feill thingis that eftirward befell.
Bot thai prophetis so thyn ar sawin,
That thair in erd now nane is knawin.
(IV. 682-686)

Barbour's strong Christian attitude is revealed further in a story concerning the defense of Berwick Castle. At Berwick a great "ferly" occurred as the Scots were defending the castle against the English. Women and children carried arrows and other arms up to the Scots warriors assembled on the castle wall:

… and nocht ane slayne ves thar,
Na yeit voundit; and that wes mar
To myrakill of god almychty;
And to nocht ellis It set can I.
(XVII. 832-836)

Barbour implies that God alone has the power to perform miracles.

Wittig and Kean have pointed out that Barbour's reluctance to attach any credence to prophecies and miracles not ordained by God is representative of his pragmatic and realistic turn of mind.⁸ This fact need not be disputed. But what no one has yet shown is the fact that Barbour has made use of a background of Christian and other "supernatural" attitudes in his poem. In the first place, the dominant underlying theme of the action is unmistakably religious. And secondly, by introducing other "non-religious" stories and discussions regarding the supernatural, Barbour has demonstrated more than his pragmatic frame of mind. He has clearly added to the historical content of the poem an interest in myth and fable. One must disagree, therefore, with Wells' too general remark that Barbour has "no regard for the supernatural."⁹ The religious motif and the picturesque and spirited anecdotes of spiritual matters show that he is evidently bent on telling a story which is "delitabill" as well as "suthfast." In this respect, one is justified in concluding that The Bruce is truly "poetic" and worthy to be classed with other romances of the period.

Notes

¹ All quotations from the text are from John Barbour, The Bruce, ed. Walter W. Skeat, Early English Text Society, E.S. 11, 21, 29, 55 (London, 1874-1877).

² Agnes Mure Mackenzie, An Historical Survey of Scottish Literature to 1714 (London, 1933), pp. 29-49.

³ George Neilson, John Barbour: Poet and Translator (London, 1900), p. 1.

⁴ Barbour's Bruce, ed. Cosmo Innes, Spalding Club Edition (London, 1856), p. lviii.

⁵ Kurt Wittig, The Scottish Tradition in Literature (Edinburgh, 1958), pp. 16-18.

⁶ Wittig, p. 16.

⁷ T. H. Kean, "The Religion of Barbour," The Month, XXII (October, 1959), 214-215.

⁸ Kean, 217.

⁹ John Edwin Wells, A Manual of the Writings in Middle English: 1050-1400 (New Haven, 1916), p. 204.