SOURCE: "The Supernatural Element in Barbour's Bruce," Massachusetts Studies in English, Vol. I, No. 3, Spring, 1968, pp. 55-65.

In the following essay, Trace studies the supernatural and religious devices utilized by Barbour in The Bruce.

Storyss to rede ar delitabill,
 Supposs that thai be nocht bot fabill;
 Than suld storyss that suthfast wer,
 And thai war said on gud maner,
 Hawe doubill plesance in heryng.
 The fyrst plesance is the carpyng,
 And the tothir the suthfastnes,
 That schawys the thing rycht as it wes; …
 Now god gyff grace that I may swa
 Tret It, and bryng It till endyng,
 That I say nocht bot suthfast thing!
(I. 1-36)1

In the opening lines of his poem, John Barbour suggests that his story will be both "suthfast" in the historical sense and entertaining. Later he refers to his tale as a "romanys" (I. 444-445). Scholars of Scottish literature have differed in...