The Listening Grove · Fifty Famous Stories Retold
Chapter 8: Bruce and the Spider
A Charlotte Mason read-aloud lesson. Press play, with the lesson.
What is Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 8, Bruce and the Spider, about?Parent review
Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 8, Bruce and the Spider, holds the whole book's clearest lesson in never giving up. Robert Bruce, the king of Scotland, has been beaten six times by the English and lies hiding, weary and discouraged, in a lonely shelter. As he lies there he watches a little spider try again and again to swing its thread to a beam overhead. Six times it fails, just as he has failed. But on the seventh try the spider succeeds. Bruce takes heart from the small brave creature, rises, calls his men together, and at last wins his own battle. It is a short, stirring tale of perseverance shown rather than merely told.
Say what you remember!
Tell what you remember from the last chapter.
What happened in Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 7, A Story of Robin Hood?Have a look
In the last chapter, A Story of Robin Hood, the bold outlaw of the greenwood met a sorrowful young man named Allin-a-Dale, whose bride had been promised to a rich old man against her will. Robin resolved to help him. Disguised as a harper, he slipped into the church where the wedding was to take place, then blew his horn to call his men across the fields. With their help the maiden was given her true choice, and she gladly wed young Allin instead of the wealthy suitor, who was sent home in a rage. It was a merry tale of loyalty and fair play.
Read the previous lesson: A Story of Robin Hood →Show what you know!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Fill in the vocabulary you know, then click to check your work and learn some new words today.
What are the difficult or advanced vocabulary words in Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 8, Bruce and the Spider?toiled, foes, beam, frailHave a look
- toiled: worked long and hard
- foes: enemies
- beam: a long, heavy piece of wood that helps hold up a roof or building
- frail: thin, delicate, and easily broken
Locate it on the map!
Use your printable Lesson Guide. Use an atlas and fill in the blank map if you can find the geographic location, then click to check your work.
What important geographic location connects with Fifty Famous Stories Retold Chapter 8, Bruce and the Spider?
- Find the Isle of Arran (Scotland).
See it on the mapHave a look
This matches the map in your Lesson Guide.
The Books come Alive!
Read or listen to Chapter 8 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold, the Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition, read by Laura Caldwell.
Read by Laura Caldwell for LibriVox (public domain), professionally adjusted and trimmed by Kindred Thicket.
What do the Teacher’s Notes tell us about Chapter 8 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold?Parent review
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Baldwin’s 1896 words are read exactly as he wrote them, and we add Teacher’s Notes with historical and literary context.
- About the whole bookFifty Famous Stories Retold gathers real history together with well-loved legends and traditions. These notes tell you, story by story, which is which.
- This chapterRobert the Bruce was King of Scots (1306 to 1329), at war with England.
- This chapterBruce did suffer early defeats and become a fugitive, but the exact six matches the spider legend, not the record.
- This chapterThe spider was made famous by Walter Scott in 1828; it is a beloved legend, not recorded history.
- This chapterBruce did rally and drive the English out, winning at Bannockburn in 1314.
Memory becomes Action!
Use the Response Resource* to remember and spell tricky names. Choose one way to narrate.
*Materials in the Lesson Guide.
What is the list of names, people, characters, and places that are important in Chapter 8 of Fifty Famous Stories Retold?Robert Bruce, The Spider, The King of England, ScotlandHave a look
- Robert Bruce: The king of Scotland, beaten six times by the English, who took heart from a spider and won on his seventh try.
- The Spider: The little creature whose patient seventh attempt to spin its web taught Bruce not to give up.
- The King of England: Bruce's enemy, who led a great army into Scotland but was at last glad to go home.
- Scotland: Bruce's kingdom, which England was trying to conquer and which he fought to keep free.
Chapter 8 Q & A
This is a Kindred Thicket Enhanced Edition. Baldwin’s stories mingle real history with beloved legend, and here is what to know about this one.
Is the story of Bruce and the spider true?
The spider is a beloved legend, not recorded history. It was made famous by the writer Walter Scott in 1828, long after Bruce lived. Robert Bruce himself was very real, a king of Scots who suffered early defeats and became a hunted fugitive. But the tale of taking heart from a spider was added later to explain his courage.
Who was Robert Bruce?
Robert the Bruce was the King of Scots from 1306 to 1329, at war with England for his country's freedom. In this tale he is at his lowest, beaten and in hiding. In real history he did rally his people and drive the English out, winning a great victory at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
Was Bruce really beaten six times?
Bruce truly did suffer early defeats and spend time as a fugitive, so his hardship is real. But the exact number six comes from the spider legend rather than the historical record. The neat match of six failures for Bruce and six for the spider is part of what makes the story so memorable, and it points to its shaping as a tale.
What is the lesson of the story?
The story teaches perseverance, the courage to try again after failing. Baldwin shows this rather than stating it: a small spider succeeds on its seventh attempt, and Bruce resolves to do the same. For a young learner it is one of the clearest and most encouraging pictures in the whole book of not giving up.