DUKE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 
 
 BH v j r 
 
 i | 1 1 la 
 
 
 RH ImSb 
 
 MUwwm 
 
 yyyLjsffiffin 
 
 A Lm 
 
 <«rc 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2018 with funding from 
 Duke University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/strayleavesfroms01glas 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
STRAY LEAVES 
 
 \\ 
 
 PROM 
 
 SCOTCH AND ENGLISH HISTORY, 
 
 WITH 
 
 THE LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE, 
 
 Scotland's Patriot, Pero, and Political /VIartyr, 
 
 BY THE REV. CHARLES GORDON GLASS, A.M., 
 
 Late Principal op Woodstock College, graduate op the University 
 of Aberdeen, Alumnus op the University op St. Andrews, 
 and Honorary Member op its Literary Society, 
 author op a Treatise on Education, &c. 
 
 Pont veal: 
 
 PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, 23 AND 25 ST. NICHOLAS STREET. 
 
 1873. 
 
Entered according to Act of Parliament, in the year one thousand eight hundred 
 and seventy-three, by the Rev. Charles Gordon Glass, M.A., in the Office 
 of the Minister of Agriculture of the Dominion of Canada. 
 
SI Id 
 1813 
 
 TO HIS EXCELLENCY FREDERICK TEMPLE, EARL OF 
 DUFFERIN, VISCOUNT CLANDEBOYE, GOVERNOR 
 GENERAL OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA, &c., &c. 
 May it please Your Excellency, 
 
 The author of the present work has presumed to dedicate it to Your 
 Excellency. He has done so, not from any mercenary motive, but 
 from respect to you as representative in this large and growing por¬ 
 tion of her dominions,of a Sovereign he wishes to honour, and also from 
 regard to Your Excellency personally. Many years ago, the author had 
 the pleasure of spending several weeks in that beautiful part of the North 
 of Ireland where Your Excellency resides and owns large estates; and 
 amid the great agitation that then prevailed in regard to the “ Tenant 
 Right Question,” and the bad feelings shewn towards many of the 
 proprietors by the people, found Your Excellency spoken of by them 
 with the greatest deference, and held up as a model proprietor. Since 
 that time the author has marked with satisfaction the great success 
 that has attended the labors of Your Excellency in the paths of 
 literature, while as a statesman you have filled posts of the highest 
 responsibility with credit to yourself and honour to your country. 
 The last consideration which has induced the author to dedicate this 
 work to Your Excellency he considers the weightiest of all, viz., that 
 you are a lineal descendant of one of those noble and ancient 
 families in Scotland, a member of which was not ashamed to fight 
 side by side with Scotland’s patriot hero for the securing of those 
 liberties that Scotchmen will ever reckon dear. 
 

 
 \ 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It is sad that while the Dominion of Canada grows 
 rapidly in wealth and population, it cannot yet be 
 said to have any literature. Its educational insti¬ 
 tutions are numerous, and many highly educated 
 men are connected with them. And besides these, 
 many more of the like character are to be found 
 throughout the country, possessed of literary tastes 
 of the highest order; and yet,with few exceptions, 
 there has been nothing issued from the Dominion 
 press of any consequence in the shape of literary 
 productions. This cannot be owing to the fact that 
 a reading public is not to be found throughout the 
 country, for a vast importation of publications from 
 other quarters annually takes place, and many of 
 them of the most questionable character. The 
 minds, especially of the youths of the country, are 
 thus being vitiated, and a positive distaste engen¬ 
 dered for any kind of literature of a pure and ele¬ 
 vating character. Having resided in one of the 
 Provinces of the Dominion for many years, the 
 author has had reason to deplore this growing evil, 
 and the present work is humbly intended, however 
 
6 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 feeble the attempt, to arrest it, and give the youths 
 of this great country a taste for history, biography 
 and kindred subjects. And surely nothing would 
 be more, apt to do so than to put within their reach 
 the life of a man written in a popular style, who 
 is one of the most perfect patriot heroes to be found 
 in ancient or modern times. Such a work of him is 
 much needed, for if we except the popular version 
 of Blind Harry, the Minstrel rendered into modern 
 Scotch verse by Hamilton of Gilbertfield, much 
 of which is unintelligible to the youth of this 
 country, no such work, as far as known to the 
 author, has yet been produced. It is true, the great 
 exploits of Wallace have been the theme of the 
 poet, the novelist, and even the historian of his own 
 and of other countries; and his memory is dear alike 
 to Scotchmen and Englishmen, and to every other 
 person in whose breast there glows the least spark 
 of freedom. But a life of him, adapted to the 
 youth of this and other countries, bringing out 
 the real character, public and private, of the man, 
 without being interlarded with antiquarian refer¬ 
 ences and quotations, is still wanted. If such a man 
 as Macaulay or Carlyle in his most vigorous days 
 had touched off the life of Wallace, and not left it 
 to feebler hands, he would have conferred a last¬ 
 ing boon on coming generations. One thing is 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 7 
 
 certain, when the author attempts this work, he has 
 no wish to stir up national feelings and engender 
 strife betwixt the Scotch and English in these 
 Colonies or elsewhere. Centuries have rolled 
 on since the transactions recorded in the work, 
 many of them bloody and cruel, took place, and the 
 two nations are now happily united. As for the 
 beloved Sovereign that reigns over them, her 
 fond attachment to Scotland evidently shews what 
 little sympathy she has with one of her Royal 
 ancestors, who inflicted such terrible wrongs on 
 one of Nature’s nobles, and oil a people who strug¬ 
 gled along with him so manfully for their liber¬ 
 ties. And further than this, the attempts made 
 to destroy these liberties, were not put forth with 
 the consent of the English people, but through 
 the ambition and cruel deceit of a monarch who 
 made several thrusts at their own independence : 
 for any person consulting the English records of 
 that period will find that the leading barons, and 
 especially the people themselves, engaged most 
 reluctantly in the wars in Scotland. On both 
 sides of the Border, they are now one, and the cruel 
 deeds of some of the English monarchs, in days 
 gone by, cannot be charged against the nation as a 
 whole. The youths of both countries, and their 
 descendants in the Colonies, may, therefore, claim 
 
s 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Wallace as their common ancestor; and while they 
 have many names on the roll of fame belonging 
 to such, to which they can point with pride and 
 satisfaction, none of them can dim the lustre of 
 this great man, whether considered as a patriot or 
 hero. A beautiful English writer, when referring 
 to this subject, has well expressed such sentiments 
 in the following words: “ The Englishman who 
 now reads of the deeds of Wallace or Bruce, or 
 hears the stirring words of one of the noblest 
 lyrics of any tongue, feels that the call to 4 lay the 
 proud usurpers low ’ is one which stirs his blood 
 as much as that of the born Scotchman : for the 
 small distinctions of locality have vanished, and 
 the universal sympathies for the brave and. the 
 oppressed stay not to ask whether the battle for 
 freedom was fought on the banks of the Thames 
 or of the Forth.” Of one thing the author is certain, 
 that no person that ever lived in his own or 
 any other country, whose life and character have 
 been made known to the world, and faithfully 
 portrayed in the pages of profane history, has 
 been able to impress his mind half so much, as the 
 subject of the memoir. The reading of his won¬ 
 derful exploits, when a child, as recorded by Blind 
 Harry the Homer of Scotland, filled him with 
 admiration; while his terrible sufferings, endured 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 9 
 
 with such Christian meekness, and heroic patience, 
 towards the close of an eventful, unselfish, but 
 terribly earnest life, drew many a flood of tears 
 from his eyes. Afterwards it was so ordered by 
 Providence that the writer was appointed to 
 reside in a part of the country where many of 
 Wallace’s deeds of valour were performed, and 
 some of his greatest battles were fought; and former 
 scenes were thus called up, and former recollections 
 revived. And to keep them embalmed in his 
 memory, he visited with earnest care, the castles, 
 towers and ruined piles, where “ rook and daw with 
 whirring flight kept busy stir,” that were associated 
 with the hallowed name of Wallace. He hastened 
 through the greenwood’s tangled maze, if some 
 arching cleft was to be seen which led to what was 
 considered one of his solitary retreats, although 
 only a dreary cave in the midst of a hollow rock. 
 And wherever any of the mountains, plains, or 
 rude crags, silvered with spray, over whose jutting 
 barriers the wild flood dashed its angry waters 
 were to be found as being connected in the memo¬ 
 ries of his countrymen, with his death struggles 
 for the liberation of his native land, these became 
 sacred in his eyes. And now, in conclusion, the 
 author might well say, adopting the language of 
 another, if any one of his readers would take half 
 
10 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 the pleasure in reading the following pages, which 
 he has taken in writing them, he would not fear the 
 loss of his labor. The employment detached him 
 from the bustle and hurry of life, the inroads of a 
 dangerous disease, and the care and vexation con¬ 
 nected with the management of an educational 
 institution. He rose fresh as the morning to 
 the task of writing the deeds of one whose 
 memory he will ever revere, and the silence 
 of night invited him to it again, not with reluct¬ 
 ance, but with the same amount of satisfaction as 
 before. And however imperfectly the task may 
 have been performed, now that he has given the 
 life of his model patriot to the world, and how¬ 
 ever coldly it may be received by the youth of 
 the Dominion, his ideas of him will ever re¬ 
 main the same; and he will stand out before him 
 as the most perfect representative man his own 
 country, or any other has yet produced, so far as 
 heroism or true patriotism are concerned:— 
 
 “ A soul supreme in each hard conflict tried, 
 
 Above all pain, all passion, and all pride, 
 
 The frown of power, the blast of public breath, 
 
 The love of lucre, and the dread of death.” 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Scotch people claim for their progenitors a high anti¬ 
 quity. According to ancient legends and traditions 
 many kings reigned in that country before the birth of 
 Christ. These traditions to a considerable extent, veri¬ 
 fied by the facts of the case in the terrible resistance 
 offered to the Roman legions that invaded the country, 
 and in their final expulsion from it. Strange that it 
 should have been so, and owing perhaps to some extent 
 to. the poverty of the country and the inaccessible 
 retreats it offered the natives, but particularly to the 
 early introduction of Christianity into it. Though 
 tracing back their early origin to the Egyptians, 
 the early inhabitants of Caledonia, along with the other 
 native tribes of South Britain and Ireland, probably came 
 from Gaul, and the first missionaries of the Cross, in all 
 likelihood from the same country. The term Culdee 
 aj)plied to the early Christians in Caledonia. Their 
 efforts extended to Ireland through Patrick, one of their 
 number. His great success there, and the light of the 
 Gospel reflected back to Scotland, and extended to 
 England. Its effects destroyed there by the invasions 
 and confusions of the times. 
 
 No people in the world have laid claim to a higher 
 antiquity, and a greater degree of bravery, in be¬ 
 half of their progenitors, than the Scotch. If we 
 credit the legends that still continue to linger in 
 
12 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 the more remote districts of the country, together 
 with the traditions of its ancient bards, whose 
 harps have long been hushed in silence, while they 
 themselves have gone to the land of forgetfulness; 
 a long line of kings might be summed up who 
 reigned over them, many of whom performed deeds 
 of great renown, previous to the time when that 
 adorable Being, who created the universe, deigned 
 to assume our nature and tabernacle among us. And 
 after making allowance for a considerable amount 
 of fable on the subject, there can belittle doubt 
 but these traditions are largely verified by liistor}’. 
 For during the first century of the Christian era, 
 when the Roman legions that had hitherto borne 
 the imperial standard triumphantly into every part 
 of the then known world, dared to penetrate 
 into the interior of Caledonia, they met with such 
 determined opposition as they had nowhere 
 encountered before. It is true they fought with 
 all their wonted skill and courage. They were 
 often led on at the same time with some of the 
 best generals Rome, ever produced, and inflicted 
 terrible punishment on the natives of the country. 
 But the result remained the same, for though often 
 severely chastened, they never considered them¬ 
 selves subdued; and retiring fighting before their 
 enemies for a little to the fastnesses of the 
 mountains or the inaccessible retreats of the forests, 
 they returned upon them with renewed vigor and 
 determination, and waged a conflict more fiercely 
 than they had done before. Regardless of lift, 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 13 
 
 they threw themselves back upon the ranks of the 
 invading foe whenever a fit opportunity presented 
 itself, cut off their retreat and inflicted terrible 
 slaughter amongst them, till the tide of Roman 
 conquest was ultimately rolled back like a “ wave 
 from the beach of the surf-beaten shore.” But 
 this was not enough for the brave Caledonians, 
 for they often followed the invaders of their country 
 into the Provinces they had acquired by a vast 
 amount of blood and treasure in the southern part 
 of the island, and there made them feel the force 
 of their determined opposition. The Romans 
 protected themselves from these incursions, it is 
 true, by vastly fortified walls running across the 
 whole island, and manned by the bravest soldiers 
 their country could produce. But the northern 
 warriors often dismantled the walls, put the guards 
 to the sword, and carried desolation far beyond 
 them to the south. So that it came to pass after 
 centuries of incessant toil and vain endeavors, 
 during which time they sometimes obtained a boot¬ 
 less victory, but oftener a grave amid the forests 
 and dreary regions of the north, the Romans at 
 last abandoned all hopes of ever being able to 
 subdue the hardy Caledonians. And after destroy¬ 
 ing the walls and breaking down the fortifications 
 they left the bold inhabitants of the north to enjoy 
 their liberties for which they had contended so 
 long, although at terrible odds, and repose them¬ 
 selves amid their native glens and mountains, 
 around whose summits the stormy mist and winter 
 
14 
 
 STRAF LEAVES. 
 
 tempest gathered ; while they were permitted to 
 pursue and slaughter the deer and wild beasts as 
 they bounded through the forests, unmolested, as 
 their forefathers, the native lords of the soil, had 
 done for centuries before them. It is, we believe, a 
 fact unparalleled in history that a nation of warriors 
 “ dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, 
 and which with its great iron teeth had devoured 
 and broken in pieces the nations of the earthand 
 compelled them to own its sway, should have been 
 so strangely arrested in the midst of its victorious 
 career by the heroic determination and resistance 
 of the few inhabitants of the northern part of a 
 small island in the Atlantic, considered at the 
 time the most outlandish and savage portion of 
 the earth. And yet it was so ordered that the 
 masters of the world when reaching the borders 
 of this sterile country approached the goal of their 
 victories for ever, and left it the only country in the 
 world they had not been able to subdue. Treasures 
 untold were wasted for the accomplishment of this 
 object. Roman armies in all their full equipment 
 and military grandeur, and more than once headed 
 by a Roman Emperor himself, were led on to over¬ 
 awe the natives, and crush out the last spark of 
 opposition among them. But they failed to do so, 
 although they fought with all their wonted courage, 
 and even the great defeat that the brave and pa¬ 
 triotic Galgachus sustained by Agricola at the foot 
 of the Grampians, near Ardoch, only caused him and 
 his disabled followers to retire for a little to recruit 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 15 
 
 themselves, and breathe more freely amid the 
 heaven-kissing mountains of their glorious rugged 
 country, which was never intended for slaves, in 
 order that they might come back with renewed 
 determination and drive the presumptuous invaders 
 from the soil of their dear native land, which, 
 although considered bleak and dreary to strangers, 
 was sacred in their eyes, and better to them than 
 all other countries besides. Much obscurity hangs 
 ■ over the origin of the history of the early inhabi¬ 
 tants of Caledonia, owing to the fact that Edward 
 the First of England caused their monasteries and 
 churches to be ransacked, and the public documents 
 stolen, and carried to London and committed to the 
 flames. This was an easy way of establishing the 
 fact that Scotland had been throughout but a de¬ 
 pendence of England ! but a species of vandalism 
 that has scarcely a parallel in history. It might 
 have struck the monarch, however, that it would 
 be difficult to reconcile his theory with the previous 
 history of the two countries when it would be 
 remembered that for centuries the Romans held 
 complete control over the southern part of the 
 island, which could hardly be said at any time to 
 have been the case with any part of the north. 
 And if the conquerors of the world were unable to 
 achieve an object so devoutly wished, it is surely 
 incredible that a people broken in spirit by so long 
 subjection to the Romans, should have ever at¬ 
 tempted to subdue their more warlike northern 
 neighbors, who had for centuries defended their 
 
1C 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 liberties against such attempts put forth to destroy 
 them, as have few parallels in history. Like the 
 other nations of northern Europe the early inhabit¬ 
 ants of Caledonia no sooner began to acquire a 
 certain degree of learning and refinement than 
 they, in imitation of the ancient Romans, the mas¬ 
 ters of the world, began to endeavor to trace back 
 their origin to the Egyptians, as they did to the 
 Greeks. And some of their writers have noted with 
 minute particulars and identified the first settlers 
 of the country with a colony that left the banks of 
 the Nile in the days of one of the Pharoalis, and 
 after wandering long in quest of a new abode, 
 settled at last amid the sterile and inhospitable 
 regions of Caledonia. It is needless, however, to 
 say that the statements of such writers are unsup¬ 
 ported by facts, and only calculated to tickle the 
 fancy and vain-glory of a people who have nothing 
 else to boast of but the prowess and distinction of 
 their ancestors. It will be nearer the truth when 
 we assert that the early settlers of the country 
 came from Gaul, a country that comprehended the 
 whole of the present France and Belgium in the 
 time of the Romans. The southern portion of the 
 island was peopled from the same source, and 
 Ireland likewise. So that it appeared intended by 
 Providence from the first that these different tribes 
 of people now separated from the rest of Europe 
 from the first, by the waters of the German Ocean, 
 should be united into one people at some future 
 period. Their origin and religion were certainly 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 17 
 
 similar, as the many places throughout Britain 
 and Ireland that still retain their Celtic names and 
 the remains of not a few Druidical temples at the 
 present time, in a state of considerable preser¬ 
 vation, abundantly prove. And this union of the 
 three portions of the British Empire would have 
 been far more quickly and harmoniously carried 
 into effect, but for the selfish and cruel overreach¬ 
 ing policy of some of the Kings of England far 
 back in the past, which causes many heart-burn¬ 
 ings even at the present day. There can be no 
 doubt, although the mountains and inaccessible 
 retreats of Caledonia, together with the valor of 
 its inhabitants, proved the “ chariots and horse¬ 
 men” of the country at the time of the Roman 
 invasion, but the introduction of Christianity 
 among the natives was of more service than all 
 other things taken together, in moulding the 
 tribes and fitting them for maintaining their 
 freedom. It would be idle to speculate who the 
 persons were who had the honor of bearing the 
 standard of the Cross into this dreary and inhos¬ 
 pitable region of the globe at this early period of 
 its history. Christianity, however, must have 
 been introduced into the northern part of the 
 island at a much earlier period than that of the 
 south, and perhaps as far back as the days of the 
 Apostles. We have history for bearing us out that 
 the first martyr for Christ in South Britain was 
 St. Albans, about the beginning of the 4th century, 
 whereas Tertullian, the first of the Latin Fathers, 
 
 B 
 
18 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 who lived in Africa toward the close of the second 
 century, whose works have come down to us, 
 declares “ that those parts of Britain that were 
 inaccessible to the Romans were subject to Christ.” 
 And we can account in a satisfactory way for this 
 rapid spread of Christianity, at so early a period, in 
 the regions of Caledonia. It was the only part of 
 the known world, that had not bowed its neck to 
 the Roman yoke. And while persecution and 
 death awaited the followers of Christ in the South¬ 
 ern Roman Provinces of the island and elsewhere 
 within the pale of the Roman Provinces, they 
 would have found without it a safe retreat from 
 their relentless, persecuting foes. And to these 
 humble followers of the Lamb, the rude inhabitants 
 of Caledonia would listen with much more atten¬ 
 tion and respect to the simple truths of Christianity, 
 than if they had proceeded from the lips of those 
 who had so long endeavored to enslave and 
 degrade them. And while many believed in them 
 they would inspire them with new vigor and 
 determination against a foe who had every where 
 endeavored to stamp out every spark of civil liberty 
 from the hearts of those they were able to subdue, 
 and above all who had persecuted unto the death 
 the adherents of that pure and humble faith, that 
 had already superseded the rites of Druidism 
 among them, and filled them with patriotic ideas 
 regarding the country of their birth, and elevating 
 notions regarding these future abodes they expect¬ 
 ed to inhabit after death. The author of the De- 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 19 
 
 cline and Fall of the Roman Empire, labors to shew 
 in the 15th chap, of his great work, that the rapid 
 spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Em¬ 
 pire at the beginning, was owing to five secondary 
 causes, and not to the overruling providence of God 
 at all. These causes he endeavors to illustrate, 
 not in the logical way that might have been ex¬ 
 pected from his eminent abilities, but with all the 
 brilliancy of style and art of eloquence of which 
 he was a perfect master, with sarcastic insinuations 
 and partial representations of facts and arguments 
 likewise, he endeavors, in a very ungenerous and 
 uncandid way, to degrade Christianity, and hold up 
 its followers to ridicule and contempt. But if this 
 great author had only extended his enquiries be¬ 
 yond the limits of the Roman Empire, and beheld 
 the blessed effects Christianity produced among the 
 natives of Caledonia; how that it had superseded the 
 cruel rites of heathenism; how that it had softened 
 down the hard natures of the natives of the country 
 and nerved them with the true spirit of Christians 
 and of patriots, he would have discarded his 
 secondary causes and ascribed the changes produced 
 to the great First Cause. If Gaul was thfi original 
 home of the native Caledonians, those who first 
 instructed them in the pure precepts of Christianity 
 must have come from the same country, driven out 
 by the fierce persecutions that raged against the 
 followers of Christ throughout the whole Roman 
 Empire. There is no other way of accounting 
 for the rapid manner Christianity spread among 
 
20 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 them at so early a period, but from the identity of 
 language and manners of those who introduced it, 
 and how it could have taken such deep root among 
 those over whose minds the Druids, their native 
 priests, had previously exercised so complete con¬ 
 trol. This fact, added to the holy and devout lives 
 of the persecuted ones who had come among them, 
 hastened to overturn the previous system of 
 religion established among the people, and ushered 
 in the dawn of a bright and glorious day. The 
 term Guldee was applied to those early Christian 
 professors, who fled' beyond the limits of the 
 Roman Empire, and sought an asylum in Cale¬ 
 donia from their persecuting foes. Their name 
 was derived from Gille De, servants of God, and 
 Ceal, a secret or sheltered place. Being driven 
 from the home of their fathers for a belief in that 
 faith which was dearer to them than life and all its 
 enjoyments, they became jealous over themselves, 
 lest they should become mixed up in any way with 
 the idolatrous rites of the natives; and thus dwelt 
 in comparative retirement amongst them, and gave 
 themselves up to the worship of God and the in¬ 
 struction of the people. How completely they 
 succeeded in the latter portion of their work, 
 history alone can testify, when it records the fact, 
 that by the middle of the third century the truths 
 of th e Gospel had found a ready lodgment in the 
 hearts of a large portion of the natives; and while 
 the Romans were desolating the country with 
 bloodshed and slaughter, the seed of divine truth 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 21 
 
 had silently deposited itself and begun to spring 
 up, bearing fruit abundantly with its life power, 
 and moulding, transforming influence everywhere 
 witnessed. Nor were the effects of Christianity 
 thus seen confined to Caledonia, but also found 
 their way into the neighbouring islands, and there 
 produced, if possible, even greater results. One 
 of the Culdees, Patrick by name, a native of Kil¬ 
 patrick, a place near the mouth of the Clyde, seems 
 to have been a man of remarkable gifts, and filled 
 with all the piety and graces of the early apostles 
 and martyrs. He had spent six years of his life 
 in slavery in Ireland, and when he returned back 
 to his native land, and became a convert to Chris¬ 
 tianity, he was filled with an ardent desire of 
 preaching the Gospel there. In France he appears 
 to have fitted himself for the great work before 
 him, and landing in Ireland in the year 432, about 
 the time the Romans were quitting the British 
 Isles, he commenced and perfected a work among 
 the natives, which, for magnitude and efficiency, 
 has scarcely a parallel in any other country, if we 
 except that of the great Apostle of the Gentiles 
 himself. That this great missionary for Ireland 
 was animated with much of his spirit there cannot 
 be any doubt, for after landing there the greatest 
 possible changes took place. The people of every 
 rank from the Prince to the peasant, flocked to 
 hear him from every part of the island, and 
 received the truth into honest hearts. Ere long he 
 was preaching to the Druids in their great Temple 
 
22 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 at Tara, then the capital of Ireland, and even here 
 the Gospel triumphed over error in a remarkable 
 degree. The Druids renounced the bloody rites 
 and superstitions, in connection with their creed, 
 which had so long exercised such baleful sway over 
 them and their adherents, and submitted without 
 remorse to become the faithful followers of the 
 meek and humble Nazarene. The success of this 
 extraordinary man must have been very remark¬ 
 able, for according to Nennius, 365 churches were 
 founded by him alone, and bishops ordained and 
 set over them. The bishops, however, here were 
 nothing else than simple overseers or pastors, and 
 entirely different from those that now bear that 
 name. The good Archbishop Usher, no mean 
 authority in the matter, in his truthful and ingen¬ 
 uous way is willing to admit this, and that the 
 early Apostolic Church was so constituted. Nor 
 did the Christian efforts of the apostle for Ireland 
 ever lose their influence and become evanescent. 
 These efforts were felt for centuries afterwards in 
 the island, which became one of the most peaceful, 
 contented and enlightened portions of the earth. 
 Its colleges and schools soon became famous every¬ 
 where, and students flocked to them from every 
 part of Europe. Its missionaries were likewise 
 scattered throughout the nations, for teaching them 
 the truths that had been so blessed to their own 
 country, and Ireland received the well-merited 
 appellation of the “ Island of Saints.” The light 
 that was carried from the rugged shores of Scotland, 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 23 
 
 and produced such marvellous effects in this sister 
 island, was soon reflected back to the place from 
 whence at the first it had emanated, and was 
 doubly felt in the power it savingly produced. 
 Through the practical knowledge of St. Patrick 
 the truth had assumed a more tangible form, in 
 Ireland, than it had yet done in Scotland, and it 
 became the object of some of his successors to 
 build up and organize the Christian Church there 
 on the same model, and to establish educational 
 institutions in connection with it. Accordingly we 
 find Columba crossed from Ireland in the year 563 
 with a few of his faithful followers, and at Iona, 
 one of the Western Isles, established a missionary 
 college for training up a native ministry, which 
 was long blessed in this work not only to Scotland 
 but to the other nations of Europe. In this hal¬ 
 lowed spot, small but retired, around whose shores 
 the booming billows of the Atlantic had dashed 
 themselves from time immemorial, was placed for 
 many ages the ark of the covenant, and the mercy 
 seat. And from them Jehovah spoke in tones of 
 compassion to the tribes of the mainland that were 
 near, as well as to the nations afar off. Happy 
 Island! though always small and now comparatively 
 desolate, thou hast left behind thee a noble record ! 
 and the' dust of more sleeping saints and martyrs, 
 composed of kings, lords and peasants, doubtless lies 
 mingled together within thy narrow precincts, 
 than in any other portion of the globe of the same 
 size. Multitudes of anxious travellers may well 
 
24 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 hasten anxiously to thy shores from the East 
 and from the West, for if there is a spot of earth 
 that appears more hallowed than another in the 
 eye of Omniscience it must be here. After Columba 
 and his followers had succeeded in establishing 
 themselves firmly in Iona, and formed a number 
 of institutions of the like character as their own 
 throughout Scotland, they directed their efforts to 
 the southern portions of the island. The Ven¬ 
 erable Bede informs us that Oswald, the King of 
 Northumberland, was educated at Iona, and when 
 established on the throne he sent for some of its 
 missionaries to convert his subjects to Christianity 
 and establish a college on the model of Iona. 
 They succeeded in doing so at Landesfarne, an 
 island off the coast, and their labors were greatly 
 blessed among the Anglo-Saxons here and also in 
 regions farther south. The inhabitants of the 
 British Isles were thus likely at an early period 
 in their history to become identified and brought 
 together by the elevating and humanizing in¬ 
 fluences of the Christian faith, but for several 
 unforeseen and untoward occurrences. The Danish 
 pirates began to swarm around the coasts, and sail 
 up the rivers, and commit terrible depredations 
 everywhere. Being particularly opposed to Chris¬ 
 tianity, and believers in the cruel heathen worship 
 of the Scandinavians, they burnt down the mis¬ 
 sionary colleges of the Culdees, rifled their churches, 
 and scattered the followers of the pure Christian 
 faith everywhere, and put them to death. Then 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 25 
 
 followed, with the complete conquest of the Anglo- 
 Saxons in England, mixed up with that of the 
 Danes, a more formal type of Christianity, when 
 these races settled down and adopted its truths, 
 and the Culdees, as their fathers before them, were 
 driven into the mountain fastnesses of Wales, 
 where their pure and simple religion flourished 
 for ages afterwards. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 A tribe of native Irish arrived in Caledonia about the end 
 of the third century. At first settled in Argyle, but 
 spread gradually over the country, and settled per¬ 
 manently in it. Carried on war for ages with the 
 natives, but were ultimately united with them. One of 
 their kings crowned King of the United Nation, 843. 
 The name of Scotland given to it after this, which it has 
 ever retained. The Kingdom always independent. At¬ 
 tempts made by English writers and others to prove its 
 dependence on the English Crown failed. Strange that 
 this question should have been ever raised. Homans 
 unable to subjugate the country. The Saxon hep¬ 
 tarchy constantly changing, and the kings, engaged 
 among themselves in war, unable to contend with 
 a foreign foe. When the Kingdom of England 
 united prevented by the constant invasion of the 
 Danes from attempting to subdue Scotland. Instead 
 of adding this kingdom to their own, had to deliver 
 up the half of their own to this fierce enemy. The 
 Saxon monarchs always on the best terms with their 
 Scotch neighbors. Scotland a place of refuge for them 
 and their nobles when driven out of the country 
 by the Normans. William the Conqueror sent an ex¬ 
 pedition into Scotland to compel Malcolm Canmore to 
 deliver up the Malcontents. Failed in its object, though 
 Malcolm compelled to swear fealty to William for the 
 counties he held in England. This did not compromise 
 the independency of the rest of the Kingdom, as William 
 and his successors had to do the same in regard to their 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 27 
 
 French possessions. Made a reason by the Plantagenet 
 monarchs for claiming superiority over Scotland. The 
 capture of William the Lion, another reason for so 
 doing. Eeleased from his obligations by Eichard on his 
 leaving for the Holy Land. The arguments on the 
 subject, contained in the Pope’s bull to Edward, un¬ 
 answerable. 
 
 About the close of the third century a tribe of 
 natives from the shores of Ireland passed over in 
 a number of small ships, fitted up for the purpose, 
 and landed in Caledonia. They never returned 
 back, but were destined at all times afterwards to 
 play an important part in the history of the coun¬ 
 try into which they had come. At first they con¬ 
 fined their settlement to the southern portion of 
 Argyle, but as they were followed from time to 
 time by still larger numbers of their countrymen, 
 they began to think of enlarging their possessions, 
 and pushing forward their conquests in all direc¬ 
 tions. Accordingly, they scattered themselves 
 over extensive mountainous districts of the coun¬ 
 try. They contended fiercely with the native 
 Caledonians, for the possession of them ; and as 
 they gradually gained in strength from large 
 accessions to their numbers from Ireland, they 
 were able to hold them, and form a separate com¬ 
 munity of their own. Remembering, like emigrants 
 in our own time, with affection the country of their 
 fathers, they impressed the names of the localities 
 they had left behind them on their newly acquired 
 possessions, and many of them retain them at the 
 present day. Bloody wars for centuries were 
 
28 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 carried on between them and the Piets, the native 
 inhabitants of the country, who considered them 
 as intruders who ought without ceremony to be 
 driven out of it, as had been done to those who 
 were of much greater importance, and who had 
 made the same attempt before them. But although 
 the war was thus being kept up with various 
 success, and large numbers on either side were 
 slain, both parties began at last to perceive the 
 folly of protracting the struggle, in which such 
 fearful sufferings were endured, and no permanent 
 benefit secured. With mutual consent they drop¬ 
 ped the contest, and from being the fiercest enemies 
 they became the most confiding friends. This 
 happy state of feeling was the result to some 
 extent of the numerous inter-marriages that took 
 place amongst those belonging to the different 
 nationalities, but principally to the mild and 
 humanizing influences of Christianity, which began 
 to be a power felt by all. This tended more than 
 anything else to soothe, and tone down the excited 
 feelings betwixt the parties, and arrest the shedding 
 of blood to which they had long become accustom¬ 
 ed. The Irish who invaded Caledonia, from the 
 first, were called Scots, although for what reason 
 it is now difficult to decide, as antiquarians are not 
 agreed on the subject; and the original inhabitants 
 of the country were called Piets towards the close 
 of the Roman occupation of the island, because it 
 is supposed they painted themselves in order that 
 they might appear more dreadful to their enemies. 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 29 
 
 At the union of the two nations, which had long 
 existed separately with kings to reign over them, 
 the name of Piets was dropped, and Kenneth Mc- 
 Alpine, the last of the Scottish kings, in virtue of 
 his being the nearest heir to the Pictish throve, 
 ascended it, while he held possession of his own at 
 the same time, and gave to the whole country the 
 appellation of Scotland. This event took place in 
 the year of our Lord 843, shortly after the bloody 
 wars had terminated over the Heptarchy in the 
 southern part of the island, and when the petty 
 Principalities there, were happily blended into one 
 kingdom, from that time called England. This 
 name the country still retains, being taken from 
 that of the most powerful of the three tribes that 
 came over from Germany at the commencement of 
 the Saxon invasion, (the Angli,) and after it has 
 made for itself the most glorious history which 
 any nation is able to boast of either in ancient or 
 modern times. The Scotland in the days of Ken¬ 
 neth McAlpine was considerably more extensive 
 than it is at the present day. It comprehended 
 the counties of Northumberland, Cumberland and 
 Westmoreland in the north of England. After 
 the union it became a kingdom of no small im¬ 
 portance, and continued to exercise throughout 
 the different nations of Europe great power and 
 varied influence, both in a political and religious 
 point of view. 
 
 The matrimonial alliances formed by its mon- 
 arclis, and the members of their families, from 
 
30 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 time to time, with several of the heads of the 
 leading powers, often changed the whole aspect 
 of affairs, and acted as a powerful check in restrain¬ 
 ing their southern neighbors, and especially their 
 kings, who for centuries, owing to their constant 
 interference with the affairs of continental nations, 
 to gratify their warlike propensities and inordinate 
 ambition, were considered as the disturbers of the 
 whole of Europe. One thing, however, we are 
 sure of, if history has any meaning, and that is 
 that Scotland from the first was recognized by all, 
 as a free and independent nation. The question 
 of its not being so was raised several times, it is 
 true, by its southern neighbors, and even at so late 
 a time as when the two nations were to be happily 
 united into one. And it was not only raised, but 
 agitated for selfish and political purposes, with all 
 the heat and rancour that national prejudices and 
 animosities could inspire. But the arguments pro¬ 
 duced by southern writers were useless, and failed 
 to produce any permanent impression on the minds 
 of the leading politicians of the day. If they had 
 done so, consequences of the worst character to both 
 countries would have followed, for a nation, depen¬ 
 dent in the time past on another, and its crown 
 feudatory to it, could not have expected equal 
 terms in the union to be formed j and any thing 
 granted them therefore would have been allowed 
 by their more powerful southern neighbors as a 
 favor and not as a right. But happily their con- 
 tendings in the past saved them from being placed 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 31 
 
 in this humbling and derogatory position, and a 
 proud and self-reliant people were looked upon in 
 the same light as the other. The union thus pro¬ 
 posed and carried out accordingly, was honorable 
 to the English nation and beneficial to the Scotch, 
 and has cemented for ever, in the bonds of the 
 closest relationships, two nations which, but for 
 several untoward causes we shall afterwards 
 describe, would have been united in the same way 
 long before, and Britannia, as she has ever since 
 been, “ would have been loved at home and 
 revered abroad.” 
 
 “ Henceforth, she said, in each returning year, one stem the 
 thistle and the rose shall bear; 
 
 The thistle’s lasting grace—thou, O my rose, shalt be : the 
 warlike thistle’s arm a sure defence to thee.” 
 
 To us, indeed, who live at this late period of the 
 world’s history, it appears strange that the ques¬ 
 tion of the independence of Scotland should have 
 ever been raised at all. But for the selfishness, 
 injustice and cruel dealings of one of England’s 
 monarchs, it would not have been so, and the 
 strange way he adopted in carrying out his views, 
 showed that even he had his doubts on the subject. 
 The Romans, as we found before, left that country 
 unsubdued, and hastened to defend the heart of 
 their Empire, sorely assailed by the tribes of 
 northern Europe. And not only so, but the natives 
 of South Britain, so long accustomed to their 
 protection, had become weak and helpless, and left 
 exposed to the attacks of the Piets and Scots, who 
 
32 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 united together, marched southward, and would 
 have certainly conquered them, had they not sued 
 for assistance from another quarter. For in their 
 extremity they called into the country the Saxons, 
 who, although they repulsed the northerners, and 
 were at the first considered as friends, became the 
 most cruel foes the natives ever had. They settled 
 down without ceremony, and drove out the inhabit¬ 
 ants. But they were not able to do so after they 
 began to perceive how they had been deceived, 
 till after they had offered the most heoric resist¬ 
 ance ; and before they retired to France, and were 
 forced to settle in the mountainous districts of 
 Wales, they took terrible revenge on their faith¬ 
 less invaders. Prince Arthur especially, King of 
 South Wales, distinguished himself in these strug¬ 
 gles. Like another Caractacus, who resisted the 
 Roman power for nine long years, and whose 
 successor he was, he defended his own and the 
 territories of the neighboring princes from the 
 fierce attacks of the Germans, vanquishing their 
 chiefs in twelve battles, and putting many of them 
 to the sword. Had this brave man not been be¬ 
 trayed and put to death by his own nephew, he 
 might have acted throughout like another Wallace, 
 and rid the country of a cruel and perfidious 
 enemy. But though the Saxons drove back the 
 Piets and Scots into their native land, they had 
 neither the strength nor ability to follow them 
 thither, or threaten in any way to make them 
 dependent upon them. During the whole time of 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 33 
 
 the Heptarchy in England, its kings were at con¬ 
 stant war among themselves; the bounds of the 
 seven States were constantly changing, and it was 
 impossible for the arms of any of its kings to he 
 directed against a foe, excepting a neighboring 
 prince perhaps, who chanced to invade his petty 
 domain. No bond of union existed among them, 
 even in regard to mutual rights, or the protection 
 of such rights, and it could never have been 
 imagined that any attempt would have been made 
 to invade those of a powerful and warlike nation, 
 who had enjoyed them from the earliest period of 
 their history. Again, when England was formed 
 into one kingdom, it soon began to be threatened 
 by an enemy from abroad, far more formidable than 
 the Piets or Scots, who not only attempted the 
 destruction of its liberty, but its very existence 
 was found to be at stake. The race of fierce war¬ 
 riors who did so were originally, like themselves, 
 from the forests of Germany, but had been worsted, 
 like many other tribes, by Charlemagne in battle, 
 and driven out of their country. They moved 
 northward, settled in Denmark, and became the 
 monarchs of the ocean for many a day. They were 
 men of great size, blue eyes, ruddy complexion and 
 yellow streaming hair; and as they made war their 
 profession, thus became terrible to all the nations 
 around them. Being of the Scandinavian stock, 
 they were the sincere worshippers of Odin and Thor, 
 the heathen gods of their forefathers, and hated 
 those with no common hatred, who had renounced 
 
 c 
 
34 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 their worship, as the Saxons in England had now 
 done. By the time that Egbert ascended the 
 throne of that country, they had fitted up a large 
 fleet of light-bottomed skiffs, landed at Tynmouth, 
 and continued their ravages along the coast till 
 defeated by him at Cornwall. But after this, 
 though often repulsed, they became the terror and 
 dread of the whole country; for, after making a 
 sudden descent on a certain part of the coast, they 
 sailed up the rivers, burnt the towns and villages, 
 and scattering themselves everywhere, carried 
 away the inhabitants and their possessions indiscri¬ 
 minately. The favorite amusement of their sol¬ 
 diers, was to toss the helpless children on the points 
 of their spears ; and one of their celebrated chief¬ 
 tains, for his dislike to this cruel sport, received 
 the contemptuous surname of Burnakal, or child- 
 preserver. They continued their invasions with 
 unceasing ferocity, till the whole country was 
 reduced to a state of helplessness and bondage, and 
 the nobles and people, worn out by incessant harrass- 
 ments, urged their sovereign to come to terms with 
 them, which he did by assigning them the half of 
 the kingdom. Nearly the whole time of the united 
 Saxon monarchy, the state of things above des¬ 
 cribed was continued, and if the petty monarchs 
 of the Heptarchy were rendered feeble and utterly 
 helpless in the way of attacking the Scots or of 
 reducing them under their control, it was more so 
 when the nation became consolidated; but had to 
 contend with such various success against the in- 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 35 
 
 vasions of the fierce and remorseless enemies above 
 referred to, who so frequently visited their shores 
 with such disastrous consequences. During the 
 whole of this changeful, trying and bloody period 
 of English history, the Saxons lived on the best of 
 terms with their northern neighbors; and the 
 princes and nobles of each country often inter¬ 
 married into the families of one another. When 
 conquered by the Normans and driven out of their 
 native country, Scotland was the place to which 
 they lied for safety; and the Court there was the 
 grand refuge for all who wished to be free, and who 
 disdained to how their neck to the yoke of the 
 oppressor. Soon after the Norman conquest, Edgar 
 Atheling, the heir to the Saxon throne, and his 
 sister Margaret fled to Scotland, and received a 
 warm reception from Malcolm Canmore, the mon¬ 
 arch of the country. They both took up their 
 residence at Dunfermline, where the kings of Scot¬ 
 land then resided, and the fair Margaret was soon 
 united in marriage to the Scottish monarch. She 
 did much to encourage religion, industry, and every 
 good work among her northern subjects; and 
 through her influence Malcolm assumed more than 
 any of his predecessors the state and appearance 
 of a real king. Their daughter Matilda was after¬ 
 wards married to Henry the First of England, which 
 fortunately united the rival races, and blended 
 the blood of the Kings of Scotland and England 
 together in all time coming. Soon after the mar¬ 
 riage of the King of Scotland, a great rising of 
 
36 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 tlic Saxons took place in the north of England. 
 They put to death a large number of their Norman 
 oppressors at Durham, and laid siege to the city of 
 York. While there they were joined by Edgar 
 Atheling, who hastened from Dunfermline to join 
 the insurrection. But all the attempts of the 
 Saxons to gain their liberty were in vain, for 
 although they took York, the fierce and warlike 
 William, with a large host of Normans, was soon 
 before the gates of the city, which they carried at 
 the point of the sword; and turning with fiendish 
 cruelty into the country districts, they wasted 
 them with fire and sword, and left a vast wilder¬ 
 ness and heaps of ruins behind them, which were 
 visible a century afterwards. Enraged that Edgar 
 Atheling and other Saxon malcontents, should find 
 a refuge in Scotland, and assist the insurgents, 
 William sent an expedition into the counties of 
 Northumberland and Cumberland, then pertaining 
 to that country, with a view to compel Malcolm 
 to deliver them up. It failed, however, in accom¬ 
 plishing the object contemplated by the fierce 
 Norman, although Malcolm and his successors on 
 the throne had to do homage to the English kings 
 afterwards for these counties. This was one of 
 the arguments adduced for the subjection of Scot¬ 
 land ; but if we take into account the feudal ideas 
 that then prevailed all over the countries of 
 Europe, this homage paid to England for the pos¬ 
 sessions held there, in no way interfered with the 
 independence of the rest of the Kingdom. Many 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 37 
 
 of the other sovereigns of Europe, without being 
 understood to compromise their royal dignity, were 
 in the same position; and for ages the kings of 
 England themselves were vassals to the monarchs 
 of France, for the large possessions they held in 
 that country, and were bound to perform feudal ser¬ 
 vices accordingly. Strange, however, as it may 
 appear, this was one of the principal grounds on 
 which some of the Plantagenet monarchs rested 
 their right to their superiority over the kingdom 
 of Scotland afterwards. This right, it is true, 
 was never assumed to be possessed by the early 
 Norman kings amid all their cruelties, and unprin¬ 
 cipled actings. They were too much busied in 
 keeping down Saxon insurrections and conspiracies, 
 and in introducing the laws and manners of the 
 Normans, among the subjugated inhabitants of the 
 country, to raise such a foolish question. And 
 their own dubious title to the English throne, often 
 required all their skill and ingenuity to maintain 
 themselves upon it, without in any way being 
 solicitous to raise new claims to the Crown of Scot¬ 
 land, which they had neither the power nor in¬ 
 clination to maintain. But beside the causes 
 adverted to, an unexpected calamity befel one 
 of the monarchs of that country, at a later date, 
 which encouraged the English to reduce it, and 
 to bring it into a state of dependence to their 
 own. Henry the Second occupied the throne of 
 England when this calamity occurrred, and al¬ 
 though he displayed great ability as a statesman, 
 
38 
 
 STRAY LEAVES 
 
 and heroic daring as a warrior, he was neverthe¬ 
 less proud, ambitious and faithless as most of his 
 ancestors happened to be before him. David, the 
 King of Scotland, his uncle, had knighted him at 
 Carlisle, and fought bravely for his mother while 
 contending with Stephen for the Crown of England; 
 but all these acts of kindness were soon forgotten, 
 when he ascended the throne of that country. He 
 was inflamed with an intense desire of adding Scot¬ 
 land, as he had done Ireland, to his dominions; and 
 used the most unjustifiable means for so doing. Find¬ 
 ing Malcolm XV., the grandson of David, a very 
 weak and effeminate prince, he duped him out of the 
 counties of Northumberland and Cumberland, and 
 taking him over into France he caused him to ap¬ 
 pear as an enemy of the king of that country, who 
 had been the hereditary ally of Scotland. Malcolm 
 was succeeded by his brother William, surnamed 
 the Lion, on account of his wearing the figure of 
 the lion rampant upon his shield. He was a much 
 braver man than his brother, felt irritated that 
 Scotland should have been robbe-t of a part of her 
 possessions through the weakness of her late 
 king, and the duplicity of Henry of England, and 
 resolved, if possible, to regain by force of arms 
 what had been so ignominiously lost. Collecting 
 a considerable force he invaded England, but was 
 surprised while enveloped in a mist near Alnwick, 
 taken prisoner by English troops and handed over 
 to Henry. Thinking this a favorable opportunity 
 of vanquishing Scotland, while its king was in 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 39 
 
 captivity, the perfidious English monarch marched 
 an army into that country and began to waste and 
 destroy it. But Gilchrist, the Earl of Angus, boldly 
 marched to meet him, and before he had proceeded 
 farther than Carlisle, defeated him and dispersed 
 his army. Foiled in this attempt the King clung 
 more firmly to his prisoner, and refused to liberate 
 him, unless under conditions that were both hum¬ 
 bling to him and disastrous to Scotland. He ex¬ 
 torted a large sum of money for his liberation, 
 and not only so, but demanded homage for his 
 whole kingdom. William might have had the 
 right to agree to the payment of the money, pro¬ 
 vided it was paid from his own private means ; 
 but to dispose of rights that were sacredly vested 
 in the Estates of the kingdom Avas altogether 
 beyond his control. Besides it is questionable, 
 whether conditions thus extorted from him Avliile 
 deprived of his freedom, were even binding on 
 himself, and certainly they were not binding on 
 the nation at large. It is a happy circumstance, 
 however, to know that all difficulties in the matter 
 were soon removed ; for at the death of Henry, the 
 Lion-hearted Richard his son, solemnly renounced 
 the claim of homage, and absolved William from 
 the hard conditions his ambitious, and ungenerous 
 father had imposed upon him in the hour of his 
 severe trial. For to rule England and disturb Scot¬ 
 land was not the object of Richard’s ambition. He 
 burned to Avin glory on the plains of Palestine, 
 and cause the enemies of Christianity to tremble 
 
40 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 there. For this he lost sight of every other 
 object. For this he wasted the large sums of 
 money his father had hoarded up ; but in doing 
 so displayed such daring valor, «and achieved such 
 splendid victories abroad, as will ever make him, 
 with all his faults, a favorite with every class. 
 
