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Scene Six
A room in the house of the Countess of
Buchan at Balmullo, Fife, about a week after Bruce's absolution at
Glasgow. Buchan is about to leave to go to his manor in
Leicestershire.
BUCHAN : An are ye ettlin still tae gang
tae Scone
Noo that nae thing's
turned oot the wey foreseen
Ye'll shame me sair gin
ye gang there tae Bruce!
COUNTESS : Na sir, I'll shame ye nane.
T'wad shame us baith
Mair waefu gin I
were tae bide awa.
Yer cousin shamed us
aa by treachery.
A King there maun
be. And my hands alane
Can mak him -
BUCHAN : (interrupting) But, ye maun hae
sense!
That man is Bruce! The
very man wha killed
The heid o Buchan clan!
An aa my kin
Expect me tae revenge
that wanton deed.
Your lealty's te me,
and tae nae ither.
Ye'll lay aside the
darg that's due tae Fife!
COUNTESS : I'll no dae that. Ye canna
mak me dae't.
Ye wadna hae me
scorn the lang kent duty
My faimly's done for
ilka Scottish king
Since Malcolm
Canmore. Yer ain clan
Ken that's my place,
an ken the grypin truth
T'was Comyn his
ainsel that disannoled
His ain grand future
wi betrayin clype.
BUCHAN : (interrupting) But heed me noo.
Thae twa days we hae been
Ower aa the wey o't,
aye, an fine we ken
Whit-like a weird we'll
dree, an hae tae thole
For gin ye gang to
Scone ye'll be yer lane,
Ye're
wyce eneuch tae ken I maun disown
Yersel,
my very wife. Ye'll be miscaa'd
As Carrick'sleman. Hoo
can I protect
Your name for aa I
honour it mysel
An tak your lealty for
truth.
COUNTESS : It is.
Be shair o that my
lord, whitever else
May gang asklent i
thae uncouthy days.
As wife I'm true
tae ye. It disna shame
Ye an the Comyn
clan gin I croon Bruce.
But ye maun honour
my inherent task.
I canna bide frae
Scone. A king
Has been
proclaimed. That's fact. But fact as weel
That England reived
the Stane o Scone tae tak
Oor ancient
symbol an sae argify
Wha'e'er we crooned
culd no be richtfu king.
An ye were set that
I culd brak that thocht
By bein there as
Fife tae gie the croon
An aa its richts
tae Comyn. Three weeks noo
Ye've gaithered
horse and men intae oor fields
For
us tae gang thegither ower tae Scone.
Comyn be crooned by
me, an ye an Bruce
Leadin the airmies
o King John's best men.
BUCHAN : But noo that canna be, for I
maun fecht
Against the man yer duty
will mak king.
Shairly ye see that?
COUNTESS : O' coorse I see.
I ken that's aa
forfochen. An the faut
Lies stracht wi yer
Lord Comyn, for his clype
Had cast his richts
awa even gin he'd lived.
He'd made himsel an
English stooky doll!
Answer
me this. Gin Carrick hadna struck
Had Comyn lived wad
ye hae ta'en his pairt?
An gaun wi me tae
croon a man forsworn?
I wadna hae done
that. I dinna think
Ye'd want me tae.
Wad ye hae gaun yersel?
BUCHAN : Och Isobel it's hard tae ken
the wey
I culd hae thocht o
that. We micht hae gien
Mair
smeddum tae him sae he culd gie up
His sookin tae
Langshanks. But Carrick's knife
Gied Comyn nae chance
tae mak amends
An noo I hae nae choice
but hunt tae daith
The man that ye're tae
honour wi the croon.
COUNTESS : An like yersel my fere I hae
nae choice
Altho
the plan's aklent, yet Carrick's there
Nae jist absolvit,
ordered, by the Kirk
As penance dire tae
try tae win us free.
But e'en aa that is
nae eneuch tae show
That ancient custom
is observit strang
An only I can dae
that. I maun gae
Tae Scone an sae
awa fae ye. I think
T'will be for aye.
A queer kin o divorce
But mind on me
sometimes. I'll mind on you.
BUCHAN : I'll stert this very nicht for
Leicestershire.
An lave the destriers
an the men ahint.
Gin ye tak them tae
Scone I maun accuse
Ye o bein airt an pairt
wi Lamberton
Wi Wishart an wi
Carrick his ainsel
I'll mind on ye aa
richt gin ye dae that
But think ye wad tak
shame tae dae ocht else
An noo fareweel.
( He embraces her
roughly and leaves with a wave of his hand which she returns, as she
also calls adieu. )
COUNTESS (thoughtfully) : An me tae
Scone, my Lord, an tae whit else?
I dinna ken. A queer-like wey tae pairt.
Curtain
Footnote : Countess Buchan crowned The
Bruce - Robert 1 King of Scots, at Scone in
March 1306. For her action she spent many years as a prisoner of
England.
