[Robert the Bruce, and not Edward like the Pope thought], too, divine providence, his right of succession according to or laws and customs which we shall maintain to the death, and the due consent and assent of us all have made our Prince and King. To him, as to the man by whom salvation has been wrought unto our people, we are bound both by law and by his merits that our freedom may be still maintained, and by him, come what may, we mean to stand.It is one of the great documents of human history, from one of the best moments in human history.
Yet if he should give up what he has begun, and agree to make us or our kingdom subject to the King of England or the English, we should exert ourselves at once to drive him out as our enemy and a subverter of his own rights and ours, and make some other man who was well able to defend us our King; for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom — for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.
Long Ago in Scotland
Today is the 700th anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath. Longtime readers of Grim's Hall know this declaration well, but just in case:
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The only things I remember about Scotland is that they had an Egyptian queen, which most likely produced the metal/cloth skirt that charioteers used, converting them into Scottish quilts after all the metal went away. And that there was a holy stone for the Scottish royal line, that the Brits stole.
You’ll get no argument from me about Arbroath being one of the best moments in history. The Lords of Scotland stood fine and proud that day. Fine and Proud, indeed.
But, in the end, it was only a moment.
Eventually, the Lords of Scotland gave away the very freedom they claimed to prize at Arbroath. In exchange for English titles and privileges, they voluntarily set every head in Scotland under the slippered heel of English Monarchy.
Perhaps it is wrong of me to intrude upon this bright remembrance of Arbroath. After all, it is right, and fine, and proper, to honor it. But so long as we remember Arbroath, let this also be remembered: Freedom cannot be safely left to any trustee. The proper safeguard of liberty is in the heart of one’s own soul. If I will not keep my freedom, no other will keep it for me.
Yes, every man must bear the sword.
And the 'lords' of modern society have been trying to establish their versions of titles, and set us all under the slippered heel of the EU, or globalism in some form.
The echoes of history resonate with the present.
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