What is Robert?

King Robert Bruce occupies a prominent place in traditional legends surrounding Scottish Masonry, though Masonic scholars treat his direct involvement as legendary rather than historical 1.

Under accounts recorded by Thory and examined by Mackey, King Robert Bruce created the Order of Saint Andrew of the Thistle—later united with Herodom—following the battle of Bannockburn in 1314 to reward Masons who fought in his army 1. In this narrative, Bruce reserved the title of Grand Master in perpetuity for himself and his successors, founding the Royal Grand Lodge of Herodem at Kilwinning 1. Traditions associated with the Royal Order of Scotland similarly claim that Bruce conferred the rank of Knights of the Rosy Cross on Masons who aided his victory 2.

Masonic historians dispute these traditions. D. Murray Lyon maintained that the Mother Lodge at Kilwinning historically acknowledged only Craft degrees and preserved no genuine tradition connecting Bruce with Masonic courts, suggesting the legend was a later eighteenth-century creation 1. Lawrie similarly discredited the narrative, while Mackey held that Bruce could nonetheless be regarded as an early patron of Scottish Masonry 1.

The provided sources contain no reference to a "Saint Robert" within Masonic tradition; the significance attached to the name Robert in Craft history pertains to King Robert Bruce and the origin legends of Scottish degrees 1.