 “ Against whose fury and unmatched force 
 The aweless lion could not wage the fight, 
 
 Nor keep his princely heart from Richard’s hand.” 
 
 This prince at the same time possessed such an 
 unbounded, generous nature, and displayed such 
 accomplishments in the finer arts as have ren¬ 
 dered him dear; independently of his great skill 
 in arms and brilliant military achievements, to 
 all the lovers of poetry and song. 
 
 Strange as it might seem, this claim of sov¬ 
 ereignty over Scotland, so entirely and solemnly 
 renounced by the chivalrous and generous Richard, 
 should have been taken up by one of his successors 
 a century afterwards, and unjustly adhered to. 
 For, as might have been expected, the claim put 
 forth would be doggedly resisted, although ad¬ 
 vanced by the mightiest monarch of Europe at 
 the time. And not only so, but torrents of the 
 best blood of the country would be shed, rather 
 than submit to what was believed by the people 
 to be at the time an unrighteous usurpation. The 
 hard feelings it impressed on their minds it was 
 difficult afterwards to remove; and feuds and 
 dissensions were engendered, which required cen- 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 41 
 
 turies to compose. . That Edward had no right to 
 any feudal superiority over the kingdom of Scot¬ 
 land, must already have appeared evident to every 
 one who has carefully attended to the statements 
 we have already adduced. And that he should 
 have put forth his unjust claims to it, in the midst 
 of the distracted state of the nation, makes every 
 one who wishes for justice feel the more harshly 
 towards him. That the leading potentates of 
 Europe, at the time must have entertained such 
 thoughts, there can be little or no doubt, as we 
 will now be prepared to show in the winding up 
 of this chapter. For even the Roman Pontiff 
 himself appeared so struck with the injustice of 
 the claim, when the real facts of the case were 
 laid before him, as compelled him to interfere, and 
 admonish and threaten Edward in regard to his 
 extraordinary conduct in the matter. As being 
 the Lord spiritual whom Edward always professed 
 to acknowledge as his superior, he considered he 
 had a right to do so; and the bull he issued and 
 caused to be delivered to him by the Archbishop 
 of Canterbury, at great personal risk and incon¬ 
 venience, while he found him warring in Scotland, 
 devastating the country, and shedding the blood of 
 its brave inhabitants, shewed how much he disap¬ 
 proved of his conduct; and was alike honorable to 
 his head and heart. “ Your Royal Highness,” the 
 bull of Pope Boniface goes on to say, “ may have 
 heard, and we doubt not that but the truth is fast 
 locked up in your memory, that neither you nor 
 
42 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 any of your ancestors, kings of England, enjoyed 
 any feudal superiority over the kingdom of Scot¬ 
 land. Your father, Henry, King of England, when 
 in the wars between him and Simon de Montford 
 he requested the assistance of Alexander, the 
 third King of Scotland, did, by his letters-patent, 
 acknowledge that he received such assistance not 
 as due to him, but as a special favor. When you 
 yourself requested the presence of the same mon¬ 
 arch at the solemnity of your coronation, you in 
 like manner, by letters-patent, entreated it as a 
 matter of favor and not of right. Moreover, when 
 the King of Scotland did homage to you for his 
 lands in Tynedale and Penrith, he solemnly de¬ 
 clared that his homage was paid not for the king¬ 
 dom of Scotland, but for his lands in England ; 
 that as King of Scotland, he was independent and 
 owed no fealty, which restricted homage you did 
 receive. Again, when Alexander the Third died, 
 leaving as heiress to the crown a granddaughter 
 in her minority, the wardship of this infant was 
 not conferred on you, which it would have been 
 had you been Lord superior, but was given to 
 certain nobles of the kingdom chosen for that 
 purpose.” By such pungent arguments as the 
 above the Pope urged the English monarch to 
 renounce his claims to the superiority of the king¬ 
 dom of Scotland, and at the same time to release 
 from prison all bishops and ecclesiastics he had 
 incarcerated for resisting such a claim. And in 
 order to make the arguments still more imposing, 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 43 
 
 the Prelate added his own admonitions, assuring 
 the King, in the presence of his son, the Prince of 
 Wales, and many of the English nobility who 
 were engaged at the time at the siege of the castle 
 of Caerlaverock, “ that Jerusalem would not fail 
 to protect her children, and to cherish like Mount 
 Zion those who trusted in the Lord.” 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Necessary to sketch the life of Edward of England. No 
 monarch whose life is so little known or understood 
 b}’ his own countrymen. His military achievements have 
 blinded the historians of that country to his injustice and 
 terrible cruelties. If his real character were known he 
 would be considered as one of the worst and most un¬ 
 principled kings that ever sat on the English throne. 
 The first of his ambitious projects was to subdue Wales. 
 Provoked an unjust quarrel with the native prince of 
 that country. Defeated him and his troops in their wild 
 retreats. Llewell3m thus fell fighting bravely for the 
 liberties of his country. His head cut off, crowned with 
 ivy by the cruel conqueror, and set up on the tower gate 
 of London. Wales being subdued, the English monarch 
 directs his attention to Scotland for the same purpose. 
 Appointed umpire for the throne amid the numerous 
 competitors. Previous to his giving his decision re¬ 
 quired the competitors to do homage to him as Lord 
 paramount of that country. Gave his decision on behalf 
 of Baliol, who was only a puppet king. Rebelled at 
 last. Defeated and compelled to resign the crown, which 
 Edward claimed for himself. 
 
 Before commencing the life of Wallace it will 
 be necessary to refer briefly to that of Edward the 
 1st. of England, as it was through his cruel exactions 
 and oppressions in Scotland that our patriot was 
 first forced on the stage of public life as the asser- 
 ter of the liberties of his oppressed country. It 
 is necessary to do so, as a truthful life of that mon¬ 
 arch yet remains to be written. Many attempts 
 have been made in this direction, and glowing 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 45 
 
 periods have been written to show the heroic 
 deeds of the warrior, and the sagacious, politic 
 bearing of the king, who did more, it is asserted, 
 than any of those monarchs that went before or 
 followed after him, in extending and building up 
 the English Empire within the limits at least of the 
 British Isles. But such writers have only given 
 us the bright side of the picture, and have care¬ 
 fully kept back anything that would cast a dark 
 cloud, over the character of their ideal king in the 
 eyes of their confiding countrymen. And we ven¬ 
 ture to affirm that modern times scarcely afford 
 such another example, where the historic muse has 
 been so sadly prostituted to serve a purpose as in 
 the case referred to. If the real facts of Edward’s 
 reign had been chronicled with a truthful pen, and 
 nothing, however derogatory to him, kept back, 
 we venture to say whatever halo of glory and 
 military greatness hangs round his character as a 
 great captain, he would have been considered by 
 all impartial judges as one of the worst and most 
 unprincipled of England’s kings, and the incessant 
 disturber of the peace of his native island, and 
 also of Europe at large. The conduct of the his¬ 
 torians of ancient Egypt, forms a strange contrast 
 to that of the English, in dealing with the truths 
 of history. By the laws of that country, a faith¬ 
 ful record was kept of passing events by an un¬ 
 known hand. The virtues and the vices of the 
 reigning monarch were carefully chronicled, and 
 at his demise were read in the hearing of his sue- 
 
46 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 cessor, before he was allowed to ascend the throne. 
 This was with a view of acting as a healthy check 
 on him in after life, that he might shun the evil, 
 and imitate the virtuous deeds of his predecessor. 
 If this had been done in England, the son of 
 Edward might have been prevented from after¬ 
 wards falling into the hands of assassins; and 
 many other calamities been averted which after¬ 
 wards overtook the nation. Edward’s father died 
 while he was absent in the Holy Land on a crusad¬ 
 ing expedition, where his exploits were few and 
 insignificant. On his return to England two 
 years after his father’s death, he was crowned at 
 Westminster with great pomp and ceremony. 
 His brother-in-law, Alexander the Third of Scot¬ 
 land, was present on the occasion, who, for his 
 character and previous military exploits, held an 
 important position in the eyes of the other mon- 
 archs of Europe. No sooner was Edward seated 
 on the throne of his fathers, than the first great 
 aim of his ambition was to conquer Wales, The 
 attempt had often been made by his predecessors 
 before, but had always failed; but the bold and 
 unprincipled Edward, nothing discouraged, went 
 to the task with the full assurance that he would 
 succeed. It mattered not that the Welsh before 
 this had for centuries enjoyed their independence 
 against all odds. That the Roman and Saxon 
 invaders, although they had driven them out of 
 England, durst not follow them into the inacces¬ 
 sible retreats which nature secured for them amid 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 47 
 
 their poor, but free, beautiful and mountainous 
 country. Edward resolved to accomplish what 
 neither Roman nor Saxon would dare to attempt 
 before him; and add Wales to his already widely 
 extended kingdom in England, Ireland and France. 
 But how were hostilities to be commenced against 
 a nation that were at peace with him ? And how 
 was Llewellyn, the Welsh prince, to be dragged 
 into the conflict while seeking no cause of quarrel 
 with him ? Edward solved the difficulties by a 
 species of fraud and imposition which, excepting 
 the repetition of the same kind of dishonesty, when 
 he unjustly interfered in the affairs of the Scotch 
 nation, and ultimately claimed the crown of 
 that country for himself, has hardly an equal 
 in history. He demanded homage of the Welsh 
 prince, for his possessions that had been handed 
 down to him free and unfettered for upwards of a 
 thousand years. He knew he had no right to do 
 so, and that the Welsh prince would resent the 
 affront. But this was all he wanted to commence 
 hostilities, which, when begun, were carried on 
 with a degree of tenacity, perseverance and un¬ 
 mitigated cruelty that was characteristic of the 
 man, in all his warlike proceedings afterwards. 
 Preparations having been made on a gigantic scale 
 for the invasion of the country, troops w r ere drawn 
 from foreign parts, trained to mountain warfare, 
 and poured without reserve into Llewellyn’s 
 country. For five long years was this cruel work 
 persevered in without any interruption ; the 
 
48 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 country laid waste by fire and sword, and the 
 poor inhabitants mercilessly put to death, without 
 regard to age, or rank, or sex. Even those im¬ 
 mortal bards, whose lives were always considered 
 sacred by the most savage conquerors in all time 
 previous, could not escape his bloody and unspar¬ 
 ing hand. They were possessed of an undying 
 love for their country. They sung of the noble 
 exploits of their heroic forefathers, and they in¬ 
 fused a spirit of liberty and of resistance into the 
 minds of their countrymen, which all the hordes 
 that Edward could bring into the field could ill 
 resist. But without any compunction or ceremony 
 he barbarously put them to death, although con¬ 
 trary to the notions of all civilized nations. 
 History only affords another cruel example of 
 the same kind, afforded by Nero, the Roman Em¬ 
 peror, who has been held up for this and other 
 cruelties of a kindred nature, as the greatest mon¬ 
 ster recorded in history. The author of the 
 “ Elegy written in a Country Churchyard,” and 
 other well-known poems, refers, although an 
 Englishman, to this dark episode in the conquest 
 of Wales in the following feeling and highly 
 poetic strain : 
 
 “ .Ruin seize thee, ruthless King ! 
 
 Confusion on thy banners wait! 
 
 Though fanned by conquest’s crimsoned wing, 
 
 They mock the air with idle state. 
 
 Nor e’en thy virtues, tyrant, shall avail 
 To save thy secret soul from nightly fears, 
 
 From Cambria’s curse, from Cambria’s tears.” 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 49 
 
 Having removed this and every other obstruction 
 out of the way, Edward followed the Welsh troops 
 into their mountain fastnesses of Snowdon and 
 Plynlimmon. They inflicted terrible losses on the 
 barbarous hordes that dared to venture so far in 
 pursuit of them, although, when worn out by 
 famine and incessant harrassments, they were at 
 last compelled to yield to forces far superior in 
 numbers and better equipped than their own. 
 Llewellyn, the brave Welsh prince, impelled by 
 some ancient prediction that he was to be the 
 restorer of the line of Britain’s ancient sovereigns, 
 was induced to come down from his mountain 
 retreats, march into Radnorshire with a large 
 army, and cross the -Wye, for the purpose of 
 carrying the war into the enemy’s country, and 
 realizing the truth of the prediction. While 
 unavoidably absent, however, from his army, it 
 was surprised and defeated, and he himself hasten¬ 
 ing to the scene of disaster, and finding that all 
 was lost, rushed into the midst of the enemy and 
 fell fighting amid heaps of the slain. The person 
 of this brave prince was afterwards discovered, 
 his head cut off from his mangled body, and sent 
 to London. There it was crowned with ivy, and 
 fixed upon the gate of the Tower, at Edward’s 
 command, to mark his cruel and relentless spirit, 
 and the indignity he wished to shew towards 
 one who had died gloriously as a hero and patriot 
 in the defence of the liberties of his country. 
 And yet, with all these facts standing out in his- 
 
 D 
 
50 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 tory, but which have too often been slurred over, 
 English writers have referred with glowing satis¬ 
 faction to the conquest of the Welsh, and to the 
 sagacity, military skill and heroic daring of Edward 
 in connection with it. But the cruelly unjust 
 cause of the war, the savage manner it was carried 
 on, the massacre of the bards and the shameful 
 treatment their prince received, have been matters 
 that have seldom been referred to; but which, if 
 they had, would have gone far to lessen the estimate 
 the English have continued to entertain of a ruler, 
 who, however brave and successful as a warrior, 
 was unjust, vindictive and cruel in his actings on 
 most occasions. 
 
 No sooner was the conquest of Wales accom¬ 
 plished than the political horizon in Scotland 
 became dark, and the community sank into utter 
 despair. The good King Alexander had been 
 suddenly cut off, and had left his grandchild, the 
 daughter of the King of Norway, an infant, to 
 succeed him on the throne. With the consent of 
 her father, Edward proposed a marriage between 
 her and the Prince of Wales, his son, and the 
 nuptials were fully agreed upon at a meeting of 
 the Scottish Estates held at Brigham in the month 
 of July, 1290. But, as if to forewarn the nation 
 that dark days were in store for it, Margaret, the 
 Maid of Norway, as she has been called, sickened 
 and died suddenly at Orkney, before being allow¬ 
 ed to take possession of the throne of her fathers. 
 It would be difficult to find a time in any nation 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 51 
 
 when so much happiness and misery depended on 
 the life of one individual; and now that she was 
 gone, the kingdom became fearfully disturbed, and 
 the hearts of the good and patriotic began to fail 
 them for fear. For she was the last descendant of 
 Alexander, the “Alfred of Scotland,” and had sur¬ 
 vived her grandfather only four years. And now 
 that she was gone, no near relation of that monarch 
 was to be found to succeed her on the throne, and 
 fierce and powerful competitors would set up 
 their claims to it, which would only be decided by 
 an appeal to the sword. Symptoms of this kind 
 had already begun to manifest themselves, for 
 Bruce, the Earl of Annandale, with a powerful 
 train of followers, had advanced to Perth. The 
 Earls of Mar and A thole had assembled their 
 clans, and Baliol, who was in England, was 
 strongly urged by his friends in Scotland, to ad¬ 
 vance to the borders and keep his claims to the 
 crown, before the people of the country. In a 
 word, the nation was stirred to its utmost depths, 
 and all these fierce and discontented spirits, to 
 whom peace could confer no favor, aud confusion 
 aud change might add some considerable gain and 
 distinction, issued forth from their forts, and moun¬ 
 tain holds, allured by the bright prospect of 
 plunder presented before them, and the large 
 amount of confusion that must necessarily ensue. 
 In this trying emergency the eyes of the good 
 and patriotic were directed towards the King of 
 England, and he was appointed umpire to settle 
 
52 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 the succession to the throne of Scotland. Amid 
 the various competitors that presented themselves, 
 it was thought that he would act with justice and 
 honor in the selection he would make, and for 
 kindnesses he had already received at the hands of 
 the nation, and of their late monarch, this much 
 might have been expected of him. He could not 
 have forgotten that in 1267,when Henry the Third, 
 his late father, and he were driven to the greatest 
 extremities by the Earl of Gloucester, and other 
 Barons, whom their cruel exactions had forced to 
 take up arms, aided by the citizens of London, who 
 were wild and furious against them; and when 
 the enraged assailants besieged them in the Tower 
 with a large force, from which it was impossible 
 to extricate themselves, and when their lives were 
 in imminent danger; how in their last extremity 
 they had applied to Alexander, King of Scotland, 
 who hastened to their rescue with 30,000 men and 
 relieved them from their perilous condition. 
 Besides all this he was a near connection of the 
 late king and of his daughter, and all things con¬ 
 sidered it might have been supposed he would 
 have acted justly in the matter, and been careful 
 not to betray the trust that a confiding people had 
 generously reposed in him. But gratitude for past 
 favors was no characteristic of Edward’s, and his¬ 
 tory affords no other example of such tortuous, 
 unprincipled and selfish policy as he manifested 
 from the outset, when he began to concern himself 
 with the affairs of Scotland. But the truth is 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 53 
 
 from the first he set his heart on the acquisition 
 of the country ; and when the factions became 
 rampant an English historian informs us, he could 
 not conceal his exultation from his privy council¬ 
 lors, but declared to them that the time had 
 come to reduce Scotland under his sway, as effect¬ 
 ually as he had already completed the subjection 
 of Wales. But yet, although he rejoiced to see 
 everything tending to anarchy and confusion, 
 with that prudent caution which formed a prom¬ 
 inent feature in his character, he carefully con¬ 
 cealed his purposes, and waited for the time when, 
 with the nation’sconsent, he could interfere with¬ 
 out suspicion in the political affairs of the country. 
 At the same time he neglected no opportunity of 
 evincing the most sincere friendship for all con¬ 
 cerned, and expressed confidence that the troubles 
 might soon terminate; while he was carefully 
 devising means to augment them, and undermine 
 and destroy the liberties of the country. At this 
 time many of the nobles of Scotland were of 
 Norman extraction, and held large possessions in 
 Scotland and England, and over several of these 
 Edward exercised great influence. Baliol in 
 particular, one of the competitors for the Scotch 
 crown, had been won over to his interest, although 
 then this was not known to others, and had the 
 meanness of being willing to accept the crown at 
 his hand, although as his vassal, which he was too 
 willing to endeavor to grant him. All things 
 being now ready for the English king to carry 
 
54 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 out. his purposes, in virtue of the power delegated 
 to him as umpire in the succession to the throne, 
 he commanded the barons of the northern count¬ 
 ies of England to meet him with their whole 
 force atNorham, on the 3rd of June, 1291, whie 
 the nobility, clergy, and barons of Scotland were 
 enjoined to assemble at the same place a month 
 earlier, for the purpose of deliberating on the 
 succession to the throne, and terminating the 
 commotion that prevailed in the country. The 
 real purport of the meeting, however, was to 
 inveigle the nation, and force the nobles amid their 
 divided interests to acknowledge him as Lord 
 Paramount of Scotland, and ultimately to secure 
 the crown for himself. When the assembly had 
 convened, Edward addressed it through his High 
 Justiciar. He professed to deplore the difficulties 
 the nation was in, and to regard them with love 
 and affection notwithstanding of the same. He 
 stated that he had called them together to do 
 justice to the competitors for the crown, which 
 work had been assigned him by the consent of the 
 nation. That he had undertaken a long journey 
 as Superior and Lord Paramount of the kingdom 
 of Scotland, and in such capacity he wished to 
 administer speedy and ample justice to all. My 
 master, therefore, adds the High Justiciar in a 
 tone of authority and self-importance, requires of 
 each and all of you, the prelates, nobles and barons 
 of Scotland, to acknowledge him as your true and 
 undoubted Lord Superior, from whom you hold 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 55 
 
 your lands, and whose decision as such you are 
 bound to obey. The whole assembly stood as if 
 petrified when listening to such statements, and 
 gazed upon one another with astonishment for 
 some time without giving any reply. At last one 
 of their number, bolder than the others, dared to 
 break silence, stood up and declared that this was 
 the first time that they had ever heard that the 
 King of England possessed the right of superiority 
 over Scotland; and without violating the oaths 
 taken after the death of their late king, they could 
 not come to any resolution regarding it without 
 having time to deliberate, and consult the people. 
 Irritated by this bold reply, the irrascible king 
 stood up and swore by holy Edward, whose crown 
 he wore, that he would vindicate his just rights 
 to the crown of Scotland or perish in the attempt. 
 Still the Scots requested delay, but with all their 
 earnestness for it, Edward finding that he had 
 them completely under his control, only granted 
 them three weeks for the consideration of this 
 important matter. In that short period he knew 
 that amid the divided state of the country and 
 the intrigues of the competitors for the crown, 
 no force of any consequence could be collected to 
 thwart his unjust purposes; and that everything 
 would turn out as he had anticipated. In this he 
 was not disappointed, as the meeting that was to 
 take place three weeks after will show. The 2nd 
 of June dawned brightly on ancient Norham’s 
 “ castled steep,” and a scene was to be witnessed 
 
56 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 around its massive walls that was to give it a 
 degree of importance in all time coming. The 
 castle stood on a steep bank of the Tweed, about 
 six miles up from Berwick. In all the border wars 
 it occupied an important position, and was often 
 in the hands of the Scotch, as well as those of the 
 English. Its extensive ruins still show it to have 
 been a place of great magnificence and of strength, 
 and, although the fierce combatants that contended 
 for its possession have long since been forgotten; 
 in its sombre ruins it still graces Tweed’s fair 
 river, deep and broad, as its silvery waters hasten 
 on to the sea, and looks forth on some of the 
 most romantic scenery that the eye can gaze upon. 
 Nine combatants for the Scottish crown had has¬ 
 tened to cross the borders with a vast number of 
 their respective vassals and nobles and barons, 
 who had arrayed themselves in their interests. 
 They wished to be in time at Norham to await 
 the decision of a false umpire for the succession 
 to the Scottish crown ; although his previous utter¬ 
 ances had assured them that the successful candi¬ 
 date would have to forswear for ever the inde¬ 
 pendence of his country. Edward had taken up his 
 residence here some time before the day appointed 
 for the decision, and the elite of England had 
 crowded within the walls of the massive build¬ 
 ings. On the day appointed, the prelates, nobles 
 and barons of Scotland assembled in Holywell 
 Haugh, a level plain opposite the castle, and await¬ 
 ed with breathless anxiety to hear the name of the 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 57 
 
 successful candidate for the crown heralded forth • 
 but in this they were disappointed. The king 
 brought them together only for the purpose of rivet¬ 
 ing the chains for ever on them and the nation, 
 and wlienhe had accomplished this, all other things 
 were of minor importance in his eyes. The bishop 
 of Bath and Wells was appointed to open the con¬ 
 ference, and in doing so informed the competitors 
 that the first step to be taken was to acknowledge 
 Edward, his master, as Lord Paramount of Scotland, 
 and in virtue of this right, when formally recog¬ 
 nized by the competitors, would he proceed to 
 determine the succession to the throne. Then 
 turning to Bruce, the Lord of Annandale, and 
 Baliol, and enquiring whether they would be 
 content to receive judgment in this capacity as 
 competitors for the crown and to abide by the 
 decision, they unhesitatingly replied that they 
 were content to await justice at his hands as Lord 
 Superior of Scotland, and forthwith affixed their 
 seals to an instrument which recorded their 
 solemn surrender of the liberty of their country. 
 The rest of the competitors for the crown imitated 
 their example, and for an empty bauble deliber¬ 
 ately committed a crime that for many a year to 
 come brought ruin and desolation on the country, 
 and reflected disgrace upon their descendants in 
 all time coming. Edward having gained his point 
 was in no way anxious to fulfil his previous prom¬ 
 ise, but affecting much difficulty and gravity in 
 the matter, which long before this was settled in 
 
5S 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 liis own mind, broke off the conference after 
 receiving the homage of Bruce, Baliol and the 
 other competitors, and sending copies of the oaths 
 of fealty and of the proceedings regarding the 
 right of his superiority to the various monasteries 
 throughout Scotland. Meanwhile, to blind the 
 eyes of Bruce and the other competitors (except¬ 
 ing Baliol, who knew what the result would be) 
 he appointed commissioners from both countries 
 to assist him in the decision. He travelled through 
 Scotland demanding of freemen of all ranks and 
 conditions to take the oaths of fealty to himself, 
 and if not in name, at least in deed, virtually 
 installed himself as the real sovereign of the 
 country. Putting off the claims of the respective 
 candidates from time to time he at last held a 
 meeting of his Parliament at Berwick in the 
 autumn of the same year, and in the presence of a 
 large number of nobles and prelates from both 
 countries declared John Baliol to be the lawful 
 monarch of Scotland ; because he declared it had 
 been established by the laws of England and of 
 Scotland that the more remote in degree in the 
 first line, which he happened to be from Alexan¬ 
 der the Third, had ever been held to exclude the 
 nearer in the second degree, which Bruce was. 
 He then, with a large amount of parade, demanded 
 the regent of Scotland to hand over the castles and 
 fortresses into the hands of their sovereign, broke 
 the great seal of the countryin four pieces and 
 deposited the fragments in the English treasury; 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 59 
 
 and when he had once more sworn fealty to his 
 Lord Paramount, the puppet king repaired to Scone 
 with his partisans to go through the mock cere¬ 
 mony of a coronation. But he was soon convinced 
 that he was less a king than a vassal of his Eng¬ 
 lish master, and that Edward was resolved to 
 stretch the prerogative that had been foolishly 
 assigned to him to the utmost extent. Summons 
 after summons was issued by Edward for Baliol 
 to appear before him in London on the most 
 frivolous pretence. They were supposed to be 
 intended to irritate the silly monarch and goad him 
 on to resistance. But whether they were so or 
 not, Baliol found his kingly power only a nullity ; 
 and goaded on to rebellion he shook off the yoke 
 of his imperious master and procured the Pope’s 
 absolution from the oath of fealty he had so rashly 
 taken. Edward, hearing of this, advanced to 
 Berwick with a powerful army and fleet, and 
 attacked this rich and wealthy place, at that time 
 the rival of London, and took it, carrying away a 
 large amount of booty ; while men, women and 
 children were promiscuously put to death, and for 
 days the streets ran red with blood. It has never 
 since raised its head among the commercial cities 
 of the country. Edward next resolved upon 
 making himself master of the castle of Dunbar, at 
 that time one of the most important strongholds 
 in Scotland. The Earl of Surrey was despatched 
 for this purpose, the Scotch army was defeated 
 in the neighborhood, the castle taken, and, as the 
 
60 
 
 STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 country was now at the mercy of the victor. Baliol 
 was compelled to resign his crown and carried a 
 prisoner to London, where he remained for three 
 years in confinement in the Tower till he was re¬ 
 leased at the intercession of the King of France 
 and sent over to that country, where he died of a 
 broken heart, neglected and forgotten. Every¬ 
 thing had now turned out according to Edward’s 
 wishes in Scotland, and with the feelings of a 
 vandal he proceeded to destroy everything that 
 established the ancient independence of that 
 country. He carried off the chair of state in which 
 the kings of Scotland were seated on the day of 
 their coronation. He plundered the monasteries 
 of the documents that went to establish the anti¬ 
 quity and independence of the nation. He carried 
 along with him the crown and sceptre, and after 
 receiving the homage of the clergy and nobles and 
 appointing a governor and other English officials 
 in his name, with a new seal with the arms of 
 England upon it, he returned in triumph to Eng¬ 
 land, no doubt thinking his work was now finally 
 accomplished. But with all the deep-laid policy, 
 injustice and cruelty of this crafty monarch, he 
 soon found he was sadly mistaken in all his calcu¬ 
 lations in regard to the conquest of Scotland. It is 
 true for years afterwards he brought the nation to 
 the brink of ruin, and his own people to the brink 
 of bankruptcy in maintaining a bloody war at an 
 enormous expense, in which oceans of blood were 
 shed, but no real benefit was derived. He trans- 
 
STRAY LEAVES. 
 
 61 
 
 formed two friendly nations that had previously 
 lived on terms of friendship and good-will into 
 the most bitter enemies. By his unjust and insane 
 pretensions to the Scottish crown he turned whole 
 counties north and south of the Tweed, the most 
 fertile in the island, into deserts, and their inhabit¬ 
 ants into robbers and cut-throats. But happily 
 for the good of both nations his object was never 
 attained, for when a dark funereal pall hung over 
 the nation, and the nobles hid themselves for fear 
 and dread, Providence raised up one who was des¬ 
 tined to dissipate the gloom, and to assure his 
 countrymen that liberty, however dearly bought, 
 was preferable to everything else. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Wallace’s birth-place and parentage. Of Norman extraction. 
 His progenitors possibly came to Scotland about the 
 time of Henry the First of England, and appear as 
 witnesses in the signing of Boyal charters to two 
 Abbeys, which afterwards became famous. A large 
 tract of land conceded to his ancestors by the Steward 
 of Scotland in the Kyle. All of them animated with 
 strong patriotic feelings. His father and brother both 
 slain by the English. And Wallace forced to flee from 
 his paternal home. Cast upon the care of his mother 
 and uncle, both of whom faithfully performed their 
 duties. Eemoved to the Seminary at Dundee, and there 
 properly instructed. The Seminaries attached to the 
 churches up to the requirements of the times. The oppo¬ 
 site opinion often entertained. While here a strong 
 attachment sprung up between Wallace and a young 
 Benedictine Monk, which continued throughout life. An 
 association likewise formed among the youths of the 
 Seminary to maintain patriotic feelings and chasten the 
 insolence of the English soldiers. Through insults offered, 
 Wallace so provoked as to slay the governor’s son ; the 
 act excited great commotion and caused him to flee 
 from the town. Outlawed, and a great price put upon 
 his head; closely pursued by his enemies, and compelled 
 for many weeks to conceal himself in the thickets of 
 the forest. At last made known to his friends his place 
 of concealment and communicated with them. At the 
 entreaty of his mother moved far away to a place of 
 security. 
 
 William Wallace was born at Ellerslie, near 
 Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, Scotland, on 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 63 
 
 the 5th day of August, 1270. He was the second 
 son of Sir Malcolm W allace of Ellerslie, and his 
 mother was daughter of Sir Reginald Crawford, 
 sheriff of Ayr. Although not descended of one 
 of the greatest and richest families of the country 
 his progenitors were nevertheless respectable and 
 honorable. They were said to have come origin¬ 
 ally from Normandy, in France, whose inhabitants, 
 for their heroic deeds, were long celebrated over 
 the whole of Europe. At first they settled in 
 England, some time after the Norman conquest of 
 it, and for aught we know, the blood of some 
 famous knight, who led a forlorn hope on the 
 ensanguined field of Hastings, tingled in their 
 veins. But although the same knight might have 
 assisted to sweep away the Saxon Monarchy after 
 it had endured for upwards of six hundred years, 
 with the brave Harold, the last of its sovereigns, 
 at its head, who fell, sword in hand, toward the 
 close of a smiling but eventful October day ; one 
 of his descendants, the subject of our memoir, 
 lived to prove the most terrible enemy Edward, 
 the hammer of Scotland, and great successor of 
 William the Conqueror, ever had. It was long 
 after the Norman conquest of England, before 
 any of the name of Wallace turns up in Scotland. 
 The first of them appears towards the close of 
 the reign of Beuclerc, who was married to 
 Matilda, the daughter of the King of Scotland. 
 The relations at this time were close and confid¬ 
 ing between the two kingdoms. Great numbers 
 
64 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 of English Norman knights sought for military 
 distinction under the banners of the King of 
 Scotland, and as a reward for their services, large 
 tracts of land were assigned to many of them 
 north of the Tweed. In this way, in all like¬ 
 lihood, the first of the Wallaces made their 
 appearance. For one of them turns up as witness¬ 
 ing to a charter to the Abbey of Melrose, granted 
 by the King, in 1128, and strange to say, thirty 
 years afterwards his son, Richard Wallace, appears 
 in the same connection, when the Lord High 
 Steward of Scotland granted a charter of the 
 same kind to the Abbey of Paisley ; which marks 
 out the family of Wallace at this early period as 
 men of high trust and religious bearing. The 
 same powerful baron gave the Wallace family a 
 large grant of land in the district of Kyle, of 
 which Ellerslie formed a part, so that at the time 
 of the birth of our hero, Sir Malcolm Wallace, his 
 father, was one of the most powerful of the lesser 
 barons to be found in the western part of Scot¬ 
 land. But although descended of a Norman 
 English stock, he was a true Scotchman and 
 patriot in all his feelings. He beheld with distress 
 the woeful condition to which his country had 
 been reduced, through the wrongs and the cruel¬ 
 ties inflicted on it by Edward, the usurper of the 
 Scottish crown. And if tradition be correct he 
 inspired his eldest son with the same feelings, 
 for, rather than swear fealty to Edward, he died 
 fighting manfully by his father’s side for the liber- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 65 
 
 ties of his country. This melancholy circum¬ 
 stance took place while William Wallace was a 
 mere child, which threw him entirely on the care 
 of his mother, a woman of singular beauty, great 
 resolution and ardent piety mixed up with heroic 
 courage and fervent patriotism. She proved that 
 she was worthy of such a son, and though she 
 lived in a benighted age, her mind rose above all 
 its degrading tendencies, and she largely imbued 
 her son with a love for God’s Word, which he found 
 afterwards a strong tower and rock of defence in 
 the most trying circumstances, and impressed upon 
 his mind an ardent desire for ever speaking the 
 truth, and acting on honest convictions in what¬ 
 ever circumstances he might be placed. At the 
 same time she ever wished him to cherish an 
 ardent love for the memories of the beloved ones 
 who had been so ruthlessly slain, and who had 
 freely devoted their lives to the service of their 
 country. So much, indeed, were these feelings 
 engraven from the first on an otherwise ardent and 
 sensitive heart, that at the time they were only 
 beginning to manifest themselves in ordinary 
 youths of the same age, and at this trying period 
 of their country’s history, they had become 
 strong as death in the bosom of our hero. He 
 brooded incessantly over the degradation of his 
 country, and also over his friends who had been 
 so ruthlessly slain, and as soon as reason dawned 
 upon his infant mind, he vowed by everything 
 sacred to wipe off the foul stain and to avenge their 
 
66 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 death. After the death of his father, Wallace 
 appears to have become an object of suspicion to 
 the English, and to have been driven from his 
 paternal home and everything he there esteemed 
 dear, to avoid their suspicions; and after spending 
 some years in secrecy in different parts of the 
 country with his mother, he was placed under the 
 guardianship of his uncle, the abbot of Dumpace, 
 in Stirlingshire. The scenery of this lovely spot 
 for beauty and variety has few equals in Scotland, 
 and the contemplation of it and a rehearsal of 
 the deeds of valor here achieved in the past would 
 tend to cherish those longings after the liberation 
 of his country that had begun to struggle in his 
 youthful bosom. In front of the Abbey were the 
 remains of the Roman wall, where the conquerors 
 of the world had to stop short in the midst of their 
 victorious career. Near to it were to be seen the 
 mounds that were still considered by the natives 
 of the country as the resting places of the mighty 
 dead, the chiefs, namely, of Caledonia, who fell 
 fighting while they achieved a glorious victory 
 over their mighty foes. And as the dark waters 
 of the Carron dashed by, on whose banks freemen 
 till now had ever trod, they seemed to whisper in 
 the ears of the youth that Scotland might yet be 
 free. Wallace found in his uncle, the pious 
 abbot, everything he could wish. He proved 
 towards him a kind friend and faithful counsellor, 
 and acted in every respect as a beloved parent. 
 Although retired from the world he was neverthe- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 67 
 
 less a gentleman and a scholar, and knew the 
 education that was necessary for his nephew in 
 that age of heroic daring. Whether he had any 
 idea at this time of the future greatness of his 
 youthful relative, history does not inform us, but 
 he certainly left no means of improving him in all 
 those manly sports and exercises with which a 
 youth in his position in life might be expected to 
 be conversant. There is no other way of account¬ 
 ing for the fact that when Providence called him 
 out for the defence of his country, he appeared 
 ready for the great work, and soon gained himself 
 the love and esteem of his countrymen. His uncle 
 being a fine scholar, and fond of the ancient classics 
 himself, infused a great love for them into the 
 mind of his youthful relative, and as he was at the 
 same time a devoted patriot, like his relatives on 
 both sides, he often deeply bewailed the degraded 
 state of his country in his presence, and caused 
 him to commit to memory those sublime passages 
 in the writings of the ancients where liberty is 
 extolled and tyranny and slavery desecrated. 
 
