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unusual facts about Mary Bruce, Countess of Elgin



Mary Bruce

During the First War of Scottish Independence, she was captured by the English and imprisoned in a cage at Roxburgh Castle for circa four years.

By order of King Edward I of England, she was then held prisoner in an iron or wooden cage exposed to the public view in Roxburgh Castle.

Mary Bruce, Countess of Elgin

Following a short stint in London the couple left England on 3 September 1799 so that Bruce could take up his Ambassadorial position; sailing from Portsmouth on the HMS Phaeton.

The pair were distantly related via the Montagus and were considered a good match by both families.

Bruce divorced Nesbit in 1807/08 and she went on to marry Robert Ferguson of Raith (1777–1846).


see also