A SMALL army with a massive past came half way round the globe for the first major commemoration of the battle in which Robert the Bruce beat Edward II.

There are 109 descendents of the Bruce clan in the US, and 12 that Christopher Robert Bruce, from Sydney, knows of in Australia.

Antonia Bruce, 23, who studies Visual Anthropology at Manchester University, was chronicling the event.

The eldest granddaughter of clan chief Andrew Bruce, 11th Earl of Elgin, she said: "In our society it is quite important to know where you come from.

"It is important for me, and I can see how important it is to everyone who came here today from the US and Australia."

Alongside Ms Bruce was the youngest clan descendant, the Honourable Benedict Bruce, who is 11.

A team at the University of Strathclyde has managed to trace descendants of some of the men who stood on the battlefield using DNA analysis.

Graham Holton, who headed up the project, said the complicated process allows them to find a family link by comparing databases or samples.

He said: "If they match closely enough we can say there is a common link between the two."

The Earl Castle Stewart, an Irish peer, had it confirmed he is descended from Walter Stewart - the High Steward of Scotland who fought at Bannockburn. He said he was "reassured" by the DNA finding.