The Death of John Comyn: What Was Going On?

The aim of this article is to explore in depth what was 'going on' – as opposed to simply what 'happened' – when John Comyn was killed by Robert Bruce in Dumfries on 10 February 1306, in one of the most dramaticand pivotal events in Scotland's history. It divides into two parts. The first considers the main medieval sources. These were of course all written after the event, and so are invariably coloured by hindsight and what is nowadays called 'spin'; hence they are not 'true' accounts but constructed narratives. Their treatment here aims to elucidate what each author was trying to present to his intended audience. The article deals with, in turn: the narratives in the English government documents produced in the killing's aftermath; the near-contemporary English chronicle narrratives; the rather later Scottish chronicle narratives; some additional Scottish narratives found within certain poems; and finally the lay-authored Scalacronica, which has a significantly different perspective from other English chronicles. In general, the narratives are revealingly complex; despite their slants, they are far from being exercises in crude propaganda. And, significantly, the Scottish chronicles (especially Wyntoun) and Scalacronica give emphasis to the fact that the victim of the killing, John Comyn, was the nephew of King John Balliol and grandson of Dervorguilla, lady of Galloway, and thus was a leading member of the senior Scottish royal line. Moreover, close reading of 'The Scottish poem' in Liber Extravagans (appended to Bower's Scotichronicon) reveals a contemporary plea for John Comyn to become king of Scots. In the second half of the article, the implications of this 'Comyn-for-king' concept are pursued. None of the standard accounts of the period pays serious attention to Comyn's royal descent; discussions of the killing invariably focus on Robert Bruce. Therefore an attempt is made here – despite the understandable absence of hard evidence – to consider the killing more from the victim's point of view. It is argued that, after the de facto collapse of Balliol kingship in 1303–4, John Comyn (because of his own lineage) would never have accepted Robert Bruce (whose line of descent had been declared inferior in 1292) as king. Consequently, political compromise between the two men was obviously out of the question. Therefore, although none of the chronicle narratives can be taken at face value, their consistent presentations of the killing as premeditated are possibly valid after all, despite the denials of the main modern studies. And although (because of the problem of evidence) it is impossible to achieve certainty over this question, what does become clear is that Comyn's claim to the throne is the crucial factor for understanding what was going on when he was killed.