 After leaving Dumpace, Wallace went to reside 
 at Kilspendie with a powerful relative of his 
 mother. This village was situated in the Carse 
 of Gowi'ie, a vale which stretches for many miles 
 along the northern bank of the river Tay, and 
 which has been fitly denominated the garden of 
 Scotland, owing to the richness and fertility of its 
 soil. It is cultivated throughout like a garden, 
 and being separated on the north from Strathmore 
 
6S 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 by a beautiful ridge of undulating bills, and 
 bounded on the south by the Tay, the largest river 
 in Scotland, it affords a picture of rural repose and 
 unassuming loveliness that can hardly be found in 
 any other portion of this fair earth. After staying 
 for some time at this place Wallace was removed 
 by his friends to the town of Dundee, to complete 
 his studies so well begun with his uncle. Even at 
 this time Dundee was a place of considerable trade 
 and importance, and now in point of population and 
 manufactures ranks as the third town in Scotland. 
 Its harbor is the finest on the east coast of Scot¬ 
 land, and in the manufacture of jute and some 
 other fabrics it outstrips all other places. Its in¬ 
 habitants have always been remarkable for their 
 patriotism, intelligence, and liberal sentiments; 
 and in the defence of the civil and religious rights 
 of their country have stood in the front ranks. 
 Perhaps, this spirit was early infused into their 
 minds from the fact that Scotland’s patriot resided 
 at the outset amongst them, and here commenced 
 his' struggle for the liberation of his country. 
 When he came to Dundee he was placed in the 
 seminary attached to the cathedral of the place ; 
 but how long he continued to pursue his studies in 
 it we have no means of determining, owing to the 
 confusion of the times that followed and the des¬ 
 truction of all its records. It appears, however, 
 from his after history that he must have remained 
 aconsiderable time there, and prosecuted his studies 
 with perseverance and success. For when he ap- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 G9 
 
 peared on tlie public stage of life, he was in no way 
 deficient in any of those natural or acquired 
 qualities that would fit him for becoming a great 
 leader of the people. This and other circumstances 
 shewed that he had largely profited by the in¬ 
 structions of the learned and pious monks who 
 directed his studies, and that they carefully fol¬ 
 lowed up what had been communicated to him 
 previously by his affectionate uncle and devoted 
 mother. We are not one of those that run down 
 the religion and teachings of the past because they 
 were confined entirely to the Catholic Church, or 
 believe that she acted throughout on the motto, 
 that ignorance was the mother of devotion. The 
 educational institutions throughout the country 
 attached to many of the abbeys and cathedrals were 
 then thoroughly equipped, conducted by the best 
 educated men of the age,and up to the requirements 
 of the times. The instructions they delivered 
 were largely impregnated with a religious and 
 moral character, and never dissociated from the 
 intellectual and utilitarian, in order that education 
 might be left to address itself to the youthful mind 
 merely in the meaner purposes of life. They con¬ 
 sidered the pupil first in his relation to his Creator, 
 and then in regard to that of his fellow-men ; and, 
 as might have been expected, love to God, honor 
 to parents, and devotion to the interests of his 
 country were inculated upon him as of paramount 
 importance. How different from the secular edu¬ 
 cation now in vogue among many of our leading 
 
70 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 educationists! -when the pupil, amid the super¬ 
 ficiality, extreme selfishness and money-making 
 tendencies of the age, is taught mainly how he may 
 disport himself afterwards so far as the meaner 
 purposes of life are concerned; or in other words, 
 how smart he may become, and how much money 
 he may make. But it ought ever to be remem¬ 
 bered that any education will he feeble and 
 fragmentary, where religion and moral teaching 
 are overlooked, and when the minds of the pupil 
 are rarely directed to things of the highest impor¬ 
 tance. That the instructions communicated to the 
 students in the seminaries in the days of Wallace 
 were different from the above, there cannot be a 
 doubt. They were founded on religion and 
 morality, while the secular and utilitarian portion 
 of the education required were not ignored. 
 Above all, a spirit of affection for their country, 
 and of a pure patriotism amid all the darkness and 
 confusion of the times that prevailed, was largely 
 dwelt upon by the instructors, as it burned in¬ 
 tensely in their breasts. For not referring again 
 to the uncle of Wallace, to prove the truth of 
 our assertion, we find that several dignitaries of 
 the Church beside him struck with our hero for 
 liberty when the chances for obtaining it were 
 few and small, and the nobles of the country, as 
 a body, stood aloof. And at an after date the 
 patriotism of that venerable man,the pious abbot of 
 Inchaffray, a high dignitary of the Church, ought 
 never to be forgotten, but to kindle a glow of 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 71 
 
 affection in the breasts of his countrymen where- 
 ever they may be found. For barefooted and 
 bareheaded, he walked, crucifix in hand, in front of 
 the surging, heaving masses, that constituted the 
 Scotch army that was drawn out on the field of 
 Bannockburn. He there caused them to kneel down 
 in the view of proud Edward’s threatening host, to 
 receive the solemn rites of the Church, and to 
 pledge themselves that they would either conquer 
 or die on the spot. And by this act of devotion 
 to his Church, and to the interests of his country, 
 downtrodden as it was and oppressed, he largely 
 contributed to the results that followed on that 
 memorable, glorious, but bloody day. When at¬ 
 tending the Seminary at Dundee, Wallace formed 
 an acquaintance with John Blair a Benedictine 
 monk, who was pursuing his studies with himself. 
 He was a youth about the same age, and resembled 
 our hero greatly in character and temperament. 
 The longer they remained together their attach¬ 
 ments became.stronger and their patriotism increas¬ 
 ed ; and these attachments were only dissevered 
 when Wallace was ruthlessly slain. Wallace had 
 previously chosen him as his chaplain, and he faith¬ 
 fully adhered to him amid all the vicissitudes of 
 his eventful career. When dead he deplored his 
 loss as greater to himself and to his country than 
 every other they had sustained ; and he appears to 
 have spent the remainder of his days in writing 
 the life of his patron in Latin, a work to which 
 Blind Harry appears to have been largely indebted 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 12 
 
 for many of tlie facts lie has recorded in his life 
 of our hero; but a work which unfortunately has 
 been lost for many centuries. While pursuing 
 their studies, Wallace, Blair, and others of a kin¬ 
 dred spirit, used frequently to meet together to 
 mourn over the degradation of their country, and 
 discuss the most probable means of liberating it 
 from its terrible state of thraldom. In order to 
 begin the work, they formed an association for the 
 purpose of chastising the English whenever oppor¬ 
 tunity presented itself. This would often occur, 
 for the English soldiers ransacked every portion 
 of the town and country, destroying life and 
 property, and committing many acts of lewd¬ 
 ness which had to be borne in patience and 
 silence, however outrageous they might appear. 
 When first formed this association might have 
 been considered even by the most ardent friends 
 of liberty, as little else than an outburst of 
 youthful zeal and over-heated fervor, and its 
 doings of very little moment. But though at the 
 outset it might have appeared but the cloud like 
 the man’s hand, through which a faint streak of 
 light was scarcely perceptible ; yet this cloud soon 
 covered the heavens and ushered in the blaze of a 
 glorious day. And other collegiate associations 
 formed among some of the students at a more 
 recent date at other seminaries have been at¬ 
 tended by results perhaps equally remarkable, 
 though the objects contemplated were of a differ¬ 
 ent character. We need only refer to one of 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 73 
 
 such. It is not a century yet since four young 
 men attending the university of the northern 
 capital of Britain, formed themselves into a society 
 for the purpose of learning to debate, to write 
 essays and to declaim. And this gave inception 
 to the “ Edinburgh Review,” the parent of all pe¬ 
 riodical literature in modern times. It soon toned 
 down and liberalized thought in politics and liter¬ 
 ature everywhere. It was long considered as the 
 voice of the most enlightened public opinion in 
 both hemispheres on all questions respecting poli¬ 
 tics, science and literature; and the good that has 
 resulted from many of its brilliant articles, neither 
 the present nor the next generation will he able 
 sufficiently to appreciate. After the association 
 was formed by Wallace and his fellow-collegians 
 in Dundee, for defending themselves and the help¬ 
 less among their countrymen from the cruelties and 
 insolence exercised towards them by the English 
 soldiers who occupied the castle,frequent opportuni¬ 
 ties occurred for enabling them so to do. For the 
 wanton outrages of the invaders were so frequent 
 and of so serious a kind, if they had not been re¬ 
 strained, as would render the lives of the helpless 
 portion of the inhabitants positively miserable, 
 while they were beyond the reach of any redress 
 whatever. But although the juvenile exploits of 
 the members of the association appeared of too 
 little importance to attract the notice of those 
 in power, they nevertheless often exercised a 
 severe check in regard to the actions of the Eng- 
 
74 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 lisli, and defended many of their countrymen 
 from positive loss, wanton assault and danger like- 
 Avise. In their exploits, as the reader might expect, 
 Wallace Avas assigned the leadership by his com¬ 
 rades, and he never disappointed them in the 
 execution of the same. He possessed judgment 
 to devise the most daring undertakings against 
 his sworn foes, and capacity to carry them out, 
 oftentimes to the astonishment of all. So that 
 when any Avork was undertaken they began to feel 
 assured it would he successfully performed, what¬ 
 ever difficulties might occur; for Avhat prudence 
 and foresight could devise, dexterity and strength 
 could accomplish, all of these qualities he Avonder- 
 fully possessed. In this manner—which is gene¬ 
 rally the case—Avhat appeared to be in the youth 
 were seen in the man, and the same qualities his 
 youthful associates now experienced in him were 
 afterwards found out by the patriotic everywhere 
 throughout the country. While a number of the 
 exploits of Wallace and his youthful friends es¬ 
 caped the notice of the public authorities, one 
 happened to occur of so grave importance as to end 
 in his having to flee from Dundee, and to be de¬ 
 clared an outlaw by the governor of the castle. 
 Selby, the governor referred to, had but recently 
 succeeded to that office, and superseded a better 
 man on account, it is supposed, of his manifesting 
 too much kindness and leniency toAvards the op¬ 
 pressed inhabitants of the town. The same Selby 
 was the head of a freebooting family in the north 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 75 
 
 of England, and a man entirely suited to 
 Edward’s tastes. From the first he was bent 
 on the obtainment of spoil and plunder, and 
 he cared not what means might be used pro¬ 
 vided he could only succeed in doing so. He 
 had a scapegrace of a son who had rendered 
 himself peculiarly obnoxious to the inhabitants 
 of the place. He was fiery, impetuous and sensual, 
 and imagined he could act in much the same way 
 as he had been in the custom of doing, when con¬ 
 ducting with his father raids across the borders 
 with a band of cut-throats in his train. Hearing 
 no doubt of Wallace soon after he arrived in the 
 town, he resolved to give him all the annoyance 
 he could in order to provoke a quarrel with him, 
 and meeting him accordingly one day in the street 
 he openly and rashly insulted him. But although 
 he had the power of the governor to back him in 
 doing so, he mistook his man. Wallace at once 
 resented the insult, and though surrounded by a 
 crowd of retainers, he singled him out in the midst 
 of them, and with his sword levelled him dead on 
 the street. The companions of young Selby 
 gathered around the youthful hero, and assured 
 themselves of his immediate capture. But they 
 were sorely mistaken in him, for after slaying 
 several of them he succeeded in making his escape 
 to the house of a female dependent, where he was 
 concealed from his pursuers and shielded from their 
 vengeance till he succeeded in leaving the town 
 in safety. The governor, as might have been 
 
16 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 expected, was thrown into a wild paroxysm of 
 grief and rage at the conduct of Wallace, and the 
 unexpected death of his son. He hardly could 
 have expected such a bold act in the very neigh¬ 
 borhood of the castle and within hearing of the 
 guards, and how Wallace could have escaped to a 
 place of safety was all but beyond his comprehen¬ 
 sion. Meanwhile parties in all directions were 
 sent in pursuit of the daring fugitive. He was 
 declared to be an outlaw, and every possible means 
 were employed to secure his person dead or alive. 
 A large sum of money was set upon his head, but 
 he eluded all his pursuers, and laughed to scorn 
 their vigorous but vain attempts to secure his 
 person. Providence, however, had more things 
 in store for him, and his country waited too anx¬ 
 iously for a leader, than that he should thus early 
 fall into the hands of an enemy, who from first to 
 last thirsted without abatement for his blood. For 
 many weeks Wallace wandered among the woods 
 and impenetrable retreats of the country to avoid 
 the search of an enemy who had been so anxious 
 to secure his person. And although he had eluded 
 their grasp, it had cost him a large amount of 
 suffering, and self-denial to do so ; and all com¬ 
 munication had been cut off from his friends for 
 many a day. It rejoiced them at last, however, 
 to find out that he was still alive and lurking in 
 the neighborhood of Kilspendie, a place where 
 some really happy days had been spent with his 
 friends while a youth, but alas! they were now 
 gone for ever. 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 Motherly affection a principle strong and abiding. Power¬ 
 fully manifested itself in the breast of the mother of 
 Nichol the poet, and likewise in that of Wallace’s mother. 
 Communicated with him while hid from the English, 
 and arranged a pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Mar¬ 
 garet’s, Dumfries, then a favorite resort from Scotland 
 and England. After this, Wallace turns up in Clydes¬ 
 dale, whei'e his adventurous exploits began to attract 
 notice. Began to draw around him a chosen band of 
 youths who w T ere animated with the same spirit as him¬ 
 self. Preferred a life of precarious yet unrestrained 
 liberty to the promise of peace at the hands of those 
 who were oppressing them. Pound in Wallace a leader 
 suited to their inclinations. .Resources of mind to 
 devise and skill to carry out the most hazardous enter- 
 prize. Nor were his followers, from the first, all 
 gathered from the lowest ranks of life. Some of the 
 noblest families of the land, from nearly the outset, 
 identified their interests with his. By this time Wallace 
 had grown up to manhood, and possessed every quality 
 that would entitle him to be considered by his followers 
 a great leader. Ilis confidence in his Creator great 
 from the outset. Never forsook him on any occasion. 
 His courage of the most undaunted and tried character. 
 Nerved him when exposed to the most terrible odds. 
 Possessed of an unbounded, generous nature. Gave a 
 large share of the spoils taken from the enemy to his 
 adherents, and reserved little for himself. Always 
 willing to forgive injuries, but treachery and falsehood 
 he never would forgive. Possessed a genius remarkably 
 fertile in devising expedients in the way of anticipating 
 
7S 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 danger and warding it off. A keen eye also and remark¬ 
 ably retentive memory. His physical powers Avere 
 extraordinary, and greater than those allotted to most 
 of the sons of men. Description of them by John of 
 Tordun. His eloquence easy and natural. Predicted 
 by Thomas the Rhymer as the future deliverer of his 
 country. Already the shrewd seer beheld an uneasy 
 feeling throughout the country and a storm near at 
 hand, and Wallace the most likely person to pilot the 
 vessel of the State through it. Edward had left the 
 country, as he supposed, completely subdued, but the 
 work had not yet begun. When tyrants imagine they 
 stand securely, then they often fall. 
 
 The love of a mother towards her offspring is strong 
 and abiding. It continues unabated during all the 
 varied phases of life, and doubtless, in a more 
 expansive and elevated sphere, the same feeling 
 will largely develop itself, and afford means of 
 much enjoyment to its possessor. It is recorded 
 that when Nicliol the poet was dying in the South, 
 he communicated with his mother in Scotland, a 
 widow in the humblest ranks of life, that he was 
 anxious to see her. He had no pecuniary assist¬ 
 ance to send her, and she had no means to take 
 her to the place where he resided. But the inge¬ 
 nuity of a mother placed in such circumstances is 
 always remarkable, and suited to the occasion. 
 Being the time of harvest, and the fields clothed 
 with smiling grain, she resolved to hire herself 
 out to a farmer in the neighborhood of Perth, 
 and earn with her sickle a scanty sum, to afford 
 her supplies by the way. And starting, she trav¬ 
 elled for several hundred miles on foot, arrived 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 79 
 
 toil-worn and weary, at the dying chamber of her 
 gifted son before the taper of life had expired, 
 and afforded him such consolation as a mother 
 alone could grant. This feeling of maternal 
 love manifested itself largely in the person 
 of Wallace’s accomplished and pious mother, 
 and particularly in the trying circumstances in 
 which he was now placed. At the time he escaped 
 from his enemies in Dundee, proclaimed to be an 
 outlaw, and a large sum of money offered for his 
 apprehension, she was living with a powerful and 
 wealthy relative in the Carse of Gowrie. But for 
 a long time all communication had ceased between 
 her and her son, owing to the keenness of the 
 pursuit of his enemies, and because he had to con¬ 
 ceal himself for many weeks amidst the thickets 
 of the forests. After a while, when her serious 
 apprehensions of his safety were removed, she 
 opened communications with him, and urged 
 upon him the necessity of removing as far 
 as possible from the reach of his enemies. He 
 resolved forthwith to obey her injunctions, and 
 procuring for themselves the garb of pilgrims, 
 such as were assumed by many at that time in all 
 the ranks of life according to the tendencies of 
 the age, they proceeded to the shrine of St. 
 Margarets at Dumfries. The saint, whose ashes 
 were deposited here, was the wife of Malcolm 
 Canmore, King of Scotland, a lady remarkable for 
 her piety and good works, as far as we have any 
 accounts given of her by historians. Being the 
 
so 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLI A:,I WALLACE. 
 
 lineal descendant of the last of the Saxon mon¬ 
 arch s, in her marriage she united the Scotch and 
 Saxon lines together; and as her daughter married 
 Henry the First the son of William the Con¬ 
 queror, the Normans and the Saxons were also, 
 through her, happily blended together. Great 
 respect was shown to this saint of the royal blood 
 at this period and long afterwards; and thousands 
 of pilgrims of all classes, from every part of 
 Scotland, and many from England, did penance at 
 her shrine. Wallace and his mother did so like¬ 
 wise, and having performed his religious devotions, 
 next turns up in the West of Scotland, where 
 many of his great exploits were at the outset of his 
 public career performed. Thirsting for revenge, 
 he spurned the offer of several of his friends 
 to get the act of outlawry passed against him 
 repealed, and placing his devoted mother under 
 the protection of her brother, the sheriff of Ayr, 
 he betook himself once more to the woods. He 
 soon began to render himself notorious by his ad¬ 
 venturous exploits,throughout Ayr and the neigh¬ 
 bouring counties, undertaken against the English. 
 In these he was generally successful, although 
 accompanied often with hair-breadth escapes, and 
 took signal vengeance on many of the small 
 garrisons of the enemy, scattered everywhere over 
 the country. The longer he continued to exercise 
 himself in this guerilla warfare, the more expert 
 he became, and appeared the more formidable to 
 his enemies. So much so, that even at the present 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 81 
 
 day, the more intelligent portion of the inhabit¬ 
 ants of this portion of the country are still able 
 to point with a large degree of pride to many an 
 upright stone, many a secret cave, many a half 
 obliterated fort, where the champion of their 
 liberties inflicted terrible revenge on the foes of 
 his native country. Nor did he appear to have 
 remained long single-handed in this arduous work 
 he had now begun. His talents, vigor and long¬ 
 ing aspirations after liberty soon gathered around 
 him a chosen band of youths who were filled with 
 the same spirit as himself. They were sad to think 
 that the sun that had now apparently set had con¬ 
 tinued to shine so long upon the liberties of their 
 country ; for his benign rays were traceable from 
 the days of Galgachus, the great Caledonian chief, 
 down to those of Alexander the Third, when the 
 reign of truth, virtue, and justice was maintained 
 throughout the land. And becoming reckless and 
 intrepid, owing to the present unsatisfactory con¬ 
 dition of their country, they were prepared to 
 prefer a life of precarious, yet unrestrained, al¬ 
 though savage liberty in the caves and woods of 
 their native land, to the promise of peace and of 
 comfort at the hand of those who were its sworn 
 enemies. Such youths would find in Wallace a 
 leader exactly adapted to their disposition, for he 
 possessed large resources of mind to devise, and 
 power to execute the most hazardous enterprises ; 
 and concentrating his love of liberty and his ani¬ 
 mosity against his oppressors into one deep and 
 
 r 
 
82 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 continuous principle, he led them forth from their 
 hiding places, whenever a fit opportunity offered, 
 and often inflicted terrible chastisement on their 
 foes when they least expected it. Nor were those 
 that followed his standard at the outset, all gather¬ 
 ed from the lowest orders of society. Many of 
 them were of high birth, and the blood of the 
 noblest families of the land flowed in their veins. 
 For such were Sir Andrew Murray, Sir William 
 Douglas, and Sir Robert Boyd, and from the first 
 two noble patriots, the proud and ancient dukes 
 of Athole and Hamilton, are fain to trace their 
 descent; and from the last, the noble but latterly 
 unfortunate Earls of Kilmarnock took their rise. 
 Besides these he could always rely upon the sup¬ 
 port and good-will of the common people, who 
 not only viewed the proceedings of Wallace and 
 his associates with indulgence, but with the utmost 
 pride and satisfaction. And brooding over the ills 
 of their country, and the spirit of revenge pent up 
 yet rankling in their honest breasts, they only 
 wanted a trustworthy leader to conduct them 
 forth, and avenge themselves on those from whom 
 they had received terrible injuries. When those 
 feeble efforts began to be put forth in behalf of 
 the liberties of Scotland, by some of its greatest 
 sons, who were afterwards to figure so conspicu¬ 
 ously in its history, and work out for themselves 
 a wreath of imperishable fame, Wallace, their 
 leader, had fully grown into manhood, and pos¬ 
 sessed all those qualities that would entitle him to 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 83 
 
 the esteem and respect of his ardent followers. His 
 moral qualities, without which no man can be con¬ 
 sidered truly great, appeared to have been of a 
 high order, and shone forth conspicuously from 
 the outset of his chequered and eventful career. 
 He firmly trusted in God, as a child does in a 
 parent, and that he would soon come to avenge 
 the injuries cruelly inflicted on his prostrate and 
 bleeding country, drying up its wounds and wiping 
 away its tears. This confidence in his Maker never 
 forsook him amid all the remarkable vicissitudes 
 of a short but eventful life, Avliich has been ren¬ 
 dered doubly sublime by its constant, determined 
 and heroic daring. And even at last, when exposed 
 to greater sufferings than almost ever fell to the 
 lot of frail humanity to endure, and when left 
 alone in the struggle without a kind friend to 
 manifest a look of compassion, or shed a tear, for 
 the loss that liberty would sustain; his lofty spirit, 
 eager to get loose and soar away to regions beyond 
 the sky, seemed long to be regardless of the in¬ 
 sults and cruel torturings of the body, and held 
 close communion with the Eternal Being in whom 
 he confided. His courage was also n of the most 
 undaunted and tried character, and an entire 
 absence of all fear constituted one of its strongest 
 ingredients. It never forsook him, though it often 
 made him more rash and venturesome in exposing 
 his life to imminent danger than his followers 
 could have wished. But still it was the same prin¬ 
 ciple that nerved and bore him up, when exposed 
 
84 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 to terrible odds on the battle field and elsewhere. 
 And by it the arms of his followers were upheld, 
 and their hearts cheered and enlarged, while 
 they rushed into danger, regardless of the result, 
 wherever their beloved leader was seen in the 
 van. He was possessed of an unbounded, generous 
 nature, for often in distributing the goods and 
 money which his trusty sword had procured for 
 him, and his followers, in the taking of a fort or 
 the slaughtering of some of the wealthiest of 
 their foes, he generally gave them the larger por¬ 
 tion of the spoil, and reserved little or nothing 
 for himself; and provided only the liberty of his 
 country could be secured, he was willing with the 
 meanest of his followers to share in the flesh of 
 the wild beasts for his food, and to be clothed 
 with their furs; while the shady forest afforded 
 him a safe retreat, and the damp and dreary 
 cavern shelter from the blast and dark howling 
 tempest, and, what was worse than all, from the 
 savage pursuit of the foul enemies of his country. 
 Injuries he was ever ready to forgive, although 
 inflicted on him by the hands of his friends, for 
 the nobility over the country looked upon him as 
 an upstart, and with jealousy and suspicion 
 throughout; and they did so even although they 
 ranked themselves on the side of those that were 
 willing to contend for its liberties. But he freely 
 forgave them for this injustice and other injuries 
 received at their hands, and the only things he 
 never would forgive were treachery and false- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 85 
 
 hood ; for through the former vice he had wit¬ 
 nessed the liberties of his country bartered away 
 for paltry gold, and the latter he had ever been 
 taught to hate, from the moment he was able to dis¬ 
 tinguish between right and wrong. And we can 
 easily see why it was the case that he should 
 punish such vices with the most resolute severity. 
 There was scarcely any other way of acting in the 
 circumstances in which he and his followers were 
 placed. For considering the life he led, and the 
 broken people that surrounded him, the principles 
 of honor and good faith were the only bonds of 
 safety that united them together, and in some 
 cases perhaps these alone could be maintained by 
 the dread of punishment. He possessed a genius 
 remarkably fertile in devising expedients, in 
 the way of anticipating danger when far off, and 
 of warding it away when it appeared near at hand. 
 And this enabled him often to thwart the most 
 cunning devices of his enemies, and to inflict ter¬ 
 rible vengeance upon them when they least ex¬ 
 pected it. His readiness of eye and retentiveness 
 of memory, were of such a nature as to enable 
 him to seize at a glance the features of a country, 
 and its suitableness for the kind of warfare in 
 which he was engaged. And for long afterwards 
 he could keep them in reserve, and turn them to 
 advantage when an opportunity presented itself 
 of fighting or covering a retreat. As to his phy¬ 
 sical powers, even when we make full allowance 
 for all the exaggerations of his biographers, they 
 
86 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 must have been extraordinary, and far greater 
 than those allotted to the strongest men in a war¬ 
 like age. He was possessed of an iron frame, 
 when he grew up to manhood, he approached nearly 
 to the gigantic, and his personal strength was 
 greater than many of the sons of men. And in 
 those days when such things were highly 
 prized and commanded respect, they must have 
 gone far to recommend him to the favorable con¬ 
 sideration of his followers. But lest it should be 
 supposed that we are exaggerating any of the 
 traits of this remarkable man’s character, we 
 shall quote from Fordoun, no mean authority, and 
 to whom Scotland owes much. For when the ruth¬ 
 less hand of Edward had seized all its records 
 and consumed them in the flames, lest its inde¬ 
 pendence should appear to any, he carefully col¬ 
 lected all the manuscripts that had escaped the 
 hands of this cruel vandal, and which happily 
 were deposited in the monasteries throughout the 
 country, beyond his control, and compiled them 
 into a neat and truthful history, from which the 
 celebrated Buchanan and others freely copied. 
 Fordoun, when writing of Wallace, refers to him 
 as follows: “ He was of a tall and almost gigantic 
 stature, broad shouldered and large boned, with 
 long and muscular arms, yet thin in the flanks, 
 and unincumbered with much flesh, or fat round 
 the reins; of an open and cheerful countenance 
 and gracious address. In his skill and address in 
 all warlike exercises he was equal to the most 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 81 
 
 accomplished knights of his time, and nature seems 
 to have liberally endowed him with all the quali¬ 
 ties which were calculated to conciliate the affec¬ 
 tion of his followers, and to ensure him popularity 
 with the people.” Add to the above description 
 a facile eloquence which he possessed, which went 
 straight to the hearts of his followers, and carried 
 conviction with it before rushing into the field of 
 battle, or engaging in any great enterprise ; and 
 we need hardly wonder how his influence soon 
 became so great among his countrymen, or why it 
 was that the celebrated Thomas the Rhymer, 
 when his fame was at its height, appreciated his 
 talents and hardihood so highly as to predict that 
 this was the man that Providence had raised up 
 to restore the ancient kingdom of Scotland to its 
 former state of independence, and make its glory 
 shine forth conspicuously. For the national feel¬ 
 ing at this time in Scotland, although very much 
 repressed, indicated uneasiness and a rising spirit 
 of resistance near at hand, inasmuch as the cruel 
 Edward before quitting Scotland, had given strict 
 orders that all who had not taken the oath of 
 fealty to England should be compelled to do so 
 under severe penalties; and this included the lesser 
 barons, gentry, and burgesses throughout the 
 country. It might have been easily seen what a 
 terrible storm this would raise all over the kins:- 
 dom, for although the greater barons were bribed 
 and sold, and silenced, the work of subjection was 
 not half begun; for many of the lesser ones and 
 
88 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 the middle classes generally, despising them for 
 their servile and avaricious spirit, refused to take 
 the oath, and prepared themselves to fight for the 
 liberties of their country, whenever an opportun¬ 
 ity presented itself. Meanwhile Cressingham, the 
 governor, a proud, self-sufficient, and ignorant 
 ecclesiastic,and Ormesby, the justiciary, fanned the 
 flame, for when firmness, gentleness and modera¬ 
 tion were necessary to prevent a general revolt, 
 they excited universal hatred and disgust in the 
 mind of all right-thinking men by exacting by force 
 and military rigor the fulfilment of the orders. 
 The Rhymer must have noticed all these things, 
 with the greatest care, and the gathering storm 
 that was near at hand; and by means of his shrewd 
 sagacity he must have been able to see in Wallace 
 the coming man that was to conjure up the spirits 
 of his forefathers, who had long before this passed 
 away to the land of forgetfulness, and who died 
 to conquer. He had little difficulty in 'coming to 
 this conclusion, for the uncommon courage and 
 strength which Wallace, from the outset of his 
 career, had already displayed, were proofs positive 
 that he was destined to act no common part in 
 the struggle ; and, above all, his unconquerable 
 thirst for enjoying the sweets of liberty and for 
 avenging the injuries inflicted on his poor and 
 sorely afflicted country by the English, was a sure 
 sign that Providence pointed him out as one that 
 was to accomplish much. And his followers, like¬ 
 wise, must have had ample confidence in him 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 89 
 
 from the first, on account of these things, and also 
 for the remarkable judgment his plans displayed, 
 in his various attacks made upon the English. By 
 such he cut off their straggling parties, surprised 
 their smaller forts, and spread terror and deso¬ 
 lation over the country; and even when sur¬ 
 rounded by superior numbers, his singular courage 
 and bravery were a host in themselves, nerved 
 his followers to acts of heroic daring, with him¬ 
 self, so that victory was sure to be their reward 
 in the end. Such guerilla war and desultory 
 excursions were useful to Wallace, for it made him 
 acquainted with the strongest passes throughout 
 the country, and where, with few forces, a reso¬ 
 lute defence could be made against a much supe¬ 
 rior force when it was required; while he was 
 enabled to acquire habits of command over men 
 of fierce and turbulent spirits, subdue them to his 
 own mind, and lead them forward to victories. 
 For it cannot be denied that, inasmuch as he him¬ 
 self was declared a traitor, and a large sum of 
 money set upon his head, he would be mostly fol¬ 
 lowed at first by men of broken fortunes, who had 
 forsaken vassalage to their lords and submission 
 to the authority of Edward; and men, therefore, 
 to whom subsistence and plunder would appear of 
 as much importance as the liberties of their 
 country. Besides, the advantages were reciprocal, 
 for Providence had brought them in contact with 
 a person whom, from the outset, they must impli¬ 
 citly obey. But, when once their wildness of 
 
90 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 nature and turbulence of character were toned 
 down, and lie became thoroughly acquainted with 
 their habits, actions and trustworthiness, the 
 sternness of the chief gradually merged into the 
 confidence and assurance of the friend. For never 
 any person possessed greater power than Wallace 
 in winning the affections and gaining the hearts 
 of those with whom he came in contact. His 
 openness of character, his thorough want of self¬ 
 ishness, and soothing, winning address, may to a 
 certain extent account for all this; but his great 
 knowledge of human nature, and how to adapt 
 himself to the habits and'circumstances of all with 
 whom it was his lot to come in contact, is a more 
 satisfactory solution of the whole case. In this 
 way his followers soon became identified with 
 their leader, were prepared to risk everything for 
 him, and to follow, for better or for worse, where¬ 
 soever he might lead. He held out to them a 
 glorious future, even the freedom of their country 
 from degradation and servitude; but he assured 
 them it could only be secured by labor and toil 
 and blood, and it might be even by death itself. 
 But the end would be worth contemplating, justi¬ 
 fying the means, and great would be the results. 
 They shared in believing in such things them¬ 
 selves, for their fortunes, for better and for worse, 
 were cast with his. In this way they suffered 
 privations cheerfully, for they were often in 
 weariness, in watching, in hunger, in thirst, in 
 cold and in nakedness. But while they suffered 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 91 
 
 these things joyfully, and accustomed themselves 
 to rapid marches and to guard against surprise, 
 they gradually acquired more confidence in 
 their leader, from the successes that generally 
 accompanied their arms; regarded with con¬ 
 tempt the nation by whom the servile nobles 
 had allowed themselves to be overcome, and 
 looked forward to the time when, through their 
 earnest contendings, the land of their birth 
 would again be free. The consequences of 
 these advantages over their enemies were soon 
 seen not only among the few followers who 
 had dared to flock to Wallace’s standard at 
 first, and gather courage and confidence from 
 them, but many more did so from different 
 parts of the country, encouraged by the same 
 means; for the cruelty and continued harass- 
 ments of the English had driven them to 
 desperation, and they began to prefer death to a 
 life of bondage and the meanest subjection. The 
 wish for revenge on an enemy who were ever in¬ 
 sulting and anxious to degrade them became a 
 strong and irrepressible passion that burned in 
 their breasts; and, however perilous the revolt, 
 they had counted the cost, and wished to execute 
 the desire of their hearts, in following to the 
 field one who had already deserved well of his 
 country. It was in this way the ranks of Wallace 
 were filled up, so that he was gradually at the 
 head of a considerable body of followers, who, as 
 circumstances allowed, either acted in concert or 
 
92 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 divided themselves into separate parties, and in¬ 
 flicted severe chastisement upon their enemies. 
 One of these parties about this time was led by 
 Wallace to Scone, who by a rapid march surprised 
 the justiciary Ormesby, who was at this time 
 holding Court there. The cruel functionary 
 escaped with difficulty, but his followers were 
 seized and put to death, and a rich booty taken, 
 and divided among the patriot followers. The 
 same success attended the arms of Douglas, who 
 with another division had broken in upon the 
 West of Scotland, nearly about the same time- 
 Some castles of considerable strength were be¬ 
 sieged and taken, and new life and energy infused 
 into the hearts of them who had now in earnest 
 espoused the cause of liberty, and who were 
 determined at all hazards to contend manfully for 
 it. In short the same great truth was at this 
 time verified in Scotland, which has before and 
 since been made manifest in the history of liberty 
 over the world. And it is this: When the tyrant 
 who oppresses a country imagines himself secure, 
 and succeeds in stamping out, as he supposes, the 
 last vestige of its liberty, then the hour of de¬ 
 liverance draws near. The nobles of that country 
 may be seduced, and bribed and forced into com¬ 
 pliance with his unholy wishes; the clergy may 
 be silenced, or shut up in prison, or forced to 
 comply with his requests, however contrary to 
 their desires; the lesser barons, by threatening 
 confiscations and the dread of utter ruin, may be 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 93 
 
 concussed into temporary alliance : but it matters 
 not, for every unholy tree thus planted shall be 
 rooted up; and the desire for enjoying and 
 perpetuating liberty in the great body of a people 
 who once were free is immortal in its character, 
 and boundless in its nature. It will exist and 
 bear fruit luxuriously when all tyrants shall have 
 gone to the wall, and can never be destroyed 
 but by the extermination of the inhabitants of a 
 country themselves. Edward of England felt it 
 thus to be so in regard to the people of Scotland, 
 for although the majority of the nobles were 
 either imprisoned in England, or taken away with 
 himself to assist in a war against France; 
 although the principal towns in Scotland were 
 also quiet, for there the conqueror kept a strict 
 watch, and the great castles and fortresses were 
 so likewise for they were strictly guarded by 
 English soldiers; yet he found to his cost, that 
 Scotland had yet to be subdued, for from every 
 distant glen, every sequestered forest, every 
 remote valley, a spirit of resistance, “ still as the 
 breeze, but dreadful as the storm,” began to dis¬ 
 play its power, and the destruction of that system 
 of despotism that had been carefully established 
 over the country was sure soon to take place. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 general rising over the country near at hand. The hope 
 of the people centred in Wallace. Ilis attention 
 diverted from the distraction of his country, owing to 
 an attachment formed for the heiress of Lamington. 
 The governor of Lanark had intended her for his son, 
 and burdened her property to hurry on the match. She 
 was beautiful, wise and courteous, and captivated the 
 heart of Wallace. Was privately married to her by 
 Blair, his chaplain. The marriage concealed on account 
 of the feelings of the governor. Wallace did not re¬ 
 main long in private. Attacked and slew Fenwick at 
 the head of a convoy from England to Ayr Castle. 
 Fenwick had previously slain his father in a skirmish. 
 Thereafter news communicated to Wallace that Gar- 
 gunnock Castle, lately erected in a mountainous district 
 near Stirling to overawe the natives of the country, 
 was in a defenceless state. Wallace hastened thither, 
 attacked the castle during the darkness of night and 
 put the garrison to the sword. He turns up soon after 
 at Cathcart, near Glasgow. Attacks a party of English 
 who had insulted his uncle, the sheriff of Ayr, and puts 
 several of them to the sword. To avoid the search of 
 Beck, bishop of GlasgoAV, passed over the Clyde and 
 arrived in the beautiful country of the Earl of Lennox. 
 Anxious Wallace should remain with him in all time 
 coming. The sphere too limited for him. Turns up 
 next at Perth. Erects rustic fortifications in Methven 
 woods. Attacks a detachment of troops on its way to 
 Rinklavin Castle, and slays General Butler, the officer in 
 command. A second detachment sent from the same 
 place also defeated and General Lorayne slain. The 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 95 
 
 governor of the castle with young Butler and a thou¬ 
 sand men resolved to take Wallace and his followers 
 dead or alive. Hard fighting and many killed, in¬ 
 cluding young Butler and the governor. Wallace 
 escapes. 
 
 The storm began to gather, the clouds became 
 more dark and ominous, and a general rising over 
 the whole country was near at hand. Still the 
 exactions and cruelty of the English were un¬ 
 abated, and drove the people into a state of wild 
 despair. Their only hope was centred in Wallace, 
 who had already by his fortitude and military 
 daring deserved well of his countrymen and 
 augured a prosperous future, while the fear and 
 dread of him had spread everywhere among the 
 English. But while it was so, his attention was 
 diverted for some time from the general distrac¬ 
 tion of his country owing to an incident in his 
 life, which is common to most men, and which in 
 the present case, although it cast a thickening 
 gloom over all his future history, helped to make 
 him devote himself the more unreservedly to the 
 cause of his country ; although a different result 
 might have been expected at the beginning. 
 Wallace at this time formed a strong attachment 
 to a young lady who was brought up in the 
 neighborhood of Lanark, and whose connections 
 had suffered terribly at the hands of the English 
 for their firm adherence to the cause of liberty. 
 Sir Hugh de Bradfute, the lady’s father, was 
 connected with some of the best families in the 
 
96 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 land, and longed to see the day when it should 
 once more he restored to its former state of inde¬ 
 pendence. He was killed, it was supposed, in a 
 skirmish with the English in trying to accomplish 
 this object, and his brave son, his heir and suc¬ 
 cessor, having imbibed from youth the patriotic 
 principles cherished by his father, suffered the 
 same fate. In too openly manifesting these 
 praiseworthy feelings he incurred the resentment 
 of Haselrig, the governor of Lanark Castle, who 
 thirsted to be avenged upon him for doing so. And 
 by means of the merest pretext, he attacked him 
 in his castle at Lamington by an overwhelming 
 force, and without any compunction put him and 
 many of his friends to the sword. The cruel 
 treatment and desolation that overtook this 
 ancient family by means of the English was 
 sorely felt by many, but by none more so than by 
 the brave Wallace. As young De Bradfute left no 
 brother nor surviving male heir who would be 
 entitled to inherit the estates, the house and 
 lands of Lamington fell to an only sister, who 
 was the last surviving branch of this once 
 rich and happy family. Haselrig, the gover¬ 
 nor, from the first, on account of her riches, had 
 his eye fixed on the heiress of Lamington, as a 
 bride for his son, or as some have asserted, for 
 himself. From day to day he was urging the 
 suit, and she was as eagerly putting it off, plead¬ 
 ing for delay till the grief for the loss of her 
 brother and slaughtered relations would be some- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 97 
 
 what abated. Meanwhile he had compelled her 
 to reside in the town of Lanark, as he said for 
 greater safety, but in order that she might be 
 completely subjected to his cruel control. For 
 this compulsory protection the avaricious tyrant 
 exacted large sums of money of the helpless 
 orphan, and burdened her property with the pay¬ 
 ment of it in order that he might hurry on the 
 match and reap the rich spoils in connection with 
 it. And the longer it was delayed the heavier 
 the exactions became ; so that the fair proprie¬ 
 tress became an object not of jealousy, but of deep 
 sympathy and commiseration, with all who were 
 really acquainted with the true circumstances of 
 the case. Wallace first became acquainted with 
 this interesting young lady while she was de¬ 
 voutly performing her religious duties, at the 
 Church of Lanark, and was struck with the 
 beauty of her appearance, the grace of her 
 demeanour and woefully forlorn and unenviable 
 position. She was at this time in the bloom of 
 youth, possessed of a noble and generous nature 
 and uncommon beauty. Her person was tall and 
 remarkably well proportioned, her face fair, and 
 beautiful, beaming with intelligence, and full 
 of benignity. She was wise, courteous, sweet 
 and abounding in gentleness, according to the 
 accounts given of her by an ancient biographer, 
 and well fitted to captivate the heart of Wallace. 
 But still an air of dreamy sadness unmistakeably 
 depicted on her countenance, on account of the 
 
 <j 
 
98 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 blood that had been shed in her father’s house, 
 and the cruel state of bondage in which at present 
 she happened to be placed; although this made 
 her doubly dear to the heart of one whose gene¬ 
 rous affections flowed forth in sympathy for 
 her in her afflictions, and who was permitted 
 to avenge such afterwards a hundred fold. 
 Good, faithful, yet unhappy Marion! thou didst 
 appear, amid the darkest hour of thy country’s 
 history, and thy gentle spirit took its flight to a 
 happier clime, before the funereal pall that had 
 covered it began to be removed! Yet even now, 
 when the actions of the oppressor and the op¬ 
 pressed are all forgotten, and the brave inhabit¬ 
 ants of the north and south are happily blended 
 into one, thy affection for thy father’s house and 
 for him likewise for whom thou voluntarily died 
 to save him from a cruel death will never be for¬ 
 gotten ! Wallace from the first moment he saw 
 Marion was charmed and captivated with her, and 
 fully resolved to make her his wife. They were 
 about the same age, and sympathy of taste, vir¬ 
 tues, and mutual desires made them entirely one. 
 W allace soon pledged that faith in marriage to 
 Marion which he often owned in a more private 
 manner, and they were united together in holy 
 wedlock by John Blair, his faithful chaplain and 
 companion. Wallace spent some time after this 
 in the endearing embraces of his wife, and the 
 English were spared from harassment and annoy¬ 
 ance. And he might have continued to do so, pro- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 99 
 
 cured through his many friends the recall of the 
 outlawry that had been passed against him, and 
 spent the remainder of his days amid the quietude 
 of rural retreat, and the society of hisalfectionate 
 Marion. But Providence would have it ordered 
 otherwise, for he was soon called out once more 
 for the defence of the liberties of his country ; so 
 that the tender ties that were formed betwixt him 
 and his wife were soon torn asunder. After his 
 marriage, tidings were conveyed to Wallace that 
 one Fenwick, an English officer of mark, who 
 some time before this had headed a military party 
 in which his revered father, Sir Malcolm Wallace, 
 had been slain, was conducting a strong convoy 
 from England for the supply of the garrison at 
 Ayr. He had long desired to come in contact 
 with one who had deprived him of so worthy a 
 parent, and make him dearly pay for an act of 
 cruelty which, from his earliest days, he had 
 vowed to avenge whenever he was in circum¬ 
 stances to do so. For it had tinged from infancy 
 his otherwise happy and cheerful temper with 
 melancholy tendencies, and deprived him from 
 the outset of his career of a large amount of en¬ 
 joyment which, but for that, would have fallen to 
 his lot. Having ascertained the route the enemy 
 was likely to choose in its northward course, 
 Wallace hastily picked out fifty of his most trusty 
 associates on whom in any trying emergency he 
 could safely rely. He disposed of them amid the 
 neighboring forest near to the road the English 
 
100 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 must necessarily take, and there they remained 
 concealed during the night, patiently awaiting 
 the approach of the enemy till the following day. 
 The sun had scarcely appeared over the top of 
 Tintock, casting his golden rays across the valleys 
 and forests that richly intervened, when two of 
 the spies that had'been on the lookout during the 
 night, approached the hiding place of the party 
 with rapid motion and announced that the glitter¬ 
 ing spears of the southerners were full in sight. 
 Priest Blair committed them and their cause to 
 God. Wallace yearned to be avenged on his 
 deadliest foe; and having made his dispositions 
 with ease and speed, waited their approach with 
 full assurance of victory, however great their 
 number. It is said when Fenwick saw the hand¬ 
 ful of Scots stationed on the road before him, he 
 was filled with satisfaction, convinced that it would 
 be impossible for them to resist so superior a force 
 under his immediate control; and he doubtless 
 looked with assurance to the happy period when 
 he would be able to present them as prisoners be¬ 
 fore the governor of the castle at Ayr, with the 
 robber of Clydesdale, as Wallace was facetiously 
 called by the English, at their head, to grace his 
 triumph into this ancient town, and castle. But 
 the hopes of man are often delusive, and their 
 vision of the future an airy and idle dream. Fen¬ 
 wick felt this indeed to be the case, for he was 
 never again permitted to greet the governor of 
 the castle; and many of his followers, as confident 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 101 
 
 as himself, left their blood to dye the heath dur¬ 
 ing this the last of their days. Wallace, like a 
 wise and undaunted leader, did not allow his 
 small body of followers to wait till they were at¬ 
 tacked, but ordered them to make a rapid move¬ 
 ment and charge the advance of the convoy with 
 their long spears with the greatest ardor. They 
 did so with success, carrying confusion not only 
 throughout the front but into the very centre of 
 the squadron, and filling the hearts of their 
 enemies with terror and dismay. It mattered not 
 how superior the force might be that was 
 everywhere opposed to them, or how terrible 
 the charges made to break the little band that 
 had resolved to conquer or die while united to¬ 
 gether. They were repulsed as often as they were 
 made, and by bitter experience the English chief 
 was taught that all his efforts in this direction 
 were vainly put forth. At last Wallace fixed his 
 eagle eye upon the leader, and longed to measure 
 swords with one whom of all others, he had de¬ 
 sired most for many years to meet, and to avenge 
 the blood of a loving father he had slain. With 
 the fury of the lion he cleared a way with 
 his gleaming sword to the spot where the hated 
 Fenwick had taken up his position, and who 
 appeared anxious to avoid a personal encounter 
 with one whom the justice of his cause had roused 
 into the fury of a tempest. But it was vain to 
 do so, for he reached him at last, and with one 
 dreadful blow struck him from the saddle of his 
 
102 
 
 LIFE OF SIR W ILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 splendid charger to the ground, and thus finished 
 a work which he had long wished to accomplish. 
 But although their leader was slain, the English 
 continued to fight with unabated fury, and under 
 the guidance of one Bowmond, second in com¬ 
 mand, resolved with him to retrieve if possible 
 the advantages they had already lost. They 
 maintained their ground with inflexible resolu¬ 
 tion. They repeated their charges with heroic 
 bravery. And it was not till the brave Bowmond, 
 covered with wounds, fell beneath the sword of 
 the youthful Laird of Riccarton, that they began 
 to lose courage, and fled from the field in the 
 wildest disorder, leaving a hundred of their 
 followers dead behind them, to attest the fierce¬ 
 ness of this bloody fray. Besides two hundred 
 draught horses, a numerous train of waggons with 
 provisions of every description, and a consider¬ 
 able sum of money and other valuables fell into 
 the hands of Wallace and his followers. Part of 
 the spoil they appropriated among the sorely 
 distressed inhabitants of the districts, and part 
 they carried to their inaccessible retreat amid the 
 extensive forests of Lanarkshire, to be used when 
 circumstances required it. This bloody skirmish is 
 supposed to have taken place at Beg, in the parish 
 of Galston, and in the statistical account of the 
 parish, the following notice is recorded : “Among 
 other antiquities there may be mentioned a place 
 called Beg, where the brave Wallace lay in a 
 species of rude fortifications, with only fifty of 
 
LIFE OF SIR WLLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 103 
 
 his friends, yet obtained a complete victory over 
 an English officer of the name of Fenwick, who 
 had two hundred men under him.” The result 
 of this contest had a powerfully depressing effect 
 on the mind of Percey, the governor of Ayr 
 Castle, for he had long waited for the convoy 
 which he fondly hoped would relieve the garrison 
 which, owing to the exhausted state of the 
 country, was already reduced to the point of star¬ 
 vation. And as party after party of the straggling 
 remains of the English force at Ayr arrived, 
 without any one to lead them, and recounted their 
 sad disaster with exaggerated accounts of the 
 great number of the Scots who attacked them, 
 and the incredible strength of their leader, the 
 heart of the bold Northumbrian chief quailed at 
 the fearful recital, for it placed him in the most 
 trying circumstances. Wallace and his followers 
 being filled with enthusiasm at their recent re¬ 
 markable success, and being at the same time 
 plentifully supplied with provisions of every kind, 
 began to plan new excursions into more remote 
 parts of the country and on a more extensive scale, 
 in order if possible to execute more terrible ven¬ 
 geance on their southern adversaries than they 
 hitherto had been able to inflict. Some of their 
 secret friends from a distance had been able to 
 hold communication with them, and informed 
 them that the fortification at Gargunnock, in 
 the neighborhood of Stirling, now held by the 
 English, was carelessly guarded although plen- 
 
104 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 tifully supplied with every kind of provisions. 
 It was but recently erected in the midst of a 
 mountainous and highly picturesque part of the 
 country, for the purpose of overawing the patriotic 
 mountaineers who began to be troublesome, and 
 assisting to ward off a sudden attack if made 
 from this quarter on the castle of Stirling, which 
 was always looked upon as one of the strong¬ 
 holds of the North. The workmen had not 
 finished their fort when the above intelligence 
 was communicated to Wallace and his associates 
 amid their inaccessible retreats in Lanarkshire,, 
 and how the drawbridge of the Peel was often 
 left down at night to save the English the 
 trouble in the morning of admitting the mechan¬ 
 ics into the interior of the buildings. They pro¬ 
 ceeded at once to the forest in the neighborhood, 
 and despatched spies to ascertain the probability 
 of their success in the undertaking, who were to 
 inform them when a favorable opportunity of at¬ 
 tack might occur by lighting a fire on a hill that 
 peered up to a great height beside the castle. The 
 sun had scarcely gone down behind the lofty Ben 
 Lomond, and Ben Ledi that skirted the distantpros- 
 pect in the rear of the fort, bathing in tints of 
 mellowed light Stirling Castle and its turrets and 
 all the surrounding district, noted above all other 
 parts of the country for the grotesque wildness 
 and variety of its scenery, when the beacon fire 
 was ignited from the top of the hill, shedding a 
 glare of light on all the objects that surrounded 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 105 
 
 it, and sending a column of curled smoke far up 
 into the heavens. The signal was at once under¬ 
 stood. Wallace and his men advanced immediately 
 towards the fort, and were approaching near it 
 about the middle of the night when sleep was 
 pressing heavily on its defenders within, and who 
 were sadly ignorant of the awful doom that so 
 soon awaited them. Unfortunately for them the 
 drawbridge was down, and no obstruction left in 
 its place; but the door was firmly secured within, 
 which was likely to offer a sufficient amount of 
 resistance till the garrison would be fully prepared 
 for its defence. Wallace, however, aware of the 
 value of time, hastened with a heavy piece of 
 timber, and rushing against it, threw it open ; 
 while the wall on every side of it, shaken by the 
 concussion, tumbled to the ground. The porter, 
 although he was soon on the spot, was felled to 
 the ground. The captain quickly followed after, 
 but suffered the same fate ; and the whole garri¬ 
 son, with the exception of the women and child¬ 
 ren, were put the sword. These received from 
 Wallace a passport, to proceed in safety to the 
 nearest castle in possession of the English, and 
 after he had distributed a large quantity of pro¬ 
 visions and all the money obtained in the garri¬ 
 son among his faithful followers, he burned it 
 down, demolished its fortifications, and assured 
 his followers, amid its smoking ruins,' that he 
 would thus evermore proceed in the work of des¬ 
 truction till every southerner was thus swept 
 away from every portion of his beloved land. 
 
