King Robert said ‘Go out into Scotland, make friends’ and his command is not a bad thing today, according to Lord Elgin.
Those words resonate down the centuries to the thousands of visitors to Dunfermline who are honouring the Scots king at the Bruce Festival. This year the festival, supported by The Courier, is bigger than ever.
“People should get to know each other,” said Lord Elgin. Speaking from the family home of Broomhall, Bruce’s descendent, the 11th Earl of Elgin and 15th Earl of Kincardine, said the festival was very rewarding as it took visitors “in the footsteps that Bruce had to take.”
“In Dunfermline they are dealing with the king’s death and burial and thinking over the times he lived in and what happened,” he said.
“And so we have a chain building up of local people who are interested and have taken an enormous amount of trouble to develop a modern way of looking at his life and times.”
Dunfermline’s festival is also concentrating on the family side of the king who lies interred in Dunfermline Abbey.
“What you find here is a chance for history, for stories, for people to participate and try their hand. It all helps to make the broad history, the written history of the country, all the more lively,” said Lord Elgin.
“In Dunfermline we will have the opportunity of seeing how people would have lived. We will be able to see how they cooked and prepared food, and then sample things.”
The Bruce family is steeped in the legend of Robert the Bruce, and Lord Elgin’s own life has been intertwined with landmarks commemorating the king.
Lord Elgin recounted how in 1929, aged five, he stood in Dunfermline Abbey for the ceremony to mark the 600th anniversary of the death of King Robert and watched as his father carried his sword in through the great doors.
Many years later he stood shoulder to shoulder with his father and eldest son to mark the 650th anniversary of the battle of Bannockburn.
And it was while at Turnberry over three decades ago for the 700th anniversary of the birth of King Robert that an amusing incident took place involving some confused tourists from overseas.
“My mother was in her late 80s or early 90s at that time, and we had taken over quite a bit of the hotel there was a dinner for 30 people who were connected to King Robert,” he recalls.
“A couple of visitors American I think met my mother and said they couldn’t help noticing the celebrations, and asked if it was her anniversary.
“She was a bit deaf and just heard ‘anniversary’ and she replied that yes, it was the 700th!”The Bruce Festival runs until August 29. For more information visit www.visitdunfermline.com/brucefestival