History Lesson: Robert the Bruce's Heart, Togetherness, and the Family Today

Image Source
For our most recent family reunion in 2013 as well as for the last one held in 2002, Ralph and Ella had shirts designed with an image of a heart surrounded with the inscription "Togetherness is a wonderful place to be." In fact, Ralph is wearing the shirt in this video!

What is the significance of the emblem of the heart? This is actually a mini history lesson.

Before King Robert the Bruce (Ella's 20th great grandfather) died in 1329,he asked that his heart be removed and taken on the Crusades by his closest friend James Douglas, since he hadn't been able to fight in the Crusades himself. Just before Douglas was killed in Moorish Spain, he hurled it at the enemy, supposedly shouting, “Lead on brave heart, I'll follow thee!” before being killed. Douglas' corpse and the casket containing Bruce's heart were returned to Scotland in 1331, and Bruce's heart was taken back to Melrose Abbey where it was buried. 

Archaeologists located the heart in 1920, and they gave it a second burial in a new modern container, but they failed to mark the location of the site. In 1996, it was rediscovered then buried again in a formal ceremony in 1998.

The new burial includes a stone plaque to mark the site, featuring an inscription from Scottish poet John Barbour's "The Brus" which reads: "A noble hart may have no ease, gif freedom failye" Translated, this means: "A noble heart cannot be at peace without freedom." The plaque incorporates a carving of a heart entwined in the Saltire, the basis of Scotland's national flag.

What is the significance of the phrase "Together is a wonderful place to be"? It's all about family - generations past, present, and future.



..........
Sources:
  • Ralph filmed July 2013.
  • The above written info is mostly plagiarized from these sources: Source 1, Source 2, Source 3