William Speirs Bruce - Assessment

Assessment

After Bruce's death his long-time friend and colleague Robert Rudmose Brown wrote, in a letter to Bruce's father: "His name is imperishably enrolled among the world's great explorers, and the martyrs to unselfish scientific devotion". Rudmose Brown's biography was published in 1923, and in the same year a joint committee of Edinburgh's learned societies instituted the Bruce Memorial Prize, an award for young polar scientists. Thereafter, although his name continued to be respected in scientific circles, Bruce and his achievements were forgotten by the general public. Occasional mentions of him, in polar histories and biographies of major figures such as Scott and Shackleton, tended to be dismissive and inaccurate.

The early years of the 21st century, however, have seen a reassessment of Bruce's work. Contributory factors have been the SNAE centenary, and Scotland's renewed sense of national identity. A 2003 expedition, in a modern research ship "Scotia", used information collected by Bruce as a basis for examining climate change in South Georgia. This expedition predicted "dramatic conclusions" relating to global warming from its research, and saw this contribution as a "fitting tribute to Britain's forgotten polar hero, William Speirs Bruce". An hour long BBC television documentary on Bruce presented by Neil Oliver in 2011 contrasted his meticulous science with his rivals' aim of enhancing imperial prestige. A new biographer, Peter Speak (2003), claims that the SNAE was "by far the most cost-effective and carefully planned scientific expedition of the Heroic Age".

The same author considers reasons why Bruce's efforts to capitalise on this success met with failure, and suggests a combination of his shy, solitary, uncharismatic nature and his "fervent" Scottish nationalism. Bruce seemingly lacked public relations skills and the ability promote his work, after the fashion of Scott and Shackleton; a lifelong friend described him as being "as prickly as the Scottish thistle itself". On occasion he behaved tactlessly, as with Jackson over the question of the specimens brought back from Franz Josef Land, and on another occasion with the Royal Geographical Society, over the question of a minor expense claim. He made a powerful and enduring enemy of Sir Clements Markham, whose influence affected London attitudes towards Bruce for years after their original dispute.

As to his nationalism, he wished to see Scotland on an equal footing with other nations. His national pride was intense; in a Preparatory Note to The Voyage of the Scotia he wrote: "While 'Science' was the talisman of the Expedition, 'Scotland' was emblazoned on its flag". This insistence on emphasising the Scottish character of his enterprises could be irksome to those who did not share his passion. However, he retained the respect and devotion of those whom he led, and of those who had known him longest. John Arthur Thomson, who had known Bruce since Granton, wrote of him when reviewing Rudmose Brown's 1923 biography: "We never heard him once grumble about himself, though he was neither to hold or bend when he thought some injustice was being done to, or slight cast on, his men, on his colleagues, on his laboratory, on his Scotland. Then one got glimpses of the volcano which his gentle spirit usually kept sleeping".