It may have been used by King Robert the Bruce and his most
powerful allies during celebrations at High Steward’s Castle at
Rothesay on the Island of Bute in the 1320s. As a communal drinking
cup, it would have been passed from guest to guest, during the
feasting.
Robert the Bruce connection
Robert the Bruce led the Scots in their fight against the
English since 1306. The support of the nobles in the south-west of
Scotland was crucial to his claim to the throne and the struggle
for independence.
The Bute mazer may have been made to celebrate the King's
friendship with the Stewarts. His eldest daughter Marjoriee
was married to Walter the Steward shortly after the Battle of
Bannockburn
What it is made of?
The metal boss on the Bute Mazer is decorated with a lion
and six heraldic shields, thought to represent King Robert Bruce
and some of his supporters, including Walter the High Steward and
Sir James Douglas. The bowl is made of maplewood. The foot, the six
ornamental hinged straps and the rim are all silver.
The silver rim and straps are not original, but were added
during the 16th Century, possibly by a Glasgow goldsmith called
Peter Lymeburner. At this time, the Mazer belonged to Ninian
Bannatyne, Laird of Kames, on the Island of Bute, who had the rim
engraved with his and his father’s name.
Mazers were certainly much prized in Scotland from the 13th to
the 16th centuries; an inventory of the king’s jewels and silver in
Edinburgh Castle of 1488 refers to ‘…foure masaris callit King
Robert the Briocis with a cover…’