Biography of Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland 1284-1327

Paternal Family Tree: Burgh

Maternal Family Tree: Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster

In or before 1280 [her father] Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster (age 20) and [her mother] Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster were married. She by marriage Countess of Ulster. He the son of [her grandfather] Walter Burgh 1st Earl of Ulster. They were third cousins.

In 1284 Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland was born to Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster (age 25) and Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster.

In 1296 [her future husband] King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland (age 21) and Isabella Mar (age 43) were married. The difference in their ages was 21 years; she, unusually, being older than him. She the daughter of Donald Mar 7th Earl of Mar and Elen ferch Llewellyn Aberffraw Countess Huntingdon and Mar. He the son of [her future father-in-law] Robert Bruce Earl Carrick (age 52) and Marjorie Carrick 3rd Countess Carrick. They were fifth cousins. He a great x 5 grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England. She a great granddaughter of King John of England.

In 1302 King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland (age 27) and Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland (age 18) were married. She the daughter of Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster (age 43) and Margaret Burgh Countess Ulster. He the son of Robert Bruce Earl Carrick (age 58) and Marjorie Carrick 3rd Countess Carrick. They were fifth cousin once removed. He a great x 5 grandson of King Henry I "Beauclerc" England.

The Bruce 1306. Lines 39-58:

The Queyn, and als dame Marjory,	The Queen (age 21)¹, and also [her step-daughter] Lady Marjory (age 9),
Hyr dochtyr that syne worthily	Her daughter who later worthily
Wes coupillyt in-to Goddis band	Was joined into God's bond
With Walter, Stewart off Scotland;	With Walter (age 9), Stewart of Scotland;
That wald on na wys langar ly	Who would not in any way longer stay
In the castell off Kyldromy,	In the castle of Kildrummy,
To byd a sege, ar ridin raith	To await a siege, but riding quickly
With knychtis and with squyeris bath,	With knights and with squires both,
Throw Ros, rycht to the gyrth off Tayne.	Through Ross, right to the girth of Tayne².
Bot that travaill thai maid in vayne;	But their efforts were in vain;
For thai off Ros, that wald nocht ber	For the men of Ross³, who would not bear
For thaim na blayme, na yheit danger,	Any blame or even danger for them,
Owt off the gyrth thame all has tayne;	Out of the girth, they all have been taken;
And syne has send thaim evirilkane	And then they have sent them all
Rycht in-till Ingland, to the King,	Right into England, to the King,
That gert draw all the men, and hing;	Who ordered all the men to be drawn and hanged;
And put the ladyis in presoune,	And put the ladies in prison⁴,
Sum in-till castell, sum in dongeoun.	Some in a castle, some in a dungeon.
It wes gret pite for till heir	It was a great pity to hear
Folk till be troublyt on this maneir.	People being troubled in this manner.

Note 1. dame Marjory. Bruce's daughter by his first wife, Isabel, daughter of Donald Earl of Mar. She afterwards married Walter, the High Steward (see Bk. XIII. 689).

Note 2. the gyrth of Tayne. The enclosure or "sanctuary" attached to the chapel of St. Duthac, at Tain, Ross-shire, a favourite place of pilgrimage with the Scottish kings, especially James IV. There was, however, no privilege of sanctuary for treason. William Earl of Ross was in the English interest, and on May 20, 1308, is the recipient of thanks from Edward II. "for faithful service to his father and himself" (Bain, iii., No. 43). Hemingburgh says "the new Queen" was taken in Kildrummy (ii. 249); Gray that Cristina Bruce was captured there, and the Queen and Nigel Bruce in Dunaverty (Scala., p. 131); Trivet agrees with the second statement, but obviously confuses (p. 410); according to Fordun the Queen was taken at Tain, and many ladies at "Kyndrumy" (Gesta Ann., cxx.).

Note 3. thai of Ros. Fordun says the Queen was seized at St. Duthac's by the Earl of Ross (Gesta Ann., cxx.).

Note 4. put the ladyis in presoune. On November 7, 1306, there are "further orders for the custody of the Countesses of Carrick (the Queen) and Buchan, Marie, and Christine, the sisters, and Margerie the daughter, of Robert de Bruce ... three of the ladies to be in 'kages.'" (Bain, ii., No. 1851). The Countess of Buchan, who had crowned Bruce, was to be placed in a cage of wooden bars and lattice in one of the turrets of Berwick Castle (Palgrave, p. 358; Scala., p. 131); Marie Bruce in a "kage" in Roxburgh (Palgrave, 359); Marjory in a "kage" in the Tower of London (359); Cristina (age 32) in ward in England (Palgrave, 359). The Queen was to be in custody at "Brustewik" (Palgrave p. 357); was removed thence by an order of June 22, 1308 (Bain, iii., No. 48). Marjory was in ward at Wattone in March, 1307 (Bain, ii., 1910). By 1311-1312 Maria de Brus is a prisoner in Newcastle (Bain, iii., 227, 340).

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Coronation of Robert the Bruce

On 25th March 1306, [her husband] King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland (age 31) was crowned King Scotland at Scone Abbey [Map] by Bishop of St Andrews and Bishop Robert Wishart. Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland (age 22) was crowned Queen Consort Scotland. Christopher Seton (age 28) and Bishop David de Moravia were present. He was wearing royal robes and vestments previously hidden from the English by Bishop Robert Wishart.

The following day, 28th March 1306, King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland was crowned by Isabella Countess Buchan whose family held the hereditary right to place the crown on the King's head; she had arrived too late for the coronation the day before. The right was held by her brother Duncan Fife 4th Earl Fife (age 18) who was under-age and held by the English so she assumed the right in his place.

