Newly crowned King at a secret ceremony, Robert the Bruce was a King without a Kingdom, and an Outlaw in his own lands.  You may have heard the story of the spider in the cave, but after that encounter, the Outlaw King still faced many trials of his newfound character. 

He fought his English Cousin, Aymar de Valence, at Glentrool and won the day, but was still forced to split his troops and send them scuttling off into the Galloway Hills to prevent them being killed or captured by the English.  Wary of the fact that one of Aymar’s men was John of Lorn, a man who had with him a hound that Robert had raised and trained himself, he made off into the hills himself with only his Irish Foster Brother, Niall. He was a risk to his men while the hound was following him.

The two men made their way eastwards from Glentrool, heading towards what is today called Clatteringshaws Loch, but back then, long before the Hydro-Electric Schemes of the 20^th Century, it was a wide open piece of land called Raploch Muir.  John of Lorn, with Robert’s hound, was never far behind though, and desperate to be the one who caught Robert.  Edward Longshanks, the English king, would be sure to reward him highly for the Outlaw King’s capture.

John sent five Highlanders on ahead to cut Robert and Niall off, knowing the hilly terrain of Eastern Galloway would not be a trouble to them. 

And indeed it was not, as the Highlanders quickly caught up to the Outlaw King and his Foster Brother, and were equally quick to attack.  They were under the impression that at 5 to 2, they had the advantage, but they did not reckon on Robert’s own prowess with his sword. He killed one immediately, then rushed to defend his foster brother, who was taken on two of the Highlanders at once.  The other two Highlanders were shocked by their comrade’s death and held back.  Robert despatched another, leaving his foster brother with just one man to fight.  The hesitant two attacked, but that was an advantage for Robert, so he killed them both.  In the end, Robert and Niall left behind them five dead Highlanders.

Robert was a truly great warrior, but that came at a price, for he had exhausted himself with the fight.  Niall had to drag him to his feet, aware that John of Lorn was still following with Robert’s hound, and make him keep moving. 

They came to a burn, and Niall made them walk along through it to confuse their trail, but it was cold, and sometimes they found they had to swim through pools of water, while other times they stumbled and scrabbled over rocks. At last, after many hours, Niall felt sure the hound could not possibly follow them any more, he led them to Craigencaillie, where they were to rendezvous with Robert’s men.

Somehow they found themselves travelling with three other men who they didn’t know.  The men were carrying a trussed up sheep, but they were armed in ways that seemed unusual for shepherds.  Robert was suspicious, but he was also exhausted and soaked to the skin, so instead of confronting the men, he bided his time.

Night came, and they arrived at a ruined cottage, close by to Craigencaillie.  Robert and Niall camped at one end of the cottage, and the strangers camped at the other end.  The strangers slaughtered their sheep, lit a fire a began to cook the poor creature.

The strangers offered Robert and Niall a leg of their sheep, but they cooked it on their own fire, at their own end of the cottage. Once they had eaten, Robert slept and Niall kept watch.

But Niall had also suffered a great deal on that long day, and before too long, exhaustion overcame him and he too fell asleep.

Robert woke to the sound of swords being drawn.  He was on his feet instantly, saved perhaps of years of hard experience.  He shouted to Niall and drew his sword. The strangers from the other end of the cottage were on them before Niall was properly awake though, and the strangers killed him.

Robert, as we know, did not succumb though, and he killed all three of these cowardly attackers, furious with grief for his foster brother.