Inchmahome there was a church on the island before the priory was established. The priory has a long history of receiving many notable guests. King Robert the Bruce visited three times, in 1306, 1308 and 1310. His visits were likely politically motivated, as the first abbot had sworn allegiance to Edward I, the English King. In 1358 the future King Robert II also stayed at the priory. In 1547 the priory served as a refuge for Mary, Queen of Scots, aged four, hidden here for a few weeks following the disastrous defeat of the Scots army at the Battle of Pinkie
History of the Scots language the land of the English in the Kingdom of the Scots" and why the early 13th century author of "de Situ Albanie" thought that the Firth of Forth "divides the kingdoms of the Scots and of the English". Most of the evidence suggests that English spread further into Scotland via the burgh, proto-urban institutions which were first established by King David I. Incoming burghers were mainly English (especially from Northumbria, and the Earldom of Huntingdon), Flemish and French. Although the military aristocracy employed French and Gaelic, these small urban communities appear to have been using English as something more than