106 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 Scarcely had the affair so disastrous to the Eng¬ 
 lish been settled up at Gargunnock, than we find 
 Wallace at Carthcart near Glasgow. Here with 
 two others of his associates, he puts to death a 
 party of five Englishmen who had insulted his 
 uncle, the sheriff of Ayr, on his way to Glasgow 
 to attend an extraordinary council called by Beck, 
 the Bishop of Durham, consisting of the sheriffs 
 and governors throughout the country, for the 
 purpose of devising means for raising taxes to 
 defray the enormous expenses of keeping such a 
 large military force in the country to hold the 
 people in a state of complete subjection. From 
 this they passed over the Clyde to avoid the ven¬ 
 geance of Beck, who had thrown aside the cassock 
 to assume the sword. They soon reached the 
 shores of Loch Lomond, the queen of Scotch 
 lakes, and were within the country of the Earl 
 of Lennox, who received them joyfully; for with 
 his large and devoted clan, he had been able to 
 maintain his independence in spite of all the 
 attempts of the English, and chastise them often 
 sorely when they dared to enter within the pre¬ 
 cincts of his extensive possessions. He had ex¬ 
 cellent opportunities afforded him for enabling 
 him to do so; for the wild and rugged fastnesses 
 of the country, together with the warlike spirit of 
 the people, were sufficient barriers in the way of 
 the hostile attacks of his enemies, however well 
 concerted they might happen to be. The earl en¬ 
 treated Wallace to remain with him in all time 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 107 
 
 coming, and assist him in upholding that heroic 
 spirit of freedom that burned so ardently in his 
 breast and the breasts of his devoted clansmen ; 
 but, however deeply he sympathised with them 
 in this respect, it was impossible for him to con¬ 
 fine his efforts within so narrow limits, and after 
 encouraging all parties to persevere in a work to 
 which he and his followers had devoted their 
 lives, he leaves this part of the country and pro¬ 
 ceeds towards the North. The district of St. 
 Johnston, now called Perth, to which Wallace 
 directs his steps, had been known to him from 
 youth upwards. Here he had spent some of the 
 happiest of his early days with the powerful re¬ 
 lations of his mother, and had become acquainted 
 with every place in it that was likely to afford 
 shelter and protection to himself and followers 
 when they might be pursued by the English, or 
 when sallying forth suddenly they might cut off 
 their straggling parties, when they happened to 
 scatter themselves over the country, and sorely 
 harass the poor natives. We are not informed if 
 he was invited by his friends or by some of the 
 common people, who bore with reluctance the 
 exactions of their oppressors in order that they 
 might avenge themselves on them when an oppor¬ 
 tunity offered. On their arrival, Wallace and his 
 adherents took up their abode amid the dark 
 recesses of Methven Wood in the neighborhood of 
 Perth, and prepared themselves for future action. 
 By appearing soon after before the mayor of the 
 
10S 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 city in tlie disguise of a common mechanic, in 
 search of work, he learned everything he required 
 to know respecting the nature and the strength 
 of the garrison, and likewise that a reinforcement 
 of a hundred men was to leave early on the 
 morrow for the purpose of strengthening the force 
 in the castle of Kinclavin, in the neighborhood. 
 He at once proceeded to Methven Wood and ac¬ 
 quainted his followers of the movement, who eager¬ 
 ly wished if possible to intercept it and cutoff the 
 whole of the convoy. Early on a dark and hazy 
 morning, Sir James Butler, an old and intrepid war¬ 
 rior, who had rendered himself obnoxious by 
 many acts of cruelty and oppression exercised 
 towards the inhabitants of the town and country, 
 sallied forth from the garrison at Perth at the 
 head of a hundred soldiers, and was proceeding 
 slowly along the way when a shout was raised 
 from behind a rock that projected itself across a 
 portion of the road, and his whole force was as¬ 
 sailed and thrown into confusion. This attack 
 was headed by Wallace with fifty of his trustiest 
 followers, who resolved to conquer or die, as on 
 former occasions of a similar nature. The brave 
 Butler fought with determined and heroic bravery, 
 endeavored to rally his troops after the panic 
 had subsided, but to no purpose. A fresh charge 
 was made with more force than the former attack, 
 which carried olf a large number of the English, 
 and threw the remainder into complete confusion; 
 and when their aged general fell dead at the feet 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 109 
 
 of Wallace, wlio found himself no match for one 
 who was the most renowned swordsman of his 
 time, a general panic seized the whole troop, who 
 were thrown into the wildest disorder and their 
 rout became general. From the battlements of 
 Kinclavin Castle, the conflict had been anxiously 
 witnessed by those within it, and the draw-bridge 
 thrown down to admit the remainder of the force 
 who had already lost its lpader and many others, 
 and which fled thither with the wildest confusion 
 in order to find protection from a victorious enemy. 
 But it was in vain, for the conquerors and the 
 conquered alike came rushing pell-mell across the 
 bridge and at the same time, amid the wildest 
 disorder, entered into the castle. But the cries of 
 the vanquished were soon hushed in the stillness 
 of death, for they and every soldier in the castle, 
 who amid the wild confusion could render no as¬ 
 sistance to their friends, were immediately put 
 to the sword. By midnight all the booty and 
 provisions were removed from the castle and 
 carefully deposited for future use in the neigh¬ 
 boring forest in pits that were carefully prepared 
 for them; and long before day the lurid glare of 
 the flames ascending from the building consigned 
 to destruction told a truthful tale to the friends 
 and foes of the English, and assured everyone on 
 both sides that the terrible avenger of the wrongs 
 his bleeding country had suffered was now on the 
 spot. The tidings of this sad disaster reached the 
 city of Perth on the following day, and as they 
 
110 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 ran down its streets and found their way into the 
 castle, they filled the heart of the governor and all 
 within it with feelings of the deepest sorrow and 
 regret. Nor was this all. The slaughter of their 
 brother soldiers so unexpectedly cut off, ani¬ 
 mated all alike with a strong desire to avenge 
 their deaths. And the governor at once came 
 to the resolution of arming the whole gar¬ 
 rison and sending them forth with the view 
 of bringing before him, either dead or alive, the 
 haughty Wallace, with all his followers, who 
 had dared to inflict such a cruel blow on those 
 who had so often made his countrymen quail 
 before them. This resolution was carried out 
 without any delay. Sir John Butler, the son 
 of the brave officer that had been slain, was 
 appointed to the command, in order that he might 
 forthwith avenge his father’s death ; while he was 
 assisted in the undertaking by the governor him¬ 
 self, and Sir William Lorayne, an officer of great 
 bravery and experience, and who, at the same time, 
 was much beloved by the soldiers of the garrison. 
 The number of these, at the period referred to, 
 amounted to upwards of a thousand, and were to 
 be disposed of in the following manner, with a 
 view to attack and cut off Wallace and his handful 
 of followers. First, Sir William Lorayne was to 
 advance into Methven Wood, with three hundred 
 of the finest of the troops, and compel the enemy 
 to engage in fight; and secondly, Sir John Butler, 
 with the governor, was to remain in the outskirts 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 Ill 
 
 of the forest, to prevent the escape of the fugi¬ 
 tives and cut them off when they might be 
 expected to be driven from their place of retreat. 
 The plan was admirably well advised, but the 
 execution of it was attended with sad disasters 
 and fearful difficulties ; for Wallace had made care¬ 
 ful provision for such attack, and by artful man¬ 
 agement of his few but trusty followers, kept the 
 English in ignorance of the smallness of their 
 numbers, while he had formed a few rustic 
 fortifications in the form of squares, and that 
 easily communicated with each other in the midst 
 of the forest, that afforded them a large amount 
 of annoyance. The advances towards these forti¬ 
 fications were intersected with large trunks of 
 trees, in order to prevent the approach of too 
 numerous a body of the enemy, and when the 
 Scots found it necessary to retire into them, they 
 could only be pursued by straggling numbers, that 
 could be easily cut off. The defences were not 
 fully completed when the English made their 
 appearance, and Wallace showed himself at a dis¬ 
 tant part of the forest with a small number of his 
 men, with the view of drawing them away, and 
 allowing Stephen of Ireland to complete the 
 works. This heroic man, although he belonged 
 to another country, was one of Wallace’s most 
 trusty adherents. He was to him as a brother— 
 always in the thickest of the fight, and entrusted 
 with posts of honor and danger. He rejoiced with 
 his captain in prosperity, and he wept with him 
 
112 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 in adversity. But the truth is, his poor country 
 had many sore evils to complain of, and which 
 were inflicted upon it at this time by the English. 
 And by assisting to torment and crush this cruel 
 enemy in the land of his adoption, he would 
 doubtless consider he was indirectly conferring a 
 favor on his native country, which was doubly 
 dear to his heart. The stratagem of Wallace had 
 the desired effect in drawing off the attention of 
 the English from the unfinished fortifications, and 
 fixing it upon his own little party which, for some 
 time, were destined to bear the whole force of the 
 vigorous attack made by the enemy. Wallace, on 
 the approach of the English, let fly an arrow, 
 which brought down one of their more advanced 
 guard, and his example was eagerly followed by 
 his adherents, who, by shifting their ground and 
 keeping up a desultory fight, sorely vexed the 
 enemy and put many of them to death. No less 
 than fifteen of such had been slain by Wallace’s 
 own hand, and many more by his followers. When 
 the afternoon had arrived, their arrows were 
 exhausted, and they had come to a part of the 
 forest from which it was found impossible to 
 retreat, owing to a high cliff that stood in the 
 way. Here Lorayne advanced with three hun¬ 
 dred men, confident of success, for when he saw 
 the smallness of the party opposed to him, he felt 
 persuaded he would be able to surround them 
 without much difficulty, and make them prisoners. 
 But he was soon convinced of the folly of such 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE . 
 
 113 
 
 hasty calculations, for, with determined valor, the 
 Scots repulsed, with Wallace at their head, every 
 attack that was made upon them, and at the time 
 the English were putting forth tlieir strongest 
 efforts to surround them, Wallace burst from the 
 head of his followers with all the power of 
 a conqueror into the midst of the English 
 forces, carrying with him destruction and death 
 and scattering them in every direction. Ascend¬ 
 ing a rising ground he put his bugle-liorn 
 to his mouth and made the forest ring with a 
 bold and animating war-note, which was a signal 
 for motion and action for Stephen of Ireland and 
 all the party who had been engaged in finishing 
 the fortifications. They rushed to the help of 
 their friends against the mighty, and falling on 
 their rear with freshness and bravery threw them 
 into the greatest confusion and disorder. The 
 English, taken by surprise at. so unexpected an 
 attack, fled in every direction towards the skirts 
 of the forest, and were pursued by their enemies, 
 who made terrible carnage among them. The 
 slaughter would have continued, and to all appear¬ 
 ances they would have been cut off to a man had 
 they not met Sir John Butler with five hundred 
 men, who assailed the Scots in their turn with 
 such vigor and impetuosity as compelled them to 
 retreat to their rustic fortifications and prepare for 
 a determined defence. The English followed 
 them closely and at great loss were able to carry 
 the first. But they were astonished to find the 
 
 H 
 
114 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 Scots bad only retreated to a second fortifica¬ 
 tion where they were preparing to stand a siege; 
 while Wallace in the meantime, with a few of his 
 most resolute men forming a sortie, burst forth on 
 the English with all his wonted strength and reso¬ 
 lution, and after putting a large number of them to 
 death with his own hand, fell upon their leader 
 Lorayne, sword in hand, and with one stroke of 
 the same clove him through his helmet down to 
 the chin, and left him a ghastly corpse in the midst 
 of the forest. The soldiers of Lorayne were 
 utterly foiled in this their second attack, and fled 
 in terror lest they should come in contact with 
 one whose ponderous weapons carried destruction 
 on every side. At last they were prevailed upon 
 to make another attempt to cut off the little band 
 of heroes, and were led on for this purpose by 
 Butler, a person who longed to avenge the death 
 of his father and of the brave Lorayne. But 
 again their hopes were frustrated. Butler was 
 wounded by the sword of Wallace, and but for an 
 intervening branch of a tree would have been cut 
 in pieces. It was vain for them to contend any 
 longer. They, therefore, gathered up the body 
 of their wounded chief and fled along with him 
 to the borders of the forest to communicate to the 
 governor the tidings of their repeated disastrous 
 defeats. There a council of war was forthwith 
 held, and it was unanimously resolved once more 
 to attack the Scots in their intrenchments and 
 carry them if possible, sword in hand ; but in the 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 115 
 
 meantime Wallace and his followers had retired 
 from them in another direction and taken up 
 their residence in Cargyle Woods, where they 
 would be free for some time from the pursuit of 
 their enemies, and have better facilities afforded 
 them for a vigorous defence, provided they were 
 assailed by such an overwhelming force as they 
 were recently called upon to contend against. 
 After these severe and bloody skirmishes in which 
 the English suffered so heavily, they felt neither 
 able nor inclined to follow Wallace and his ad¬ 
 herents who had escaped their grasp ; and weary 
 and despondent they therefore returned to Perth, 
 leaving their leader and one hundred and twenty 
 of the bravest of their followers dead in the woods. 
 Here they again recovered from the fatigues 
 and sufferings they had been called upon so re¬ 
 cently to endure, and burning with a desire to 
 wipe out their recent defeats and losses, they were 
 again in a few days in pursuit of the enemy. An¬ 
 other terrible battle was fought in Cargyle Wood, 
 in which the English once more had the worst of 
 it, for while the Scots lost none of their men they 
 lost upwards of a hundred; and had Wallace’s 
 little band been supplemented as well as it had 
 been in the West on former occasions they would 
 have been able to cut off the English garrison to 
 a man. But it was not so, and however great the 
 slaughter of the enemy, the small Scotch force, 
 losing now and again a few of its men, became 
 gradually reduced to greater straits than ever; and 
 
116 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 as their enemies became cognizant of the smallness 
 of their numbers and the fearful exigencies they 
 happened to be in, they pressed upon them 
 with the greatest tenacity of purpose, sending a 
 sleuth-hound before them to trace out their track. 
 It was the object of the little band, which were 
 now reduced to a mere handful, to make for Gask 
 Castle, which was concealed in the midst of the 
 woods; and while they were nearly overtaken, 
 Faydon, one of their number, became so exhausted 
 as to be unable to proceed any further on the 
 journey. This, humanly speaking, saved the whole 
 of the rest, for as Wallace despatched him with 
 his own hand, lest he should fall into the power 
 of the English, when the sleuth-hound came up in 
 its pursuit, its attention was diverted from the 
 others by means of the blood of him who had 
 been slain. And strange to say as the governor 
 approached near, and stooped down to examine 
 the body by the light of the moon, two of 
 Wallace’s followers, Kerle, and Stephen of Ire¬ 
 land, availing themselves of the darkness of the 
 night, approached near, stabbed him to the heart, 
 and bursting into the midst of the woods, were 
 nowhere to be found, until they next turned up 
 near the banks of Loch Earne, many miles distant, 
 where they remained fpr some time in the most 
 perfect security. The greatest commotion was 
 raised among the English, on account of the death 
 of the governor, which afforded a breathing time 
 to Wallace and his followers, and a chance of 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 117 
 
 escaping their pursuers. They reached the castle 
 of Gask, but they were close on their track, for 
 while they resolved to send forty of their num¬ 
 ber to accompany the body of the governor to 
 Perth, Butler resolved to follow the fugitives 
 closely with five hundred men, and secure the 
 enemy of his country either dead or alive. Strange 
 to say, early next morning while Butler was view¬ 
 ing his posts, on the border of the woods, he 
 accidentally met Wallace, and drawing his sword 
 rode back to tell his men where he was to be 
 found. But alas! it was too late for him to do so, 
 for already had our hero advanced from under the 
 shade that partly concealed him, and met his 
 antagonist; and with one terrible blow cleft his 
 body asunder, in the saddle, which came rolling 
 to the ground, and thus the first and last of the 
 Butlers in this connection perished by the hand 
 of him whom they had sworn to destroy. Wallace 
 is already mounted on the back of the charger of 
 the enemy he had but recently dispatched, and 
 although the alarm is given, and the English 
 gather around him from all quarters, he once 
 more gave them the slip, for giving the reins to 
 his fiery steed, he was soon far away out of sight, 
 and his pursuers left behind to deplore the death 
 of their brave general and likewise the escape of 
 one who yet lived to inflict more severe chastise¬ 
 ment on their countrymen than he had yet been 
 permitted to do. They followed him, but in vain, 
 for his knowledge of the country gave him a 
 
118 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 decided advantage over them, and after putting 
 forty of them to death, the one after the other, 
 who dared to come near his person in the pursuit, 
 he avoided once more the toils of his foes; laughed 
 at their vain attempts to secure his person, and 
 Avas soon far away from the scene of danger. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 After leaving the North Wallace fled to Dunipace, Stirling¬ 
 shire. Was kindly received by a widow in Torwood, 
 and by his uncle. Supplied with money and horses by 
 his uncle, and proceeded with a few followers to Dun- 
 daff Castle, the seat of Sir John Graham. Kindly re¬ 
 ceived, and the son and heir swore fealty to Wallace. 
 This proved the greatest accession yet made to the 
 cause of freedom. After this Wallace and his followers 
 made for Clydesdale. Resolved to pay a few visits to 
 his wife in private, as his marriage had always been a 
 secret. Thought he would do so with safety just now 
 as a rumor had spread among the English that he had 
 been killed by his followers. Meanwhile had several se¬ 
 vere conflicts with the English. Cuts off a party of them 
 with an English knight at their head near Lochmaben. A 
 body of three hundred cavalry, headed by one Graystock, 
 lately come from England, sent after the Scots, and after 
 a terrible fight Graystock and most of the cavalry were 
 6lain. Sir John De Graham and Kirkpatrick,of Closeburn, 
 contributed largely to the victory. Lockmaben fortress 
 taken by 7 the Scots, and Kirkpatrick assigned the gover- 
 noi\ Intended as a placo of safety for them in time of 
 danger, and a safe resort for Wallace’s wife, whom he 
 wished to remove from Lanark. Paid a visit to this place 
 for the purpose, and recognized. A terrible fight ensued 
 on the street, and Wallace saved through the intervention 
 of his wife. Bi’ought before the governor and urged to 
 reveal the place of his concealment. Refused to do so, 
 and killed by the hand of the governor. The whole town 
 horrified by the act. Wallace made acquainted with it, 
 
120 
 
 LFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 returns at night with a number of his trusty followers 
 and slays the governor with his own hand. The inhabit¬ 
 ants of the town rise en masse and drive the English 
 from the place. 
 
 After Wallace left the North, where he had in¬ 
 flicted such terrible chastisement on the English, 
 but where he had met with but little assistance 
 from any excepting his trusty followers who were 
 now scattered everywhere or slain, he made for 
 Dunipace, Stirlingshire. It was here he had re¬ 
 ceived the elements of a proper education from his 
 uncle, and where he had spent some of the hap¬ 
 piest of his youthful days, amidst its beautiful rural 
 retreats. In the same place likewise his kind and 
 affable manners had previously gained him many 
 friends, and especially amongst his uncle’s servants 
 and dependents. To one of such in particular, 
 he had become a great favorite, namely, a female 
 servant, who had charge of his uncle’s house, and 
 who from the first appeared to have entertained 
 the highest notions of him. For although she 
 held a humble situation, like many of her country¬ 
 women in after ages, her soul was filled with 
 genuine patriotic fire, and, perhaps, even then, 
 while all was darkness around her, she could trace 
 some rays of hope for her enslaved country in 
 the person of a boy who was possessed of so many 
 noble qualities. After Wallace left Dunipace, she 
 became married, was deprived by death of her 
 husband, and lived a lonely widow in Torwood. 
 Still she brooded with miser care over the woes 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 121 
 
 of her country, and longed to see the day when 
 it would be relieved from them. Such being the 
 case she eagerly watched the movements of her 
 favorite Wallace, afforded him shelter and protec¬ 
 tion when his life was endangered by his enemies, 
 under the roof of her humble cottage, or in the 
 trunk of a giant oak, that spread its magnificent 
 branches in the neighborhood of it. As soon 
 as Wallace was fairly beyond the range of his 
 fierce pursurers in Cargyle Woods, he directed 
 his steps to the well-known habitation of his long- 
 tried friend ; which he reached in safety weary 
 and forlorn towards midnight. His familiar 
 signal at the window immediately raised the in¬ 
 mates, when he was welcomed with joy into their 
 lonely cot, and any simple fare they had was 
 cheerfully put before him. But he was so altered 
 in appearance that the family could scarcely know 
 him, and his haggard looks, tattered garments, 
 and armor stained with blood, told of the awful 
 amount of perils and hardships he had undergone. 
 After partaking freely of the refreshments he so 
 much needed, he at once enlisted in his service 
 the three sons of the widow, who resided with her 
 in the lonely forest, and who were all ardent pa¬ 
 triots. One of them was forthwith despatched to 
 acquaint his uncle of his arrival, and how sadly 
 forlorn and destitute he was. Another was sent 
 towards the scene of his late conflicts, to try to 
 find out if any of his late companions yet lived, 
 and if so to endeavor to bring them along with 
 
122 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 him. And the third retired with him to the lonely 
 oak near the cottage, in which he concealed him¬ 
 self, and while its branches waved majestically 
 over his head, and the wind sighed through the 
 interminable forest, he watched faithfully over 
 him while he slept soundly till the morning and 
 forgot all the toils, and labors, and scenes of blood 
 he had recently passed through. Next day Wallace 
 was delighted to find that the widow’s second 
 son had arrived with Kerle and Stephen of Ireland, 
 and his uncle also came to give him his blessing, 
 and to supply him with money and other means; 
 although lie pointed out to him the great dangers 
 with which he was beset, and the little pros¬ 
 pect there was of success. Having been plenti¬ 
 fully supplied with money and horses for him¬ 
 self and companions, while the widow allowed 
 two of her sons to accompany him, whom she 
 freely devoted to the service of her country, 
 Wallace again set out for Clydesdale, where he ex¬ 
 pected more assistance and cordial sympathy than 
 he had met with in Perth and its neighborhood. 
 By the advice of his uncle he paid a visit to Dun- 
 daff Castle on his way to the West, where he and 
 his companions were received with the greatest 
 kindness. Its proprietor, the gallant Sir John De 
 Graham, owned large estates in Strathblane and 
 along the banks of the Catron; and could trace 
 his genealogy back through a thousand sires, 
 to that brave man who dared to contend 
 with the conquerors of the world in the days 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 123 
 
 of yore. He threw down the Roman wall, 
 although built at great expense across the 
 island, and manned by the best soldiers Rome 
 could produce; for, urging his hardy Caledonians 
 through the gaps he had made, he carried destruc¬ 
 tion and death along with him to such a fearful 
 extent, as that it bears the name of Graham’s 
 Dyke at the present day. Sir John, the present 
 proprietor, was himself a fit representative of so 
 illustrious a house ; for he had acted a heroic part 
 at the battle of Largs, in assisting the good Alex¬ 
 ander the Third to annihilate the Danes, in a ter¬ 
 rible engagement which was fought there, and 
 who, up till that time, had proved a sore grievance 
 to his countrymen. His son and successor, although 
 yet a youth, had likewise distinguished himself 
 already on the field of battle, and had broken a 
 lance successfully with the bold Percy of North¬ 
 umberland, in a border feud, and received the 
 honor of knighthood at Berwick. The brave head 
 of the clan at once consecrated his son to the ser¬ 
 vice of his country, and caused him to swear 
 fealty to Wallace, as his leader and chief. And 
 no greater accession was ever made to its freedom 
 than this. The gallant Graham was always fore¬ 
 most in the hour of danger. He was trusted as a 
 brother by Wallace, and dearly beloved by all the 
 patriots. He fell at the battle of Falkirk, but not 
 till he had performed, as on many former occa¬ 
 sions, a host of deeds of heroic valor. His name 
 is fondly cherished in the district where he fell, 
 
124 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 and will doubtless continue to be so; for while 
 bravery is considered a virtue, and liberty a boon, 
 the name of Sir John De Graham will ever be 
 remembered. After spending three clays delight¬ 
 fully with the Graham family at Dundaff Castle, 
 where the wild and rugged beauty of the scenery 
 without, and the free and noble spirit of the 
 inmates of the castle within, tended to infuse new 
 energy and vigor into the minds of the patriots, Wal¬ 
 lace and his followers left the spot with reluctance, 
 and made their way to Clydesdale, to find out the 
 state of feeling there on behalf of the liberation 
 of their country. The younger Graham did not 
 just now accompany them, but the understanding 
 was that as soon as arrangements were made for 
 successful co-operation, he would do so, and take 
 the field with all his father’s retainers in order to 
 strike a decisive blow. When Wallace proceeded 
 to the West, he took up his residence in the 
 neighborhood of Lanark, in order that he might 
 pay a few visits to his wife, before it would be 
 known that he had again arrived in this part of 
 the country. He did so in disguise and in secrecy 
 likewise as he had done on former occasions, for 
 his marriage at the first with Marion Bradfute 
 had been performed in private, and had never 
 been made known to the English. For had it 
 been so, owing to the circumstances in which this 
 young lady was placed, it would have proved 
 disastrous to both. These visits to Lanark could 
 also at this time be performed with a greater 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 125 
 
 amount of safety, as a rumor had been exten¬ 
 sively circulated throughout the country that 
 Wallace had been slain by his followers; which 
 was probably owing to the fact, that the head of 
 Faydon, which cost the governor of Perth his 
 life, had been found in the manner we have des¬ 
 cribed in the last chapter, and which at the first 
 was supposed to be the head of Wallace. But 
 while he rejoiced that this rumor had taken the 
 enemy off the track, his sword never rusted in its 
 scabbard. It was ever cutting off straggling 
 parties of the English, and causing great uneasi¬ 
 ness everywhere. Still the enemy continued 
 haughty and insolent, insulting the Scotch when¬ 
 ever an opportunity offered; for, wishing them¬ 
 selves to believe that their sworn enemy was 
 dead, or far removed from them, they imagined 
 they would be allowed to do so with the greatest 
 impunity. But they were sadly mistaken, as one 
 or two of the following encounters will amply 
 testify. Wallace and some of his adherents hap¬ 
 pened to be at an inn at Lochmaben, and while 
 getting some refreshments, a party of English 
 arrived at the same place. Not satisfied with 
 cracking their jokes at the expense of their 
 Northern strangers, they proceeded to the stable 
 and inflicted several severe wounds on their 
 horses. Although fearfully irritated, the Scots 
 were unable to offer any resistance, as their 
 party was small and ill protected, and the Eng¬ 
 lish were numerous and fully equipped. They 
 
126 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 therefore, quitted the inn as soon as possible, 
 and tied to the neighboring woods, but were 
 pursued by their enemies, headed by Sir Hugh 
 Moreland, who was able to trace them from the 
 blood that issued from their horses that had been 
 so abused by them at that place. Probably like¬ 
 wise they began to suspect that Wallace was among 
 their number, and that with the greatest ease they 
 would be able to cut him off, with all his 
 adherents. In this, however, they were sadly dis¬ 
 appointed, for when they approached near the 
 woods they found the party had been joined by 
 several of their friends, who had been concealing 
 themselves from the enemy. They were still 
 much inferior to the English, but they vowed 
 vengeance on them, from the insults they had re¬ 
 cently received at their hands. A bloody conflict 
 took place. The English suffered a humiliating 
 defeat. Sir Hugh Moreland and many of his fol¬ 
 lowers lay dead in the woods, and the whole 
 party paid severely for the insults they dared to 
 offer to the strangers at the inn. The remainder 
 of the English force fled with all possible speed to 
 the castle of Lochmaben, apprised the garrison of 
 the death of their leader and many of his soldiers, 
 and also that Wallace had led on the attack. The 
 garrison was alarmed at the dismal tidings, and 
 the governor of the castle lost no time in des¬ 
 patching a force of three hundred horsemen to 
 overtake and chastise the freebooter and his fol¬ 
 lowers, as Wallace was designated, for this 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 127 
 
 daring act, and bring him before him to answer 
 for his conduct. Graystock was appointed the 
 commander of this large body of horse, and was 
 strictly enjoined to beware of ambuscades, and to 
 be careful and watchful against the devices of a 
 foe who was brave and subtle to an extreme de¬ 
 gree. But he had lately arrived from England, 
 was wrapt up in his self-importance, and looked 
 upon the adversary with whom he had to contend 
 with the utmost contempt. But he had mistaken 
 his man. He pressed blindly forward to his own 
 ruin, and allowed as fine a body of cavalry as 
 could at that time be found in Christendom, to be 
 cut to pieces by a mere handful of men. Wal¬ 
 lace and his companions having seized the horses 
 of their enemies, were moving slowly forward in 
 the direction of Clydesdale, when the formidable 
 force of the English made its appearance. He 
 ordered his men to move on deliberately, as if 
 nothing had taken place, while he himself re¬ 
 mained in the rear to prevent the enemy sudden¬ 
 ly falling upon them and cutting them off. At 
 last Graystock ordered an attack with the view 
 to surround the little band of heroes, and cut 
 them off; but while he did so Sir John Graham 
 fortunately appeared at the head of thirty horse¬ 
 men, and Sir Roger Kirkpatrick of Closeburn, 
 with twenty men all thoroughly equipped. The 
 last named rough but brave warrior and genuine 
 patriot had now fully made up his mind to join 
 the cause of freedom, and he never afterwards 
 
128 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 flinched in fighting for it when called upon so to 
 do. And his son and successor (Male’ Sicker) 
 faithfully adhered to Bruce in his darkest hours 
 when struggling for the throne of Scotland. In¬ 
 deed the whole of this noble house for ages after 
 this were noted for their generous impulses and 
 patriotic tendencies; and their female descendant, 
 the ex-Empress of France, the beautiful Eugenie, 
 is no unworthy representative of the Kirkpat¬ 
 ricks. So soon as these worthies made their ap¬ 
 pearance, Wallace felt confident that the victory 
 was his own, and charging at once through the 
 midst of the enemy bore down everything before 
 him. His friends followed with speed, and com¬ 
 pleted the confusion that had begun to take 
 place, by entirely routing the left wing of the 
 English and chasing them off the field. But the 
 right wing under Graystock, remained as yet 
 entire, and Sir John Graham was ordered to 
 charge with his body of horsemen, who were yet 
 comparatively fresh. He speedily arranged his 
 little squadron, and executed the command given 
 with alacrity and success. The attack of the gal¬ 
 lant Grahams was too impetuous to be long resist¬ 
 ed, and when with his own hand, Sir John, their 
 leader, levelled the vaunting Graystock in the 
 dust, the conflict was no longer doubtful; the 
 English fled in the wildest confusion and took 
 shelter in the woods near by. Wallace felt 
 proud of the whole proceedings, gathered his own 
 men and those of Graham and Kirkpatrick to- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE . 
 
 129 
 
 gether, and complimented all highly on the valor 
 and tact they had so ably displayed. And rest¬ 
 ing for a little and refreshing themselves, he ad¬ 
 vised them to march and make an immediate at¬ 
 tack on Loclimaben Castle, which he knew to 
 be completely defenceless. The advice was forth¬ 
 with acted upon, a guide procured for the journey, 
 and they found the castle as he expected. They 
 took possession of it without any difficulty, put 
 its inmates to the sword, and committed it in 
 charge to Sir Roger Kirkpatrick and a small num¬ 
 ber of men, while Wallace himself proceeded 
 with the rest of his trusty followers to his old re¬ 
 treat in the forest of Clydesdale. This was the 
 first fortress in which he resolved to place a 
 garrison, and he had good reasons for doing so, for 
 it had recently been well provisioned from Eng¬ 
 land, was one of the strongest holds in the south 
 of Scotland, and well fitted for a retreat in case of 
 danger, for many who now hearing of his success in 
 this part of the country had flocked to his stand¬ 
 ard. Above all he had now resolved to free his 
 wife from the state of confinement in which she 
 happened so long to be in, owing to the cruel op¬ 
 pression of Haselrig, the governor, and to place 
 her here where he would have easy access to her 
 person, and where her life would be free from 
 danger. He, therefore, now withdrew to Clydes¬ 
 dale with his trusty followers, and waited for an 
 opportunity of carrying his wishes into effect. It 
 was not long after when he resolved to visit 
 
 i 
 
130 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 liis wife in the town of Lanark ; and he did so 
 under disguise, and in the habit of a peasant, in 
 order to escape the notice of his enemies, who at 
 this time filled the town and neighborhood. He 
 was soon unfortunately recognized, however, by the 
 English soldiers, and a bloody conflict ensued, for 
 as he happened to be followed by none of his as¬ 
 sociates at the time, they imagined it would be 
 the easiest thing possible to surround him and 
 take him alive. But it was foolishness to suppose 
 that such could be the case, or that the matchless 
 in strength, or the use of the sword, could be so 
 easily brought within their reach, or made their 
 prey. The more they tried to surround him the 
 more furious he became, dealt forth his blows with 
 terrible effect and irresistible power, so that at 
 every armed impulse the foremost of his assail¬ 
 ants was found rolling in the dust. And while 
 the strokes he dealt forth were unerring and the 
 thrusts deadly, smiting to the earth every oppon¬ 
 ent that appeared in his way, the hero himself 
 was calm and self-possessed. No quailing, no 
 tremor, no confusion was manifested by him while 
 beset by a host of foes. And when he retired 
 back, considering it was foolishness to contend 
 with his enemies that were all the time thicken¬ 
 ing around him, it was only for a little, to stand 
 at bay and deal forth his deadly blows on those 
 that had the hardihood to approach first near his 
 person. Matters for some time continued in this 
 way, and the whole town became filled with 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 131 
 
 tumult; and at the instigation of young Haselrig, 
 a son of the governor, who happened at the time 
 to be from home, a fresh party was forthwith dis¬ 
 patched from the garrison to lend their assistance 
 in securing with certainty the person of Wallace. 
 They were most anxious to do so, but dreaded to 
 approach near him, or encounter the terrible 
 effect of that sword that had already proved 
 the destruction of so many of their companions. 
 Their policy was now therefore to surround him, 
 which they would soon have been able to do had 
 not help from an unexpected quarter appeared at 
 hand, for a hundred swords were levelled at him. 
 But when they expected to have thrust them into 
 his breast, and have laid his body cold in the dust, 
 the hand of his gentle wife was stretched out in his 
 behalf, and saved him from a cruel and instant 
 death. She flung open the door of her residence 
 on the opposite side of the street, where the foes 
 of her husband were hemming him in, and beck¬ 
 oned him to approach the same. He did so with¬ 
 out hesitancy, knowing who had opened the door, 
 and no sooner had he entered it than she shut it 
 in the face of his enemies. In this way his life 
 was once more saved from imminent danger, for 
 he escaped into the woods from behind the house, 
 and was soon beyond the reach of his pursuers. 
 Ilaselrig the elder, on his return to town, was in¬ 
 formed of the whole proceedings by his son, who 
 gave him a sadly distorted and exaggerated ac¬ 
 count of them; and how Wallace was permitted to 
 
132 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 escape when surrounded by the soldiers, and when 
 his capture was sure, by means of Marion Brad- 
 fute. The fury of the petty tyrant at this recital 
 knew no bounds, for the partiality of the heiress of 
 Lamington towards Wallace before this had been 
 suspected, but now was patent to all. For she 
 had stretched forth her hand and knowingly and 
 daringly assisted in his escape, when it would have 
 been impossible for him to do it by any other 
 means, and when his apprehension would have 
 afforded joy and satisfaction to the whole garri¬ 
 son at Lanark. And this heroic act and the strong 
 affection shown towards a man who had been de¬ 
 clared by Haselrig and others of the English an 
 outlaw, and on whose head a large price had been 
 set, filled the heart of this dark-souled man with 
 feelings of the deepest revenge towards this pa¬ 
 triotic woman. Alas, for the helpless and noble 
 maiden ! for she is forthwith dragged into the 
 presence of one who is likely to show her little 
 mercy, whoever might interfere in her behalf. He 
 first wished her to reveal the hiding place of 
 Wallace by holding out to her the brightest prom¬ 
 ises in the shape of a noble knight for her hus¬ 
 band, riches to any amount, with honor and pre¬ 
 ferment at the court of his Royal master the King 
 of England. All these she rejected however with 
 scorn and disdain ; for her inflexible resolution and 
 her pure and virtuous soul could never be affected 
 by such tinselled rewards, while her beloved father 
 and brother had fallen victims to him, and Wallace 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 133 
 
 forced to flee for his life to the caves and forests 
 of his native land. He next threatened her with 
 sure and instant death, but she laughed his threats 
 to scorn, and with a queenlike heroism, stretching 
 herself to the full height of her noble person, re¬ 
 fused to acknowledge even that she had done 
 wrong. Nay, on the contrary, she gloried in the 
 deed she had done, and throwing her arms abroad 
 and confronting the wretch, she looked up to 
 heaven and imploring assistance from above, she 
 dared him to strike the fatal blow. For a little 
 he was astonished at the fortitude, that one so 
 tender and lovely at this striking moment was 
 able to display. But his astonishment soon gave 
 way to a paroxysm of rage and disappointment; 
 and plunging his sword into the defenceless breast 
 of the noble girl, who deserved a better fate, he 
 laid her dead at his feet. All Lanark was terror- 
 struck at this act of wanton cruelty, and murmurs 
 not a few arose even from the midst of the English 
 garrison ; and although one of the bystanders, as¬ 
 tonished and horrified, threw himself upon the 
 bleeding body to save the vital spark, it was now 
 too late. The gentle spirit of Marion Bradfute 
 had already taken its flight to purer regions, and 
 cried for vengeance on the head of him who was 
 soon destined to pay dearly for the wicked act he 
 had recently done, and to appear before the tri¬ 
 bunal of the Judge from whom it would be im¬ 
 possible to hide his cruelties. Meanwhile, her 
 tragic death had not only excited feelings of horror 
 
