THEY were once the rulers of the land, masters of all they surveyed.
As members of Scotland’s royal family at the dawn of the Middle Ages, their place in history was assured.
Centuries later, they lie in unmarked graves – an unfitting end to lives less ordinary.
Now a campaign has been launched to immortalise the “forgotten” Scottish kings at Dunfermline Abbey.
Although a number of royals with links to the Scottish throne are interred at the historic site, only the tomb of Robert The Bruce has identifying features.
Historian Sheila Pitcairn is leading calls to make sure the final resting places of the forgotten royals are properly marked.
Thousands of people around the world have signed an online petition launched by Mrs Pitcairn, who believes that erecting memorials to six kings, two queens and three princes who rest within the nave at Dunfermline Abbey would provide a significant boost to Scottish tourism.
She said: “The fact so many members of Scotland’s royal family lie in unmarked graves is a national disgrace.
“We know where these kings, queens and princes are buried but there is nothing there to tell people about them or the role they played in Scottish history. They are our forgotten royals.
“There was so much pomp and ceremony surrounding the discovery of King Richard III’s remains beneath a car park in Leicester but we are ignoring the history that is right here on our own doorstep.
“By doing more to highlight this royal burial ground in Dunfermline we could bring many more visitors to the area.”
Iona Abbey was the resting place for many early Scottish kings, but a number of royal interments took place in the nave at Dunfermline Abbey in the 11th and 12th centuries.
Six kings – Malcolm III, Duncan II, Edgar, Alexander I, David I and Malcolm IV – are buried there, as well as two queens – Margaret and Sybilla. It is also the final resting place of three Scots princes – Edward, Ethelrade and Edmund.
Mrs Pitcairn, who leads guided tours in Dunfermline, said: “People across Europe and from as far away as Canada and America have signed my petition. A lot of people feel very strongly that these graves should be properly marked.
“The kings, queens and princes who are buried at Dunfermline are an important part of Scottish history but very few people know anything about them. That has to change.”
Mrs Pitcairn, 82, has held discussions with Historic Environment Scotland, the public body set up to care for and promote the nation’s historic environment, in the hope it will provide funds to make the royal burial ground more tourist-friendly.
She has also been in contact with officials at Dunfermline Abbey and is planning to take her petition to the Scottish Parliament in n attempt to gain further support.
Ken Richards, joint session clerk at the Abbey Church of Dunfermline, said he would support improvements to the royal burial ground.
He added: “The tomb of Robert the Bruce and the stained glass windows we have here are already very popular with tourists but we would be delighted to welcome even more visitors.
“Efforts to highlight the other royal graves would undoubtedly be a boost for tourism.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel