Editing Robert the Bruce (section)

=== Legends ===
[[File:Bruce and the spider.jpg|thumb|left|Fanciful illustration of Robert the Bruce watching a [[spider]] (''Who were the first weavers?'', T. Nelson and Sons, 1885)]]

According to a legend, at some point, while he was on the run after the 1306 Battle of Methven, Bruce hid in a cave where he observed a spider spinning a web, trying to make a connection from one area of the cave's roof to another. It tried and failed twice, but began again and succeeded on the third attempt. Inspired by this, Bruce returned to inflict a series of defeats on the English, thus winning him more supporters and eventual victory. The story serves to illustrate the maxim: "If at first you don't succeed, try try try again". Other versions have Bruce in a small house watching the spider try to make its connection between two roof beams.<ref name=battle/>

[[File:Radio Times - 1923-10-26 - page 162 (Cecil Glossop).png|thumb|right|300px|[[Cartoon]] by [[Cecil Glossop]]]]
[[File:Bruce brought his axe crashing down upon the head of Bohun.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The Bruce killing de Bohun at the Battle of Bannockburn.]]

This legend first appears in a much later account, ''[[Tales of a Grandfather]]'' by [[Walter Scott]] (published between 1828 and 1830).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/etexts/etexts/grandfather1.PDF |title=Tales of a Grandfather |last=Scott |first=Walter |website=Edinburgh University Library, The Walter Scott Digital Archive |access-date=28 January 2019}}</ref> This may have originally been told about his companion-in-arms Sir [[James Douglas, Lord of Douglas|James Douglas]] (the "Black Douglas"), who had spent time hiding out in caves within his manor of Lintalee, which was then occupied by the English. The entire account may in fact be a version of a literary [[Trope (literature)|trope]] used in royal biographical writing. A similar story is told, for example, in Jewish sources about King [[David]], in Polish accounts about Bruce's contemporary [[Władysław I the Elbow-high]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.crazynauka.pl/legenda-o-lokietku-ukrywajacym-sie-w-jaskini-moze-byc-prawda-archeolodzy-odkryli-dowody/ |title=Legenda o Łokietku ukrywającym się w jaskini może być prawdą! Archeolodzy odkryli dowody |last=Aleksandra Stanisławska |date=24 August 2017 |website=Crazy Nauka |language=pl-PL |access-date=11 September 2019}}</ref> and in Persian folklore about the Turco-Mongolian general [[Tamerlane]] and an ant.<ref>[http://www.silkroaddestinations.com/uzbekistan.html#shz silkroaddestinations.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120730104401/http://www.silkroaddestinations.com/uzbekistan.html |date=30 July 2012 |location=Uzbekistan, Shakhrisabz}}.</ref>

It is said that before the Battle of Bannockburn, Bruce was attacked by the English Knight [[Sir Henry de Bohun]]. Riding with the heavy cavalry, de Bohun caught sight of Bruce, who was armed only with his battle axe. De Bohun lowered his lance and charged, and Bruce stood his ground. At the last moment, Bruce swiftly dodged the lance, rose in his saddle, and with one mighty swing of his axe, struck Bohun so hard that he split de Bohun's iron helmet and his head in two, a blow so powerful that it shattered the very weapon into pieces. Afterwards, the King merely expressed regret that he had broken the shaft of his favourite axe. To this day, the story stands in folklore as a testament to the determination of the [[Scottish people]] and their culture.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bingham |first=Caroline |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40714744 |title=Robert the Bruce |date=1998 |publisher=Constable |isbn=0094764409 |location=London |oclc=40714744}}</ref>