134 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 but of revenge also in the breasts of all the na¬ 
 tives of the town, and they only wanted a chance 
 to avenge themselves freely on all who had been 
 accessory to it, which soon occurred. Wallace, ac¬ 
 cording to Wynton, the historian, had the sad 
 misfortune to witness from a hiding place at a 
 distance the melancholy death of his beloved wife ; 
 and what rendered it doubly more heart-rend¬ 
 ing to him at the time was the fact that he was 
 alone and unable to offer the slightest resistance- 
 He was worn out and helpless, owing to the recent 
 terrible struggle he had on the streets of Lanark 
 for his life; but the time was soon approaching 
 when he would be prepared to mete out vengeance 
 a thousandfold on its author for the perpetration 
 of such an uncalled for and diabolical act. Wal¬ 
 lace had "scarcely time to give utterance to the 
 agony and horror that tumultuated in his bosom 
 when he repaired in search of Sir John Graham 
 and his gallant followers, to whom he communi¬ 
 cated the dismal tidings. When they heard them, 
 a shriek of horror burst forth, and lamentation 
 and weeping were universally shared in by all the 
 party. For the unaccountable cruelty inflicted 
 on one so young for the love she bore her country 
 and the defender of its liberties, who might well 
 have deserved a better fate, could not help bring¬ 
 ing upon her cruel murderer the avenging justice 
 of him who could not be an indifferent spectator 
 of such a terrible crime. The night, it is said, 
 after the bloody tragedy was enacted, sixty reso- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 135 
 
 lute followers arranged themselves under the 
 banner of their chief, and desired to be led forth¬ 
 with to Lanark to execute summary vengeance on 
 one who no longer deserved to live, considering 
 what he had done. Wallace consented thus to 
 lead them, and the rays, it is said, of the silvery 
 moon were cast around their path, as they hastened 
 forward to the work of destruction. At the dead 
 hour of night they approached the town in silence, 
 when the garrison and all around were hushed in 
 tranquility and repose. They appeared to have 
 eluded every spy and watchman that might have 
 been supposed to have intercepted their march, 
 and reached near the dwelling of the governor 
 without let or hindrance. Even the queen of 
 night will grant them her generous aid, and the 
 Powers from on high bend down from above to 
 avenge the blood of one that called for judgment 
 from the starry mansions. Haselrig’s residence 
 was constructed of wood, as most others were 
 at this period in Scotland, although no such 
 thing as a wooden house could now be found from 
 John O’ Groat’s to Land’s End. It was on the upper 
 part of the dwelling where he resided which com¬ 
 municated with the street by an outside stair con¬ 
 structed for the purpose. In the event of an attack 
 this would render access to the governor’s habi¬ 
 tation more difficult; nevertheless in the present 
 case this seemed to be of little consequence. For 
 Wallace rushed up the stair, followed by his men, 
 slew the guards that stood in the way, and with a 
 
136 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 shout of death rushed into the room where the 
 governor slept. With his iron grasp he awoke 
 Haselrig, and gasping for breath the affrighted 
 man who had so recently imbrued his hands in 
 innocent blood, asked who he was and whence he 
 came ? “ I am William Wallace,” says he, “ whose 
 life you were so anxiously seeking yesterday, and 
 now I come unsought, and thou shall answer for 
 my poor maiden’s death !” What a sight for the 
 guilty Haselrig ! It was the husband of the noble 
 Marion come in all the power of avenging justice 
 to execute the wrath of the Judge of all on the 
 head of one so vile, and who was now to. 
 be devoted to destruction! And well did he 
 do his work ; for although Haselrig uttered 
 a wild scream of despair and pleaded for mercy, 
 it was all to no purpose. He dragged his naked 
 victim from the bed, ran his sword through his 
 body, and tossed him headlong from the top of the 
 stair into the street, a victim of blasted ambition 
 and of unwonted cruelty. Although the alarm 
 spread rapidly throughout the garrison, and a 
 number of the soldiers in it hastened to the resi¬ 
 dence of the governor to render him the assistance 
 he might require, it was now too late to do so. 
 His bleeding body lay motionless on the street, 
 and his spirit returned to the rightful Avenger of 
 every wrong ; shewing us that even in this life, 
 injured justice will often assert its prerogative, 
 and confirm the truth of Divine Writ also, “ that 
 bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILL IASI WALLACE. 
 
 m 
 
 their days.” The feelings of the inhabitants of 
 Lanark and the surrounding districts were so 
 outraged by the murder of the helpless and inno¬ 
 cent Marion, that they resolved to submit no 
 longer, whatever might be the consequences, to 
 the cruelty and oppression of the English. They 
 therefore resolved, with Wallace and his little 
 party, to clear the town of such usurpers as dared 
 to trample in the dust the sacred rights even of 
 women. The English made a bold stand to main¬ 
 tain their position, as the garrison was well 
 supplied with provisions at the time, and every 
 military weapon that was necessary for its defence. 
 But they soon found out their utter inability to 
 do so, for they had not only to fight against 
 Wallace and his handful of followers, who might 
 be overpowered and slaughtered, but against the 
 people. In their breasts there burnt too strong 
 a regard for injured worth, too great a love for 
 their country’s liberties, now the mock of tyrants, 
 to be easily put down. The conflict with such 
 could not be very long nor doubtful, for having 
 laid hold of every lethal weapon that came in 
 their way, they plied the same with such living 
 force and energy that the whole of the garrison 
 yielded to their overpowering numbers and were 
 put to death. The blood of the heiress of Lam- 
 ington, innocently shed,’ was now avenged, and 
 the people of Lanark has nobly assisted in doing so. 
 They risked everything dear to them in vindi¬ 
 cating her innocence and asserting the liberties of 
 
138 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 their country; and having vowed to do so, what¬ 
 ever consequences might follow, they could not 
 now go back. They became completely identified 
 with the cause of freedom, and nothing left for 
 them but to fight for it, whatever it might cost. 
 Houses, lands, relations, lives, and everything 
 else were to them but like dust in the balance, 
 while they were trodden under foot by their 
 oppressors, and the blood of the noblest of their 
 countrywomen shed wantonly, for extending a 
 protecting hand to help and to shield the sorely 
 oppressed. Crowds of them therefore flocked to 
 the standard of freedom and offered their lives 
 freely in the service of their country; and all that 
 they wished is that Wallace and his gallant friends 
 would take the field openly and lead them forth 
 to victory or death, against an enemy who had 
 forfeited every claim of mercy at their hand. 
 The nobles might crouch before the enslavers of 
 their country and purchase their liberty as a sacri¬ 
 fice of everything dear. They might live a life of 
 ignoble security at Edward’s court, and along with 
 the majority of the clergy acknowledge his 
 right to govern Scotland. But not so with the 
 natives of Lanark, and the peasants of the 
 surrounding country generally. They have 
 espoused the cause of freedom whatever it may 
 cost them, and they will fight for it to the bitter 
 end. Thousands around them, higher and mightier 
 than they, may be slaves, but as for themselves 
 they will live and die true Scottish freemen, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 139 
 
 whatever loss it may be to them so to do. It was 
 thust hat the slaying of the rich,sweet, and patriotic 
 Marion Bradfute decided the actions of thousands 
 that might otherwise have remained neutral 
 in the cause of freedom; and with trumpet tongue 
 summoned to its standard the virtuous, the 
 valorous, the good and the true. Nay more, this 
 monstrous enormity put a stop to all wavering and 
 halting between two opinions, and proved the 
 true line of separation between the faithful and 
 the false, between the patriot and the traitor, 
 between the free and the enslaved in soul. 
 And acting as a mighty lever it helped to raise 
 up the masses of Scotia’s sons sunk in the slough 
 of slavery and despondency, made them pant 
 and breathe for liberty as they would have 
 done had they been deprived of the sweet gales 
 that gently passed across the valleys of their na* 
 tive land or these beloved heaven-kissing moun¬ 
 tains around whose white summits the elements 
 had warred for ever, encouraging them so to fight 
 till their country would be for ever free. Refer¬ 
 ring to Roman history, there is a striking inci¬ 
 dent in connection with the funeral rites perform¬ 
 ed to Pompey the Great that bears a close an¬ 
 alogy to those of Marion Bradfuteis. When this 
 celebrated general,after the battle of Pharsalia, pu 
 his foot on the shores of Egypt, he was barbarously 
 slain, and his body left naked on the strand to glut 
 the curiosity of the crowds who flocked around it. 
 But a faithful freedman of his kept near the 
 
140 
 
 LIFE OF SIR MILL I AM WALLACE. 
 
 bleeding body till the crowds were dispersed, 
 washed it in the sea, and seeing the wrecks of a 
 fishing boat, procured materials for burning it and 
 preserving its ashes, an act of honor conferred on 
 all free-born Romans. While doing so an old 
 Roman soldier approached near the spot, and 
 knowing what was going on wished, whatever 
 danger might accrue, to share in the honor of the 
 same action, “ for I wish,” says he, “to touch the 
 body of the bravest general Rome ever produced.” 
 In the same manner an old and faithful domestic 
 female servant of Marion Bradfute ventured into 
 the midst of the greatest danger and at midnight 
 into the garrison at Lanark. By means of bribes 
 and bold adventures she and other faithful 
 adherents rescued the body of her beloved mis¬ 
 tress from the hands of her murderers, and carry¬ 
 ing it from the town, passing along through the 
 forests they threaded their devious, but secure 
 path,through brake andbrushwood and every other 
 obstacle that beset their way, and before day 
 broke in the dappled East they had brought it 
 near, all pale but lovely, to Bothwell Castle. 
 Here a bier was provided, and in the presence of 
 Wallace it is said, and a number of mourners, the 
 priests of St. Leonard’s formed a funeral procession 
 and consigned to the dark tomb, amid silent 
 greetings and sobbing emotions of not a few, the 
 body of the virtuous, untarnished and sigh-souled 
 woman, who was one of the bravest Scotland 
 ever produced, while her sainted spirit before 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 141 
 
 this had entered into those abodes where the 
 “ wicked cease from trouble and the weary are at 
 rest.” The tragic fate of the gentle, yet heroic 
 Marion produced an impression on the mind of 
 Wallace which all the events of his chequered 
 life could never after efface. It broke up all the 
 domestic ties that had hitherto bound him to 
 this world. It left him nothing worth caring for 
 but his country and its liberation. And vowing 
 to it alone in the room of another who was so 
 dear to him, and of whom he had been so cruelly 
 and unceremoniously deprived by the act of a 
 tyrant, which for its unwonted severity has 
 scarcely a parallel in history, he took up the 
 sword with more firm resolve and determination 
 of purpose than he had ever yet done, and swore 
 never to sheath it again till tyranny was hurled 
 from the throne, or he was consigned to the man¬ 
 sions appointed for all living. Of the latter pri¬ 
 vilege he was deprived, although he had a bap¬ 
 tism of blood to be baptised with, of which few of 
 the sons of men ever partake, for a grave was re¬ 
 fused his honored dust, which is generally con¬ 
 ceded to the worst of mankind. But still the vow 
 was sacredly performed, and his country at the 
 present day reaps the benefit of it. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The warlike operations of Wallace and his followers began 
 to assume more formidable proportions. Large num¬ 
 bers of people flocked to his standard, and he was also 
 at the head of a considerable army. The first engage¬ 
 ment betwixt them and the English was at the east end 
 of the town of Biggar. Wallace commanded the foot, 
 and Sir Walter Newbigging and son the cavalry. The 
 English forces amounted to sixty thousand, but the 
 exact number of the Scotch not known. Great bravery 
 displayed by both sides, but the English were at last 
 vanquished and much slaughter took place. After this 
 Wallace and his followers resolved to ke ep the field in¬ 
 dependent of any opposing force. Great opposition 
 experienced by Edward in the conquest of Wales from 
 the priests, and the same spirit of patriotism burnt in 
 the breasts of the Scottish clergy. Edward resolved to 
 displace them and appoint Englishmen in their place. 
 These were hated by the Scots. Anthony Beck ap¬ 
 pointed to the Bishopric of Glasgow, in the room of 
 Wishart displaced, who was at the time a professed pa¬ 
 triot. Wallace marched with some of the best of his 
 troops to Glasgow. A bloody conflict ensued, when 
 Beck had to flee to England and assure his country¬ 
 men that there would be no peace in Scotland till 
 Wallace was secured dead or alive. An iniquitous 
 transaction at this time took place at the town of Ayr. 
 A number of the Scottish nobility invited by the 
 English governor there to a friendly conference, 
 were cruelly slain, and their dead bodies thrown out 
 on the streets. Wallace’s uncle included among the 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 143 
 
 number. After this the English soldiers feasted sump 
 tuously and drank freely. They anticipated no imme¬ 
 diate danger from the Scot’s. The news of the bloody 
 tragedy spread rapidly, and "Wallace and Douglas and 
 a number of patriots were soon on the spot. They 
 approached the barns of Ayr before the English knew 
 of their approach. Securing all approaches to the 
 building they set it on fire and consumed it with the gar¬ 
 rison within. A terrible retribution was thus inflicted 
 on the enemy for their cruelty. Traditions of these 
 awful transactions still linger in the neighborhood. 
 
 After the tragic occurrence recorded in the last 
 chapter of our narrative, the warlike operations 
 of Wallace began to assume more formidable 
 proportions. Hitherto they had been chiefly of a 
 desultory character, and at the most intended 
 only to harass the enemy, and cut off straggling 
 parties of them, when a favorable opportunity 
 presented itself. But now it was otherwise. 
 For large numbers of the inhabitants of the 
 country flocked to the standard of the patriot, 
 identified themselves with the cause of liberty, 
 and eagerly desired to be led forth against the 
 enslavers of their country. Already had the op¬ 
 pression and death of Marion Bradfute borne 
 good fruit. It had intensified the strong feelings 
 of hatred the people had always borne to the 
 English, and convinced them that while they 
 held possession of the country there was nothing 
 in it worth living for. Wallace and his faithful 
 followers took advantage of this excited state of 
 public opinion, and resolved to hide no longer amid 
 
144 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 the caves and forests of their native land, but pre¬ 
 sent themselves openly before the country, and 
 rid it, if possible, of an enemy who had carried 
 misery and desolation with them wherever they 
 went. He, therefore, no longer appeared at the 
 head of a miserable handful of followers, who re¬ 
 solved whatever might be the consequences to 
 adhere to his desperate fortunes; but an army 
 of considerable dimensions was soon congregated 
 together, which at once acknowledged him as its 
 head, and which, by the quickness of its move¬ 
 ments and effectiveness of its operations, startled 
 and confounded their opponents on every side. 
 
 The first regular engagement betwixt these 
 forces and the English took place near the east 
 end of the town of Biggar, shortly after summary 
 justice had been meted out to the cruel governor 
 of Lanark. Wallace commanded the Scotch 
 army in person, and showed himself possessed 
 of all the qualities of a great captain, as 
 he was before this of a guerilla chief. With 
 a few of his faithful followers he led on the 
 foot, while Sir Walter Newbigging and son a 
 youth of only fifteen years of age, commanded 
 the cavalry. The English forces, it is said, con¬ 
 sisted of sixty thousand men, and were under the 
 direction of Lord Whichhenour, one of Edward’s 
 most trusty and experienced generals. Of the 
 number of the Scotch army we have no correct 
 account. The conflict raged long with fury and 
 doubtful success, while feats of heroic bravery 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 145 
 
 were performed by all. And little wonder that 
 such should be the case,-for the stakes were great 
 on both sides! The one contended for liberty 
 and all its endearments, the other for life and all 
 its enjoyments. Victory at last declared in favor 
 of the Scotch, which was considerably owing to 
 several charges of the cavalry, led on by the able 
 Sir Walter Newbigging, powerfully assisted by 
 his youthful but gallant son. The bravery dis¬ 
 played by this youth in his first engagement ex¬ 
 cited the wonder of all, and gained for him the 
 honor of Knighthood which was conferred on 
 him after the battle. The accounts of this en¬ 
 gagement, which appdars to have been bloody and 
 fatal to both sides, are meagre and contradictory ; 
 although it took place there can be no doubt, 
 as it is noticed in the statistical account of the 
 Parish of Biggar in the following way : “ At the 
 west end of the town is a tumulus, which appears 
 never to have been opened ; and there are ves¬ 
 tiges of three camps, each of a roundish figure, at 
 different places in the neighborhood. There is a 
 tradition of a battle having been fought at the 
 east end of the town, between the Scots under 
 Sir William Wallace, and the English, who were 
 said to be sixty thousand strong, wherein a great 
 slaughter was made on both sides, but especially 
 among the latter.” This fierce engagement in 
 which the Scots were so successful, animated them 
 with new hope, and Wallace had every reason 
 to congratulate himself on the courage and dis- 
 
146 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 cipline liis troops had displayed, and to expect 
 even greater things of them in the future. He, 
 therefore, resolved to keep the field, whatever 
 forces the English might bring against him; and 
 while the main body of his army was sufficient to 
 engage the attention of the enemy, smaller por¬ 
 tions of it were employed throughout the country 
 in surprising distant garrisons, and putting to the 
 sword many before they had the slightest intima¬ 
 tion of their sudden approach. One of the prin¬ 
 cipal obstacles in the way of the subjection of 
 Wales by the cruel Edward, was the strong op¬ 
 position he met with from its patriotic bards and 
 priests. In the minds of these were nurtured 
 throughout all ages the strongest aspirations after 
 liberty, which they infused into the hearts of 
 their countrymen. No bribes, no threats .could 
 extinguish such feelings. They remained from 
 the days of the Roman conquest downward as 
 firmly engraven in their hearts, as the mountains 
 of their native land, which everywhere surround¬ 
 ed them, and whose pure fresh breezes were but 
 proper emblems of what to them was dearer than 
 any earthly blessing. But the conquest of this 
 country was of far more importance in the eyes 
 uf this cruel invader than the lives of all its nar 
 tives, with the priests included. And finding that 
 such was impossible while they continued to live 
 and exercise their spiritual functions, he adopted 
 the savage resolution of putting them all to a cruel 
 death. In his attempts to crush the liberties of 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 147 
 
 Scotland the wary tyrant anticipated the same 
 difficulties from the ecclesiastics, and albeit the 
 Pope, his spiritual father, prevented him from 
 exercising towards them the same amount of 
 cruelty, he nevertheless resolved to rid the coun¬ 
 try of them from the time of his first invasion of 
 it. Accordingly he ordered that all the parishes 
 as soon as they fell vacant should be filled up 
 with English incumbents. The result was that a 
 host of hirelings rushed across the borders, took 
 possession of all the best livings, and reduced the 
 native clergy to poverty, or drove them into exile. 
 And not only so, but while pretending to exercise 
 their spiritual functions, they betrayed the most 
 sacred and valuable interests of the poor and op¬ 
 pressed natives; and it cannot be wondered why 
 an English priest or soldier was considered by 
 them with an equal degree of reproach. During 
 the brief reign of Baliol, an edict was passed 
 banishing these hated foreign ecclesiastics from 
 the country. And the first thing Wallace en¬ 
 deavored to do when his power began to be felt, 
 was to carry out the spirit of the edict to its 
 utmost extent against those whose office ought to 
 have been to proclaim liberty to the enslaved 
 natives, instead of fastening upon them the fetters 
 more firmly which a tyrant had endeavored to 
 forge. In the carrying out of this object, it hap¬ 
 pened at the time that Anthony Beck, the warlike 
 bishop of Durham, had been appointed to the 
 bishopric of Glasgow in the room of Wishart, the 
 
148 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 friend of Wallace ; and if so, he must be made to 
 pay for such an act of cruel inj ustice, and be dis¬ 
 lodged from the ecclesiastical palace that rightfully 
 belonged to his fellow-patriot. Wallace selected 
 three hundred of the best of his cavalry, divided 
 them into two bodies, and forthwith proceeded 
 rapidly to Glasgow. When near the spot he urged 
 upon his followers the necessity of caution and 
 prudence, for the bishop and many of his ecclesias¬ 
 tical retainers from Northumberland, who had 
 doffed the cassock, could well handle the sword. 
 The division under the command of Wallace’s 
 uncle attacked the rear of the bishop’s force, 
 while Wallace advanced straight forward and at¬ 
 tacked the front. The forces met on the high 
 street, not far from the castle, and a terrible con¬ 
 flict began; for the warlike prelate was followed 
 by a retinue of knights and esquires, only inferior 
 to that of Edward, his royal master. The narrow¬ 
 ness of the street however, prevented them from 
 operating successfully against their sworn North¬ 
 ern foes, while every stroke of the sword of Wal¬ 
 lace and his followers thinned their ranks, filled 
 the streets with their dead bodies, and caused their 
 blood to flow in torrents from the castle in all 
 directions. Although the Scots contended gal¬ 
 lantly with Wallace at their head, the overwhelm¬ 
 ing numbers of the English would have gradually 
 overcome them, but for a slight circumstance that 
 took place, and which at once decided the fate of 
 the day. A terrible stroke from the sword of 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 149 
 
 Wallace made the bearer of the bishop’s banner 
 roll in the dust. It was a melancholy occurrence 
 for the English, for the banner had been conse¬ 
 crated and the person’s life who bore it along 
 triumphantly, considered beyond the reach of 
 danger. This, however, dispelled the charm, 
 damped the ardor of the superstitious vassals of 
 the warlike bishop, and caused them to fall back 
 in confusion and terror. Meanwhile the division 
 of the Scotch cavalry that had wheeled round to 
 the rear, made their appearance. They witnessed 
 the state of disorder in which the English forces 
 already began to be in, and rushing upon them 
 with the wildest impetuosity completed the vic¬ 
 tory already within reach of the Scots. A large 
 number of the enemy was put to the sword, and 
 the lanes leading from the high street were choked 
 up with the bodies of the dying and of the dead. 
 Glasgow never before nor after witnessed such a 
 bloody conflict along its streets; and the inhabit¬ 
 ants of the place never forgot to their dying day 
 how completely Wallace and his followers, as with 
 a magic spell, swept everything before them. 
 With difficulty Beck succeeded in escaping with 
 three hundred cavalry, and reached the borders 
 in safety. He exaggerated to a fearful degree 
 the woeful situation in which his countrymen 
 were left behind, and assured all that there was 
 no security for any one of them in Scotland till 
 Wallace, dead or alive, was put into the hands of 
 the English. While these transactions were going 
 
150 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 on, one of those iniquitous deeds, so common to the 
 reign of the cold-blooded Edward, was perpetrated 
 at Ayr, which, for baseness and atrocity, has no 
 equal in the history of any civilized nation. Under 
 friendly intentions, Sir Ronald Crawford, uncle of 
 Wallace, Sir Bryce Blair, Sir Neil Montgomery, 
 with many others of the Scottish nobility and 
 barons of lesser note, were invited to meet Percy, 
 the governor of the place. It was alleged that a 
 council was to be held betwixt these noblemen 
 and the English officers, over which the governor 
 in person was to preside; and when the matters 
 brought up before it were disposed of, a splendid 
 banquet was to take place in honor of the Scottish 
 nobility, who were to be present. The meeting 
 was held in a large wooden building, erected by 
 Edward as a residence for the governor, called 
 the Barns, with several passages that conducted 
 into the interior of the same. This meeting 
 might well acquire the name of the Black Parlia¬ 
 ment in after ages in Scotland. It sent a thrill 
 of horror over the length and breadth of the land; 
 for the real intentions of the English were only 
 found out when it was too late. Each Scottish 
 nobleman, as he entered the building unarmed and 
 without suspicion, was seized by the English 
 soldiers, who were planted beforehand at the 
 several entrances of the building, and hurried to 
 execution. On a broad joist, or rafter, which 
 supported the roof of the building, he was hung 
 up without any trial, although under the solemn 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 151 
 
 protection of a truce. Not one of the Scots who 
 attended the meeting was allowed to escape, and 
 a large number of the heads of the best families 
 in the west of Scotland was thus cruelly cut off. 
 Nor was this all, but the lifeless bodies of those 
 that were executed were thrown into a vault be¬ 
 neath, and afterwards tossed into the middle of 
 the street, to be hewn and cut in pieces so as to 
 strike terror to their countrymen on all sides. 
 This was done during the night, and had not many 
 of the people of Ayr crowded round the massacred 
 bodies, and demanded that they should be given 
 up in order that they might be decently interred, 
 not one of them would have been recognized by 
 the morning. Of the bodies thus recovered were 
 those of Sir Ronald Crawford and Lord Ruthven, 
 who was passing the time as a guest with the 
 sheriff of Ayr, when the bloody transaction took 
 place. When this piece of wanton slaughter and 
 cruel perfidy was accomplished, the next step 
 adopted by their southern oppressors was equally 
 cool and heartless. Some of the parties betrayed 
 and butchered, were amongst the most wealthy in 
 several parts of the country. They owned vast 
 estates, and numerous hosts of retainers followed 
 them into the field. The whole of the day that 
 succeeded their murder was taken up in partition¬ 
 ing out their sequestered estates, and dividing their 
 followers among the more needy of the governor’s 
 friends; while a large share of the booty was re¬ 
 served for this worthy himself. This occupied 
 
152 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 the second day, and when all things were satisfac¬ 
 torily disposed of, a grand feast was proclaimed to 
 be held in the building where perfidy and crime 
 had so recently run their course. It did take 
 place on a most magnificent scale. A long, deep 
 carousal followed, and the richest wines of France 
 passed freely among the guests. But the perpe¬ 
 trators of the bloody deeds above referred to 
 failed to see that such acts of sensuality were 
 only tending to throw them off their guard, and 
 invoking on their heads a tremendous retribution, 
 which must soon overtake them. In the burden 
 of ancient Nineveh, which the inspired Seer utter¬ 
 ed, its inhabitants are charged as being “ drunken 
 as drunkardsand her grave was thus to be 
 made, “ because she was vile.” The great city 
 thus fell at a stroke, and was entombed in her 
 own ruins. The perpetrators of the cruel deeds 
 in the Barns of Ayr hastened to imitate the vile 
 heathen in the same sensual indulgences, and as 
 might have been expected came to the same end. 
 They caroused during the whole day of the feast 
 and towards night they became drunken as 
 drunkards. “ They slept their sleep outright,” 
 unconscious of the least danger that was nigh at 
 hand, and were entirely off their guard. But an 
 enemy was approaching the place that would not 
 he trifled with, and who would execute summary 
 vengeance on the ruffians who deserved no mercy 
 at their hand. The tidings of the massacre at the 
 Barns, soon spread like wild fire throughout the 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 153 
 
 whole country, and gathered weight and horror 
 as they sped along. They quickly reached 
 Wallace and Sir William Douglas, who happened 
 to be in the neighborhood of Ellerslie at the time, 
 and filled their souls with feelings bordering on 
 madness for revenge. For it came to the know¬ 
 ledge of Wallace, that the body of his revered 
 uncle was not only treated with every sort of 
 indignity, and cast out in a state of nudity into 
 the street, but even his mansion in the town, 
 and his many paternal acres in the country, had 
 already been handed over by Percy the governor 
 to an English minion of his own. Wallace and 
 Douglas were astir early on the morning of 
 the feast, and directed their march to the west 
 without a moment’s delay. They were accom¬ 
 panied by three hundred of the most faithful 
 of their followers, who burned to be revenged 
 on an enemy who, by their recent acts of 
 horrid cruelty, had excluded themselves from 
 the pale of mercy. Besides these, there were 
 many of the retainers of the slaughtered noble¬ 
 men who fell in with the party by the way, and 
 who openly thirsted for an opportunity of ridding 
 the country of men on whom no punishment suf¬ 
 ficient to the extent of their crimes could possibly 
 be inflicted. It was night before they reached 
 the neighborhood of Ayr, and they were glad to 
 learn that the English, in the midst of their fan¬ 
 cied security, were entirely off their guard. They 
 watched not, and apprehended no danger; for they 
 
154 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 were overpowered with strong drink, and had 
 already laid themselves down to sleep soundly, 
 imagining that no number of the Scots could at 
 present be in the neighborhood. But they forgot 
 to remember that their diabolical proceedings had 
 awoke a spirit of retaliation in all directions, and 
 the avengers of justice could not be put off. 
 Favored by the darkness of the night, and the 
 state of the enemy, Wallace and his friends had 
 approached the spot where the Scottish nobility 
 had been inveigled, and cruelly put to death ; hut 
 a more terrible scene, if possible, was soon to be 
 enacted there. The numerous entrances to the 
 building were secured from the outside, without 
 alarming the inmates, who had betaken them¬ 
 selves to rest, little dreaming of the terrible fate 
 that awaited them. In addition to this, large 
 quantities of pitch and dry wood were heaped up 
 around the building, and so soon as his men were 
 drawn around it, Wallace commanded fire to be 
 applied to the same. To destroy all the inmates at 
 once, in the theatre of their unmitigated cruelty, 
 and to make a wholesale execution instead of 
 engaging in a conflict of man to man, appeared to 
 be but meting out even-handed justice to all con¬ 
 cerned. They were not honorable soldiers. Wal¬ 
 lace and his followers were seeking to destroy. 
 They were murderers and assassins, who had lost 
 all sense of honor and of sacred truth. And to 
 allow them a chance of fighting openly in the 
 field, with his small body of faithful men, who 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 155 
 
 followed him to be avenged on such inhuman 
 beings, would only be to dishonor his brave sol¬ 
 diers, and afford the basest of criminals a chance 
 of escaping from the punishment they so justly 
 merited. The time had now come for striking a 
 decisive blow. The cry of the innocently slain 
 had already entered into the ears of the God of 
 justice, who was no idle spectator of the bloody 
 drama so lately witnessed. And Wallace and his 
 followers were to be the instruments used for 
 executing condign punishment on.the men who 
 were destined in a body to be offered up as a 
 human hecatomb to the souls of their dear departed 
 friends and relations, which must have already 
 been crying for vengeance before the Throne on 
 High on their inhuman betrayers and murderers 
 on the earth. The building in which the besotted 
 English soldiers had lately perpetrated their 
 fearful crimes, in which they afterwards feasted 
 and revelled, and in which they now slept securely, 
 unmindful of any danger from without, was com¬ 
 posed of wood, thatched with straw and shingles, 
 laid over a roof of inflammable spars and wattled 
 branches. It was but a few seconds when the 
 whole fabric was in a flame, which never could 
 afterwards be extinguished, for the roof of it was 
 designedly set on fire at the same time as the 
 lower part of the building. First, a smoke there¬ 
 fore, then a blaze simultaneously arose from every 
 part of the building. It communicated with the 
 innermost passages and recesses of the same, 
 
156 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 awakening the affrighted revellers who, for the 
 first time began to learn that they were hope¬ 
 lessly enveloped in its fiery embraces, and had no 
 means presented them of saving themselves. Ven¬ 
 geance now cried aloud for sacrifice. The blood 
 of the treacherously murdered, as with a 
 tongue of fire, pleaded for punishment on their 
 enemies, and not one of them would be allowed 
 to escape. Beams, rafters, roofing and flooring 
 are now in one continuous blaze, and as the 
 flames lick round the helpless inmates, a sight 
 of horror was presented that cannot be described. 
 Some were praying to God for pardon, others 
 were entreating for mercy. But by far the 
 greatest number, with curses and imprecations 
 on their lips, threw themselves into the midst 
 of the fatal conflagration, and rushed into 
 eternity. Crackling and roaring the careering 
 sheeted flames cast a lurid glare across the sky for 
 several hours; but the work of destruction was 
 accomplished. In the morning the bloody Barns 
 of Ayr had no existence saving a charred heap of 
 ruins, and not one of the five hundred of the 
 cruel inmates, who feasted so sumptuously and 
 drank so freely the day before, remained to tell 
 their story. Many it is true, finding their situ¬ 
 ation to he so perilous, endeavored to break 
 through all barriers, and accomplish their escape. 
 But in this they were sadly disappointed. For 
 every avenue from the building was guarded by 
 armed men, who prevented the possibility of any 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 157 
 
 fleeing from it; so that all who escaped the flames 
 from within fell into the hands of their enemies 
 without. Never were treachery and cruelty 
 more wantonly carried out, and at the same time 
 more summarily punished. And the severity of 
 the retribution can only be palliated by the 
 nature of the case, and the peculiar circumstances 
 in which Wallace and his followers happened at 
 this time to be placed. The sun had begun to 
 streak the east by the time those bloody sacrifices 
 were finished, and the ’p il le light of the morning 
 enabled the Scottish soldiers to retire from a 
 scene that was only calculated to strike horror 
 into every heart in which the smallest amount of 
 mercy or compassion yet remained. Neither 
 Wallace or Douglas could have found much satis¬ 
 faction in the terrible destruction of life and pro¬ 
 perty, in which they had lately been engaged. 
 The generous natures of both the chiefs were far 
 removed in a general way from wanton or inten¬ 
 tional cruelty. But the love of their country, now 
 down-trodden and oppressed, and their friends 
 and relations now wantonly betrayed, put to 
 death, and afterwards ignominiously exposed on 
 the public streets, hermetically sealed up every 
 feeling of tenderness and compassion in their 
 bosoms towards their southern enemies; and 
 forced upon them the adoption of these extreme 
 modes of retaliation which in no ordinary circum¬ 
 stances could by any means be justified. Some 
 historians have thought proper to be sceptical in 
 
158 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 regard to this part of Scotch history, and have 
 labored to deny the truth of every occurrence 
 first and last connected with the slaughter and 
 burning of the Barns of Ayr. But it is to be 
 borne in mind, that events of more recent date 
 in connection with the annals of this country, 
 and also of other countries, have likewise been 
 called in question, although well authenticated; 
 and it by no means follows on that account that 
 such are to be discredited. One thing is cer¬ 
 tain, that after the most Careful and painstaking 
 research, by some of the most eminent antiquarians 
 in Scotland, they have no hesitation in giving 
 credence generally to the whole account as 
 stated above. Referring to it, the laborious 
 Doctor Jamieson says: “ The history of the 
 
 destruction of these buildings and of the imme¬ 
 diate reason of it is supported by the universal 
 tradition of the country to this day; and local 
 tradition is often entitled to more respect than is 
 given to it by the fastidiousness of the learned. 
 Whatever allowances it may be necessary to make 
 for subsequent exaggeration it is not easily con¬ 
 ceivable, that an event should be connected with 
 a particular spot during a succession of ages with¬ 
 out some foundation.” And the statements of this 
 able and impartial writer, are fully corroborated 
 by a national work, called the Complaint of Scot¬ 
 land, which was published many years before any 
 life of Wallace appeared before the public. Speak¬ 
 ing of this event, the author refers to it in the 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 159 
 
 following way : “ Any of you that consents to 
 
 his false conquest of your country, meaning of 
 course the king of England, ye shall be recom¬ 
 pensed as your forefathers were, at the Black 
 Parliament at the Barns of Ayr, when king 
 Edward made a convocation of all the nobles of 
 Scotland at the town of Ayr, under color of 
 faith and concord, who com peered at his instance 
 whom when made hung cruelly and dishonestly 
 to the number of sixteen score of the most 
 noble of the country, two and two over a balk.” 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The efforts of Edward hitherto directed to the subjugation of 
 the Southern and Eastern parts of the kingdom. West¬ 
 ern highlands and islands remained unmolested owing 
 to the fact that it was cut up by large arms of the sea, 
 and rendered inaccessible by terrible mountain barriers. 
 No roads here for centuries afterwards, nor an inn where 
 the traveller might repose. The Celts happy within 
 their own territories, and enjoyed life amid the wild 
 beauties of nature. Emigrate in large numbers to 
 foreign countries, but still love their native highlands. 
 Strange that Macaulay, descended from the Celts, should 
 try to disparage them so much. The first to embrace 
 Christianity in the British Isles, and have been largely 
 identified for centuries with many of the leading events 
 in Christendom and elsewhere. A large tract of land 
 granted in Argyle toMcFaydon by Edward. Proceeded 
 from Ireland to take possession of it. Committed cruel 
 depredations. Arrested in his course by Duncan of 
 Lome, a brother of the chief of the Campbell clan. 
 Sorely harassed them. Eetired towards Loch Awe to 
 join his brother Sir Neil Campbell. The first authentic 
 account of the Campbell family. Destined afterwards 
 to perform a conspicuous part in the history of their 
 country. Sir Neil drew McFaydon into the heart of 
 the country and cut off his force. Sent notice to Wal¬ 
 lace of the state of affairs. Eesolved to proceed to his 
 assistance. Joined in the expedition by Sir John Graham 
 and his clansmen. And also Sir liichard Lundin, headed 
 by five hundred fighting men. Duncan of Lome ap¬ 
 pointed their guide. Came up with McFaydon’s force 
 

 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 1G1 
 
 at the Brandir Pass. Had reached it before McFaydon 
 was aware of their approach. The Irish troops fought 
 with heroic courage but at great disadvantage, and many 
 of them hurled into the chasm below. When known 
 that Wallace was leading the Scots a terrible panic en¬ 
 sued, and most of them put to death. McFaydon escaped 
 and concealed himself in a cave, but was afterwards 
 discovered and beheaded. His head fixed on a rock, 
 which still bears his name. After the battle Wallace 
 convened a meeting of the Western chiefs, inflamed 
 their minds with hatred towards the English, and left 
 the highlands receiving the blessings of thousands. 
 
 The efforts of Edward had hitherto been directed 
 to the subjugation of the southern and eastern 
 parts of the Kingdom of Scotland, and through¬ 
 out these his cruel and aggressive policy had 
 been duly felt. Although absent most of the time 
 at the outset of his operations, and engaged in an 
 indefensible Avar with the King of France, he 
 nevertheless managed to select men of the proper 
 stamp for carrying out his truculent and insane 
 projects of ambition in the northern part of the 
 island; and of such we had a sample in the last 
 chapter. Ireland had already bowed her head 
 and yielded up the sceptre to one of his over¬ 
 reaching Plantagenet predecessors, on which ac- 
 ■ count, sitting in sackcloth and ashes, she has often 
 had reason since to shed many a bitter tear. 
 Wales too, after a bloody struggle, in Avhicli al¬ 
 though heroically resisting, she was at last o\ r er- 
 mastered by a superior force sent against her by 
 the cruel and politic EdAvard, and had at last fallen 
 
 L 
 
1G2 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 under his iron sway. And nothing now remained 
 for him to add to his dominions within the com¬ 
 pass of the four British seas but Scotland ; and 
 for the accomplishment of this, no amount of men 
 or money, or truth, or honor, or anything else 
 was considered too much. In the carrying out 
 of this, his darling scheme, he had other objects 
 to serve besides his love of conquest. For a large 
 number of the ruined and needy nobility both 
 from Ireland and Wales had already joined his 
 standard, whom he wished to employ with their 
 retainers, as far as possible from home, as mercen¬ 
 ary troops. These he despatched iu thousands 
 towards the North, where he expected an easy 
 conquest owing to the divided state of the nobility 
 and distracted condition of the country ; while 
 the fortifications in Wales and Ireland were en¬ 
 larged and their numbers increased and filled 
 with English soldiers, in order to keep the natives 
 quiet and submissive under him. It accords with 
 history, that while Edward was at Stirling in 
 1296, he was joined by the Earl of Ulster with 
 thirty thousand infantry and four hundred cavalry 
 from Ireland. Many of these marched with him 
 in his bloody procession to the North, where little 
 leniency or compassion was shown to the poor 
 natives, who fled from them as they would have 
 done from the famished wolves, as they rushed 
 for prey from the gorges of their native mountains. 
 When Edward retired South he left a large num¬ 
 ber of these foreigners to oppress and overcome 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 163 
 
 them when they proved refractory, or refused to 
 submit their neck to his iron yoke. But the in¬ 
 teresting and extensive portion of Scotland known 
 as the Western highlands, and islands thereto 
 attached, had up to this time remained unmolest¬ 
 ed, and the cruel invader, or any of his relentless 
 hordes, had not dared to touch them. This was 
 largely owing to the fact that it was so cut up 
 and intersected by arms of the sea, and rendered 
 nearly inaccessible by terrible mountain barriers, 
 so as to prevent any large number of armed men 
 from marching through it in a regular way, or 
 from operating successfully together in any part of 
 it. For not till many centuries afterwards were 
 any passable roads to be found cut through the 
 rocks, or threading their way amid the glens and 
 gorges of the lofty mountains here. Scarcely a 
 plank was thrown across the streams that went 
 bubbling and dashing along in their impetuous 
 courses to the sea or neighboring lake; and the 
 traveller that happened to come into the country 
 when night approached, had to cast himself upon 
 the hospitality of the inmates of the nearest hovel 
 that came in the way; for an inn was a luxury not 
 then known. And yet the native Celts were 
 happy within their own limited territories, and 
 enjoyed life perhaps as much as any other people 
 amid the wild beauties of nature. They were 
 charmed with the dark blue waters of their lakes, 
 the bold outlines and rich tints of their mountains, 
 and the boiling torrents that often roared and 
 
164 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 dashed down their precipitous sides. And while 
 they beheld the clouds and tempests lowering on 
 their tops, they were delighted with the same, 
 and willing to live and die amid the poverty and 
 grandeur of their native country in preference to 
 any other. And this feeling is far from yet being 
 extinguished in the breast of the noble Highlander, 
 for, “ although fate should drag him south the 
 line, or o’er the wide Atlantic sea,” and his courage 
 should cause him to achieve great exploits, his 
 intense attachment to his native soil continues the 
 same. While at a distance from it he dreams 
 during the night of many of the abrupt preci¬ 
 pices near his native home, the lofty mountains 
 seen from afar where his youthful footsteps trod, 
 and the gloomy passes stretching with their 
 solemn grandeur away through to some distant 
 glens. And awaking in the morning he is sorry 
 to find that all were but airy phantoms, and he 
 sighs amid the tame and domestic beauties of other 
 climes, till he is allowed to return and gaze with 
 renewed interest on the crags, glens, woods and 
 waters of his native land. Then the wild and 
 rugged regions that surround Benvoirlick and 
 Benledi acquire new beauties in his eyes, where 
 “ Each purple tint, each flinty spire is bathed in 
 floods of liquid fire.” Then the leap and roar of 
 Foyers, as it rushes on to empty itself into the 
 loch that glitters at its feet, are possessed of more 
 sublimity and grandeur than all other waterfalls in 
 his eyes on the surface of the globe ; while Loch- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 1G5 
 
 nagar peers up like a giant monster from amid 
 the apparently puny Grampians that surround it, 
 and Bencruachan over the willowy islets of Loch- 
 awe, with its snowy top make “ Caledonia stern 
 and wild,” dearer to him than ever, and here he 
 wishes to rest his bones, amid the sepulchres of 
 his fathers, when his heart ceases to beat, and his 
 weary footsteps have terminated forever. And 
 why should Macaulay, with all his powers of rhe¬ 
 toric and masterly eloquence, try to touch off the 
 Scottish Celt to such disadvantage as he does in 
 his history ! For the blood of the same race 
 coursed in his veins, and his knowledge of their 
 character, as he himself admits, was gathered 
 largely from a cockney of the name of Burt, who 
 describes the mountains in Inverness-shire, “ as 
 monstrous excrescences, masses of dirty brown and 
 purple affecting the eye.” But the truth is Mac¬ 
 aulay is after all but a beautiful word painter, who 
 wrote for effect, and not for the truth. For any 
 unprejudiced Englishman, taking up Burt’s Letters 
 from Scotland, and reading them carefully, must 
 at once see that they are only a miserable carica¬ 
 ture of the country and its inhabitants; and feel 
 astonished that one who wishes to write for pos¬ 
 terity, should have labored so hard from such data 
 to expose to contempt and ridicule a race, Avho 
 were the first in the British Isles to embrace the 
 simple truths of Christianity, and disseminate 
 them everywhere abroad; and whose many other 
 acts have tended so much to add glory, honor and 
 
1G6 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 riches to the British Empire. No author, however 
 great his talents, can thus succeed in writing 
 clown a people whose history is so largely identi¬ 
 fied wfith many of the leading events that have 
 occurred in Christendom, for many centuries gone 
 by. And a people too, be it remembered, who 
 had deeds of valor to recount, and native princes 
 to rule over them, attended by guards and by 
 armor-bearers ; and who had also waged wars, pro¬ 
 claimed peace and dispensed justice in their own 
 way before the Saxon ever planted a foot on the 
 shores of Albion, or the proud Norman had usher¬ 
 ed forth from the icy forests of the north to make 
 his more southern neighbors quail and tremble 
 before him. In order to exercise control over 
 this race, who had long lived unmolested from any 
 foreign foe, Edward resolved to plant a colony in 
 the midst of the Western Highlands. It was to 
 make room for some of those mercenaries, to whom 
 we have referred above, and was headed by an 
 Irish chief of the name of McFaydon, a creature 
 of his own. To this person he granted a tract of 
 land in the county of Argyle, and he proceeded 
 from the North of Ireland with a large number 
 of his followers, to take possession of the same. 
 When he landed on the Scottish shore he was 
 joined by a number of English and renegade 
 Scots, so that his motley army, such as it was, 
 amounted to not less than fifteen thousand men. 
 They lost no time in commencing hostile oper¬ 
 ations, and so soon as they acquired a footing in 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 167 
 
 the country, they showed no mercy to the natives. 
 Landing in Lome, they proceeded gradually into 
 the interior of the country, and ravaged it with 
 fire and sword. They slew all the males who re¬ 
 fused to join them, abused and ravished the women, 
 and committed the most revolting atrocities 
 wherever they went. If they had not been for¬ 
 tunately checked in the midst of their wild career 
 by the bravery of the natives, the desolating work 
 of Edward and his emissaries in the south and 
 eastern parts of the country, would have never 
 compared with theirs. But they had not pro¬ 
 ceeded far in their work of destruction till they 
 were arrested in it, and suffered the cruel fate 
 their conduct richly merited. The invasion of 
 their beloved country was soon heralded abroad 
 among the children of the Gael, and to resist the 
 same was the unfaltering resolution of all con¬ 
 cerned. Death was preferable to a life of degra¬ 
 dation and subjection. The fiery cross of McCal- 
 lum-More was, therefore, soon seen floating in 
 the breeze, and hurrying on from mountain to 
 glen with renewed speed. Wherever it was seen 
 it kindled the same spirit of enthusiasm among 
 the children of the Clan, and those of them that 
 were far off hastened with good-will to be present 
 at the general rendezvous. It was a sight worthy 
 of notice, to witness the dwellers throughout such 
 an extensive district of country, bounding over 
 the wilds and strongholds of nature’s own fram¬ 
 ing, bent upon the repulsion of the daring foe? 
 
