Bothwell Collegiate Church
© Rosslyn Templars
This damaged corbel is on the exterior of the window at the east end of the choir. The damage means that we cannot be sure exactly what the figure represented although it was likely to have been an angel. The shield is the armorial bearings of Douglas.
The Douglases were the premier family of Scotland after the royal family. They came to prominence under Robert I (1306-1329; born 1274) during the wars of independence. James Douglas (c.1286-1330) was Bruce's earliest, staunchest and most ruthless supporter. He commanded a division at Bannockburn and following that victory was granted large landholdings.
Although the family did not obtain the lands around Bothwell until 1362 and did not build Bothwell Collegiate Church until 1397/8, almost 50 years before the building of Rosslyn Chapel began, they did have an early connection with the St Clair (or Sinclairs) of Rosslyn.
Robert I died in 1329 but before his death requested that his oldest and staunchest friend take his heart to be buried in Jerusalem. Douglas selected, as one of his attendants on that journey, William Sinclair of Rosslyn. En-route to the Holy Land, the party stopped in Spain where Christian was fighting Moslem. Douglas and Sinclair assisted the Spanish Christians against the Spanish Muslims and died a battle between the two.
Bruce's heart never reached the Holy Land and was returned to Scotland where it was buried at Melrose Abbey.