Dinna fear ye, Dinna fret ye
Black Douglas will no' get ye
Black Douglas: Sir James Douglas was known as the Black Douglas because of the terror his name aroused in the English. It was his task, in the end, of taking the Bruce heart, encased in a small casket made of silver, to Palestine.
The Bruce; History is strewn with warrior kings, born into times of upheaval, unrest and rebellion, their entire lives spent in battle mode. Robert the Bruce was one of these. When he died in 1329 of a virulent form of psoriasis, he left explicit instructions that his heart be taken to the Holy Land.
So off sailed the Black Douglas for Jerusalem bearing the heart of The Bruce.On the way to the Holy Land he ran into a spot of bother, arriving in Spain just as Alfonso XI of Castile was preparing to do battle against Osmyn, the Moorish governor of Grenada.
On March 25th, at Tebas de Ardales the forces of Islam and Christianity clashed. The Scots found themselves surrounded by Moorish cavalry and attempted to break through.
The Last Charge: Sensing impending defeat, Douglas led a last desperate charge. Rising on his stirrups he ripped the casket from the chain round his belt and, taking aim, hurled the heart into the melee, then charging after it.
The following day, when the main Spanish forces reached the site, the bodies of the Scottish crusaders were discovered on the battlefield. When the corpse of the Black Douglas was turned face up, the casket was found beneath his body, the heart still inside.
Robert the Bruce had lead his final charge.
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