Battle of Methven

Chronicle of Walter of Guisborough. [19th June 1306] So they went out in the evening as they had agreed, and found them lying about at ease; and before they could all mount up, they fell upon them fiercely. Many were cut down, and the king, with a few men resisting for a while, was at length put to flight. The new king fled, and they pursued him as far as the island of Kintyre; and they besieged the castle of that place, believing that he had taken refuge there, but he had gone into the farthest islands of that region. When they had taken the castle, they found one of the new king's brothers, namely Lord [her brother-in-law] Nigel Bruce (age 30), along with the new queen [Elizabeth de Burgh (age 22)] and many others. Bringing them with them to Berwick, there before the justiciars of the lord king of England, who by the king's command had assembled there, they were formally condemned: the men were drawn, hanged, and beheaded. But the new queen, because she was the daughter of the earl of Ulster (and that earl, at the beginning of the war started by his son-in-law, Lord Robert de Bruce, so that the lord king of England should suspect no ill will from him, had sent two of his sons to the king to be kept at the king's pleasure, as an excuse that he had always been loyal), and because of a certain remark she had made to her husband, when at his coronation he had spoken to her and said, "Rejoice now, my consort, for you have become queen and I king," she is reported to have answered him thus: "I fear, my lord, that we have become king and queen as children do in their summer games", for these two reasons, the king sent her with an honourable household to be lodged at his manor of Burstwick, and ordered that she be maintained with honour.

Exierunt ergo in vesperis ut condixerant, et invenerunt eos recumbentes secure, et antequam possent omnes ascendere, irruerunt in eos vehementer, cæsisque multis, regem cum paucis aliquamdiu resistentem, in fugam tandem converterunt. Fugitque rex novus, et insecuti sunt eum usque in insulam de Kentyr; obsederuntque castrum loci illius, credentes eum se ibidem recepisse sed ille abierat in extremas insulas regionis illius. Expugnatoque castro, invenerunt unum ex fratribus novi regis dominum scilicet Nigellum de Brus, cum nova regina, et multis Nigel Bruce aliis; quos adducentes secum usque Berewyk, Kildrummie ibi coram justitiariis domini regis Angliæ, qui is hanged at ex præcepto regis ibidem convenerant, judicialiter damnati sunt homines, tracti, suspensi et decollati. Reginam autem novam, quia filia comitis de Huluerster erat, (qui quidem comes, in principio guerræ motæ per generum dominum Robertum de Brus, ne dominus rex Angliæ quicquam mali contra eum suspicaretur, misit ad regem duos filios suos pro voluntate regis retinendos in excusationem sui quod semper ei fidelis extiterat,) et propter unum verbum quod marito suo dixerat cum in coronatione sua loqueretur ei et diceret, "Lætare modo consocia, quia regina effecta es, et ego rex," fertur eam sic respondisse ei: "Timeo, domine, quod sumus effecti rex et regina, sicut efficiuntur pueri in ludis æstivalibus:" propter istas ergo duas causas, misit eam rex cum honesta familia perendinandam in manerio suo de Bruscewych, et jussit eam honorifice sustentari.

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Calendar Scottish Documents Volume 2. 7th November 1306. 1851. Farther orders for the custody of the Countesses of Carrick (age 22) and Buchan, Marie (age 24) and Christine (age 33) the sisters, and Margerie the daughter of Robert de Brus, and other Scottish prisoners; three of the ladies tobe in 'kages' [Chapter House (Scots Documents), Box 1, No. 4.]

In 1308 Hugh 4th Earl Ross (age 11) and [her sister-in-law] Matilda Bruce Countess Ross (age 21) were married. She by marriage Countess Ross. She the daughter of [her father-in-law] Robert Bruce Earl Carrick and Marjorie Carrick 3rd Countess Carrick.

In 1315 Walter Stewart 6th High Steward (age 19) and [her step-daughter] Marjory Bruce (age 19) were married. She the daughter of [her husband] King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland (age 40) and Isabella Mar. They were second cousin once removed. She a great x 2 granddaughter of King John of England.

After 1323 [her sister-in-law] Matilda Bruce Countess Ross (deceased) died.

On 5th March 1324 twins [her son] King David II of Scotland and [her son] John Bruce were born to [her husband] King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland (age 49) and Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland (age 40) at Dunfermline Abbey [Map].

On 29th July 1326 [her father] Richard "Red Earl" Burgh 2nd Earl of Ulster (age 67) died at Altassel Priory. His grandson William (age 13) succeeded 3rd Earl of Ulster.

All About History Books

The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.

Before 1327 [her son] John Bruce (age 2) died.

On 26th October 1327 Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland (age 43) died.

Death of Robert the Bruce

On 7th June 1329 [her former husband] King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland (age 54) died at Cardross Manor, Argyll. He was buried at Dunfermline Abbey [Map]. His son [her son] David (age 5) succeeded II King Scotland. [her daughter-in-law] Joan of the Tower Queen Consort Scotland (age 7) by marriage Queen Consort Scotland.

[her daughter] Margaret Bruce was born to King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland and Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland.

[her daughter] Matilda Bruce was born to King Robert the Bruce I of Scotland and Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland.

Scotland Documents and Records Palgrave. 4. Let it be remembered that when the wife [Elizabeth Burgh Queen Consort Scotland] of the Count of Carrick has come to the King, she should be sent to Brunstwick, and that she should have her household and her sustenance arranged in the manner described below.

4. Fait a remembrer q quant la femme le Conte de Carrik sera venue au Roi, ele soit envee a Brustewik, et q ele eit tieu mesnee t sa sustenance ordenee en la mañe desouzescrite .