The Scotsman Bulletin Wednesday February 05 2025 #RobertTheBruce
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00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Video Bulletin for this Wednesday.
00:04My name's Dale Miller. I'm Deputy Editor of the Scotsman.
00:07I'm joined by our Heritage Correspondent, Alison Campsey.
00:11Alison, we've got an absolutely fascinating story to chat about
00:15and you'll see it on the front page of today's Scotsman,
00:18which we'll talk about firstly.
00:21Up there in the top left-hand corner of the front page,
00:26the heart of the matter, we're going to talk about
00:28Robert the Bruce's heart.
00:30I do say that in inverted commas.
00:34We'll get to that shortly, Alison.
00:36We splashed on the NHS waiting list for heart appointments
00:40at a record high.
00:41It should be a concerning story for many people
00:45and a reflection on where the NHS and the health system sits.
00:49And a terrific exclusive from Alistair Dalton,
00:52who reports on 16 major parts, including a starter motor,
00:56that was swapped between the Glenroser Ferry,
00:59which is still being built, into the Glensetics
01:02to get it finished.
01:04And the first warning signs that there will be a delay seemingly
01:09announced around the Glenroser Ferry.
01:11You're going to be able to read more on that developing story
01:14throughout today at scotsman.com.
01:17Alison, I do say Robert the Bruce's heart,
01:20but hopefully you're going to talk us through what I think
01:24was one of the best stories to that.
01:26Oh, well, that's very nice of you to say so.
01:29And certainly I haven't written a story which I think has that feel
01:37good factor, you know, for quite some time.
01:40And speaking to these people involved in the story,
01:43just to hear their enthusiasm and passion for Scottish history
01:47and Robert the Bruce in particular, you know,
01:50it was a real tonic.
01:52So this story revolves around the Robert the Bruce Heritage Centre
01:58in Renton in West Dunbartonshire.
02:01And West Dunbartonshire generally has a good few connections
02:05to Robert the Bruce.
02:06So these guys set up the Robert the Bruce Heritage Centre
02:11about 15 years ago.
02:13And the group of guys is called the Strathleven Artisans,
02:16and they are Robert the Bruce mad.
02:19They love it.
02:20And they love the story.
02:21They love the history.
02:22They love the man, the figure, and what he achieved.
02:25So when they set up the Robert the Bruce Heritage Centre 15 years ago or so,
02:32their first hope was to honour Robert the Bruce's final wish,
02:40his dying wish, and take his heart to the Holy Land.
02:46Now, this was a journey that was attempted back in 1330,
02:50and it came to a bit of a bloody end, and we can talk about that in a minute.
02:54But the guys wanted the heart to go back to where Robert the Bruce wanted it to be.
03:01And I actually was quite amazed to hear them say that they wanted
03:06the real heart of Robert the Bruce to go to Jerusalem.
03:09So one of the chap phoned up Historic Environment Scotland, I think,
03:14in 2008 and said, we're taking Robert the Bruce's heart to Jerusalem.
03:21The heart is buried in Melrose Abbey.
03:24And, you know, probably quite obviously Historic Environment Scotland were like,
03:28well, no way.
03:29I can't do that.
03:30But these guys completely unperturbed in their mission to honour this great wish
03:36of Robert the Bruce.
03:38So for many years, they kind of like wrestled with how we could do this.
03:43So in comes the Bruce oak, which is or was an oak tree linked to Robert the Bruce,
03:53which was planted by the young nobleman near Strathleven in West Dunbartonshire.
03:59So there's a great legend that connects Robert the Bruce to this tree.
04:04This tree was destroyed in 2004 by fire.
04:08We're not really quite sure what happened there.
04:12But the Strathleven artisans managed to take ownership of the remains of the
04:18Bruce oak and have stored it safely in a shipping container somewhere near Renton.
04:25And this oak, with this association with Robert the Bruce,
04:29is really their prized possession.
04:32They've looked after it so carefully.
04:34And after the tree dried out, which I think took 15 years,
04:39a lot of carvings started to be, a lot of the wood was used for carvings.
