Writing on a small island in the Firth of Forth in the 1440s, Walter Bower set out to tell the whole story of the Scottish nation in a single huge book, the Scotichronicon--'a history book for Scots'. It begins with the mythical voyage of Scota, the Pharaoh's daughter, from Egypt with the Stone of Destiny. The land that her sons discovered in the Western Ocean was named after her: Scotland. It goes on to describe the turbulent events that followed, among them the wars of the Scots and the Picts (begun by a quarrel over a dog); the poisoning of King Fergus by his wife; Macbeth's usurpation and uneasy reign; the good deeds of Margaret, queen and saint; Bruce's murder of the Red Comyn; the founding of Scotland's first university at St Andrews; the 'Burnt Candlemas'; and the endless troubles between Scotland and England.

Weaving in and out of the events of Bower's factual history, like a wonderful pageant, are other subjects that fascinated him: harrowing visions of hell and purgatory, extraordinary miracles; the exploits of knights and beggars, merchants and monks; the ravages of flood and fire; the terrors of the plague; and the answers to such puzzling questions as what makes a good king, and why Englishmen have tails.

• Title
• Copyright
• Preface
• Introduction to Books XIII and XIV
• The Manuscripts
• Content and Sources
  • Methods of Editing
  • Lists of Abbreviations
  • I. Sigla
  • II. Words
• III. Names of Counties
• IV. Publications
• Scotichronicon
  • Book XIII
    • 1. The Black Parliament, and the treason of William de Soules and his accomplices
    • 2. The Scottish descendants of noble prowess write to the lord pope complaining about the king of England
    • 3. The same
    • 4. The death of St Thomas of Lancaster, and the journey of the king of Scotland into England, and from England to Scotland
    • 5. The king of Scotland sends envoys to France to renew the alliance, and to the Roman court; and King David is born
    • 6. The Ghost of Guy
    • 7. The same
    • 8. The same
    • 9. The same
    • 10. Spirits that appear after death; and that it is dangerous for a man to entrust himself to demons
    • 11. Another exemplum on the same theme
    • 12. How the queen of England hired some mercenaries and imprisoned her husband the king, etc.
    • 12a. [King Robert Bruce’s second tailzie]
    • 13. The marriage of King David and the death of his father
    • 14. His epitaph
    • 15. How a herald proclaimed King Robert
    • 16. The same
    • 17. How Thomas Randolph was made guardian of Scotland, and he executed justice everywhere
    • 18. The same; a good judge and a bad one; Randolph’s death by English treachery
    • 19. How James de Douglas prepared to go to Jerusalem taking the king’s heart with him; and the scoundrel Twynam Lourison
    • 20. The death of James de Douglas and the coronation of King David
    • 21. The death of the guardian Thomas Randolph, and the battle of Dupplin
    • 22. Still the same
    • 23. The same
    • 24. The passage of King David to France
    • 25. The double-dealing of King Edward and the character of the English
    • 26. The siege of Berwick and the battle of Halidon
    • 27. The same, and the surrender of Berwick to the king of England
    • 28. Letters sent by the lord pope and Philip king of the French to the king of England for peace; and a dispute
    • 29. How Sir John Strivelyn besieged Loch Leven
    • 30. The same topic, and the advancement of David earl of Atholl
    • 31. Robert Steward
    • 32. The fortunate successes of the Steward and of John earl of Moray, the guardian
    • 33. The council held at Dairsie, and a miracle of St Columba
    • 34. The conflict between the [men of Namur] and the Scots, and the capture of the guardian
    • 35. The conflict of Culblean and the killing of Earl David
    • 36. How the guardian besieged castles; and a miracle performed by St Columba in the sea near Inchcolm
    • 37. How the king of England rebuilt the castles of Scotland and killed his brother
    • 38. How Andrew de Moray seized and destroyed castles
    • 39. The siege of castle
