Bruce is said to be a Celtic name, but the family originates from Brix in Normandy. Robert de Brus was in the army of William the Conqueror in 1066. His son accompanied David I back to Scotland in 1124. Although he was granted the lands of Annandale he fought against David in the Battle of the Standard in 1138, capturing his own son who supported the Scottish king.
Robert, the 4th Lord of Annandale, married Isabella, great granddaughter of David I, and this gave him a claim to the throne. The Balliols and Comyns stood in Bruce’s path, so he sided with Edward I of England against William Wallace. In 1306, only the Comyns stood between them and the Scottish throne, a problem solved by the 7th Robert Bruce, when he murdered the head of the Comyn family and had himself crowned King of Scots. He did, however, win the struggle for Scottish Independence at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, but his line died with his son, David II, in 1371. His daughter had married the High Steward of Scotland and this marriage produced the Stewart line of kings, from which the present British royal family is descended.
Robert the Bruce (Robert I) died in 1329 and is buried in Dunfermline Abbey. In 1359, a relation of King Robert was granted lands in Clackmannan. A member of this branch, Edward Bruce, Lord Kinloss, helped to arrange the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne in 1603.
In 1747, the Earldom of Elgin was inherited by the 9th Earl of Kincardine. Thomas, the 7th Earl (1766-1841) spent his fortune on rescuing the marbles in the Parthenon from destruction. He was branded a vandal for his pains. James Bruce of Kinnaird (1730-94) was an explorer in Africa, and the first Briton to find the source of the Blue Nile. He was known as "The Abyssinian".
Sir William Bruce of Kinross was Architect Royal to Charles II. He rebuilt the Palace of Holyrood House between 1671 and 1679. The Elgin family still have in their possession Robert the Bruce’s two-handed sword.