Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-26
shirts and all kinds Of freak articles to

| snow tnelr Skill.
| ''Tduch Of our time today is occupied in
| making special patterns and novelties,
| said Mr.. Fisher In reply to my questions,
| but they are all done on ORDERS usually
| from American houses. We mt out ciubs
| and hotels with everything in the linen
| line. tablecloths and napkins, towels,
| sheeting doilies. tray cloths and other
household articles in which We compete
| with Ireland, Germany, Austria and Bel
| GUM. But We do not make wearing ap-
parel-neither handkerchief. nor collars,
| nor shirts. nor dress goods.
I'VE have no particular advantage In
Dunfermline." continued Mr.. Fisher; ION
| the contrary Germany. Austria and Bel
GUM have cheaper flax. lower wages
| and longer hours than We. They have
wiped out our spinning mills entirely by
their competition. We used to make our
| own yarn. but can buy it cheaper in Ger
many, Belgium and France. Wages have
gone up considerably in recent years in
all lines of employment A year ago all
the operatives were advanced from three
to 10 per cent. Labor Is pretty we'll Or
ganfZed here, but We never have any
trouble with our hands. and have never
had any serious strikes"
Robert the Bruce.
AS I told you yesterday, Dunfermline
was the home of Robert the Bruce and
his remains are buried in the old cathe-
dral. Bruce was Of royal blood, grand
son of one of the bravest and boldest of
the Scottish mobiles. and haa long aspired
to the crown of Scotland. Hence when
Wallace was executed at London, Bruce
proclaimed himself the leader of the in
dependence movement. killed Comyn, his
rival claimant. who vas descended from
Donaldbane. brother of Malcolm III, the
highest noble in the kingdom. This
brought about a crisis. So Bruce
solved upon bold step and was crowned
at Scone on the 9th Of March, 1906. But
1t was not until 1914 that he fully estab
lished his authority, and indeed during
| nearly all his reign he was compelled to
fight England, until, In January, 1893,
the English government formally recog
niZed Scotland as an independent nation
and a treaty, signed by the king and rati-
fled by parliament, renowned whatever
claims we or our ancestors in bygone
times have laid in any way over the
kingdom Of Scotland
1t was twenty-three years from the time
that Bruce proclaimed himself king until
this concession was secured. but in the
meantime he ruled the Scots with great
sagacity and wisdom and stands first
| among Scottish heroes.
Story Of the Heart Of Bruce.
Robert Bruce. in view of his approach
ing dissolution, which took place at Dunn
barton June Z, 1920. at the age Of fifty
five. in the twenty-fourth year of his
reign, implored his faithful friend, Sir
James Douglas, to carry his heart to
Jerusalem and deposit it in the Church of
the Holy Sepulcher. This was to relieve
him of the fulfillment of VOW which he
had made that as soon as the peace and
freedom Of Scotland were established
he would take an expedition to the Holy
Land and redeem it from the enemies of
the Christian faith.
Sir James Douglas started for Palestine
shortly after the funeral, bearing the
heart of his monarch inclosed in a silver
casket always suspended from his neck
by a golden chain under his armor. He
passed through Spain as the most con-
venient route, and there, being attacked
by band of Moors, he was slain in bat
tie after showing prodigious feats of
valor. The body. with the casket and its
precious contents. was recovered by Sir
William Keith. who brought 1t back to
the queen at Dunfermline. The body was
inferred in the church of that city and
the heart was entombed in Melrose Abbey
by the Earl Of Moray, regent of Scotland
during the minority Of Robert the
Bruce II.
The noble family Of Douglas has ever
since carried on its shield a heart crown
ed with lock, and the Lockhart family,
accompanied Sir James Douglas upon his
fatal mission and assisted Sir William
Keith to recover and bring back the
body, also bears a heart and a lock In Its
armorial bearings.
In 1910, when the abbey was being re-
stored, the tomb of The Bruce was opened
in the presence Of several medical author
tiles and distinguished personages. The
skeleton was found to be in almost per-
feet condition, although 1t was 400 years
after his death. The bones were all care
fully measured The sternum. or breast
bone, was found sawed asunder accord
ing to the awkward surgical methods OF
the day for the purpose of removing the
heart. and well executed and appropri-
ate plate was found in the grave bearing
this inscription:
Here lies the invincble Robert,
Blessed king.
Let him who reads his exploits
Repeat how many wars he carried on.
Tie led the kingdom Of the Scots
Now let him live in the citadel
OF the heavens
This was in Latin, and for a long time
| was supposed to have been placed on the
| tomb at the original burial, but 1t was
afterward ascertained that it was not
SO ancient.
His Bones Preserved in Pitch.
Upon the recommendation of the med
ical authorities In attendance the skeleton
was carefully placed upon a bed Of hot
pitch in a new leaden coffin. 1t was then
filled up with molten pitch within two
inches of the top and the top was care
fully soldered on. Thus. as one Of the
doctors declared. IF Prince Posterity
shall insist upon seeing the remains of
King Robert, he will find 1t very hard
work to pick him out of his shell; and. in
the meantime, 1 have taken care that the
present generation shall not steal his
bones, nor toss them about, nor make a
common show of them, as was done with
In my memory in a most indecent man
ner with the bones OF our kings and
queens who were buried in the royal
vault In the chapel of Hollywood House"
The lead coffin was inscribed king
Robert Bruce. 1329-1S19," and was Walled
up in a vault of brick with walls eight
cen inches thick. Within the tomb were
placed copies of BARRIERS Life of Bruce.
"Annals of Scotland the History of
the Reign of King Robert t. the His
tory of Dunfermline,' the Almanac for
the year, the Directory Of the city of
Edinburgh. a number of newspapers and
collection of gold and silver coins of
the reign of George III.
Lady Elizabeth. queen OF Robert the
Bruce. was buried in the choir of the
chapel in 1897, two years previous to the
death Of her husband. She was a daush-
ter of Aymer de Brugh. Earl of Ulster in
| Ireland, and Was brought to England a
prisoner with several other ladies during