Midi - Scotland the Brave
The Legend
of
Robert the Bruce
AND that famous spider
!Robert Bruce was born in 1274 and died in 1329.
He lived in Scotland.
During the dark days after Falkirk, and Wallace's execution,
Robert the Bruce is said to have been inspired by the persistence
of a spider trying to weave its web.
~~~~~
Bruce was hiding out from English pursuers in a cave.
He was exhausted from the never ending struggle, and in despair.
~~~~~
Maybe he should flee to France and live out his life in comfort.
His eye fell on a spider spinning its web.
It kept trying to swing across the ceiling, over and over again,
until at last it reached the other side and anchored the first strand of the web.
"Try, try, and try again".
~~~~~
Bruce adopted the same motto and spent the next eight years
fighting the English occupiers of Scotland until they were at last driven out.
Another 20th Century image of King Robert the Bruce.
This statue was unveiled at Bannockburn field in 1964 by
Queen Elizabeth to mark the 650th anniversary of the Battle.
Remember, the Queen is more than half Scottish, because her mother,
the Queen Mother, is 100% Scottish, and her father, the late King George VI,
was descended from the Stuart kings.
T
he Spider CuresAccording to Old Wives' Fables
"There may be in the cup
A spider steeped, and one may drink, depart,
And yet partake no venom."
Shakespeare: Winter's Tale, ii. f.
"You can be cured by wearing a spider hung round
one's neck, in a nutshell.
Longfellow: Evangalene
Spiders will never set their webs on a cedar roof.
Spiders spin only on dark days.
Caughty: Letters, 1845
"The subtle spider never spins, but on dark days, Collection
his slimy gins."
S. Butler: On a Nonconformist. !v
Source: Brewer Dictionary
Collection Guest Book
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Laurie...August 2001