04:44And one of the carvings, which was done by a chap called Arthur Murdoch,
04:51was a replica of Robert the Bruce's heart.
04:55And Arthur Murdoch was like, here you go, take this to Jerusalem.
05:00Here's your heart.
05:01This heart came from a tree that was planted by Robert the Bruce.
05:05As the legend states, it was touched by Robert the Bruce.
05:08Here you have a direct connection to Robert the Bruce.
05:10Why don't you take this to Jerusalem?
05:13And it was like, aye, OK, we'll get this to Jerusalem.
05:17We'll get this heart to Jerusalem.
05:19It just so happens one of the friends of the Robert the Bruce Heritage Centre
05:24was going to Jerusalem to see his family.
05:27He's got family connections there.
05:29So this chap, Simon Collins from Renton, set off a couple of years ago
05:35with this wooden heart in his backpack,
05:37and he took it to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem,
05:41which is where Jesus Christ is said to have been executed,
05:45sorry, crucified, and where he rose from the dead.
05:50So these chaps from Renton, who I have to say, what a great bunch of folk,
05:54just ordinary folk with a mad passion for Robert the Bruce
05:58and a mad plan to take the heart to the Holy Land.
06:02And in some sort of way, they achieved it.
06:06And, you know, what struck me really was the kind of passion of these guys
06:10and just the belief in this sort of idea and themselves
06:16that, yes, they could fulfil Robert the Bruce's dying wish.
06:20So there's been a book just published about the adventure,
06:25which is out now.
06:28And I really would like to have a look at it because the dedication,
06:32like I say, shown by these chaps is just immeasurable.
06:36And another interesting thing was the heart has also been to Spain.
06:42So the real heart of Robert the Bruce was taken on a mission
06:49to get it to the Holy Land in 1330 after he died.
06:53And it was carried by this nobleman known as the Black Douglas,
06:57Sir James Douglas, sort of key warrior in the wars of independence,
07:01a very, very close ally of Robert the Bruce.
07:04And James Douglas is said to have carried the heart around his neck,
07:10the embalmed heart of his friend, around his neck in a silver casket
07:15to take it to Jerusalem.
07:17They moored up in Seville on their journey there
07:21and then got diverted into fighting the Moors at a place called Teba,
07:27which is just on the borderland of Andalusia.
07:32And James Douglas was killed during this battle with the Moors
07:38and the heart came off from the battlefield
07:41and it never made it to the Holy Land.
07:45So the wooden heart made in Renton has been taken to Teba several times
07:51because in Teba they celebrate the Douglas days
07:56and in honour of Sir James Douglas and his kind of sacrifice to the cause there.
08:03So it was quite nice, actually, I hadn't heard of it before.
08:06It's quite nice to hear that there's this big kind of Scottish festival
08:10not far from Malaga every August.
08:13And the chaps who I spoke to yesterday who went there said
08:16they're always welcomed with open arms in recognition of the sacrifice
08:22that this Scot James Douglas made in the fight against the Moors
08:27in what was then the Iberian Peninsula.
08:29So yeah, I don't know, it was just such a lovely, lovely chat yesterday,
08:33full of interest, full of passion and just full of fun as well.
08:38These guys were really up for their mission
08:42and they're just so happy and proud that they, in their own way,
08:48got Robert the Bruce's heart to Jerusalem.
08:51Here's the more mad adventures, Alison, you can read all about them.
08:55Absolutely, more mad adventures, more feel-good stuff,
08:58more doing what you believe in, you know.
09:01You can read that full story at scotsman.com
09:03if you're looking for any of the content and stories
09:08around the Heritage Brief written by Alison,
09:10you'll find a Heritage tab in the navigation bar
09:14and you can follow us on all the main social media portals,
09:17including Facebook, X and Instagram.
09:20And go out and please buy a copy of the paper tomorrow.
09:24There'll be a mix of political stories in there and a bit of the fallout
09:29from Donald Trump's comments over taking control of Gaza as well.
09:33Alison, thanks to you.
09:35Thanks to everyone else for joining us.