e lives of
some of Scotia's daughters not only serves to mark the brutal spirit
of times which, with all their superficial glorifying of the sex, yet
could with good conscience make war upon women, but also serves to
illustrate the height of feminine devotion when called forth by some
great occasion with its demand for self-abnegation. Among such heroic
characters must ever be honorably numbered the fair Isobel, Countess
of Buchan, of whom the poet Pratt says:

"Mothers henceforth shall proudly tell
How cag'd and prison'd Isobel
Did serve her country's weal."

The nine years which saw the struggles of a Wallace and a Bruce, from
the appearance of the former as the champion of Scottish rights to
the crowning of the latter at Scone, were years big with the fate of
a people full of heroic purpose and undaunted fortitude. The story
of the national conquest must be sought elsewhere. In 1305, upon the
death of Wallace, the younger Bruce was impelled to abandon the
cause of the King of England, who had been pleased to name him in a
commission for the direction of the affairs of Scotland. He made his
peace with Red Comyn, the leader of the rival Scottish faction, and
closed with him a pact on the terms proposed by Bruce: "Support my
title to the crown, and I will give you my lands." The story of the
perfidy of the treacherous Comyn and of the revolt of Bruce against
Edward of England is well-known history. The actual crowning of the
Scottish chieftain occurred on March 27, 1306. At that time appeared
Isobel, wife of John, Earl of Buchan, who asserted the claim to
install the king, which had come down of ancient right in her family.

With great pomp, this illustrious scion of the house of the Earls of
Macduff led Bruce to the regal chair. The English chronicler crustily
remarks: "She was mad for the beauty of the fool who was crowned." The
English king was enraged at the presumption of his vassal, and sent
out his soldiers against the Scottish sovereign. In the notable battle
which followed, the forces of Bruce were routed and he himself made
a fugitive. Other reverses befell the arms of the Scotch, and among
those who were carried away captive to gratify the lust for vengeance
of the English was the noble lady who had proudly inducted Bruce
into the royal power. Isobel of Buchan was carried to Berwick, and
condemned to a fate which can best be described in the words of an
early chronicler: "Because she has not struc