SOURCE: An introduction to Robert the Bruce and the Struggle for Scottish Independence, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1897, pp. 1-16.

In the following excerpt, Maxwell maintains that the merits of Barbour's poem are to be found in its narrative and reflection of Scottish society in the fourteenth century, but that it should not be considered a reliable chronicle of history.

… Turning now to the Scottish side of the account [of the Scottish War of Independence], the most important work dealing with this period is the well-known poem entitled The Brus, by John Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen. This writer was born a few years after the battle of Bannockburn, and therefore, though not able to describe as a contemporary the early history of his hero, must have conversed with many persons who took part in the events described. It is consequently of the utmost importance to ascertain what degree of...