Thesis Correspondence X: The Brus

Dear Dr. _____,

Well, I'm tackling Robert the Bruce's epic poem written by John Barbour, Archdeacon of Aberdeen in the 1300s. I think it will make sense of the Grameid for me, as there's much about dynastic succession, personal inheritance, title, nobility, free domains, and Classical imagery in it. It's a little heavy going (I've attached a page for you to take a quick look). [Click into the image above to read some of it.] I am in a world of knights in shinning armor without any 19th century Romantic intermediary interpretations! It is every bit as glamorous this way. This may take me a bit. More updates to come...

Wesley

Thesis Correspondence VI: Primary Source Research

Scottish Coat of Arms from Nesbit's A System of Heraldry

Dear Dr. _____,

After just reading Alexander Nesbit's A System of Heraldry for James Francis Edward Stuart (in two volumes), I believe I have finally found the root of a Classical and medieval emphasis among Scottish nobility. This will form the underlying theme for my thesis, and will work well with the epic The Grameid and primary accounts of the 1745 revolt I have read in which the Highlander troops seem to be the emphasis of battle. The underlying current for my work will be to link the ancient heraldic orders of power among the Scottish and English nobles vested in the Stuart dynastic right with the concepts of Classical empire and Western nationhood.

Nesbit notates the science of heraldry as the queen of liberal knowledge, being a way to separate the “worthy” from the “vulgar” and “plebeian.” Its beauty as an art lies with its connection to ancestry, and its heritage is one of Classical and medieval honor. Whereas the Romans used statuary and masks, the knights of Europe and particularly France invented heraldic embellishments of arms. France gave Scotland this tradition (a Franco-Scottish connection). Nesbit introduces the medieval conflict of the “Savage Knight” (the Highlander) and its recognition as a legitimate knight of Christendom (I will have pages on this). He discusses the origins of the oak tree symbol among the many noble families of Scotland (which will eventually become a Jacobite symbol), and the Stuart peerage of nobility across Britain for centuries (he has hundreds of pages devoted to all of this). He links the original line of kings (Bruce's line) with the stewards (eventually Stuarts) and claims the Stuart line the rightful heir. Classical and Biblical references abound; lending pageantric support to his arguments. Many of the figures and emblems representing the noble legitimacy of Britain within Christendom are linked with the Stuart line (the interaction between the Garter and Thistle play prominently). Nesbit's two volumes will saturate my commentary of Jacobite pageantry with the cultural and political/intellectual meanings I need to pull in order to link the Jacobite hope with an older form of European Classicalism.

Respectfully,

Wesley