Robert the Bruce later account, "Tales of a Grandfather" by Sir Walter Scott, and may have originally been told about his companion-in-arms Sir James Douglas (the "Black Douglas"), who had spent time hiding out in caves within his manor of Lintalee, which was then occupied by the English. The entire account may in fact be a version of a literary trope used in royal biographical writing. A similar story is told, for example, in Jewish sources about King David, and in Persian folklore about the Mongolian warlord Tamerlane and an ant. It is said that before the Battle of Bannockburn, Bruce was attacked
Robert Bruce (1668–1720) Robert Bruce (1668–1720) Robert Bruce (, Roman Vilimovich Bruce; 1668–1720) was the first chief commander of Saint Petersburg. Of Scottish descent, he was the brother of Jacob Bruce and father of Alexander Romanovich Bruce. In 1683, Bruce joined the personal armed forces of Peter I, in 1695 receiving the rank of captain in the Preobrazhensky Regiment. He took part in the Azov campaigns of Peter I (1695–6) and probably accompanied Peter on his travels abroad (1697–1698). In 1700, he was appointed colonel of one of the infantry regiments, which participated in the siege of Narva. In 1702, he was at