Reflections of his character
Bruce undoubtedly belongs to that race of heroic men, regarding whom we are anxious to learn even the commonest particulars. But living at so remote a period, the lighter shades and touches which confer individuality, are lost in the distance. We only see, through the mists which time has cast around it, a figure of colossal proportion, "walking amid his shadowy peers and it is deeply to be regretted that the ancient chroniclers, whose pencil might have brought him before us as fresh and true as when he lived, have disdained to notice many minute circumstances, with which we now seek in vain to become acquainted; yet some faint idea of his person may be gathered from the few scattered touches preserved by these authors, and the greater outlines of his character are too strongly marked to escape us.In his figure, the king was tall and well-shaped. Before broken down by illness, and in the prime of life, he stood nearly six feet high; his hair curled closely and shortly round his neck, which possessed that breadth and thickness that belong to men of great strength; he was broad-shouldered and open-chested, and the proportion of his limbs combined power with lightness and activity. These qualities were increased not only by his constant occupation in war, but by his fondness for the chase and all manly amusements. It is not known whether he was dark or fair complexioned; but his forehead was low, his cheek-bones strong and prominent, and the general expression of his countenance open and cheerful, although he was maimed by a wound which had injured his lower jaw. His manners were dignified and engaging; after battle, nothing could be pleasanter or more courteous; and it is infinitely to his honour, that in a savage age, and smarting under injuries which attacked him in his kindest and tenderest relations, he never abused a victory, but conquered often as effectually by his generosity and kindness, as by his great military talents. We know, however, from his interview with the papal legates, that when he chose to express displeasure, his look was stern and kingly, and at once imposed silence and ensured obedience. He excelled in all the exercises of chivalry, to such a degree, indeed, that the English themselves did not scruple to account him the third best knight in Europe.* His memory was stored with the romances of the period, in which he took great delight. Their hair-breadth 'scapes and perilous adventures were sometimes scarcely more wonderful than his own; and he had early imbibed from such works an appetite for individual enterprise and glory, which, had it not been checked by a stronger passion, the love of liberty, might have led him into fatal mistakes: it is quite conceivable, that Bruce, instead of a great king, might, like Richard the First, have become only a kingly knight-errant.
But from this error he was saved by the love of his country, directed by an admirable judgment, an unshaken perseverance, and a vein of strong good sense. It is here, although some may think it the homeliest, that we are to find assuredly the brightest part of the character of the king. It is these qualities which are especially conspicuous in his long war for the liberty of Scotland. They enabled him to follow out his plana through many a tedious year with undeviating energy; to bear reverses, to calculate his means, to wait for his opportunities, and to concentrate his whole strength upon one great point, till it was gained and secured to his country for ever. Brilliant military talent and consummate bravery have often been found amongst men, and proved far more of a curse than a blessing; but rarely indeed shall we discover them united to so excellent a judgment, controlled by such perfect disinterestedness, and employed for so sacred an end. There is but one instance on record where he seems to have thought more of himself than of his people,* and even this, though rash, was heroic.
By his first wife, Isabella, the daughter of Donald, tenth Earl of Mar, he had one daughter, Marjory. She married Walter, the hereditary High Steward of Scotland, and bore to him one son, Robert Stewart afterwards king, under the title of Robert the Second. By his second wife, Elizabeth, the daughter of Richard de Burgh earl of Ulster, he had one son, David, who succeeded him; and two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret.