XVI. _The Bruce_; by John Barbour; partly written in 1375. It has
been frequently printed, viz. in 1616, 1620, 1670, 1672, 1715, 1737,
and 1758; and was edited by Pinkerton in 1790, by Jamieson in 1820,
and by Cosmo Innes in 1866; also by myself (for the Early English Text
Society) in 1870-89; and again (for the Scottish Text Society) in
1893-5. Unfortunately, the two extant MSS. were both written out about
a century after the date of composition. Nevertheless, we have the
text of more than 260 lines as it existed in 1440, as this portion
was quoted by Andro of Wyntown, in his _Cronykil of Scotland_,
written at that date. I quote some lines from this portion, taken
from _The Bruce_, Book i, 37-56, 91-110; with a few explanations in
the footnotes.

Qwhen Alysandyre oure kyng wes dede,
That Scotland had to stere{1} and lede,
The land sex yhere and mayr perfay{2}
Wes desolate efftyr his day.
The barnage{3} off Scotland, at the last,
Assemblyd thame, and fandyt{4} fast
To chess{5} a kyng, thare land to stere,
That off awncestry cummyn were
Off kyngis that aucht{6} that reawté{7},
And mast{8} had rycht thare kyng to be.

But inwy{9}, that is sa fellowne{10},
Amang thame mad dissensiown:
For sum wald have the Ballyolle kyng,
For he wes cumyn off that ofspryng
That off the eldest systere was;
And other sum nyt{11} all that cas,