Unusual Artifacts: Cast of the Skull of King Robert the Bruce, 1819

Cast of the Skull of King
Robert I (the Bruce)
William Scouler, 1819
The Royal Collection

Scottish King Robert I (known as Robert the Bruce) began life as Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick. Robert was initially a staunch supporter of English King Edward I. However, due to a rather complicated series of decisions, he switched his allegiance to the Scots. But, he had some difficulty there, too. So, he murdered his remaining Scottish rival, John Comyn, in 1306 and claimed the throne of Scotland as his own (his argument was that he was the great-great-grandson of Scottish King David I). Few agreed—at the time—with Robert the Bruce’s usurping of the throne, but nonetheless, he was crowned at Scone.


The Bruce then proceeded to fight—well, everyone. He fought the Scots, he fought the English and he killed a lot of people. After booting most of the English out of Scotland, Robert had become such a pest that King Edward III, in 1328, finally gave in and agreed that Robert was the King of Scotland, and that his heirs would remain royal. Fair enough. It didn’t last. But, it satisfied Robert for awhile. He died in 1329 and was buried in the crypt at Dunfermline Abbey.

Robert the Bruce lay quite peacefully—for the first time ever, really—for just about five centuries before the Abbey’s great tower collapsed in 1818. Well, this didn’t do good things to the abbey’s foundation and a lot of deceased folks had to be disinterred. That’s never fun. Among them was our friend Robert I. Understandably, people were quite chuffed to stumble upon good ol’ Bruce and took a great deal of time studying what was left of him—measuring him, and taking plaster casts of his various remaining parts. Here’s his skull! To be accurate, this is a plaster cast of his skull which was completed by William Scouler in 1819. The cast was rather cleverly displayed on this jaunty red-velvet-covered stand atop a rosewood plinth with brass inlay. The plinth also doubles as a convenient storage container. The plaque reads: Cast in plaster by Wm Scouler 1819. Interred 1329. Re-interred 1819.

As the inscription would have us believe, Robert the Bruce was, in fact, re-interred at the Abbey. But, not before much rejoicing and Scottish patriotism. He’s remained relatively trouble-free since 1819.