nd his companion Lindesay rushed into the church, and
made the matter certain with a vengeance, by despatching the wounded
Comyn with their daggers. His uncle, Sir Robert Comyn, was slain at the
same time.

This slaughter of Comyn was a rash and cruel action; and the historian
of Bruce observes that it was followed by the displeasure of Heaven; for
no man ever went through more misfortunes than Robert Bruce, although he
at length rose to great honor.

After the deed was done, Bruce might be called desperate. He had
committed an action which was sure to bring down upon him the vengeance
of all Comyn's relations, the resentment of the King of England, and the
displeasure of the Church, on account of having slain his enemy within
consecrated ground. He determined, therefore, to bid them all defiance
at once, and to assert his pretensions to the throne of Scotland. He
drew his own followers together, summoned to meet him such barons as
still entertained hopes of the freedom of the country, and was crowned
king at the Abbey of Scone, the usual place where the kings of Scotland
assumed their authority.

The commencement of Bruce's undertaking was most disastrous. He was
crowned on the twenty-ninth of March, 1306. On the eighteenth of May he
was excommunicated by the Pope, on account of the murder of Comyn within
consecrated ground, a sentence which excluded him from all benefits of
religion, and authorized any one to kill him. Finally, on the nineteenth
of June, the new king was completely defeated near Methven by the
English Earl of Pembroke. Robert's horse was killed under him in the
action, and he was for a moment a prisoner.

But he had fallen into the power of a Scottish knight, who, though he
served in the English army, did not choose to be the instrument of
putting Bruce into their hands, and allowed him to escape. The
conquerors executed their prisoners with their usual cruelty.

[Illustration: BRUCE KILLS COMYN]

Bruce, with a few brave adherents, among whom was the young Lord of
Douglas, who was afterward called the Good Lord James, retired into the
Highland mountains, where they were chased from one place of refuge to
another, often in great danger, and suffering many hardships. The
Bruce's wife, now Queen of Scotland, with several other ladies,
accompanied her husband and his few followers during their wanderings.
There was no other way of providing for them save by hunting and
fishing. It was remarked that