Throughout the two hundred years covered by this study, both lines of the Brus family display telling signs of an awareness of family continuity and descent from their common ancestor. Their choice of Christian names, for example, persistently looks back to their Norman origins. The name of Robert, so popular with the Annandale Bruses, those of Adam and Peter, which recur regularly in the Skelton line, and William, which was a favourite for younger sons, are all found in the Brus family of the Cotentin. Family pride, or rather an awareness of the Brus standing in society, is further exemplified in the Yorkshire line by the adoption of his mother's name by Robert, son of Isabel de Brus by her second marriage to Roger Mauduit. Dynastic consciousness manifested itself in another form among the Annandale Bruses in the persistence of their belief in the curse of St Malachy. Whether or not the early death of Robert II's eldest son, the plague of Annan and the collapse of its castle were indeed believed to have resulted from the curse is unclear. It is certain, however, that Robert V was sufficiently troubled by the story to appease the saint by honouring his shrine. He saw his family as an entity. The sins of one member had repercussions for all. Pride in family can also be seen in the continuity of design for their seals and arms.