omyn had claimed on account of his descent
from Donald Bane, the brother and successor of Malcolm Canmore; but the
younger Comyn had an additional claim in right of his mother, who was a
sister of John Balliol. Between Bruce and Comyn there was a
long-standing feud. In 1299, at a meeting of the Great Council of
Scotland at Peebles, Comyn had attacked Bruce, and they could only be
separated by the use of violence. On the 10th February, 1305-6, Bruce
and the Comyn met in the church of the convent of the Minorite Friars at
Dumfries. Tradition tells that they met to adjust their conflicting
claims, with a view to establishing the independence of the country in
the person of one or other of the rivals; that a dispute arose in which
they came to blows; and that Bruce, after inflicting a severe wound upon
his enemy, left the church. "I doubt I have slain the Red Comyn," he
said to his followers. "Doubt?" was the reply of Sir Roger Fitzpatrick,
"I'll mak siccar." The actual circumstances of the affair are unknown to
us; but Bruce may fairly be relieved of the suspicion of any
premeditation, because it is most unlikely that he would have needlessly
chosen to offend the Church by committing a murder within sanctuary. The
real interest attaching to the circumstances lies in the tradition that
the object of the meeting was to organize a resistance against Edward I.
Whether this was so or not, there can be no doubt that the result of the
conference compelled the Bruce to place himself at the head of the
national cause. A Norman baron, born in England, he was by no means the
natural leader for whose appearance men looked, and there was a grave
chance of his failing to arouse the national sentiment. But the murder
of one claimant to the Scottish throne at the hands of the only other
possible candidate, who thus placed himself in the position of undoubted
heir, could scarcely have been forgiven by Edward I, even if the Comyn
had not, for the past two years, proved a faithful servant of the
English king. There was no alternative, and, on the 27th March, 1306,
Robert, Earl of Carrick and Lord of Annandale, was crowned King of the
Scots at Scone. The ancient royal crown of the Scottish kings had been
removed by Balliol in 1296, and had fallen into the hands of Edward, but
the Countess of Buchan placed on the Bruce's head a hastily made coronet
of gold.

It was far from an auspicious beginning. It is difficult to give Bruce
credit for much