    • 40. Still the same; and the destruction of Lothian
    • 41. Robert Prenderguest’s risky exploit
    • 42. The death of Andrew Moray
    • 43. Persistent harassment by Sir William Douglas
    • 44. The siege of the town of Perth by the guardian Robert Steward
    • 45. The same topic
    • 46. The capture of Edinburgh castle by Sir William de Douglas and sir William Bullock
    • 47. The noble Alexander de Ramsay and his efforts for the liberty of the kingdom
    • 48. The return of King David from France
    • 49. The killing of Alexander de Ramsay
    • 50. A fowl pest and other matters
  • Notes for Book XIII
  • Book XIV
    • 1. The battles of Crecy and Durham
    • 2. The disposition for the battle; and the appearance of St Cuthbert to King David
    • 3. The battle
    • 4. A king should not follow the advice of young men
    • 5. The danger of excommunication
    • 6. The early career of Sir William de Douglas earl of the same
    • 7. The first mortality, and the murder of Sir David de Barclay
    • 8. The killing of the noble William de Douglas and the abbot of Dunfermline
    • 9. The messengers of the king of France sent to Scotland
    • 10. The capture of Berwick by Thomas earl of Angus
    • 11. The fight between thirty Frenchmen and the same number of Englishmen
    • 12. The hostile arrival of the king of England in Scotland and Edward de Balliol’s resignation of his right
    • 13. The tyranny of the king of England, the wreck of his fleet, and a miracle of Mary
    • 14. Still the same
    • 15. The regions that were brought back to their allegiance to the king by the lords of Douglas and Kyle; and the king’s return
    • 16. The battle of Poitiers and the capture of John king of France
    • 17. The release of Archibald de Douglas; and Black Monday
    • 18. The release of King David from England and his ransom
    • 19. The rule of peasants over the nobles in France
    • 20. The killing of the noble Roger de Kirkpatrick
    • 21. Flooding in parts of Lothian, and the sending of envoys from the king to the pope to request a tenth
    • 22. The crossing of the king of England to France, and the negotiations over the release of the king of France
    • 23. The same
    • 24. The second mortality
    • 25. King David’s proposals to the estates on the succession
    • 26. Mercy, patience and leniency are much to he admired in a king
    • 27. The renewed fealty offered to the king and the text of the oath
    • 28. How the king married Lady Margaret Logie, and their divorce
    • 29. Still the same, and that a wife should be guided etc.
    • 30. To whom a bad woman is comparable
    • 31. The characteristics of a serpent [continued]; and the second [comparison]
    • 32. The same
    • 33. Good wives are welcome
    • 34. The king’s death
    • 35. The king’s epitaph
    • 36. The coronation of King Robert II
    • 37. The rupture of the truce, and the payment levied on the English by the earl of March
    • 38. The contemptible escape of Sir Henry de Percy
    • 39. The death of St Bridget, lady of Sweden
    • 40. The burning of Penrith village, and the victory won by the Scots over the English
    • 41. The ambassadors sent to the king of France
    • 42. The same treaty
    • 43. The Peasants’ Rule in England, and the duke’s flight in Scotland
    • 44. The capture of Lochmaben castle
    • 45. The vengeance inflicted by blessed Columba on the English
    • 46. The admiral of France and his army in Scotland
    • 47. The time when King Richard II entered Scotland in hostile fashion and burned monasteries
    • 48. A certain ancient charter and the prowess of Sir William Douglas of Nithsdale
    • 49. The same topic
    • 50. The battle of Otterburn
    • 51. The victory won by the Scots over the English
    • 52. [No rubric]
    • 53. How Robert earl of Fife was made governor of Scotland
    • 54. The envoys of the kings of France and England sent to the king of Scotland to obtain a truce
    • 55. A threatening letter sent by the Turks to the pope
    • 56. Gregory XI’s letter
    • 56a. Copy of King David’s letter
  • Notes for Book XIV
• Index