Barbour’s Bruce

John Barbour (c. 1330-1395) concluded his career as archdeacon of Aberdeen. He was associated with the royal Stewart affinity, and his works seek to establish both Bruce and Stewart rights to the throne. The Bruce is the earliest surviving text in Scots: it narrates the feats of Robert Bruce and James Douglas during the First War of Independence. Matthew McDiarmid (25 June 1914-12 February 1996) was a Scottish literary scholar, essayist, campaigning academic and poet. McDiarmid was one of the leading members of a pioneering generation of Scottish academics who laboured and campaigned for a proper place for Scotland's literature in Scottish universities. At the opening of his career, no Scottish university had a dedicated professor of Scottish literature; by the time of his death, there were six. J.A.C. Stevenson was a leading scholar and philologist of his generation, and his edition of the Bruce is still standard.

• Volume IGeneral IntroductionSynopsis of the NarrativeTextual NotesCommentaryAppendix I: Lines from Wyntoun's CronykilAppendix II: The 'Edinburgh' RubricsAppendix III: Conversion FactorsGlossaryPersons and Places in the textVolume IITextual and Editorial IntroductionBook IBook IIBook IIIBook IVBook VBook VIBook VIIBook VIIIBook IXBook XVolume IIIBook XIBook XIIBook XIIIBook XIVBook XVBook XVIBook XVIIBook XVIIIBook XIXBook XX