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The story of this Spanish woman is certainly one of their most strangest.
The tartan army invades the beautiful town of Teba in the third week of each August (east of Ronda and ten miles north from Ardales).
The “Douglas Days”, as its name implies, is a festival that involves Scotland’s Clan Douglas in a big way. What is the purpose of this festival?
Something happened on 25 August at 1330.
Teba, at the time, was an Islamic town, but King Alfono XI’s Christian army and the Reconquest were in progress. The town was surrounded by the Christian army and King Alfono XI.
If you ever visit Teba, which you really should do, you’ll notice that it is not an easy place for a besieger to take. It sits high up on a shelf of rocky rock above the plains of central Andalucia.
The Scottish connection starts here.
Sir James Douglas, also known as “Black Douglas”, was on his journey to the Crusades. He was accompanied by a small force of Douglas clansmen.
Black Douglas had fought 16 years prior at Bannockburn when charismatic Scottish king Robert the Bruce beat the English under King Edward II.
Robert the Bruce passed away in 1329. Plans were underway for the Douglas boys and their friends to travel to the Crusades.
His heart was removed and placed into a silver casket.
Black Douglas took it to the Holy Land because it was the heart of an Scottish hero that would motivate Christian troops.
Douglas and his men traveled through Ronda on their journey to the Holy Land.
Outside Teba, the Scottish warriors offered King Alfonso their services. The offer was taken up.
What happened next is a little sketchy, but apparently there was a cavalry skirmish – Scots on one side, Arabs on the other. Black Douglas, at the height the fighting, threw a silver casket to the Arabs.
He thought that the heart, which was flying toward the enemy (of course, it would), would inspire his men to fight harder.
Black Douglas, however, did not make it through the melee.
Robert the Bruce’s Heart was brought back to Scotland by his son, King David II. It was interred in Melrose Abbey.
A metal casket in Melrose Abbey was found during an archaeological excavation in 1996.
Someone had written a message with the date 1921 on it: “We have found this and it contains what is left of a heart. But we don’t know whose it could be.”
The answer is obvious, but it escaped a functionary of the Ministry of Works in 1921. That was the Teba Heart. In 1998, it was reburied with honors.
Teba now turns Scottish every August.
A four-day event features bagpipes, men in kilts and whisky. Also, there is a medieval fair, a festival just for kids, and costumed actors.
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