Knights Templar in Scotland
During the late 13th, early 14th century, England, under King Edward I, was at war with Scotland. In 1314 his son, Edward II, engaged the Scots at the Battle of Bannockburn. According to Victorian legend, the Scots won the battle largely due to the intervention of the Knights Templar on the side of their King Robert the Bruce. In reality, none of the contemporary or near contemporary accounts of the battle at Bannockburn mention the Knights Templar at all, and the excommunicated King Robert the Bruce had very good reason to have nothing to do with the Templars, since he was desperate to keep on the right side of the Pope and of the King of France. It is also worth noting that two members of the Knights Templar had fought for Edward I at the battle of Falkirk in 1297. Militarily he managed very well without them from 1307–1314 and from 1314–1328 and the story could only be seen as a sop to English pride - the 'real' reason for their loss isn't because they were fighting against the Scots but against an elite force of knights. This legend is the basis for degrees in the invitational Masonic Order known as the Royal Order of Scotland.
Read more about this topic: Knights Templar Legends
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Poor knights they are which bravely wait
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless.”
—James I of England, James VI of Scotland (1566–1625)