[1] Isabella's father was evidently an adherent of Robert Bruce V, Lord of Annandale (died 1295), a man who staked a claim to the Scottish throne.

[7] Six years after Isabella's death in childbirth, Robert Bruce VII married his second wife, Elizabeth de Burgh (died 1327).

[9] At around the same time, Isabella's father, Domhnall I, Earl of Mar, was seeking a strong ally that could protect his clan from covetous neighbors.

As the Comyns were staunch supporters of John Balliol's claim to the throne, Domhnall found a natural ally in Clan Bruce.

As the chronicler, John of Fordun, wrote "all the Comyns and their whole abettors stood by Balliol; but the earls of Mar and Atholl, with the whole strength of their power, cleaved, in the firm league of kinship, to the side of Robert of Bruce.

"[10] Domhnall summoned an army within a mere fortnight of Margret's death, eager and ready to support his newfound ally.

And though Clan Mar had no shortage of enemies prior to Margret's death, the succession dispute and their siding with Bruce had brought them new opponents.

In the late thirteenth century, the 5th Lord of Annandale was nearing the end of his life, and thus, Domhnall saw the young Earl of Carrick as a potential future king.

By pursuing a marriage between Isabella and Bruce, Domnall was not only strengthening his bond with allies, which was his primary goal but was also marrying into a powerful family that might one day rule the kingdom.

[16] This was due to the frequency of childbirth—as Edwards explained, "this statistic does correlate with the time when women were most likely on a second, third, or subsequent pregnancy and thus most at risk of death in childbirth.

[19] Bruce remained nominally loyal to Edward until 10 February 1306, when he murdered his rival, John Comyn, at the high altar of the Chapel of Greyfriars Monastery in Dumfries.

To keep his family out of Edward's hands, Bruce sent word to his brother, Neil, and to the Earl of Atholl requesting that they take Marjorie and his wife to Kildrummy Castle until it was safe.

The outnumbered Scots received yet another devastating defeat, but this time there was nowhere to run and the Scottish lords at Kildrummy were captured and executed, including Neil Bruce.

They were betrayed days after their flight by Uilleam II, Earl of Ross, a fervent supporter of Balliol who handed Atholl and the Bruces over to the English.

MacDuff's cage was set in the public's view outside Berwick Castle as a warning to rebels and, possibly, as a ploy to coax Bruce out of hiding.

According to the chronicle, Flores Historiarum, Edward ordered:Because she has not struck with the sword, she shall not die by the sword; but, on account of the unlawful coronation which she performed, let her be closely confined in an abode of stone and iron, made in the shape of a crown, and let her be hung up out of doors in the open air at Berwick, that both in her life and after her death she may be a spectacle and eternal reproach to travellers.

[22]Marjorie's aunt, Mary Bruce, was held in a similar cage outside Roxburgh Castle, and endured exposure and public humiliation as MacDuff did.

[23] Bruce fought another seven hard years for his family and crown, culminating in the famous Battle of Bannockburn which saw a Scottish victory over an English army more than triple their size.

Of course, Bruce himself was not there for the exchange; instead, he sent the young Walter Stewart—the 6th High Steward of Scotland and hero of Bannockburn—in his stead to the Anglo-Scottish border to retrieve Marjorie and her family.