Todd,

I guess my response would be that Bruce lost alot to fight for Scotland. He lost his inheritance to very substantial lands in England -- more valuable than his Scottish properties. He also lost family and friends. Of four brothers, three were brutally murdered. Many of his friends and political allies were also brutally killed by the English or the Comyns. He lived for three or four years in caves, despite growing up as one of the most privileged children in either kingdoms. He was a desparado for a period of time.

It would have been very easy for him to just live on the wealth of the Bruces English estates. However, he followed the call of his mother's gaelic blood and fought, eventually, for Scottish freedom. He sacrificed everything to fight the Planteganets. I know it is the stuff of myths, but I choose to believe it. How else can you explain Bruces willingness to sacrifice the very lives of his brothers and his friends.