168 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 and rushing to the banner of their heroic chief 
 who had unfurled it already. Duncan of Lome, 
 a brother of the Chief of the Clan, was the first to 
 encounter the enemy. He had only a handful of 
 men to assist in opposing them, hut his undaunted 
 bravery and that of his followers, together with 
 his intimate acquaintance with the country, en¬ 
 abled him for a considerable time to harass them 
 sorely, attacking their foraging parties and cut¬ 
 ting off their supplies. At last he was compelled 
 to yield to a vastly superior force, and this brave 
 man with his handful of followers, retreated 
 fighting towards Loch Awe, where he received 
 the assistance and protection of his brother, Sir 
 Kiel Campbell, the head of the Clan. As far as I 
 can glean from history, this is the first authentic 
 reference to a family which has ever afterwards 
 figured so conspicuously in the annals of their 
 country. At first the Campbells were inferior in 
 number and in power to the McDonalds, who pos¬ 
 sessed more than kingly authority in the Wes¬ 
 tern Isles and over the mountainous countries of 
 Argyle and Inverness-shire. But what the Camp¬ 
 bells wanted at first in power, they possessed in 
 wonderful acuteness and dexterity of address, so 
 that by the use of means sometimes false, some¬ 
 times fair, but always plausible; and above all 
 by their untiring ambition, they succeeded in 
 gradually diminishing the power of their neigh¬ 
 bours, the McDonalds, and establishing their own 
 in its place. In the course of ages, they were 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 169 
 
 able to bring into the field five thousand men, 
 while they compelled a number of the most 
 ancient chiefs of the Western Highlands to pay 
 them tribute. And perhaps the power thus as¬ 
 sumed was more safely vested in their hands than 
 in that of any other of their highland rivals. For 
 in all the struggles that have taken place in 
 Scotland, in behalf of civil and religious liberty, 
 we generally find the Campbells on the right side ; 
 while larger numbers of the name than that of 
 perhaps any other in Britain, have distinguished 
 themselves in the camp, cabinet, and also in the 
 republic of letters. Sir Niel Campbell did not at¬ 
 tempt, with his small number of clansmen, to 
 meet McFaydon openly in the field, but drew him 
 and his men into the midst of the fastnesses of the 
 country, and there to cut them off, and thus pre¬ 
 vent their retreat. This is what he resolved to 
 do as soon as McFaydon entered the country, 
 and he succeeded after great toil and difficul¬ 
 ties in the accomplishment of his object. The 
 Irish Chief, trusting to his armed soldiers, 
 imagined he would weary Sir Niel and his clans¬ 
 men out by incessantly following them up to their 
 different places of retreat, and cutting them off'. 
 But in this he was mistaken, for his want of pro¬ 
 per knowledge of the country ultimately brought 
 himself and the whole of his armed force to utter 
 ruin. Sir Niel owned a keep in one of the most 
 sequestered parts of the country, and thither he 
 retreated with three hundred of his clansmen. It 
 
170 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 stood in a lonely situation at the end of a deep 
 ravine, and though not particularly large, was 
 amply sufficient to accommodate all his followers at 
 that present time. If not by art, it was strongly 
 fortified by nature, and even Edward himself, if 
 he had been on the spot, with all his power and 
 warlike sagacity, would have found it a difficult 
 task to assail it, and far more so to take it. On 
 the rear of it ran the river Awe, which, with 
 deep and rapid current, receiving its waters from 
 a Loch of the same name, dashed along impetu¬ 
 ously, being shut in by rocky barriers which 
 lined its bank for several hundred fee’t in height, 
 and rendered it extremely difficult in its approach 
 in this direction. In the front of it lay the cele¬ 
 brated Brandir Pass, than which there is no one 
 more difficult in its nature to traverse in this or 
 any other part of the country. After rounding 
 the head of the Pass, the traveller has to wend 
 his weary way down a dangerous and difficult 
 defile of such a nature as renders it impossible for 
 him to proceed without creeping cautiously along. 
 A single step would cost him his life, and hurl 
 him into the deep and yawning gulf that boils and 
 eddies several hundred feet below. Even when 
 he uses this precaution, great danger accompanies 
 the undertaking from the fact that large quanti¬ 
 ties of loose stones with which the face of the rocks 
 are covered are easily set in motion, and might 
 be found to overwhelm and dash in pieces any 
 one, however cautiously he might try to proceed 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 171 
 
 along. Sir Niel, after much care and circumspec¬ 
 tion, succeeded in reaching in safety this high¬ 
 land retreat, from which it would be no easy 
 task to dispossess either him or his faithful fol¬ 
 lowers. And not only so, but he was now able to 
 watch in security the tardy and perilous progress 
 of McFaydon and his troops, already suffering 
 sorely from want of provisions and worn out by 
 incessant marches, although still faintly pursuing 
 his wary enemy. The trusty Highlanders that 
 lay in wait for the approach of the Irish army 
 knew the fatal spots where it would be most 
 advantageous to strike the blow, and as they 
 creeped along singly without being able to cover 
 their advance, they afforded a proper mark for the 
 missiles that came pouring in upon them from all 
 quarters. Many were thus sorely galled and dis¬ 
 couraged ; many were wounded; and many 
 more were struck dead. And while they rolled 
 down to the bottom of the deep and eddying 
 abyss below, they filled the hearts of those that 
 were to follow after with much fear and 
 discouragement. While McFaydon was advan¬ 
 cing in the rear and Sir Niel was march¬ 
 ing for the Pass, he knew how completely 
 he would soon be shut out from the outside 
 world. He, therefore, sent some of his most 
 trusty followers to Wallace to acquaint him of the 
 situation, and to crave his immediate help. The 
 ear of Wallace was ever open to the cry of any 
 of his afflicted and down-trodden countrymen ; 
 
172 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 and was likely to listen to the request for help 
 from an unexpected quarter of the country, with 
 the attention and regard which it merited. Sir 
 Niel Campbell was an old confederate and friend of 
 his own, and it would have been contrary to all his 
 former actings to leave him to contend single-hand¬ 
 ed against such an overwhelming force. Besides, 
 this was anew point of attack upon which Edward 
 had decided, and to allow him to take possession 
 of the Western highlands, and to plant his colon¬ 
 ies there would have added largely to his influence 
 in Scotland, and retarded the cause of independ¬ 
 ence, it might be for many years to come. He 
 resolved, therefore, at once to succor in person his 
 sorely tried highland friend, and rid the country 
 of an enemy who, so soon as he was able to secure 
 a firm footing in it, was likely to induce hosts of 
 his countrymen to follow his example and settle 
 in it. Wallace was joined in the expedition by 
 Sir John Graham and a number of his faithful 
 clansmen, who were well acquainted with the 
 nature of the highlands, and how to conduct war 
 with a prospect of success in the same. And to 
 make the complement more complete, Sir Richard 
 Lundin headed five hundred fighting men of his 
 own, thus bringing up the whole force to the 
 number of not less than two thousand, composed 
 of the very flower of the Scottish army. With 
 high hopes and determined resolution, they left 
 the Lennox, where Wallace had been for some 
 time stirring up a warlike spirit among the na- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 173 
 
 tives and inducing them to attach themselves to 
 the fortunes of the patriots. They accepted as 
 their guides the brave Duncan of Lome and his 
 faithful servant Michael, than whom there were 
 none better acquainted with the rugged and in¬ 
 tricate paths of the highlands, through which the 
 patriot army was now destined to tread their way. 
 For even many of the natives themselves were 
 unacquainted with several of them, and it was 
 only the deer stalker and those taught to follow 
 up the game amid its most dangerous caves and 
 retreats, in which exciting work Michael excelled, 
 that were safe guides in such unfrequented places. 
 After being led through gorges, forests, and by¬ 
 paths which would have appeared perilous and 
 perplexing to a single stranger, and much more 
 so to a large armed force, they ascended a high 
 mountain, which was accomplished with the ut¬ 
 most toil and trouble, for the path here was hardly 
 discernable, and the weary foot-soldiers began to 
 flag, became dispirited and fell into disorder. Such 
 trying marches are often more difficult to be borne 
 by armed troops than a sharp encounter with the 
 enemy. As their leader was, however, at their 
 head, and had been submitting to every privation 
 which the meanest soldier had endured, he called 
 a halt and was able to address them with all the 
 authority of one who had never saved himself 
 from undergoing dangers and privations. At the 
 same time while he was prepared to exercise his 
 power as a general in restoring order, he blended 
 
m 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 tlie same power witli the kind feelings of a friend, 
 for he addressed them in that facile eloquence 
 which in more trying emergencies had always 
 carried conviction along with it to the hearts of 
 his ardent followers : “ Good men,” said he, “ this 
 will never do. If we come up with the enemy 
 in such broken array, we may receive serious dam¬ 
 age ourselves, but can do them little hurt in re¬ 
 turn. It is necessary we should be up with them 
 as soon as possible, for if they hear of our approach 
 they may choose a plain where their numbers will 
 give them advantage. To prevent this I will go 
 forward with those that are able, and leave the 
 rest to follow.” In this short but well timed ad¬ 
 dress, in which the bravery of the soldier, the 
 sound judgment of the general, and the kind and 
 sympathizing words of the friend were all alike 
 conspicuous, he infused new ardor into the breasts 
 of all his followers of every rank; and after halt¬ 
 ing for some time and recruiting their strength, 
 the general feeling of all was how to march for¬ 
 ward, show themselves worthy of such a leader, 
 and fight or die in the defence of the liberties of 
 their country. The descent from the mountain 
 having been achieved; the forces landed in Glen 
 Dochart, a lonely spot, sleeping in the midst of 
 its unconscious beauty, surrounded on every side 
 by mountain barriers which guarded it like so 
 many faithful sentinels on every hand. They 
 now began to feel they were approaching near the 
 scene where a conflict was inevitable, for here a 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 175 
 
 scout met them from Sir Niel Campbell informing 
 them of the fact that the wary chief had already 
 retired with his three hundred men into the strong 
 mountain fort, described above, and that McFay- 
 don with all his force was hard in pursuit of him. 
 Wallace having received the information necessary 
 with regard to the enemy, and the disposition of 
 the force under his command, lost no time in fol¬ 
 lowing him up in order that he might assail him 
 before he had received any notice of his approach, 
 and cut him off if possible before he could choose 
 a plain for his battle ground, where his superior 
 force would have given him a better advantage 
 over his opponents. The ground becoming im¬ 
 passible for cavalry, it was decided to leave them 
 behind and proceed on foot in a quiet and expedi¬ 
 tious way, and by so doing they would surprise 
 the large force against whom they had to contend 
 and cut them off unexpectedly in a part of the 
 Brandir Pass, which they had already entered, and 
 where a large amount of men was rather an evil 
 than an advantage. The plan was executed with 
 great ability, for as McFaydon’s spy had been 
 killed, he had no account of the near approach of 
 Wallace and his followers, and consequently the 
 Irish chief with his forces were taken by surprise, 
 and in a situation where flight was impossible. 
 But McFaydon was no coward, and besides being 
 a man of cruel and savage disposition, he was said 
 to have been possessed of herculean strength, and 
 could manage the broadsword better than most 
 
176 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 men of his age. He stood undismayed, therefore, 
 in the midst of his unfortunate and trying con¬ 
 dition, and rushed to defend himself and his fol¬ 
 lowers, who were thus unexpectedly attacked 
 from the rear. They made terrible havoc amongst 
 their assailants at first, and caused them to bend 
 before their fury, as the tempest moves the mighty 
 forests. Several times the Scots advanced to the 
 attack and as often were thrown back, for the Irish 
 troops, knowing the perilous character of their 
 situation, and in presence of their chief, fought 
 with the heroic courage and determination which 
 has always been characteristic of the nation. The 
 Scots returned to the contest with renewed fury, 
 and for a loug time it was doubtful on which of 
 the sides victory would declare itself, for accord¬ 
 ing to Blind Harry, the minstrel, “ the fiercest 
 found eneucli of fighting on that memorable day.” 
 At last Wallace, armed with a mace of steel, ad¬ 
 vanced at the head of his veterans, and made a 
 furious charge, which McFaydon, with all his 
 strength and skill at the sword, although sup¬ 
 ported, and that powerfully, by the bravest of his 
 followers, was unable to resist, and which decided 
 the fate o£ the day. A terrible panic, as well 
 as slaughter, now commenced, for it became 
 known among the Irish troops that Wallace was 
 leading on the Scots, and they now gave way and 
 fled, to be cut to pieces by their pursuers. Multi¬ 
 tudes of them were thrown over the rocks into 
 the gulf below. Others of them cast themselves 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 177 
 
 into the waters voluntarily to avoid a more cruel 
 and violent death; and the stones and arrows 
 thrown by the Scots amongst those of them that 
 still remained, made dreadful havoc everywhere. 
 The renegade Scots threw down their arms, plead¬ 
 ed for mercy, and had their lives spared them 
 because of their birth ; but were never allowed to 
 fight or even to appear among their countrymen. 
 And as for the cruel invaders no mercy was shown 
 them, for they were pursued with the utmost per¬ 
 severance and put to death. McFaydon after he 
 found all was lost, effected his escape with a few 
 of his faithful followers and took refuge in a cave, 
 in the neighborhood. But the place of his retreat 
 was found out, and Duncan of Lome, dragging 
 him out of it, cut off his head, and fixing it on a 
 spear brought the bloody trophy to Wallace. At 
 the order of Sir Niel Campbell, it was fixed on 
 the top of a rock near the cave where he had 
 taken shelter, and this rock is called the pinnacle 
 of McFaydon till the present day. Thus ended 
 an invasion that proved disastrous to the parties 
 that undertook it, and to the interests of Edward 
 in all time coming throughout the Western high¬ 
 lands ; for however much he might feel the de¬ 
 feat his creatures had sustained, and their utter 
 annihilation—for no part of the Irish force ever 
 again reached their own land—Edward never 
 afterwards ventured to raise a hostile standard on 
 those western shores. 
 
 M 
 
178 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 “ For northern freedom, cx-ied my sons, combine ; 
 
 Dread not your foe, the land of hills is mine. 
 
 The hill-boim heroes freedom’s flag unfurled, 
 
 And checked his progress in the noi'th-west world. 
 
 No fear the Gael’s dauntless soul could tame; 
 
 Not fraud but prowess gained him deathless fame.” 
 
 The complete and timely deliverance effected 
 by Wallace and his heroic followers of the whole 
 country of the Campbells, and that of the neigh¬ 
 boring clans, secured for him ever afterwards the 
 gratitude, attachment and co-operation of these 
 warlike tribes. After the battle of Brandir Pass, 
 Wallace convened a meeting of the Western chiefs 
 in the priory of Ardchattan, (the ruins of which 
 are still pointed out to the traveller), and by his 
 powerful eloquence, inflamed their minds with 
 new hatred towards the tyrants who had so re¬ 
 cently endeavored to oppress them. At the same 
 time he informed them of the gratifying fact that 
 many of the most powerful barons in the southern 
 district of the country, weary of the yoke of the 
 oppressor, had thrown it off and openly joined the 
 patriot standard. Such being the case, although 
 the conflict might be severe there was little rea¬ 
 son to doubt at no distant day the whole force of 
 the English would be annihilated as the Irish had 
 been, or driven across the borders into their own 
 country. With such cheering words and with 
 the recent victory before their eyes, he stirred up 
 the warlike spirit of the native Gael. And hav¬ 
 ing divided the spoils collected from amongst the 
 vanquished after the battle, which were said to 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 179 
 
 have been great, among them and his followers, 
 reserving little for himself, he left the highlands 
 and freely received the blessings of thousands 
 that were ready to perish when he first appeared 
 in their midst. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Hitherto the contendings of the Scottish patriots overlooked 
 by the English. Wallace himself considered as the 
 leader of banditti, rather than a general. The terrible 
 work at Ayr, and the extinction of the McFaydon 
 force, waked them up to the serious state of affairs. 
 Edward, although in Flanders, became uneasy. Dead 
 or alive, was bound to secure Wallace. An important 
 accession to the Scottish patriots in the person of Eobert 
 Bruce, grandson to the competitor for the Scottish 
 crown. The family owned large estates in the west of 
 Scotland. Edward ordered the Earl of Surrey to call forth 
 the whole force of the north of England, and crush out 
 the insurrection. When assembled the English force 
 amounted to forty thousand foot and three thousand 
 cavalry. Passing through Annandale, invested Loch- 
 Maben Castle, one of the most imposing and strongest 
 fortifications in the south of Scotland. The principal 
 residence of the Bruces. Before the English forces were 
 fully encamped, attacked during the night by a body 
 of Scots headed by Wallace, and thrown into con¬ 
 fusion. Saved by burning down the wooden build¬ 
 ings they were in, and marching on to Irvine. The 
 Scotch army encamped about twelve miles from the 
 same place. The English resolved to march forward 
 and attack them. Great dissensions prevailed in the 
 Scottish camp. Three parties contended for the mastery. 
 Sir Eichard Lundin rode over to the English with all his 
 vassals. The rest of the nobility followed his example, 
 headed by Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow. The with- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 181 
 
 drawal of Sir William Douglas from the Scottish pa¬ 
 triots grieved the heart of Wallace. A treaty drawn up 
 and signed by the nobility, stipulating for the preserva¬ 
 tion of their lives and properties, presented to Wallace, 
 but indignantly rejected. Left the Scotch camp in dis¬ 
 gust, and only followed by one baron, Sir Andrew Mur¬ 
 ray, of Bothwell. Proceeding in the way of Glasgow, 
 destroyed the residence and carried away the horses of 
 Bishop Wishart. Afterwards advanced towards the 
 north, and went to Aberdeen. Took Forfar, Kin¬ 
 cardine and Dunotter Castles. Arrived in time to save 
 Aberdeen from destruction, as the city had been set on 
 fire by the English garrison. Embarked in vessels that 
 were lying in the harbor. Destroyed by a terrible 
 storm that ensued. Driven on the shore and mostly 
 drowned, and put to death by the Scottish army. 
 
 Hitherto the contendings of the Scottish pa¬ 
 triots had been sadly overlooked by the English, 
 and were mainly considered as the selfish and 
 disjointed efforts of a number of discontented 
 spirits, who would prove restless under any form 
 of government, and more bent on the acquisition 
 of plunder than of liberty. Wallace they also 
 viewed in this light, and more as a leader of ban¬ 
 ditti than as an able and sagacious general. After 
 the terrible work at Ayr, however, and the total 
 extinction of the McFaydon force in Argyleshire, 
 they began to wake up to the seriousness of the 
 state of affairs, and to prepare for it. This was 
 largely owing to the feelings expressed by Ed¬ 
 ward himself in the matter, who, although absent 
 and engrossed with a war of great magnitude in 
 Flanders, was made acquainted through his agents 
 
182 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 with the situation in Scotland. He assured his 
 generals there that he would not only maintain 
 his supremacy over that country, hut rather make 
 it a hunting field than allow it to he wrested 
 from his grasp. Above all the other inhabitants, 
 Wallace began to engross the largest share of his 
 attention. Dead or alive he was bound to secure 
 him at any cost, while he was often heard to say in 
 the presence of his bosom friends, that he would 
 be willing to part with a large share of his newly 
 acquired possessions if the man he dreaded so 
 much was under his control. Meanwhile the 
 Scottish insurrection spread rapidly, and particu¬ 
 larly in the west of Scotland ; and while it was 
 daily gaining strength, Wallace received an im¬ 
 portant accession to his standard in the person of 
 Robert Bruce. This was the grandson of the 
 competitor for the Scottish crown, and because he 
 failed in obtaining it, both he and his family were 
 ever afterwards alienated from Edward. They 
 tried to keep up an outward show of friendship 
 towards the English monarch, and the father of 
 the young Bruce was at this time with him in 
 Flanders; yet the vacillating conduct of the son 
 for a considerable time before showed that he was 
 ill at ease, and only wanted an opportunity to de¬ 
 clare against Edward, and that too with the 
 secret concurrence of his father. Before this the 
 English wardens had become suspicious of his 
 attachment to the cause of their royal master, 
 and had summoned him to Carlisle, and caused him 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 183 
 
 to swear fidelity to him on the consecrated host, 
 and the sword of Thomas a Becket. But not¬ 
 withstanding, Bruce continued to talk as former¬ 
 ly to his father’s tenants of the oppression of the 
 English, and how easy it would be for the Pope 
 to absolve him from the oath of allegiance that 
 had been extorted from him. And cherishing 
 such feelings, he soon afterwards collected his 
 vassals and proceeded openly to the camp of Wal¬ 
 lace. The news of Bruce’s revolt spread like 
 lightning over the -country, and soon reached the 
 ears of Edward in Flanders. And well it might, 
 for there was no family at that time in Scotland 
 possessed of his influence, or whose defection 
 was more likely to shake the power of the English 
 in it. The estates extended over an immense 
 extent of country in the west, stretching from 
 the Frith of Clyde to the gleaming waters of the 
 Solway; and the number of men they could 
 bring into the field at any time was nearly equal 
 to that of any sovereign of the country. Edward 
 resolved to put down the rebels with all con¬ 
 venient speed, ordered the Earl of Surrey to call 
 forth the whole force of the country to the north 
 of the Trent, and with one united effort crush out 
 the last vestige of insurrection that was ever likely 
 to manifest itself in Scotland. In order to do so 
 more effectually, he released from prison many of 
 the most powerful of the Scotch noblemen, who 
 were confined in England since the battle of Dun¬ 
 bar, and sent them home in order that they might 
 
184 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 prevent their vassals from joining the insurgents.. 
 The Earl of Surrey, who happened at the time to 
 be residing in the North of England, in a delicate 
 state of health, appointed Lord Henry Percy to 
 take his place, and to be associated with Robert De 
 Clifford in the command. The English forces 
 that were thus sent forward amounted to forty 
 thousand foot and three hundred cavalry, which 
 were thought sufficient for the time to quell the 
 insurrection. They proceeded northward with 
 all convenient speed, and passing through Annan- 
 dale encamped in the neighborhood of Loch- 
 Maben Castle. This was one of the strongest 
 fortifications in the South of Scotland, and was the 
 principal residence of the great family of Bruce. 
 It stood upon a promontory that jutted out into a 
 lake of the same name, and presented an impos¬ 
 ing object to the view; for as it raised its vast 
 towers running close up from the margin of the 
 waters —whether seen in winter, when the moun¬ 
 tains stood up sternly or bare beside it, or in sum¬ 
 mer when the heath that covers them is in 
 bloom, and all nature is aglow—it was always fit¬ 
 ted to strike the eye of the beholder with wonder 
 and delight. Before the English army had time 
 to settle down after a toilsome march, and com¬ 
 pose themselves for the night, they were sudden¬ 
 ly and fiercely attacked by the Scots, who had 
 been previously watching their movements, and 
 hanging upon their outskirts. The time when 
 the assault was made was also favorable to the 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 185 
 
 undertaking ; for the night happened to be in¬ 
 tensely dark, and the camp was but yet in a state 
 of confusion, as the army had only arrived on the 
 previous day. The darkness prevented the Eng¬ 
 lish at first from knowing the quarters from 
 which they were assailed, or the number of their 
 assailants; and as might have been expected, con¬ 
 fusion of the most fearful character everywhere 
 prevailed. They rushed to the contest in the midst 
 of bewilderment; but when prepared to fight they 
 were unable to find their leaders, and in their blind 
 ignorance turned their arms against each other. 
 Multitudes of them in this way were slaughtered, 
 or became an easy prey to their assailants with¬ 
 out the camp; and at the first nothing appeared 
 for them but utter annihilation. At last, by order 
 of Percy, fire was set to the wooden sheds, that 
 composed the buildings where they had laid down 
 their weary limbs to rest. In an instant they 
 were in a blaze, and as the flames darted forth 
 and upwards towards the heavens, they shed a 
 flood of light around them in every quarter, and 
 enabled them to form their ranks and to estimate 
 without further trouble the extent of their danger, 
 and the number and power of the enemy that had 
 attacked them. Finding that force small—for it 
 was only made up of the soldiers of Wallace who 
 had been well accustomed to such night attacks— 
 they were able to repulse them, and in the morn¬ 
 ing the English army left the place, and in full 
 force advanced northward, prepared at any moment 
 
186 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 to meet and encounter the force who, on the pre¬ 
 vious night, had so unceremoniously assailed and 
 put so many of them to the sword. When they 
 arrived at Ayr they were informed that the whole 
 of the Scottish army was about twelve miles dis¬ 
 tant, encamped in a well chosen position, and not 
 much inferior in numbers to that which was to be 
 brought against it. Percy was determined not to 
 be surprised a second time, and forthwith proceed¬ 
 ed against them in order of battle; and had a 
 spirit of unity and patriotism prevailed in the 
 Scottish camp, a terrible conflict must of necessity 
 have ensued. But it unfortunately happened, as 
 had often previously been the case, that rancour 
 and jealousy burnt in the breasts of many of the 
 chiefs towards each other, which proved disastrous 
 for the time being to the liberties of Scotland. No 
 less than three factions on this occasion strove for 
 the mastery, which turned the Scottish camp into 
 a wild scene of confusion, and enfeebled every 
 effort to be put forth against the English. The 
 party of Bruce in the camp was large and influen¬ 
 tial, and even at this early period was asserting 
 the right of their chief to the crown, while the 
 faction of Comyn and Buchan, who had lately 
 been liberated by Edward, and who headed their 
 clans at this time, was deadly opposed to it, while 
 Wallace and his patriotic followers adhered to 
 Baliol as their lawful sovereign, and were pre¬ 
 pared to contend, as they had ever done before, 
 for the liberties of their country. Such diversity 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 187 
 
 of opinion in any circumstances would have led 
 to evil consequences, but on the eve of a great 
 battle was positively suicidal to the interests 
 the parties professed to have espoused. Sir 
 Richard Lundin, who had fought hitherto nobly 
 in Argyleshire and elsewhere by the side of Wal¬ 
 lace, became disgusted with the whole proceedings, 
 and believing the factions cruelly and hopelessly 
 divided against themselves in the Scottish camp, 
 rode openly over to the enemy with all his vas¬ 
 sals. This opened a door to the rest of the selfish 
 and pusillanimous nobility, who were vastly more 
 concerned about the preservation of their lives 
 and estates than the liberties of their country; 
 and accordingly Wishart, bishop of Glasgow, and 
 the others of therti were eager to follow his 
 example. The revolt of Sir William Douglas 
 grieved the heart of Wallace more than all the 
 rest, for he had up till this time proved a tried 
 friend and an able soldier. All thoughts of fight¬ 
 ing were now given up, and a treaty was at once 
 drawn out and signed by Wishart, and all the 
 barons who had been engaged in the insurrection. 
 They expressed great contrition for having risen 
 in arms against their Lord Edward and against 
 his peace in Scotland and Galloway; and they 
 stipulated that their lives and estates should be 
 preserved. A copy of this treaty, written in Nor¬ 
 man French, was presented to Wallace for signa¬ 
 ture, but the heroic man thrust it from him with 
 disdain. It grieved him to think that the name 
 
188 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 of liis brave compatriot Douglas was adhibited 
 to this base document, and he principally blamed 
 Wishart, the bishop of Glasgow, for this unaccount¬ 
 able conduct; for at the time the bishop had ac¬ 
 quired great ascendency over the mind of his 
 friend. Sir William Douglas was the first of the 
 aristocracy of any consequence who espoused the 
 cause of liberty, when it was considered rash and 
 absurd to do so. He had been taken prisoner by 
 Edward at the seige of Berwick, and restored to 
 liberty on swearing fealty to him; but not con¬ 
 sidering the oath obligatory, owing to the fact that 
 it was extorted from him, he had soon after joined 
 the Scotch force with all his vassals. He never 
 up till the present time had faltered in his ad¬ 
 hesion to the cause he had voluntarily espoused, 
 and it had been his proudest ambition to follow 
 into the field and imitate the courage of a chief 
 he dearly loved. He was calm and deliberate in 
 counsel, candid and explicit in statement when it 
 required to be made; a hero during the heat of 
 action, and a trusty friend when over ; and to be 
 separated from such a one when he mostly needed 
 his aid and co-operation, was a calamity which 
 Wallace was hardly able to bear. But the cir¬ 
 cumstances, however unfavorable, caused him more 
 than ever to forget the possibility of all danger 
 in the pursuit of the path of duty, and ignoring 
 every feeling of disappointment he resolved to 
 fight on to the bitter end. He was encouraged 
 to do so from the fact that although the greater 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 189 
 
 barons were prepared to sell their country’s liber¬ 
 ties for the preservation of their lives and pro¬ 
 perties, yet many of their vassals were as deter¬ 
 mined as ever to contend for them, and the lesser 
 barons likewise. Watching a fit opportunity there¬ 
 fore, he broke in with fury upon the English camp, 
 at the head of his followers, before the articles of 
 agreement were finally ratified, and put five hun¬ 
 dred of the enemy to the sword; and collecting 
 all his followers thereafter together, he entered 
 his solemn protest against the cowardly conduct 
 of the nobles, and refusing to accept of any ces¬ 
 sation of hostilities, he left the camp of the Scots, 
 filled with shame and indignation at the whole 
 of the proceedings, and marched quickly towards 
 the north. And when he did so he was followed 
 only by one baron, Sir Andrew Murray of Both- 
 well, who “ amid all the faithless remained faith¬ 
 ful ” to his chief, and the interests of his oppressed 
 country. It is pleasing to witness such a sample 
 of real patriotism amid such wide-spread defection 
 as was now displayed by the nobility of Scotland; 
 and the love and tender sympathies of Wallace 
 must have been greatly drawn forth towards one 
 who had risked his all at this trying emergency 
 of his country’s history. For Bothwell Castle, 
 his paternal residence, as a superb structure, had 
 few to equal it at the time in Scotland. It occu¬ 
 pied a space in length stretching to two hundred 
 and thirty-four feet, while it extended ninety- 
 nine feet in breadth over the walls. Near the 
 
190 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 castle the Clyde swept along majestically, shut in 
 with lofty banks on either side, and richly adorn¬ 
 ed with trees of the largest dimensions; while 
 the landscape generally on all hands was unrival¬ 
 led for beauty. Besides this, large tracts of land 
 of the richest description were owned by its noble 
 occupant lying along the valley of the Clyde, and 
 many more far off throughout the country. Vassals 
 in thousands were proud to follow him into the 
 field,from all of which circumstances it can be easily 
 seen how great the sacrifices were which he had 
 made in behalf of the liberties of his country. Be¬ 
 fore leaving the North Wallace resolved to punish 
 Wishart, the bishop of Glasgow, for decoying Sir 
 William Douglas, and for the prominent part he 
 had taken in the revolt of the Scottish nobles. 
 He had reinstated him in his diocese after Beck 
 was expelled from it, and yet he and Comyn of 
 Badendoch, had been mainly instrumental in de¬ 
 stroying all union among a large portion of the 
 Scottish nobles, and alienating from Wallace some 
 of his best friends. He and his adherents thereupon 
 proceeded to Glasgow, and as a mark of contempt 
 for the bishop, broke into his house, demolished 
 it, carried off his furniture and horses, and after¬ 
 wards proceeded towards the North. In this 
 part of the country, notwithstanding the capi¬ 
 tulation at Irvine, the spirit of resistance 
 towards the English became general everywhere. 
 In the large and influential county of Aberdeen 
 in particular, it became serious, and called forth 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 191 
 
 the interference of Edward himself. He accord¬ 
 ingly sent peremptory orders to the Sheriffs of 
 that shire to punish with severity the rebels for 
 the murders and robberies which they were 
 everywhere committing among his subjects, and 
 to spare no means, however great might be the 
 cost, to prevent such uprisings in the future. The 
 sheriffs carried out to the letter the injunctions 
 of their sovereign lord the King, placed a strong 
 guard upon Urquhart Castle, against which an 
 intended attack had been threatened, and inflict¬ 
 ed summary punishment on not a few of the na¬ 
 tives connected with the uprisings who happened 
 to fall into their power. Meanwhile Wallace and his 
 followers were at hand giving strength and encour¬ 
 agement to the movement, and filling the hearts 
 of the English, soldiers shut up in dreary forts 
 far away from the sympathies or co-operation of 
 their countrymen, with terror and dismay. Won¬ 
 derful success appears to have crowned his efforts 
 between the signing of the treaty at Irvine by 
 the nobles and the famous battle of Stirling. For 
 in that short period he had enlisted the hearts of 
 the whole people of Scotland with the exception 
 of the nobility, and had a large army under his 
 control. That such was the case there can be no 
 doubt whatever, for Knighton, an English his¬ 
 torian, asserts, “ that the whole followers of the 
 nobility had attached themselves to him, and that 
 although the persons of their lords were with the 
 King of England, their hearts were with Wallace, 
 
192 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 wlio found his army reinforced by so immense 
 a multitude of the Scotch, that the community 
 of the land obeyed him as their leader and their 
 prince.” With his forces Wallace seems to have 
 chosen the same route as Edward had previously 
 done when he proceeded north with the Earl of 
 Ulster and others, and filled the hearts of the 
 inhabitants everywhere with terror and dismay. 
 Falling into the beautiful valley of Strathmore, 
 which stretches all the way from the neighborhood 
 of Perth to nearly the extremity of Kincardinshire, 
 where there were some of the strongest fortifica¬ 
 tions in Scotland, that had to be invested and 
 taken before Aberdeen could be reached in 
 safety, there appeared before them much heavy 
 work in this locality. But a general panic 
 prevailed among the English garrisons at the 
 time throughout this part of the country, in re¬ 
 gard to Wallace, and the vast number of troops 
 that flocked to his standard; and therefore a num¬ 
 ber of strongholds that might have stood out for 
 many months in ordinary circumstances, and even 
 defied his valorous soldiers to take them at all, 
 easily fell into their hands in the course of a few 
 weeks. Among them we may mention the Castle 
 of Forfar that stood at some distance from the 
 town in the midst of a small loch. It was a 
 square and substantial fabric, strongly fortified. 
 The castle of Kincardine a magnificent structure 
 of great strength, shut in towards the north by a 
 spur of the Grampian chain, while a huge forest 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 193 
 
 intercepted here and there by large bogs extended 
 in its front towards the “ How of the Mearns,” 
 then mostly a swamp, but now one of the best 
 cultivated portions of Scotland. It was here John 
 Baliol, Edward’s puppet king, resigned the crown 
 of Scotland; and it was here that Edward himself 
 rested a night and a day on his procession towards 
 Aberdeen in A. D. 1296. The castle of Dunotter, 
 stronger than either of the two above mentioned 
 places, lay also in their way, and became more 
 identified afterwards with the history of Scot¬ 
 land. Its strong, massive walls were built close 
 to the shores of the German Ocean, and its exten¬ 
 sive ruins even yet invite the traveller. Itwas here 
 also that many of Scotland’s ecclesiastical nobles 
 suffered cruel hardships and death long after the 
 time of Wallace, for the same principles for which 
 he was now contending; and while visiting them 
 the “ Wizard of the North ” became acquainted 
 with that remarkable person that forms the prin¬ 
 cipal character in one of the greatest of his 
 novels. The summer had ended before Wallace 
 and his victorious troops had been able to reduce 
 the fortress already mentioned, and proceed in the 
 direction of Aberdeen. And the autumn had 
 already set in, and scattered its golden hues in all 
 directions overv alley, forest and mountain; for 
 in Scotland as well as in this our Western hemis¬ 
 phere this is by far the most agreeable season 
 of the year. After finishing their work the 
 troops gradually proceeded in their northern 
 
 N 
 
194 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 march, and as they ascended the ridge of the 
 Grampian chain that had to be crossed in 
 their way to Aberdeen, had a commanding view 
 of the country they had left behind, and also 
 of that stretching out before them. In the 
 rear of the army was to be seen the largest por¬ 
 tion of Strathmore, then, as now, considered one 
 of the richest parts of the kingdom. Away to 
 the left rose up some of the highest peaks of the 
 Grampians, covered at all seasons of the year with 
 perpetual snow, and adding variety to the pros¬ 
 pect ; while the valley of the Dee lay sleeping at 
 their feet, with its clear glistening waters and its 
 banks covered with rich fields waving with lux¬ 
 uriant grain; and whether seen amid the rays of 
 the autumnal sun, or the beams of the harvest 
 moon, were sufficient to fill them with joy and 
 satisfaction. There is a tradition that before 
 Wallace and his troops were able to ford the Dee, 
 the English garrison in the castle had issued from 
 it and set the city on fire. It was done so in 
 several quarters, and but for the herculean exer¬ 
 tions of the inhabitants, and the timely aid of the 
 soldiers, it would have become a smouldering pile 
 of ruins, as the houses at the time were all built 
 of wood, and liable to be consumed. It is still 
 further affirmed that when the garrison set fire 
 to the town they betook themselves to their ships, 
 that were lying in the harbor, intending with the 
 bishop and sheriff to move to some other part of 
 the country; but before they were able to set sail 
 a storm suddenly arose, which in a short time in- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 195 
 
 creased to a hurricane, and when night approach¬ 
 ed the waves dashed over the decks of the ships 
 and drove the vessels from their mo rings, so that 
 when morning appeared all the melancholy accom¬ 
 paniments of a total wreck were everywhere visi¬ 
 ble. What remained of the English force from 
 drowning was driven on the shore by the fury of 
 the storm, put to death, and the castle easily taken. 
 Whether tradition in a number of particulars is 
 correct, it is difficult at this distant period of time to 
 say, but it would appear from every source of infor¬ 
 mation to which we have had access that Wallace 
 and his forces took possession of the castle with¬ 
 out much difficulty ; for only a short time elapsed 
 when we find him in Dundee. While there, how¬ 
 ever, he was prevented from accomplishing the 
 object he had in view, namely, the taking of the 
 castle, for he had no sooner commenced the siege 
 than he was advised of the approach of a large 
 English force towards Stirling. If time permitted 
 he was resolved to prevent them from crossing the 
 Forth there; and leaving Dundee with a large 
 army he committed the charge of the siege of the 
 castle to one of their own townsmen, and enjoin¬ 
 ed the inhabitants, at the peril of their lives, to 
 continue the work vigorously until their efforts 
 wei^ covered with success. After beating the 
 enemy he promised to return again, and faithfully 
 reward the citizens for carrying out successfully 
 their praiseworthy undertaking, while he vowed 
 vengeance on them if they proved refractory in 
 the matter. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Wallace reached the Forth with his army before the Eng¬ 
 lish arrived. Secured the high ground above Cambus- 
 kenneth. Close by stood the abbey of the same name. 
 Ground selected highly advantageous to the Scottish 
 army. Amounted to forty thousand foot and a hundred 
 and eighty horse. Great dissensions appeared in the 
 English army. De Warrenne, the governor of Scot¬ 
 land, superseded by another commander. Caused him 
 to neglect details which were necessary to ensure suc¬ 
 cess. Cressingham, the treasurer, sent back Lord 
 Henry Percy, who had arrived with a large force to 
 assist Surrey, his uncle, as being too expensive. 
 The steward of Scotland and Earl of Lennox, who joined 
 the English army on this occasion, sought a chance to 
 betray them. Strange that Surrey should have put any 
 confidence in such men. Helped to lead to the disas¬ 
 ters that were to follow. Early in the morning of the 
 eleventh of September, 129^7, Cressingham defiled with 
 his division over the bridge to attack the Scots on the 
 northern side. Hot followed by others. Surrey, the 
 commander, still in bed. Crowded back again. When 
 Surrey awoke he found his army drawn up, and eager 
 to pass over. Created several knights forthwith. 
 Waited for the arrival of the steward of Scotland and 
 Earl of Lennox. Arrived late in the morning. Still 
 unwilling to engage. Sent two friars to work upo;i 
 Wallace’s religious feelings, and bring him to terms. 
 Unable to do so. Sir Bichard Lundin strongly dis¬ 
 suaded the English from passing the bridge. But at 
 some distance below. His advice ridiculed by Cres- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 197 
 
 singham, and Surrey gave the order to engage. Cres- 
 singham led on the van, and the rest of the English 
 army followed. The Scots remained quiet, and showed 
 no disposition to engage. Sir Marmaduke Twenge re¬ 
 solved to attack them in their intrenchments with a 
 large body of cavalry. Wallace gave the orders to ad¬ 
 vance. Commanded Kirkpatrick and Murray to secure 
 the right and left of the bridge. He advanced in the 
 centre. A terrible conflict ensued. Nearly twenty 
 thousand of the English slain. Surrey fled, and arrived 
 in safety at Berwick. The most of his forces slain. 
 Cressingham included among the number, and many 
 others of note. On the side of the Scots, Sir Andrew 
 Murray and others fell. Deeply regretted by Wallace 
 and all who knew him. 
 
 Wallace marched with great haste from Dundee, 
 and had the satisfaction to know that he had ar¬ 
 rived near the northern bank of the Forth, before 
 the English had reached Torwood, in the 
 neighborhood of Stirling. Employing his time 
 to good advantage, before the enemy arrived, he 
 secured the high ground on the river Forth above 
 Cambuskenneth, and drew up his army in battle 
 array. Close by stood the celebrated abbey of 
 the same name, in a flourishing state at the time, 
 to witness the bloody conflict that was about to take 
 place. Within its sacred precincts were deposited 
 the ashes of several of the mighty dead, includ¬ 
 ing some of the kings and queens of Scotland. 
 And even at this day its lofty tower rears its 
 head, amid the fragments of a broken wall and 
 gateway, and seems to wait patiently for the 
 coming of one that will compose, without shed- 
 
198 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 ding of blood, tlie terrible feuds among men, that 
 have 
 
 “ Cut off (many) even in the blossom of their sin, 
 TJnhouserd, unanointed, unanneal’d; 
 
 No reckoning made, but sent to their account 
 With all their imperfections on their heads;” 
 
 and proclaim an everlasting peace among the 
 sons and daughters of the same race, who ought 
 always to have been agreed among themselves. 
 The ground selected by Wallace was highly ad¬ 
 vantageous to the Scottish army, for by means of 
 its unevenness he was enabled to conceal a large 
 body of his forces from the English, and thus in¬ 
 duce them to fight under very unfavorable cir¬ 
 cumstances. Besides, he had taken the precau¬ 
 tion to have large herds of cattle collected from 
 all parts of the country, and placed in safety 
 in the rear of the army; so that in case of 
 defeat they would be amply supplied with pro¬ 
 visions. In. this way the Scotch troops, which 
 amounted to forty thousand foot and a hundred 
 and eighty horse, occupied ground which appeared 
 in every light advantageous to them; and com¬ 
 pelled the English either to retreat or to fight 
 under conditions which rendered victory certain 
 to the other side. Moreover, there were other 
 causes favorable, for the Scots were united under 
 a chief in whose judgment and valor they had 
 perfect confidence. Besides they were filled 
 with a vehement impulse of ridding their country 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILILAM WALLACE. 
 
