Thanks to the film 'Braveheart' and its stirring portrayal of the defeat of the English at Bannockburn in 1314, Robert the Bruce has entered into legend as a uniquely Scottish hero.

Born in 1274, he was crowned King of Scots in 1306. He died in Dunbartonshire in 1329. But in 2018, historian Fiona Watson argued that he was actually an Essex boy, born in Writtle. This kicked off a fresh Anglo-Scottish rumpus, not least because a claim like this would be comparable to the French suggesting that Wellington was born in Boulogne.

Previously, Essex archivist Katharine Schofield made a similar claim. She traces a grant made in 1237 by Henry III to Isabel de Brus of lands in Writtle, Hatfield Broad Oak, Terling, Hatfield Peverel, Lamarsh and Southchurch. Her father, the Earl of Huntingdon, was the brother of Malcolm IV and William I of Scotland.

She believes there are records linking Robert de Brus senior to Hatfield Broad Oak and Writtle.

The death of Alexander III of Scotland in 1286 ushered in a period of turbulence culminating in Edward I of England being asked to arbitrate between fifteen different claimants to the throne, one of whom was Robert de Brus senior.

Edward chose John Balliol, but in 1296 he exploited Balliol's weakness to invade Scotland and seize the throne. This led to the guerrilla warfare led by William Wallace (enter Mel Gibson).

The older de Brus died in 1304 and Robert the Bruce inherited his claim. On 25th March 1306 he was crowned King of Scotland at Scone, immediately forfeiting his Essex lands to the English crown.

The Scots have not, however, taken this lying down. A letter in a nationalist newspaper maintains that we cannot know for sure where Robert the Bruce was born, and that his mother Marjorie would have insisted that the birth take place in her home of Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire, surrounded by her

followers and home comforts.

It's true that there is no record of Marjorie ever leaving Scotland, and the English chroniclers may well have felt that it was worth putting a bit of 'spin' on the story to suggest that only an English-born leader could defeat the English! However, there is no doubt that Robert the Bruce's family has some connection with our county. He is not the only medieval folk hero to be disputed between counties: English rebel Wat Tyler is claimed both by Kent and Essex.