Melrose Abbey, burial marker, Heart of Robert the Bruce, ScotlandThe heart of Robert the Bruce is buried at Melrose Abbey, one of the border Abbeys in southern Scotland. See http://www.historic-scotland.gov.uk/properties_sites_detail.htm?propertyID=PL_210. For more details, see www.aboutscotland.com/melbruce. The burial of the heart of Robert the Bruce apart from the body was not unusual in that day. See custom still practiced, at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14176471. France has a long history of the practice, see http://www.medicographia.com/2010/07/the-heart-of-the-kings-of-france-cordial-immortality/
The body of Robert the Bruce is elsewhere, at the Abbey Church at Dunfirmline, the capital until 1603. We followed R the B wherever we found a sign. As in many hundreds of thousands (probably) of families with Scots and Scots-Irish backgrounds, there is a Robert Bruce going back generations. That does not mean a relationship, maybe just a revering.
The "Brave Heart" phrase that is attached to Rob Roy MacGregor, historically seems to belong to the story of Robert the Bruce. See the "Scottish Wars of Independence" site at www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/as/warsofindependence/info.shtml?loc=melrose. The account has Sir James Douglas, a close friend of the then King Robert the Bruce, following R the B's wishes in taking R the B's heart on crusade. Blocked in Spain, Douglas is said to have called out, "On, Brave Heart," and more, and hurled the heart toward the Holy Land. How did Brave Heart get attached to Rob Roy? Anyone know?
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