 199 
 
 of a foe that had long filled it with bloodshed and 
 crime, and which they were now resolved to do, 
 however terrible the conflict might appear, and 
 follow their beloved leader for better or for worse, 
 to death or to victory. On the other hand, in the 
 English army the greatest dissensions seemed at 
 the time to have prevailed; for De Warrenne, 
 Earl of Surrey, the governor of Scotland, had 
 been suspended in the command by Brian 
 Fitzallen, and notwithstanding he still retained 
 the command of the forces, his mind seemed to 
 have brooded so much over his apparent disgrace, 
 as to have caused him to neglect the details that 
 were necessary to ensure success in a campaign, in 
 which he had to contend with a wise and great 
 general. In this state of affairs Cressinglnim, the 
 treasurer, a proud, greedy, and incapable ecclesi¬ 
 astic, was assuming additional power and impor¬ 
 tance from the downfall of De Warrenne. As proof 
 of this when Lord Henry Percy arrived from 
 Carlisle at Stirling, with a large reinforcement of 
 eight thousand foot and three thousand horse, 
 Cressingham gave orders for disbanding and send¬ 
 ing them back, as he deemed the force already 
 in the field sufficient for the emergency. This 
 was done' from ill-judged economy, and contrary 
 to the wish of the commander, who desired the 
 presence and assistance of his brave nephew, who 
 had hastened on so far with such a large party to 
 ensure his countrymen of success; as he knew 
 from experience the policy and daring of such a 
 
200 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 leader as Wallace, and how difficult it would be 
 to crush the insurrection headed by him. More¬ 
 over there were other things that foreboded 
 disaster to the English, besides the jealousy and 
 enmity that existed between Surrey and the proud 
 and unprincipled Cressingham. For the steward 
 of Scotland and Earl of Lennox, who had deserted 
 the cause of the patriots at Irvine, and joined the 
 English army on this occasion, while strongly 
 advising Surrey to delay the engagement, till they 
 had opened up communications with Wallace, and 
 brought him over to the interests of Edward, 
 were waiting a fit opportunity of deserting and 
 betraying it. And this is one of the reasons in 
 connection with what took place before the engage¬ 
 ment, that we cannot account for in any reason¬ 
 able way — why a general of Surrey’s long 
 experience and known ability, who had the fate of 
 a great army depending upon his knowledge and 
 care,should have manifested so much remissness be¬ 
 forehand,* and allowed men whose previous history 
 might have been a sufficient guarantee against all 
 their professions of attachment to the English 
 interests, to prove its ultimate ruin. For by 
 means of such negligence, he allowed Wallace to 
 tamper with parties, in whom few of any fore¬ 
 sight would have put any confidence, and to become 
 acquainted with the numbers and arrangements 
 of a splendid army, who, if properly generaled, 
 were fit for any emergency. But it was in this 
 way that Wallace was permitted, at his own 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 201 
 
 leisure, to prepare measures that would be sure to 
 be attended with success, and entail discomfiture 
 and dreadful disaster, on the invaders. After a 
 conference with him, the steward and treasurer of 
 Scotland returned to the English camp, and in¬ 
 formed Surrey, with an air of seriousness and 
 duplicity, worthy of the men, “ That the arch- 
 rebel and blood-thirsty upstart would listen to no 
 terms, but rush forward headlong to his own des¬ 
 truction ; but that they would bring up their 
 vassals to his aid, and thus put a stop to this boot¬ 
 less war.” They promised to return in the morn¬ 
 ing with sixty horse, and on leaving they met a 
 number of the English soldiers returning from 
 foraging to their encampment. An altercation took 
 place, and Lennox stabbed one of them, who was 
 carried dead thither, amid no little commotion, 
 and a cry was raised that they had been betrayed 
 by the Scots. There was doubtless too much truth 
 in the statement, and Surrey must have found that 
 he had been deceived. But he calmed their 
 excited feelings by the assurance that, on failing 
 to return in the morning with their retainers, 
 they would have ample revenge on the traitors 
 for breach of promise and other actions. Mean¬ 
 while the English camp became quiet and still, as 
 night had began to cast its sable gloom over all 
 things around, and the poor soldiers,, with their 
 general at their head, laid themselves down to 
 rest, for the purpose of refreshing their weary 
 bodies, and composing their minds in order to act 
 
202 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 tlieir part like men, amid the stirring and bloody 
 scenes that must necessarily be transacted on the 
 following day. It was rather strange that Surrey 
 could have done so, considering the responsible 
 position he held, and that he should have slept on 
 soundly till the morning was considerably ad¬ 
 vanced. One would have rather supposed that, 
 amid the stillness of the night on to the dawning 
 of the day, his mind would have been ill at ease, 
 and many an anxious thought would have crowded 
 in upon it, as his faithful followers lay around 
 him, buried in slumber, with dangers surrounding 
 them on every side. The morning of the eleventh 
 of September, 1297, dawned, and the sun rose 
 brightly from behind the mountains that towered 
 up in the neighborhood, and scattered his golden 
 rays in large profusion over the valleys and ham¬ 
 lets that lay sleeping in peaceful composure at their 
 bases, as if to contrast intensly with the terrible 
 conflict that was quickly to follow. As soon as he 
 was up, Cressingham was all in motion, and 
 ordered the division under his command to defile 
 over the bridge, and attack the Scots. Five 
 thousand foot soldiers obeyed the call, and did so 
 as fast as circumstances permitted, while a large 
 number of Welsh troops soon followed after. But 
 after a while they turned back when they began 
 to find that they were not followed by the rest of 
 the army, and away they went, crowding and 
 cramming to the place from whence they came. 
 The Scots might have pushed down upon them 
 
LIFE OF SLR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 203 
 
 and cut them to pieces, while separated from their 
 fellows on the other side of the river. But the 
 number was too small to be regarded as worthy 
 of notice, and Wallace, waiting for a more favor¬ 
 able opportunity of an attack when a much larger 
 multitude of the English forces had passed over, 
 retained the position he had chosen from the 
 first. Surrey had only awoke when the whole of 
 these transactions had transpired, and found the 
 army drawn up and eager to pass over the bridge. 
 For the purpose of animating the minds of the 
 troops, as was then the custom before any great 
 engagement, a number of knights were forthwith 
 created, many of whom were not permitted to 
 survive their honors after this eventful day. For 
 although their helmets of steel glittered from afar, 
 and their shining spears and darts sparkled bright 
 in the morning sun, many of those that were ap¬ 
 pointed to move on in front were soon cut in 
 pieces, and those that followed after in the rear 
 were destined to the same fate. Surrey waited 
 impatiently for the arrival of the steward of Scot¬ 
 land and the Earl of Lennox, whom he imagined 
 would be sure to fulfil their promise. They did 
 arrive late in the morning with sixty horse ; but 
 as he was aware of the strong position of the 
 Scottish army, and of the danger of crossing the 
 river, he still hesitated to do so, and as a dernier 
 resort sent two friars with cress in hand to endea¬ 
 vor, if possible, to work upon Wallace’s religious 
 feelings and bring him to terms. They performed 
 
204 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 the task imposed upon them with great adroitness 
 and ability, but were unsuccessful in their at¬ 
 tempts, for they received a very brief and senten¬ 
 tious answer, couched in the following terms. 
 “ Return to your leaders,” said the intrepid pa¬ 
 triot, “ and tell them we are not here to negotiate, 
 but to perform, not to talk, but to fight, for were 
 your masters to come and attack us we are ready 
 to meet them beard to beard, and at the point of 
 our swords, for thus it is we are determined to 
 give freedom to our country, and inflict vengeance 
 upon her oppressors. We are neither the slaves 
 nor subjects of England, and will throw our chal¬ 
 lenge in the teeth of Cressingham.” These taunt¬ 
 ing words irritated to an extreme degree many of 
 the English officers, who became impatient to 
 draw their swords and be led on to put a stop to 
 such insolent daring on the part of the leader of 
 the Scottish rebels. Especially Cressingham, who 
 considered he was insulted by the reply, was most 
 anxious for the attack; for his pride and vain 
 glory were awfully brought down by the same, 
 and though a coward at heart, his courage swelled 
 out into large dimensions, now that he was sur¬ 
 rounded by a host of some of the best soldiers in 
 Europe. Still Surrey and some of the more ex¬ 
 perienced officers, hesitated to cross the bridge, 
 and above all Sir Richard Lundin, an old, experi¬ 
 enced warrior, and former friend of Wallace, who 
 had joined the English at Irvine, and who was 
 particularly well acquainted with the different 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 205 
 
 localities of the country which they were now 
 in, implored delay.” If, “ says Lundin,” you once 
 attempt to pass the bridge, you are throwing away 
 your lives. The men can only cross two by two. 
 Our enemies command our flank, and will be 
 instantly upon us. I know a ford, not far from 
 hence, where you may pass sixty at a time. Give 
 me but five hundred horse, and a small body of 
 foot, I shall turn the enemy’s flank, whilst you, 
 lord Earl, and the rest of the army, may passover 
 in safety.” This was the sage counsel of one who 
 had proved himself a tried veteran before, and 
 who was far better acquainted with the country 
 than anyone who was there present. If it had 
 been adopted, the cause of freedom in Scotland, 
 might have suffered severely from it; but it fortu¬ 
 nately happened to be rejected. This was princi¬ 
 pally owing to the greedy, incompetent and 
 imperious Cressingham, who only insulted Lundin, 
 for the advice tendered, and caused Surrey, the 
 old general, who had now become convinced of the 
 critical situation of affairs, to submit his better 
 judgment to the rashness of an ignorant and 
 overreaching ecclesiastic. “ You, Sir Richard Lun¬ 
 din,” says he, “ have been too briefly an adherent 
 of ours, and have given no sufficient proof of stable 
 allegiance to us, to enable us to put any reliance 
 on your fidelity and judgment.” “ And as for 
 you, my Lord Surrey,” says he, with all the assur¬ 
 ance of which he was possessed, “ if you do not 
 let us pass on and do our knightly duty, you will 
 
206 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 only be protracting the war uselessly, and spend¬ 
 ing the king’s money.” Stung by such cutting 
 remarks, Surrey gave the command contrary to 
 his own wishes, and when the morning was con¬ 
 siderably advanced, the army began to defile over 
 the bridge, and the bloody fray seriously to 
 commence. Cressingliam’s ardently expressed 
 desires were now fully gratified, having led on 
 the van of the brave English army. He was 
 covered in armour of the most costly description, 
 with sable plume flaunting in the sun, vainly 
 thinking the Scots had only to be assailed in order 
 to ensure their entire defeat; and joined in the 
 command by Sir Marmaduke Twenge, an English 
 knight of great courage and experience, both of 
 which were severety tested before the close of 
 the engagement. Slowly the English forces 
 moved along the narrow wooden bridge, where, 
 according to an English historian, there was 
 scarce room for two horsemen to ride abreast, and 
 if they had defiled across it, without the slightest 
 check from the rising of the sun till eleven o’clock, 
 the rear division would still have remained on 
 the other side. Still, as quickly as possible they 
 crossed over. Many thousands of them had already 
 done so, and others were advancing eagerly be¬ 
 hind them. No opposition was yet experienced 
 from the Scots, while the advancing squadrons 
 were beginning to assume movements of a very 
 formidable aspect on the northern bank of the 
 river; and Cressingham by this time had doubt- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 207 
 
 less imagined that the superior strength and 
 discipline of the English had awed them into 
 submission, and filled them with dread. For in 
 no other way could he account for the singular 
 fact, that their forces remained immovable on 
 the high ground which had been at the first 
 selected, without apparently manifesting any im¬ 
 patience to change their position, or to allow an 
 immense army to pass on unmolested, and fall 
 upon them without any apparent attempt to 
 arrest their progress. Fully one half of the 
 English troops had proceeded across the bridge; 
 but the Scots still remained in the same position 
 and waited still further for more of the enemy to 
 follow in order to divide and also to destroy them. 
 Sir Marmaduke Twenge, however, by his wild 
 impatience, seconded no doubt by the advice of 
 Cressingham, changed the whole current of affairs, 
 and hastened to maturity faster than Wallace had 
 anticipated at the*first, the scheme which he had 
 wisely concocted for the destruction of the whole 
 English force. That plan was to allow the majority 
 of the enemy to pass over the bridge, and before 
 they had time to form under their respective 
 • leaders, attack, throw into confusion, and cut them 
 in pieces. But Sir Marmaduke Twenge, anxious 
 to assail the Scots in their strong position, gave 
 orders for a cavalry charge, and was the first him¬ 
 self to show the example. Spurring his horse up 
 the hill, he disturbed tho stationary body of 
 armed men that was waiting its time to advance; 
 
208 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 for lie was instantly followed by a strong party of 
 English knights, heavily mailed, distinguished by 
 their triangular shields, who bore the royal stan¬ 
 dard of England, that floated triumphantly in the 
 breeze. And the shout was raised, “ for God and 
 St. George!” let us ascend the rising ground, let 
 us encounter the rebels, and by this first bold 
 movement scatter and discomfit them ! “ The thing 
 was easier said than done, for although the 
 cavalry gallantly followed their brave leader, 
 armed in complete steely and anxious to distinguish 
 themselves in the sight of both armies, they were 
 unfit for the service for which they were deputed; 
 for the enormous weight of their weapons and 
 trappings soon began to prove an encumbrance 
 to them rather than an advantage, and wrought 
 their ruin. The eagle eye of Wallace watching 
 from the height the movements that were sup¬ 
 posed on the other side to precipitate the destruc¬ 
 tion of his whole force, at once perceived the fatal 
 blunder the enemy had committed, and lost no 
 time to take advantage of it. He assured his 
 countrymen that the victory was already theirs; 
 that the enemy by their first rash action had at 
 once delivered themselves into their hands; that 
 the strife, though fierce and bloody, would be but 
 brief, and Scotland would soon be free, and every¬ 
 one engaged in it would earn for himself immortal 
 renown. So saying, he at once ordered Kirkpatrick 
 and the brave Murray to make a short detour, the 
 one to the right, and the other to the left of the 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 209 
 
 bridge, and rushing forward to the foot, take 
 possession of it, and thus prevent all communica¬ 
 tion with the part of the army on the opposite 
 side of the river. The command was no sooner 
 given, than it was executed with celerity and 
 success, by the two heroic chiefs, and their follow¬ 
 ers, for they appeared in their glory in the midst 
 of the fiercest strife. The forces at their disposal 
 not only took possession of the bridge, but cut off 
 all communication between the van and rear of 
 the English army, and rendered retreat impossible. 
 The moment Wallace beheld this, who still held 
 the eminence with the centre of his army, which 
 contained a large body of troops that had up till 
 this time been concealed from the view of the 
 English, he gave orders for them to advance, 
 which was quickly done. Down they rushed like 
 an avalanche from the rising ground, where they 
 had so long been pent up, and fell upon the 
 troubled masses led on by Cressingham and 
 Twenge, before they had time to form themselves 
 under their different leaders, and threw them into 
 inextricable confusion. Foremost in the midst of 
 the descending ranks as usual was Wallace to be 
 found, charging more furiously han he had ever 
 done before, fighting as if the whole conflict 
 depended on his own arm, and strewing the 
 ground with many of the flower of England’s 
 cavalry. His followers followed up the repeated 
 blows, fighting like heroes, remembering the many 
 
 wrongs they had got to revenge, and opened up 
 
 o 
 
210 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 wide lanes among the ranks of the enemy. Still 
 the English were no cowards, and although 
 they had been outgeneraled, and thrown into the 
 wildest confusion, the infantry defended them¬ 
 selves with heroic bravery amid the thick array 
 of swords and spears that were directed against 
 them ; while the cavalry fought with all the force 
 and valor for which in all ages they had been 
 famous. They managed their fiery steeds with 
 easy horsemanship. They darted into the midst 
 of the enemy. They courted death as if it had 
 been their natural element, and committed ter¬ 
 rible slaughter on all sides. The scene for some 
 time was animating but full of horror, as it must 
 necessarily be on such a bloody and trying occa¬ 
 sion. For on the one side was the crash of armor, 
 the cry of rage and triumph, exciting to deeds of 
 terrible revenge ; while on the other side was the 
 deadly swell of battle, and England’s arrows fell 
 like rain in their flight, to make defeat that was 
 inevitable bearable, and to show that valor is not 
 always accompanied with success. The conflict 
 became so terribly exciting, that many of the 
 Murray and Kirkpatrick force, stationed to defend 
 the bridge, deserted their post to share in it, and 
 left for some time a passage free for reinforce¬ 
 ments from the other side. But this was merely 
 to increase the tumult and confusion that every¬ 
 where began to prevail; for although the standard 
 bearers of the king and Earl of Surrey with a 
 fresh part of the army were able to pass over, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE . 
 
 211 
 
 they only arrived in time to meet instantaneous 
 death, and along with their brave companions 
 were cut to pieces. For the day was too far gone 
 now to be retrieved by any assistance that could 
 be brought from the other side, and the stream of 
 human beings that came crowding along the 
 narrow structure, and jamming it up, only shared 
 the sad fate of those that had passed on before them 
 to destruction. 
 
 “ In the lost battle borne down by the flying, 
 
 Where mingles war’s rattle with groans of the dying.” 
 
 From the confusion that ensued at the beginning 
 the English never managed to extricate them¬ 
 selves, and any addition to their force only con¬ 
 tinued to increase it. Multitudes of their infantry, 
 as well as their heavy cavalry, were slain, while 
 others of them plunged into the river with the 
 hope of joining their comrades safe on the other 
 side, became encumbered with their heavy armor, 
 and sunk in the midst of the waters to rise no 
 more. During these terrible disasters a scene 
 occurred, which for spirit and chivalry was well 
 worthy of its actor, and tendered to solace the 
 English general while witnessing the total defeat 
 of his army. The brave and impetuous Sir Marrna- 
 duke Twenge found that the Scots had seized the 
 bridge, and that all intercourse was cut off from 
 the other side. Now what was to be done in the 
 circumstances ? for a fellow warrior in arms had 
 advised that they should both throw themselves 
 into the river and swim their horses to the oppo- 
 
212 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 site bank. But the brave knight of Yorkshire 
 treated the proposal with disdain, for the thing 
 was unworthy of him. And therefore, putting 
 spurs to his charger, he drove him into the midst 
 of the enemy, hewed a passage through the 
 thickest of them, and rejoined his friends with 
 his nephew and armor-bearer on the other side, 
 to the astonishment and delight of all. But 
 deprived of the privilege of having so brave a 
 leader, the English forces on the north side of the 
 river were left to the wild horrors of despair and 
 the cruel mercies of the enemy; and with the 
 exception of a few that escaped drowning by 
 plunging into the stream and swimming over to 
 the other side, the whole of the twenty thousand 
 were cut to pieces by them. Surrey, joined by 
 Sir Marmaduke Twenge, ordered him to occupy 
 Stirling Castle, while he himself fled from the 
 field with the greatest trepidation, and left the 
 relicts of his discomfited army to the charge of 
 this brave man. His principal object appeared to 
 have been to consult his own safety, and therefore 
 he reached Berwick alone without drawing 
 bridle. “ A wonderful ride,” says an English 
 historian, “ for the old earl, and performed with 
 such good-will that the horse which he used when 
 stabled in the convent would not taste his corn.” 
 Nor were the discomfiture and dreadful slaughter 
 of the invaders confined to those that had crossed 
 the river, for Wallace and his men followed up 
 the victory gained on the other side, passed over 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 213 
 
 in pursuit of the enemy, and the carnage was great. 
 Helpless and in terror the poor fugitives, to pre¬ 
 serve their lives, threw from them their arms and 
 standards, and fled in all directions over the 
 country. But believing that the day of retribu¬ 
 tion had come round, the Scottish forces pursued 
 them with dogged perseverance, and put them 
 promiscuously to the sword. For of that noble 
 army that had crossed the Scottish border, com¬ 
 bining within itself much of the pride and chivalry 
 of England, and which laid waste at a trying 
 season of the year some of the fairest portions of 
 the land, few returned to their native country to 
 record their misfortune. Their bodies were swal¬ 
 lowed up by the waters of the Forth, or their 
 bones were left to bleach amid the forests and 
 morasses of an inhospitable country ; and thus in 
 the vicissitudes of war we can see the hand of Pro¬ 
 vidence strikingly displayed in inflicting terrible 
 punishment on those who were not very remark¬ 
 able in shewing mercy at any time to their 
 northern neighbors when in distress. In this 
 fatal and important battle, that roused the spirit 
 of Scotland, and sunk the hearts of the English, 
 a large amount of plunder fell into the hands of 
 the Scots ; for smarting under their cruel and 
 unjustifiable treatment by their neighbors for a 
 long time before, it was not to be wondered at, 
 but they would eagerly lay hold of it. Still there 
 are circumstances connected with the same, that 
 reflect the greatest dishonor on the parties that 
 
214 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 happened to share the largest in it; for the steward 
 of Scotland and Earl of Lennox, who, although 
 allies of the king of England, were all the while 
 intriguing with Wallace, stood at a distance 
 during the time of the battle, and never struck a 
 blow; hut so soon as the English army was 
 defeated, the traitors threw off the mask, and 
 leading a party of their fellows, began to kill and 
 plunder their flying unfortunate confederates. 
 Such conduct would have been dastardly on the 
 part of any one, but especially would it sink those 
 nobles in the estimation of the brave Wallace, 
 and all right-thinking men. The loss of the 
 English at the battle was immense, besides those 
 that afterwards perished in the flight. Among 
 them the detestable Cressingham was included. 
 He fell at the beginning of the contest, nor did 
 his fate excite much sympathy among his country¬ 
 men. “ For he,” says an English chronicler, “ who 
 had oppressed and wounded many with the sword 
 of his tongue, now fell a victim to the sword of 
 the wicked.” Few of the Scots were slain com¬ 
 pared with English, but the brave Sir Andrew 
 Murray was included among the number. He 
 maintained his post, assigned him by Wallace, 
 with his faithful clansmen to the last, and fell 
 fighting in the midst of heaps of the slain. “ With 
 dying hand above his head, he shook the fragment 
 of his blade, and shouted victory!” He was 
 among the first of the noble friends and coadjutors 
 of Wallace who loved and struggled nobly on, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE 
 
 215 
 
 amid all discouragements, to assist and uphold the 
 liberties of his country when the clouds were dark 
 and nearly all had forsaken the good cause. But 
 alas! when the dream had vanished and the sha¬ 
 dows of the past had fled away, the noble spirit, 
 who had toiled so hard, and bled and suffered to 
 secure liberty to others, did not live to share in its 
 blessings himself. “ He labored and others entered 
 into his labors.” It is true the valor and noble 
 exploits of this patriotic man have been consider¬ 
 ably forgotten, and cast into the shade, by the 
 more brilliant efforts put forth by his great leader 
 and friend. But when we take into account the 
 unselfishness of Murray, the trials he endured, 
 the battles he fought, and the great sacrifices he 
 willingly made for the good of others, we are 
 fain to persuade ourselves into the belief that as 
 the history of his country is better known, and 
 liberty valued as it ought to be, the name of Sir 
 Andrew Murray will become more sacred in the 
 memory of every right-thinking Scotchman : 
 
 Type of a race who shall the invader scorn, 
 
 As rocks resist the billows round the shore, 
 
 Type of a race who shall to time unborn, 
 
 Their country leave unconquered as of yore !” 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Important results followed the battle of Stirling. Taught 
 Edward to respect Scotland, and the contendings of 
 Wallace. The success of the people headed by Wallace 
 was wonderful after the desertion of the nobles at 
 Irvine. After the battle of Stirling, Wallace hastened 
 back to Dundee, where the English fortress surrendered. 
 And all the other strongholds throughout the country 
 with the exception of the Castle of Dunbar. Wallace 
 attacked it skilfully and drove its defender across the 
 borders. Thereafter he resolved to invade the North of 
 England. Was associated in the command by Sir Andrew 
 Murray, whose father had been slain at the battle of 
 Stirling. The English fled at the approach of the 
 Scottish army, and took shelter in the town of New¬ 
 castle. The Scottish army moved back into their own 
 country. And when the English returned they again 
 crossed the borders and committed fearful devastations. 
 Attacked the town of Carlisle, but retired from the 
 siege. Devastated the country as far as Derwentwater 
 and Cockermouth. Thereafter entered the county of 
 Durham. Sacred to St. Cuthbert. Wallace hesitated 
 to invade this part of the country. Retired from it, 
 after his troops were assailed by a terrible storm. Re¬ 
 turned to Scotland after much booty had been obtained 
 from the English. The cruelties perpetrated on the 
 English during this invasion largely owing to the 
 Galloweigians. 
 
 The decided character of the battle of Stirling 
 bridge, and defeat of the English forces, had 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 217 
 
 important results at the time, and ever afterwards. 
 It taught Edward to regard the people in the North 
 no more as a set of ignorant peasants, whose up¬ 
 rising could be easily suppressed by the first 
 appearance of an English force among them; hut 
 as a brave people who despised to be conquered, 
 and to whom liberty was reckoned dear. The 
 same people he was also aware were led on by one 
 who could estimate their feelings and daring, 
 and who infused into their breasts the deadliest 
 hatred of himself and of all others who endea¬ 
 vored to enslave them. So that the English 
 monarch, with the shrewdest of his coadjutors, 
 must now have come to the conclusion, that after 
 oceans of blood had been shed,-and millions of 
 money had been wasted, the subjugation of Scot¬ 
 land was a thing that had yet to be achieved. It 
 mattered not that the nobles of the country with 
 few exceptions had bartered away their own 
 liberties, and had also endeavored to make free 
 with those of others. It mattered not that they 
 had toiled sore, owing to their own selfish prin¬ 
 ciples, to extinguish every spark of patriotic 
 feeling that revealed itself in any direction. Their 
 attempts were happily neutralized, and a new 
 life infused into the heart of a downtrodden and 
 oppressed people that could not be extinguished. 
 This could hardly have been expected in the early 
 part of the year 1297, when Scotland lay prostrate 
 and bleeding at Edward’s feet; and when after 
 the siege of Berwick, and the disastrous battle of 
 
21S 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 Dunbar, be hastened to the continent to achieve 
 other victories, convinced that that country was 
 now his own. But the calculations of tyrants 
 have often misled them, when dealing with the 
 civil or religious rights of a people. And God 
 has helped those in contending for such who have 
 helped themselves. One thing is certain, that the 
 freedom procured for the Scottish nation at this 
 time was little expected, and may yet excite 
 wonder and gratitude in the hearts of all who are 
 impressed with the importance of it; especially 
 when they consider the might and power that 
 were brought to bear against them to deprive them 
 of it. But it was Providence that “ raised up a 
 little one to become a thousand in their midst.” 
 “ And the worm Jacob was made to thresh the 
 mountains of Israel.” There is no other way of 
 accounting for the fact, how it was possible in so 
 short a period of time to breathe a new existence 
 into a people so torpid and enslaved as the Scotch 
 then were, and cause them to hold up their heads 
 with some degree of pride everywhere. Still, 
 Providence works by means, and in the raising up 
 of Wallace at the time, who exhibited in his 
 person such an example of heroism and self-abne¬ 
 gation as the world had seldom witnessed,—“ for 
 the bugle ne ? er sung to a braver knight than 
 William of Elderslie.”—it shewed the wisdom of 
 the selection thus made in the extraordinary 
 results that followed. For the people were ani¬ 
 mated by his noble and daring example to throw 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 219 
 
 off the yoke so galling to them and their children, 
 and their bosoms were made to beat responsive to 
 every call of honor made by one in whom they 
 placed implicit confidence, and who led the way 
 in every path of danger. Tims they were enabled 
 to trample in the dust the banners of the oppressor 
 that had been carried in triumph over the country, 
 and crushed by their virtuous wrath the efforts 
 made to destroy their lives and liberties. Few 
 men could have borne up like Wallace, after the 
 crushing defection of the nobles and their retainers 
 at Irvine ; or have had the courage to attempt to 
 raise new forces when the great majority of the 
 army previously collected had proved traitors to 
 the cause so dear to his heart. But he did so, 
 and also succeeded in his efforts; for by his unsel¬ 
 fishness, perseverance, and patriotic valor a large 
 number soon took the field, animated with the 
 spirit of their leader, and went forward “ con¬ 
 quering and to conquer.” To shew that such was 
 the case, we have only to look back to what they 
 acccomplished during the summer, after the Scot¬ 
 tish nobility had disgracefully surrendered them¬ 
 selves to Edward’s generals. And when we find 
 fortress after fortress falling into their hands, 
 and the English, panic-stricken and affrighted, 
 fleeing from the northern counties at their 
 approach, we meet with a new army animated 
 with the same spirit as their leader, and whose 
 efforts were felt in the regenerating influences 
 throughout the country. Seldom do we find in 
 
220 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 any part of history a people so downtrodden and 
 oppressed as the Scotch then were acquiring, 
 in so short a period, such recuperative powers ; and 
 when we search for the true cause of this, we 
 find it in the vast schemes of Wallace wisely 
 concocted and successfully carried out for the 
 liberation of his enslaved countrymen. He had 
 no sooner followed up his brilliant victory at 
 Stirling, in disposing of the prisoners taken, and 
 distributing the booty freely among his soldiers, 
 than he fulfilled his pledge to the people of Dundee, 
 and hastened back to terminate the siege of the 
 Castle there. It had been vigorously kept up 
 during his absence, and fell when he appeared the 
 second time before it. For the news of the battle 
 so disastrous to their countrymen had already 
 reached the English garrison here, and filled them 
 with dismay. A panic seems to have seized them 
 on the occasion ; as without striking another blow 
 they delivered up the Castle and fled to their ships 
 in the harbor, leaving behind them a large amount 
 of arms and provisions, which afforded much 
 booty to the Scots. Perhaps Wallace little 
 imagined when he had to flee from this place, 
 when a youth attending the Seminary, that he 
 would be called upon to act such an important 
 part in the history of his country; but it would 
 rejoice his heart to think that the day dreams 
 of his youth were realised, in discomfiting 
 and driving out of it those who had sorely 
 oppressed it. The other strongholds throughout 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 221 
 
 the land fell into the hands of the Scots without 
 much opposition, and followed the example of the 
 garrison at Dundee, so that in a short period not 
 one remained in the possession of the English, with 
 the exception of that of Dunbar. The fortresses 
 of Edinburgh and Roxburgh were dismantled, 
 and Wallace appointed Henry de Halyburton as 
 Governor of the Castle of Berwick. Dunbar Castle, 
 however, bravely stood out, for the Earl had 
 become a partizan of Edward at an early period 
 of the history of the struggle for independence 
 throughout his native country, and firmly main¬ 
 tained his adherence to his interest, till compelled 
 to relinquish them at the point of the sword. 
 Corspatrick, the Earl, was a baron of great power 
 and military experience, and occupied a fortress of 
 amazing strength, which was considered as the 
 key of the Eastern part of the kingdom. And in 
 addition to this, he owned extensive estates on 
 each side of the borders, which were protected by 
 a chain of seven fortalices, called by the familiar 
 name of the “ earl’s seven war steeds.” Although 
 summoned to surrender his castle, he returned an 
 ironical and haughty reply to the summons. But 
 he soon had reason to repent bitterly of his con¬ 
 duct, for Wallace proceeded with four hundred of 
 his chosen troops against him, attacked him with 
 amazing skill and valor, and he drove him from 
 one stronghold to another, till he was at last com¬ 
 pelled to deliver the last and the strongest of them 
 into the hands of his enemy. Glad to escape with 
 
222 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 his life, lie fled across the borders, where he lived 
 as a pensioner on the bounty of the English 
 sovereign. It was thus that the last of the iron 
 chains that Edward had forged for Scotland was 
 broken, and that by the efforts of a single man, 
 not only assisted but actually opposed by the 
 whole combined force of the nobles of the country, 
 and the people as their forefathers had ever been 
 before them, were once more free. 
 
 “ Type of a race who did the invader scorn : 
 
 As rocks resist the billows round the shores ; 
 
 Type of a race who shall to time unborn. 
 
 Its country leave unconquered as of yore.” 
 
 By the time that these important transactions 
 had transpired, it was far advanced in the 
 autumn; and the blightening ravages of the 
 war had already begun to be sorely felt through¬ 
 out every part of the country. The English 
 had desolated it to a fearful extent before the 
 battle of Stirling, burning down houses, des¬ 
 troying the crops in the fields, and putting to 
 death thousands of the peasants. The consequence 
 was, that dreadful dearth and famine began to be 
 sorely felt everywhere, and the poor and helpless 
 could procure little else for the sustenance of their 
 bodies than the wild herbs and roots which they 
 gathered from the fields now lying without culture, 
 while many of the strong arms that had cultivated 
 them lay still and motionless in the grave. Many 
 of the destitute were cut off by mere want, others 
 suffered untold privations; and had not means been 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 223 
 
 devised by the sagacity of Wallace, for bringing 
 help to the sorely distressed people, it is impos¬ 
 sible to say how much greater the sufferings would 
 have been among them. He resolved to invade 
 England not only for the purpose of supporting 
 his army during the winter, but to send help to 
 many of the poor famishing inhabitants who were 
 left behind. He accordingly issued a proclamation 
 for every one capable of bearing arms, to meet him 
 on Roslin Moor, not far from Edinburgh. An 
 immense host was congregated here, and from 
 among them, the most vigorous and best suited 
 for the work before them, were selected. Before 
 marching into England he thought proper to 
 address them in one of those ready and spirit 
 stirring speeches, for which he was remarkable, 
 and which would have done no discredit to any 
 general, when he wished to excite his soldiers to 
 some great and arduous undertaking. “ He re¬ 
 minded them of the murders and robberies that 
 had been so long committed with impunity by the 
 English throughout the country. How their 
 oppressors had stripped it of everything that 
 had conduced to the comfort and happiness of its 
 inhabitants. But now that they had overcome 
 them, and driven them out of the country, it was 
 but their duty to make them pay back, in their 
 own way, some of the plunder they had taken 
 away without any remorse. If they would only 
 continue united in their efforts, victory and a 
 glorious prize would fall to the share of all. 
 
224 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 Wealth and provisions would become their own, 
 but labor and incessant toil were necessary to the 
 attainment of both. Great things could only be 
 obtained by great labor, and victory, if accorded 
 to any, never fell to the share of the slug¬ 
 gard.” He thus excited their patriotic feelings, 
 their avarice, and revenge; and they hastened 
 with their chief to cross the borders, and reap 
 a rich harvest in a country whose inhabitants 
 had shared largely before in the spoils of other 
 nations. After being fully prepared for the ex¬ 
 pedition, the Scottish army marched southward 
 in high spirits, under the leadership of Wallace 
 and the young Sir Andrew Murray. He was a 
 worthy son of a noble sire, and possessed many 
 of his father’s excellent qualities, who had “ fallen 
 in the high places of the land,” fighting for the 
 liberties of his country. It is said, before the 
 battle of Stirling, he entertained a strong pre¬ 
 sentiment of his approaching death, and com¬ 
 mitted his youthful son to the charge of Wallace. 
 He sacredly performed his duty towards him ; 
 loved and treated him as his own son. As soon 
 as the Scotch army entered into Northumberland, 
 the inhabitants fled before them in all directions, 
 filled with terror and dismay. They began to 
 fear that the day of vengeance for past offences 
 had arrived, and expecting no mercy in an iron 
 age from those to whom none had been previously 
 shown, they collected their wives and children 
 together, and took refuge in the town of New- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 225 
 
 castle. Their flocks and herds were also driven 
 along with them, and waggons laden with house¬ 
 hold furniture and provisions crowded along the 
 roads in every direction. The Scottish army be¬ 
 gan to feel the little chance that would be pre¬ 
 sented of collecting booty in a country that had 
 become stripped of everything, and feigning a 
 retreat in order to deceive the people and induce 
 them to return to their homes, they moved back 
 into Scotland. The snare laid was successful, for 
 the Northumbrians hastened home to the habita¬ 
 tions they had left amid grief and sorrow ; but 
 only to suffer death and the loss of all earthly 
 things. For they were assailed by a force which 
 they could neither oppose nor resist, and which 
 carried destruction with it in every direction. 
 The Scottish army burst into their midst, and 
 although finding a peaceful and smiling country, 
 with a prosperous people, they left it a desert 
 without inhabitants. Following the example 
 that had been set them by the English at Ber¬ 
 wick, they spared neither age, rank, nor sex, 
 while the smoke of thousands of dwellings con¬ 
 sumed by the flames ascended to heaven, and 
 pleaded for vengeance on the terrible abettors of 
 war. This is part of the conduct of Wallace and 
 his followers, which we can never justify however 
 great the provocation they had received. In all 
 coming ages it would have added an additional 
 laurel to his brow, if he had prevented such 
 wanton destruction of property, and prevented 
 
226 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 at least childhood, and female weakness, from 
 falling a prey to a blood-thirsty soldiery. Still, 
 we must make large allowance for the ci'uel times 
 in which he lived, when pity was seldom mani¬ 
 fested towards those that happened to be in 
 distress, and mercy became restrained in the 
 bosom of the most generous and compassionate ; 
 for had it been manifested in too large a measure 
 even towards the helpless, it would have been 
 construed into weakness, and want of power to 
 oppress. Hemington, an English historian of the 
 time,gives us a terrible description of this cruel raid 
 into England. “The Scots took up their quar¬ 
 ters,” he informs us, “ in the forest of Rotheberey } 
 nor was there any one to make them afraid, whilst 
 the praise of God and the services of religion were 
 not heard in any church or monastery throughout 
 the country from Newcastle to Carlisle. All the 
 monks, canons regular, and ministers of religion, 
 along with the whole body of the people, had fled 
 from the face of the Scots, who were permitted 
 to pass their whole time in one continued scene 
 of slaughter, burning and rapine, from the feast of 
 St. Luke to St. Martin’s Day, nor was any found 
 to oppose them except soldiers of the garrison of 
 Berwick, and other castles hard by, who ventured 
 from their walls and cut off a few stragglers in the 
 rear.” It was about the thirty-first of October, 
 when Wallace led his troops into England and 
 began to commit the awful depredations we have 
 described above. He continued in his work of 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 227 
 
 destruction for several weeks, and so terrible 
 were the effects of the same that they were felt 
 for years afterwards. Articles of great value 
 were everywhere collected. Horses and oxen 
 which they captured, and sheep also, were driven 
 together from the different localities and passed 
 to the north of the Tweed; and when distribu¬ 
 ted over the country, together with the large 
 amount of provisions that were seized and trans¬ 
 mitted at the same time, the people were supplied 
 with the necessaries of life, famine was arrested, 
 and a large army provided for in an enemy’s 
 country. During the stay of the Scottish army 
 in England it was changed several times in its ap¬ 
 pearance, for as soon as one clan had collected a 
 sufficient quantity of booty they were allowed to 
 return home, and their places were forthwith 
 supplied by others who were equally needy as 
 their predecessors. The spoil was thus divided 
 equally over the country, and the wants of all 
 were supplied. The soldiers, that had been 
 allowed in pursuit of plunder to spread themselves 
 over a large portion of the eastern district of 
 Northumberland, were now summoned in, formed 
 into an army, and proceeded westward towards 
 the city of Carlisle. It was then, as it had ever 
 been before, a place of great strength, with a large 
 garrison and castle, plenty of provisions, and a 
 number of brave inhabitants ready to defend it. 
 In aforetime it belonged to the kings of Scot¬ 
 land, and constituted the capital of a large and 
 
228 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 important portion of country ; and from the 
 days of the Romans, had formed the key from the 
 north of England to the southern and western 
 parts of Scotland. When the Scottish army 
 approached near the city, they despatched a priest 
 as their envoy and demanded an instant surrender 
 of the place. “ My master, says he, viz:—Wil¬ 
 liam the Conqueror, bids you, if you regard your 
 own lives and are anxious to spare the effusion of 
 blood, give up your city and castle, which if you 
 do your lives and members and worldly goods shall 
 be safe from harm ; but if not he will take your 
 city by storm, and utterly destroy both you and 
 it.” To this bold request an equally bold reply 
 was returned by the brave citizens. “ Return 
 whence you came, say they, and tell your master 
 that if he is eager to possess our city, he would 
 better come as a courageous conqueror, and storm 
 the walls and make himself master of the city and 
 castle with all their contents.” This was not a 
 mere empty defiance that was made, unaccom¬ 
 panied by deeds; for instantly the walls were 
 manned by a large muster of some of the finest 
 troops in England, with a formidable array of 
 several of the best constructed engines that the 
 times could afford, which were prepared to throw 
 missiles to a great distance upon any force who 
 might have the hardihood to approach near the 
 walls. Wallace’s army was totally unprovided 
 with any battering engines, or weapons of attack, 
 and even if the seige had been successful it would 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 229 
 
 have detained them too long in a country sur¬ 
 rounded by enemies, and at a very unf ivorable time 
 of the year. He retired therefore from Carlisle, 
 and left the beautiful city without an attempt 
 to breach the walls, impressed with the highest 
 respect for the attitude assumed by the inhabi¬ 
 tants of the place, Avho crowded all of them, 
 father and son, husband and brother to the 
 ramparts. For they were resolved to spend the 
 last drop of their blood in its defence, rather than 
 allow its gates to be Hung open, and its walls to 
 be scaled by cruel foes who had everywhere 
 left behind them unmistakable traces of cruelty 
 and bloodshed. Leaving Carlisle they passed 
 through Inglewood Forest, ravaging the whole 
 country through which they passed. They com¬ 
 mitted the same cruelties they had done in Nor¬ 
 thumberland ; and a whole generation passed 
 away before Cumberland recovered from the wild 
 deeds of a licentious soldiery, perpetrated in a 
 district of country, where nature abounds in every 
 form of grandeur and loveliness, and where some 
 of the finest peasantry of Europe were to be 
 found. 
 
 “Yon naked waste survey, 
 
 Where late was heard the flute’s mellifluous lay ; 
 
 Where late the rosy bosomed hours, 
 
 In loose array danced lightly o’er the flowers ; 
 
 Where late the shepherd told his tender tale, 
 
 The voice of cheerful labor filled the dale; 
 
 How sadly silent all!” 
 
230 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 The devastations of the Scottish army extended 
 through Cumberland as far as Derwentwater and 
 Cockermouth, and everywhere a vast amount of 
 life and property was destroyed. Whatever was 
 movable was carried into Scotland, and became 
 a welcome gift to many of the famishing inhabi¬ 
 tants of the country who had been stripped of 
 everything by the English. Passing from Cum¬ 
 berland, they entered into Durham, a district of 
 the country hitherto considered sacred, as being 
 associated with Saint Cuthbert. This remarkable 
 man was the sixth bishop of Durham, and died 
 in a hermitage, in “Fame Islands,” in the year 
 of Our Lord six hundred and eighty-six. He 
 surpassed all that went before him for the holi¬ 
 ness of the life which he spent, and the success 
 that attended his ministerial labors. After his 
 death his body was deposited at Landisferne, an 
 island off the coast of Northumberland, where it 
 rested in its quiet abode till the year seven hun¬ 
 dred and sixty-three. Then the monastery was 
 destroyed by the Danes, and the relics of the Saint 
 were carried by his pious brethren into Scotland. 
 Afterwards they were removed to Durham, where 
 they are now supposed to rest somewhere within 
 the precincts of the massive cathedral, which, as a 
 specimen of Norman architecture, has no equal 
 in England. Great victories were foolishly as¬ 
 cribed to the saint ; for Simeon of Durham 
 informs us, that he appeared to Alfred the Great 
 when lurking in the fens near Glastonbury, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 231 
 
 and promised him victory over his heathen 
 enemy. 
 
 “ ’Twas he to vindicate his reign, 
 
 Edged Alfred’s faulchion on the Dane, 
 
 And turned the conqueror back again.” 
 
 And when David the First of Scotland marched 
 into England at the head of an army, and was 
 defeated at the bloody battle of Northallerton, 
 when wishing to maintain the rights of the 
 Empress Maud against the encroachments of 
 Stephen, the English marched against the in¬ 
 vaders under the banner of St. Cuthbert. 
 
 “ Who may his miracles declare ! 
 
 Even Scotland’s dauntless king and heir ; 
 
 Although with him they led, 
 
 Gallowegians, wild as ocean’s gale, 
 
 And Loudon knights all sheathed in mail, 
 
 And the bold men of Teviotdale, 
 
 Before his standard fled.” 
 
 Wallace stopped short when he entered within 
 the territory reckoned sacred to the saint, and 
 ordered a speedy retreat. Like others he was 
 largely tinctured with the superstitions of the age, 
 and began to fear that through the interference 
 of St. Cuthbert, some disastrous consequences 
 might follow the invasion of his territory. Strange 
 enough, the elements of nature seemed to have 
 confirmed his fears at the time, for both he and 
 his troops were assailed by one of those terrible 
 storms, which, although attributed to the influence 
 of St. Cuthbert, are but too common in this part 
 of the country at the time of the year Wallace 
 
232 
 
 LIFE OF SIR. WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 invaded it. The sky suddenly became overcast, 
 and the wind rose into the fury of a hurricane. 
 Descending with sudden gusts, it howled fright¬ 
 fully through the forests, levelled the most 
 majestic trees in its sweep, and destroyed many 
 of the dwellings throughout the country, and 
 much valuable property also. After this the 
 winter set in with unusual severity, and many of 
 the soldiers were frozen to death in their encamp¬ 
 ments during the night. They began to get worn 
 out by such exposure and sufferings, and to be¬ 
 think them of their native land. They therefore 
 returned back to Scotland, after inflicting terrible 
 sufferings on the natives, and which they did not 
 fail to remember ever afterwards. 
 
 Wallace could not but have been satisfied when 
 allowed to march home at the head of his army, 
 as there were many things that had transpired in 
 England, to which he could hardly give his 
 approval. He had always from the first notwith¬ 
 standing the bloody scenes through which he had 
 been forced to pass, entertained the highest respect 
 for religion and the ministers of the church; and it 
 grieved him to think that they were often treated 
 by his ruthless soldiers without his knowledge, 
 with that cruelty and contempt which occasioned 
 him much sorrow and many misgivings. For the 
 wealth of the clergy at the time, and above all the 
 splendor of the churches and monasteries—which 
 contained within their sacred precincts the richest 
 gifts of kings, and of the pious and devout for 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 233 
 
 ages throughout the land—excited their cupidity, 
 and made them plunder them with the same 
 indifference as they would have done the private 
 dwellings of the rich or the noble. As an 
 instance of this we may refer to an incident which 
 took place at Hexham, which occasioned Wallace 
 and his brave co-partner Sir Andrew Murray, a 
 considerable amount of grief. The Scottish army 
 in its onward progress had plundered the chapel 
 and monastery of this place. And after it had 
 left and was not again expected to return, two 
 monks crept from their hiding places, came back 
 to their former residences and began to repair the 
 ravages made and to cleanse the chapel from the 
 blood with which it had been desecrated—being 
 shed before the altar and scattered everywhere. 
 Before they had finished their pious task, their 
 ears were once more astonished with the noise of 
 the tramp of the cruel soldiers who were once 
 more back upon them most unexpectedly, and who 
 presenting their long spears to their breasts, 
 demanded them to shew them their hidden 
 treasures, and in case of refusal threatened to 
 take their lives. “ Alas !” cried the poor monks, 
 “ you know best where those treasures are, for you 
 robbed us of all on your first visit!” While this 
 altercation was going on, Wallace at once entered 
 into the chapel, when the officiating priest had 
 already been seized by the brutal soldiers who 
 were preparing forthwith to despatch him. He 
 rescued him from their hands, ordered them to 
 
234 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 form a circle round the altar and say mass, and 
 afterwards when he retired from beyond the 
 sacred precincts of the chapel, he put some of the 
 more violent and sacriligious of the soldiers to 
 death, while at the same time he ordered the 
 timid monks to remain beside him. “ For,” says 
 he, “ soldiers are an evil race ” and I dare not 
 restrain them.” At the same time he gave to 
 the monks a letter signed by himself, protecting 
 their lives and property in the future, and 
 threatened death to any one who should deprive 
 them of either. It is said that a large amount 
 of the inhumanity and sacrilegious spirit displayed 
 in the Scottish army at the time was traceable to 
 a great number of Gallowegians that was in it, 
 and whose fierceness and cruelty had always been 
 proverbial. They had been a matter of much 
 grief and sorrow to the good pious king David the 
 First when he invaded England a century and a 
 half before, and their rapacity and insubordination 
 continued to exercise the mind of Wallace during 
 the whole time of his invasion of England, and 
 make him wish they were sent back to the wild 
 retreats of their native country, where robbery 
 and plunder were their favorite pastimes. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Wallace returned from England, and gladly received back. 
 Saved his country from famine. His praises on the 
 lips of all, except the nobles. Great opposition still to 
 meet with. Means required to enable him to do so. 
 Proclaimed regent at Forest-kirk. Several of the 
 nobility present, but as a body opposed it. It insulted 
 their feudal pride when Wallace was elevated to that 
 high position. The appointment afforded much satis¬ 
 faction to the people. Applied himself at the outset to 
 the redress of grievances. Installed in offices of trust 
 many of those who had fought with him. Ke-organized 
 the army. System new and complete. The nobles 
 opposed this also, and several of the burghers in the 
 larger cities. The attention of the governor next 
 directed to the internal state of the country. The 
 traffic of Scotland with foreign nations large before 
 Edward invaded it. Nearly annihilated after the des - 
 traction of Berwick. The object of the governor to 
 bring back the commerce to its former channel. Adopted 
 and carried out free trade principles. Opened up com¬ 
 munications with the Flemings and the Hanse towns of 
 Germany. Went over to Flanders himself and addressed 
 a letter to the free towns of Hamburg and Lubec- 
 Lately discovered in the library of Hamburg. Its 
 genuineness not disputed. Goods of all kinds began to 
 be imported into the seaport towns of Scotland; and 
 the country to recover from the effects of war. The 
 praises of the regent high in France and Germany, and 
 over all Europe. Had his regency been long continued 
 the Scottish nation would have been great. Otherwise 
 ordered by Providence. 
 
236 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 The return of Wallace from England with his 
 victorious army was hailed with the greatest 
 satisfaction by all parties in the community, with 
 the exception of the nobility. And well it might 
 be so, for he had first saved the kingdom from 
 oppression and slavery; and then preserved the 
 lives of its inhabitants from famine and death 
 during one of the severest winters of which we 
 have any account. Still, like another Cincinnatus, 
 our hero returned from the desolating work that 
 had afforded riches to many of his countrymen, 
 poor as he had ever been himself, but rich in 
 fame, and rejoicing in the salvation of his country. 
 Well might his praises be sounded throughout the 
 land, and his popularity become greater than 
 that of any one that had gone before him! For 
 although those that possessed wealth and power 
 had remained indifferent to the real interests of 
 their country, and had allowed the greatest 
 enemy it ever had to place upon it a yoke which 
 none of its inhabitants had ever borne before, 
 he, though much inferior to them in riches and in¬ 
 fluence, had u like a noble warrior broken the 
 yoke of the burden and staff of the oppressor of 
 his country,” and had thus taken in hand and 
 finished with honor to himself and glory to others 
 a work which would have handed down his name 
 in all ages as a great deliverer. It mattered not 
 that such great actions might stir up wrath and 
 heart burnings among the craven nobles who had 
 long lost sight of everything but their own in- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 237 
 
 terests—ancl that his praises, which were heralded 
 everywhere abroad, rung like so many stinging 
 reproaches against themselves, who were nowhere 
 to be found when duty called them loudly to 
 defend the sacred rights that had been trampled 
 in the dust. These praises will continue to be 
 reiterated hereafter by every lover of liberty ; 
 and the battles he fought, the victories he achieved 
 and the triumphs he won will remain standing 
 memorials of the selfishness, supineness, and slug¬ 
 gish indifference of the nobility of the country, 
 who stood aloof when called upon to defend its 
 freedom, when it was in danger of being lost to 
 them and to others in all succeeding generations 
 
 “ Yes, in that generous cause forever strong. 
 
 The patriot’s virtue and the poet’s song 
 Still, as the tide of ages roll away, 
 
 Shall charm the world unconscious of decay!” 
 
 But although Wallace’s success had hitherto 
 been most remarkable in vanquishing the English 
 —cowering those who wished to oppose him, and 
 in sharing the honors derivable from his victories 
 gained ; yet he had a host of opposition to meet 
 and to defeat from all quarters, and means re¬ 
 quired to be devised to enable him to do so 
 successfully. For the strength of the barons 
 remained unbroken, who envied and hated him, 
 each of whom could bring a large number of 
 vassals into the field for the sake of resisting.him; 
 and who would rather side with the English than 
 allow an upstart, as they called him, to remain in 
 
238 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 the high position that fortune seemed to have 
 assigned to him. Edward’s wrath too would soon 
 be felt against one who had in so short a time 
 wrested one kingdom from him, and had sorely 
 wasted and destroyed a large portion of another, 
 while he was engaged at a distance from it. 
 Taking a view of the situation therefore, it 
 appeared both to Wallace and his real friends, 
 that he required additional strength and authority 
 to cope with these formidable foes successfully in 
 future ; and accordingly on his return from Eng¬ 
 land an assembly was held at the Forest-kirk in 
 Selkirkshire, where he was proclaimed governor 
 of Scotland, in the presence of the Earl of Lennox, 
 Sir William Douglas, and many others of the 
 principal nobility. These nobles gave their sanc¬ 
 tion to this appointment, because they could not 
 resist it at the time owing to Wallace’s popularity; 
 for the choice afforded unbounded satisfaction to 
 the nation at large, to whom he had already be¬ 
 come the idol, owing to his suavity of manners, 
 and wonderful military exploits everywhere dis¬ 
 played. But although this was so, and Wallace 
 conducted himself in his elevated station with all 
 the wisdom and prudence with which it was 
 possible for him to do; yet the appointment in 
 the end proved disastrous to the national cause. 
 The Scottish nobles throughout the whole history 
 of the country, with very few exceptions, had 
 been remarkable for their meanness, poverty and 
 pride. They continued on to the time of Wallace, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 239 
 
 and long after, to fill all the important offices of 
 the state, however ill qualified for the work, and 
 imagined it was presumption in any one to pre¬ 
 tend to do so, who happened to be of inferior 
 rank to themselves. The simple knight of Ellerslie 
 had no pretension to a high rank. He was the 
 representative of the common and middling classes, 
 and during the time he lived both were despised 
 and looked down upon by the nobility, by whom 
 trade and commerce were contemned. For if it 
 had only been bruited throughout the Highlands, 
 that a son of any great chief was destined to 
 spend his days in a counting house—as now often 
 happens to be the case—it would have been 
 sufficient for ever to degrade the whole clan in 
 the eyes of all their brethren. At the same time 
 it would have been reckoned far more becoming 
 employment for him to be engaged in plundering 
 the lands of his neighbors, and carrying away 
 their property, than in tilling the ground that 
 lawfully belonged to him or some of his con¬ 
 nections. “ I protest,” said Rob Roy, the outlaw, 
 to his cousin Bailie Nichol Jarvie in the Glasgow 
 Tolbooth, “ that I had some respect for this cal- 
 lant, viz., Mr. Frank Osbalderstone, even before 
 I shewed what was in him ; but I honor him for 
 his contempt of weavers and spinners, and sic like 
 mechanical persons and their pursuits.” The 
 nobles thus entertained the idea that they pos¬ 
 sessed an exclusive right to administer the affairs 
 of the state, while they utterly disregarded the 
 
240 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 interest of those whom they considered beneath 
 them. It insulted to a great extent their feudal 
 pride,and hurt the feelings in which they bad been 
 educated, when Wallace, whom they considered 
 so much below them, was elevated to be governor 
 of Scotland. Besides all tliis, tliey could not be 
 forgetful of the fact that they had no hand in 
 bringing about the happy change, that had taken 
 place in regard to the affairs of the country. Wal¬ 
 lace was cognizant of this in his heart, and must 
 have despised them for the selfish and pusillani¬ 
 mous part they had all along continued to act in 
 respect to these. And now that he possessed power 
 over them, and authority to enforce obedience to 
 the laws that might be enacted for the good of all, 
 they must have been filled with fear and hatred 
 which for some time they endeavored to conceal, 
 but which by and by manifested themselves in 
 an unmistakable way, and proved the destruction 
 of the State. As soon as Wallace was installed 
 in the important office of governor of Scotland, 
 which could not be conferred on any person more 
 deserving, and which filled the hearts of tbe com¬ 
 mon people with joy and gladness everywhere, 
 he began to exercise his authority with much wis¬ 
 dom and discretion. His great administrative 
 abilities soon appeared equal to those he had often 
 displayed in the field of battle; and had he been 
 permitted to carry out the schemes he devised for 
 the defence of his country, the extension of its 
 commerce, and the development of its trade, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 241 
 
 he would have ranked equal in skill and 
 political sagacity to any of our great reformers in 
 the present age. At the outset of his work he 
 applied himself to the redress of many grievances, 
 the repression of disorders, and the rectification of 
 many abuses that existed in the kingdom. He made 
 an extensive tour throughout the country, where he 
 saw those abuses and heard with his own ears the 
 complaints uttered by those who had been ill-used 
 and oppressed; and to the best of his ability he 
 removed them, and rewarded the meritorious 
 when they had been overlooked. Especially did 
 they who had fought valiantly under his banner, 
 or those of the other leaders in assisting to secure 
 the independence of Scotland, deserve a large share 
 of his attention. To them, the country owed a 
 debt which it could never sufficiently pay ; and 
 he conceived it to be the duty of its rulers to pro¬ 
 vide for the wants of the needy and destitute 
 among them, and assign posts of honor and re¬ 
 sponsibility to others who were capable of hold¬ 
 ing them, and which had been rendered numerous 
 lately by the flight of the English, leaving the cas¬ 
 tles and strongholds throughout the land without 
 any to defend them. In accordance with his feel¬ 
 ings in this matter, he appointed Alexander de 
 Scrymgeour to the office of constable of the castle 
 of Dundee, a brave baron and one who had faith¬ 
 fully maintained the credit of his country in dark 
 times, and in many a hard fight. He bore the royal 
 banner of Scotland at the time the charter was 
 
 Q 
 
242 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 granted in 1298,which was an honor that few would 
 have been considered worthy of holding either be¬ 
 fore or after him. Other situations of responsibility 
 were assigned to many others of his more deserv¬ 
 ing adherents, who had braved the battle strife 
 with himself, and secured for themselves, and 
 their country, the privileges of freedom and inde¬ 
 pendence. By these and other wise arrange¬ 
 ments he inaugurated, and enforced measures 
 which, while they secured the liberty of his 
 country, and advanced the interests of his friends, 
 punished, depressed and weakened his enemies 
 the nobles, who looked upon him with jealousy 
 and hatred, and waited for an opportunity to be¬ 
 tray and ruin him. Some of the first things that 
 engaged the attention of the governor were the 
 defence of his country against any future inva¬ 
 sion, the organization of an army, and a system 
 of discipline introduced into it, which for bold¬ 
 ness and utility, had it been fully adopted, would 
 have placed Scotland at the head of all the nations 
 of Europe, for the completeness of its military 
 equipment. One of the greatest difficulties he 
 had to contend against from the outset, was the 
 power of feudal vassalage which existed in all 
 parts of the country. The numerous vassals who 
 were entirely under the control of the barons 
 could be prevented from taking up arms if they 
 so ordered it, however pressing the emergency 
 might appear, and any time they did so they could 
 be withdrawn from the service of their country, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILILAM WALLACE. 
 
 243 
 
 if their capricious masters thought fit that such 
 ought to be the case. And the consequence was 
 that the military power of the kingdom was con¬ 
 centrated in the hands of a few, who often used it 
 for subverting, instead of upholding its rights, 
 and thus the most fatal effects followed. And 
 still it was a subject most difficult to deal with, 
 and greatly in favor of the prejudices of the age ; 
 for according to the feudal system that had taken 
 root all over Europe, and deeply in Scotland, a 
 large number of serfs was thought to be needful 
 to uphold the pomp and pride of a lordly aristo¬ 
 cracy, and it required wisdom and ability of no 
 ordinary kind to disturb its workings in any pos¬ 
 sible way. The governor knew that to attack a 
 system openly so deeply seated and in such an 
 aristocratic age and country, would have proved 
 ruinous to himself, and the best interests of 
 the country. He therefore attacked it in an 
 indirect way, and in the part where it appeared 
 most vulnerable; which showed that he was 
 possessed of an amount of shrewdness and admin¬ 
 istrative ability, which few but himself possessed. 
 He divided the whole country into military dis¬ 
 tricts, and caused returns to be given in of all 
 who were capable of bearing arms, from the age of 
 sixteen, to sixty. These divisions comprehended 
 the counties, the boroughs, the cities, the baronies, 
 and the villages; so that in the muster roll that 
 was made up no male within the country, could 
 escape having his name upon it. When the list 
 
244 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 was finished it was subjected to a peculiar process, 
 which manifests the care and ability that had 
 been bestowed upon it, and shewed the system 
 inaugurated to be entirely new. Over every four 
 men he appointed a fifth, over every nine a tenth, 
 over every nineteen a twentieth; and thus he 
 continued the scale of gradation, till he reached to 
 a thousand. If this military organization had been 
 heartily adopted by the country, and all classes of 
 the community had vied with one another in 
 carrying out its spirit, Scotland would have been 
 saved much sooner than she was from the aggres¬ 
 sions of her enemies, and oceans of blood would 
 have been prevented from being shed. But the 
 nobles, as might have been expected opposed it, 
 and several of the leading councillors of the time 
 in more than one of the royal burghs; and not¬ 
 withstanding some of the peers were imprisoned 
 to compel them to submission, and more than one 
 of the leading burghers of Edinburgh and Aber¬ 
 deen were put to death for their obstinacy in the 
 matter, the method was never carried out in its 
 entirety owing to the causes above specified. 
 Pity that it had not been so ! And that his country 
 had not had the full benefit of the military devis- 
 ings of a man, whose great mental and bodily 
 exertions had been put forth in its service ! But 
 the efforts of Wallace were not entirely devoted 
 to arrangements for the military defence of the 
 land, but, like a wise administrator, he directed 
 much of his attention to the cultivation of the 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 245 
 
 arts of peace, and to the development of the 
 resources of the kingdom. Previous to the inva¬ 
 sion of Scotland by Edward, the trade of that 
 country was large with foreign nations, and 
 Berwick, one of its sea port towns, vied with 
 London in its riches, and extensive commercial 
 relations. But it was smitten to the dust, and lay 
 bleeding at the feet of the usurper, after a brave 
 defence, which for courage and daring, has few 
 equals in history. At the time it was attacked 
 the Flemings had established a rich trade in the 
 town, and the “ Red Hall ” owned by them there, 
 was stored with every description of valuable 
 goods. The charter granted them, laid them 
 under engagements to assist in defending the 
 place against the English. And they nobly 
 fulfilled their pledge, and perished to a man, 
 fighting sword in hand, amid their silks, scarlets, 
 and other rich bales of goods, that were wholly 
 consumed in the flames. After this the traffic 
 betwixt Scotland and all foreign parts was virtu¬ 
 ally cut off, when Edward laid his iron hoof on 
 the country, and transferred the whole commerce 
 to England. It was the great object of Wallace 
 to bring back the former trade to its native 
 channel, and make Scotland abound, as it did in 
 the days of the good Alexander, in wealth, peace 
 and commercial prosperity. In order to do so he 
 adopted and carried out those principles of free 
 trade which have been endorsed in Britain in 
 more recent times, but which he understood per- 
 
246 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 fectly centuries before ; and if his valuable life 
 had been spared, and his government measures 
 carried out, Scotland would have become one of 
 the most prosperous nations of Europe, and its 
 people peaceful and free. But unfortunately the 
 haughty nobles of the land, would not allow it to 
 be said that such a one should rule over them; 
 and he was cut off, before the sagacious measures 
 which he introduced had time to become matured. 
 Mindful of the heroic and faithful conduct of the 
 Flemings, who had fought so nobly at the siege of 
 Berwick, and of the great benefit the export and 
 import trade with their nation, and the other 
 Hanse towns of Germany had conferred on his 
 country, he was determined to open it up anew, 
 and in such a wise and liberal scale, as would 
 ensure its success. To give effect to his free trade 
 policy, after the battle of Stirling, he went over to 
 Flanders himself for the purpose of opening up 
 more free intercourse with the rich and enter¬ 
 prising people there; and> at the same time he 
 addressed a letter to the free towns of Hamburg, 
 and Lubec, which develops the largeness of his 
 commercial views, and his deep yearnings after 
 the prosperity of his country, and which would 
 cast no discredit on the greatest political economist 
 of the present age. A copy of it has recently been 
 discovered by the late eminent Doctor Lupenburg, 
 archivist of the city of Hamburg, and was pub¬ 
 lished in a learned work on the Hanse towns some 
 time ago. Its genuineness has been admitted by 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 247 
 
 Mr. Tytler, the historian of Scotland, and other 
 high authorities capable of judging of its merits. 
 The epistle in the original reads thus : “ Thanks 
 be to God, the kingdom of Scotland has been 
 recovered during the war from the power of the 
 English; and we request you therefore to inform 
 your merchants that they shall now have free 
 and safe access to every port within the realm for 
 themselves and their commodities.” Taking ad¬ 
 vantage of the encouragement therein given, a 
 large quantity of foreign goods soon began to 
 crowd into the seaport towns of Scotland, con¬ 
 sisting of fine linen, and silks, broadcloths, carpets 
 and tapestry, olive oil, confections, drugs, armor 
 and cutlery; while a large amount of goods, 
 consisting of wool, hides, furs, and Scottish pearls, 
 which were then in great demand on the conti¬ 
 nent, in a short time commenced to find their way 
 besides many other commodities, into the foreign 
 markets. If such a state of things had continued 
 long, the country would have soon forgotten the 
 late effects of the desolating war that had destroyed 
 such a large amount of life and treasures; and the 
 people who had suffered so much would have 
 begun to feel that they were free, happy and con¬ 
 tented. 
 
 “ Merrily every bosom boundetli, merrily, Ob! 
 
 When the song of freedom sonndetb, merrily, Oh ! 
 
 There the warrior’s arm sheds more splendor, 
 
 There the maiden’s charms shine more tender, 
 
 Every joy the land surroundeth, merrily, oh ! merrily, oh !” 
 
248 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 By such measures, adopted with such ability by 
 the Scottish Regent, as might have been expected, 
 his power and popularity began to increase at 
 home and abroad as a statesman—as it had done 
 before as a warrior. France and Germany were 
 high in his praises, and considered him as one of 
 the greatest statesmen that had appeared for many 
 years in any country in Europe. At home the 
 common people and lesser barons repaired in great 
 numbers to his standard also, and firmly supported 
 the measures he introduced for the advancement 
 of the commercial interests of the kingdom, as the 
 best that could be devised in the peculiar circum¬ 
 stances in which it happened to be placed. But 
 still, as on former occasions, the more powerful 
 barons stood aloof; and although they were com¬ 
 pelled to yield a tacit submission to his authority, 
 they hated him with a perfect hatred, and only 
 waited an opportunity, when they could with 
 safety and profit espouse the cause of the destroyer 
 of the liberties of their country. With that 
 stupid feudal pride that produced soon afterwards 
 such bitter results, they could never brook the 
 idea that a man of the people —a simple gentle- 
 ■man—should occupy a more elevated position than 
 any of themselves. And they would prefer to 
 submit to the grinding oppression of a foreigner 
 because he was a sovereign, rather than yield to 
 the wise and equitable rule of one of their own 
 country, because he sprang from the people. They 
 were by this time convinced of Wallace’s merits, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 249 
 
 and that he was capable of defending his nation 
 from the repeated attacks of its southern foes, who 
 were ever on the alert, and watching for its 
 destruction. But their wretched pride and jealousy 
 prevented them from acting under him, because 
 of the meanness of his birth. And thus they lost 
 a glorious chance of saving Scotland from impend¬ 
 ing ruin, and defending its rights under the leader¬ 
 ship of one whom nature had endowed with every 
 quality of mind and body that fitted him for this 
 important work. Already had he raised it from 
 the crushing blow by which Edward, after the 
 battle of Dunbar, had levelled it in the dust, and 
 starting off for England, had left it bleeding and 
 a prey to his greedy dependents, who occupied 
 every town, garrison and castle throughout it; 
 while, with a cruelty worthy of their master, 
 they had ruined and wasted the country, beaten, 
 wounded and killed the inhabitants. But the 
 nobles of the land looked on with indifference, and 
 most of them had sworn allegiance to England’s 
 unprincipled king, while Wallace, as a brave 
 patriot, had appeared with a head and heart fitted 
 to be the leader of a great and generous people, 
 who confessed with shame and sorrow to one 
 another the woeful state of degradation in which 
 they were in, and vowed to avenge the terrible 
 wrongs they had to endure. And they knew and 
 obeyed him in this great death struggle for liberty. 
 Trampled the red standard of England in the 
 dust as he led them on to victory. Struck off the 
 
250 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 fetters of their fierce and bloody foes, and made 
 their country, although poor and small, free as it 
 had ever been before. Again, when this was 
 achieved, Wallace turned his attention to the in¬ 
 ternal well-being of his native land, encouraged 
 trade, and fostered commerce ; but with all the 
 qualifications he possessed for doing so, and prov¬ 
 ing himself an able and enlightened ruler—as he 
 appeared a great general in the field of battle—he 
 only excited to a much larger extent the jealousy 
 and hatred of the nobility among whom he lived, 
 who sold him whenever an opportunity presented 
 itself to the oppressor of their country for paltry 
 gold. No kingdom in Christendom during its 
 struggles, both for civil and religious liberty, 
 during its whole history, ever presented a more 
 deplorable spectacle, so far as the majority of its 
 nobles was concerned than Scotland. For they 
 were so divided among themselves, and bent on 
 serving their own interests, as to leave the contest 
 mostly in the hands of the people. And even 
 “Bruce of Bannockburn,” with all the halo of glory 
 that surrounds his name as a hero and a patriot, 
 long acted a hesitating part in the struggle. And 
 it was only when he found himself in sure footing, 
 and his path to the throne of Scotland tolerably 
 clear and smooth, through the keen and often 
 repeated bloody struggle of the unselfish Wallace 
 and his co-patriots, whose thirsty swords were 
 often bathed in the blood of the enemies of their 
 country, and who in many a hard contested fight, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 251 
 
 where the odds were terribly against them, beat 
 them small, and scattered them like chaff before 
 the wind, that he ventured to raise the standard 
 of rebellion against Edward, whom he had often 
 acknowledged as his sovereign lord. In this respect 
 the Scottish nobility, presented a strange contrast 
 to the English ; for at Runimede and elsewhere, 
 they resisted the arbitrary and despotic will of 
 their sovereigns, and extorted from them at the 
 point of the sword, those large concessions which 
 ended in the establishment of true English liberty. 
 And even at this time, when Edward was over¬ 
 running Scotland, his nobles refused to march 
 with him and his vassals into that country, until 
 the liberties of every freeman was secured. For 
 they objected to grant the king aid or tallage 
 without the consent of all, even when the Great 
 Charter, and the Charter of the Forests were signed 
 by him. But in Scotland it never happened to 
 be that the nobles were at one on any great 
 question affecting the well-being of their country. 
 They were always selfish and divided : “ each one 
 cared for his own things and not for the things of 
 others.” And as they were so they were never of 
 much service in any great crisis affecting the in¬ 
 terests of their country ; and the selfish, politic 
 English king took advantage of their divisions 
 at the time to carry out measures which, but for 
 an all-wise and overruling Providence, would have 
 tended to destroy the last spark of liberty that 
 burned in that country. But happily it was 
 
252 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 not permitted to be so, and although through the 
 selfishness and pride of a few, the wise legislative 
 measures of its governor were paralyzed, and the 
 soil of Scotland drenched once more with the 
 blood of its noblest sons ; yet when this tragedy 
 was over the torch of liberty was lighted up anew, 
 and shone as it had ever done amid the mountains 
 and valleys of this rugged country in all its native 
 brightness. And considering all the toil, and 
 tears, and blood, and treasures that had been 
 expended on the part of it; it could hardly be 
 found to be otherwise, or that the wise disposer of 
 all events would ever allow a people to be de¬ 
 prived of what had been ever dear to them as life 
 itself, and handed down from father to son as a 
 gift that was of all others the most to be valued 
 and the last to be parted with. 
 
 “ Yet, no—not quenched—a treasure worth 
 So much to mortals rarely dies ; 
 
 Again her living light looked forth, 
 
 And shone a beacon in all eyes. 
 
 This was so ordered in Scotland, and we look 
 back with pride to the men who asserted the 
 rights of their country when all was darkness 
 around ; and we pity the nation that had the mis¬ 
 fortune like it of being under the selfish domina¬ 
 tion of a body of men to whom the sacred rights 
 of the majority of a nation have always appeared 
 of little moment, in comparison with their own 
 aggrandizement. It is only astonishing, all things 
 considered, that Wallace after his being elected 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 253 
 
 governor, could have been able to exercise any 
 control over a large body of such selfish men who 
 exercised such great power throughout the country. 
 For they owned the most of the property in it, 
 and held complete sway over a large number of 
 vassals, who lived on their estates, and who fol¬ 
 lowed their standard into the battle field. But 
 he did so, and in spite of all their pride and 
 opposition to him, he compelled them in many 
 instances to submit to his authority, and own his 
 appointment to the Regency as an honor conferred 
 on him by the consent of the people, solely on 
 account of his possessing the proper qualifications 
 for that important office. This often appears 
 during the short time he held the office, in the 
 way he despised their jealousy, and adopted the 
 important measures we have referred to above, 
 which he considered necessary for the defence, 
 protection and the commercial interests of the 
 country; while at the same time he was not for¬ 
 getful of those who had contended with him for 
 the enjoyment of that liberty that must be ever 
 pleasing to the feelings of all. In such ways as 
 we have therefore described, his power and influ¬ 
 ence began daily to be more felt, and had he only 
 had time to mature his plans already inaugurated, 
 and carry them out to their ultimate ends, all the 
 baneful influence of the aristocracy, or the power 
 of English gold and arms would have never been 
 able to crush him, nor subdue the people under 
 him. Within a short time after he was appointed 
 
254 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 guardian, says Fordun, “ he compelled, by the rigor 
 of his character, and the integrity of his govern¬ 
 ment, the whole nobility of Scotland to submit to 
 his authority, whether with or without inclina¬ 
 tion. And if any one of them was so hardy as 
 to refuse obedience he knew well how to restrain 
 and overawe him, committing his person to prison 
 until he shewed himself entirely subservient to 
 his commands. By these means all were reduced 
 to a State of tranquility amongst themselves, and 
 having effected this he adopted himself to the 
 expulsion of the enemy from the castles and for¬ 
 tresses which they still held.” In the life of 
 Julius Csesar, the great Roman general, it is stated 
 by his biographer that after he had subdued Gaul, 
 Germany and South Britain, and also conquered 
 Pompey the Great, his rival in the battle of Phar- 
 salia, that decided the fate of the civilized world, 
 the active mind of this man was still bent on the 
 achievement of something great in the future; 
 and therefore, though thin and pale in complexion, 
 old looking before his time, and subject to epileptic 
 fits, he resolved to devote the rest of his life to 
 the advancement of the prosperity of his country. 
 He therefore adorned the city of Rome with 
 magnificent buildings ; re-built Carthage and 
 Corinth ; undertook to level several mountains in 
 Italy ; dry up the Pontine marshes and pondered 
 mighty projects beyond the limits of the longest 
 life for the benefit of his country; but the 
 jealousy of a few individuals put an end to them 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 255 
 
 all. And so it was with our patriot hero. For 
 although his sphere of life was more contracted 
 than the great Roman, and the time of his regency 
 very short; yet the energy he displayed, the 
 wisdom he manifested, and the schemes he set on 
 foot for the benefit of his country, shew that in 
 talent, patriotism and political sagacity he has had 
 few equals in the cabinet, as he had few that could 
 successfully contend with him in the field. And dur¬ 
 ing the short time he was allowed to hold office, he 
 achieved more good for his country than perhaps 
 any that ever went before or after him. He was 
 scarcely regent of Scotland for a single year, and 
 yet how many events are crowded into that short 
 but important period of the history of that land t 
 Events, some of them joyful, and others full of 
 sorrow and gloom! And what an earnest worker 
 all the while he was ! not for his own good, but 
 for that of others, not that he might get riches and 
 honors and renown, but that his country might 
 prosper, and its Southern foes might be crushed 
 and driven out of it! For this he accepted office, 
 for this he ardently labored while in it; and when 
 he could do so no longer successfully, he resigned 
 the same back to those who had conferred it, and 
 retired into private life still animated with the 
 same spirit, and resolved to live on, a freeman as 
 he had ever done before. No adversity could 
 crush him, no gold could buy him; while all was 
 darkness around others it was light with him. 
 The star of hope was ever before him, and the 
 love and liberty of his country consumed him. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The rebellion in Scotland treated for a while with indiffer¬ 
 ence. The battle of Stirling convinced the king of the 
 real state of affairs. Urged upon the Regent of England 
 in his absence to call a parliament. When assembled, 
 the difficulties of collecting an army increased. Barons 
 refused to bring together their vassals except the Great 
 Charters were ratified. King at last consented to do so. 
 Addressed letters from Flanders to the nobles to meet 
 the Regent at York, in January. Congregated in large 
 numbers. Leading nobility present. Resolved to meet 
 at Newcastle soon after. Many of them obeyed his 
 call. A splendid army collected also for marching into 
 Scotland. When at Roxburg, Surrey received notice 
 from the king to suspend operations. Soon resolved to 
 be at the head of the army himself. Landed afterwards 
 at Sandwich. Joyfully received. Called a meeting of 
 parliament at York, to sanction the raising of a second 
 army in place of the one disbanded. Succeeded in 
 the attempt. Summoned Wallace and the Scotch nobility 
 to meet him at York. He did not do so. Proceeded soon 
 after into England with a considerable force, and offered 
 to fight Edward. Refused to accept the challenge, and 
 retreated South. Scots returned home and annihilated 
 De Yallance’s division. Edward once more collected an 
 army and entered Scotland. 
 
 The king of England while in Flanders, treated 
 the accounts from Scotland of the success of 
 Wallace for some time with indifference, and 
 imagined the country so completely subdued as 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 257 
 
 to render any attempt at insurrection of little 
 moment. When the news, however, reached him 
 of the battle of Stirling, so disastrous to his 
 forces, and the terrible destruction of life and 
 property Occasioned through the raid lately made 
 into the northern counties of the kingdom, he 
 began to wake up to the real state of affairs. He 
 was still engaged in a war with France, from 
 which he had derived little benefit, and could 
 not possibly leave Flanders, the seat of it, for 
 some time to come. But the rapid progress of the 
 rebellion in Scotland frightened him not a little, 
 and made him urge the Regent of England, in his 
 absence into immediate action. A parliament was 
 therefore immediately called to meet in London, 
 on the 10th day of October, for devising means to 
 crush the insurrection. When it assembled how¬ 
 ever, it only tended at the first to increase the 
 difficulties of the Regent, and of the absent 
 monarch, and was likely to end in open hostilities 
 betwixt the barons and their sovereign. Aware 
 of the critical position he was in, owing to his 
 being engaged in a doubtful war in Flanders, and 
 to the success of Wallace, the nobles were pre¬ 
 pared to overawe the proceedings of parliament, 
 and stop all future supplies, until their own 
 grievances were fully redressed. Accordingly the 
 Earls of Norfolk and of Hereford, appeared in the 
 streets of London with thousands of retainers, 
 accused the king of breach of promise, and 
 demanded that the u Great Charter ” and also 
 
258 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 that of the Forests should be ratified and signed 
 by him, before any action should be taken in the 
 war with Scotland. This the king had promised 
 to do, as his grandfather and father had done be¬ 
 fore him, but put it off from time to time.*Further, 
 the barons insisted that no taxes should be raised 
 for supporting the war in the North, which had 
 already become unpopular, as it was unprofitable, 
 without tire consent of the parliament. When 
 news reached the king in Flanders of the attitude 
 assumed by the nobles at this critical time, he 
 was startled, and filled with indignation. He 
 brooded in silence for three days over the spirit 
 of insubordination they had dared to assume, and 
 in ordinary cases would have hastened to crush 
 it. But although all powerful in most cases, 
 he was forced at the present time to wink at their 
 rebellious tendencies, pocketed the affront, and 
 appeared on good terms with them. Accordingly 
 he confirmed the Charters that were forwarded to 
 him; directed letters to many of the barons, 
 breathing a spirit of kindness and affection ; and 
 conjured them by the honor they wished to put 
 upon him, and the love they bore to their country, 
 to meet at York on the fourteenth day of January, 
 and from thence proceed into Scotland at the com¬ 
 mand of the Regent, and endeavor to extinguish 
 the last spark of rebellion there. The king 
 wished it so to be, but was sadly mistaken in all 
 his calculations; for the star of liberty that was 
 for some time dark and obscured in blood, soon 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 259 
 
 blazed up more brightly than before, and shed its 
 hallowed light on the land where it had ever been 
 considered a crime for the foot of a tyrant to 
 tread. 
 
 “Yes! thy oppressor pitied land ! shall see, 
 
 That man hath yet a soul, and dare he free! 
 
 Prone to the dust oppression shall be hurled, 
 
 Her name, her nature withered from the world.” 
 
 Edward likewise forwarded letters to Scotland 
 to many of the nobility, assuring them if they 
 valued his favor, and the estates they held of him 
 of any moment, to attend at York also on the day 
 specified, and swell the ranks of those th^it were 
 determined to put down the spirit of rebellion 
 that had become so rampant in the northern part 
 of his dominion. The Scottish nobles mustered 
 poorly however, as they were overawed by the 
 dread of the governor, whose influence they were 
 unable to control. But the English nobility made 
 up for the deficiency, and assembled in large num¬ 
 bers on the occasion. Seldom had the chivalry of 
 England been displayed on a more magnificent 
 scale, or the barons prepared to fight with more 
 spirit and determination in behalf of their king. 
 Both the Earl Marshal and the Great Constable of 
 England, were present with a large body of their 
 retainers, and in high spirits from the concessions 
 recently granted to them and others by the king. 
 The great Earl of Surrey was also there, who held 
 the office of king’s lieutenant in Scotland, not¬ 
 withstanding his recent defeat and ignominious 
 
260 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 flight from Stirling. And many others of renown 
 presented themselves, all animated with one 
 spirit, and who burnt to be avenged on their foes 
 for the terrible losses recently inflicted on their 
 fellow subjects in the northern parts of the king¬ 
 dom, and for the victory which Wallace had 
 lately gained. In order to give the Scottish 
 barons another chance of manifesting their spirit 
 of loyalty towards their sovereign, and obedience 
 to his orders, Surrey the king’s lieutenant, order¬ 
 ed another muster at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, eight 
 days after the assembly at York. Here there was 
 a most' magnificent turn-out, and scarcely any¬ 
 thing of the kind, whether viewed in regard to 
 numbers or equipment, was ever before witnessed 
 in England. The nobles, who attended in great 
 force, vied with one another in the large number 
 of their vassals, the splendor of their armor, and 
 the rich caparisons of their horses; and the 
 knights and esquires, as far as they were able, 
 imitated them in this respect. When the muster 
 roll was made up it was found to amount to two 
 thousand heavy cavalry, armed cap a pie, along 
 with two thousand light horse, and one hundred 
 thousand infantry. How formidable the force! 
 And yet for what object was it collected ? Was 
 it to contend for liberty to the enslaved ? To suc¬ 
 cor the destitute ? And to make wrong right ? No ! 
 but it was to carry fire and sword into a neigh¬ 
 bor’s country, which was guilty of no crime but 
 that it had shaken off the yoke of a tyrant, and 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 2G1 
 
 sworn to be free ! The whole of this vast force 
 was put into marching order with Surrey 
 at its head, and without any further cere¬ 
 mony crossed the borders, and prepared for the 
 work of destruction. It had not proceeded 
 further than Roxburgh however, when it was 
 ordered to return back to England. For Surrey 
 had received a communication from the king, 
 informing him that he had concluded a truce with 
 the French monarch. That both had agreed to 
 refer all matters of dispute to their spiritual 
 father the Pope ; and inasmuch as he intended to 
 sail for England with all possible haste, and as¬ 
 sume the command of the army, it would be bet¬ 
 ter to suspend operations, until his arrival on the 
 the spot. On receiving this communication, Sur¬ 
 rey disbanded the greater portion of the immense 
 force, that had been collected together at great 
 expense and trouble to the nation, without strik¬ 
 ing a blow, and waited the further orders of his 
 sovereign. In this we see the wisdom of Ed¬ 
 ward’s policy; for as the prestige of Surrey as a 
 general in Scotland was already gone, and as he 
 had won a sovereignty for himself there under 
 the pressure of motives foreign to the real inter¬ 
 ests of the state, he wished to command the army 
 in person.. For he could not conceal from himself 
 the fact, that he was still considered in the North 
 as a usurper. That many of his English subjects 
 sympathized little with him in his attempt to 
 subdue the natives, and at heart reprobated his 
 
262 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 cruel conduct towards them. And knowing from 
 such, and other considerations, that a defeat might 
 prove disastrous to him there he thought the safest 
 course for him to adopt, was to assume command 
 of the forces destined for Scotland himself. Big, 
 therefore, as usual with schemes of conquest, and 
 burning with r venge towards a people that had 
 even dared, in spite of all his threats and cruel¬ 
 ties, to resist his ambitious projects, he hastily 
 patched up a truce with his royal brother the 
 French monarch, and set sail from Flanders with¬ 
 out any further delay. The fleet made for Sand¬ 
 wich on the Kentish coast, but was sorely beset 
 and obstructed by adverse winds, which cast a 
 damper over the impetuous spirit of the indefati¬ 
 gable man, who had spent the best of his days in 
 camp, or on the bloody fields of battle, and who 
 hastened to be avenged on his Scottish foes. He 
 was joyfully received at Sandwich, for it was sel¬ 
 dom the inhabitants of this place, or those of the 
 other towns of England, had been allowed to feast 
 their eyes on a sovereign who had been abroad so 
 much, and engaged in so many ambitious projects. 
 When Edward reached Sandwich, he found that 
 the vast army collected by Surrey had been scat¬ 
 tered, and had melted away amid the mountains 
 of Wales, and the hamlets and rural retreats of 
 old England. But the king was on the spot, an¬ 
 other force was required, and it was not long 
 wanting. “ The spirits of the vasty deep were 
 conjured up, and they obeyed his call;” for an 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 263 
 
 army equal in number, and equipment to any that 
 ever trod the soil of England, was soon gathered 
 together. To accomplish this desirable object he 
 summoned the whole disposal force of the king¬ 
 dom, to meet him at York on the feast of Penti- 
 cost, while he directed writs to the earls, barons, 
 two knights of every shire, and the representa¬ 
 tives of boroughs, to attend his parliament to 
 be held at the same place, to give an air of 
 sanction to his proceedings. He also summoned 
 the barons of Scotland to be present, and in case of 
 refusal they were to be considered rebels. If Aber- 
 cromby is to believed, a letter was also addressed to 
 Wallace by the king, urging upon him likewise the 
 necessity of putting in an appearance on the occa¬ 
 sion. To this summons the Scottish barons paid lit¬ 
 tle attention, as they were overawed by the power 
 of the Scottish Regent; and those of them that 
 fought with him in Flanders deserted his cause, 
 and united their interests with those of the king of 
 France. As for Wallace, his answer was such as 
 might have been expected from one who never ac¬ 
 knowledged Edward’s authority. He stated that 
 what he had done, he was prepared to do again, in 
 order to check the baseness of a monarch who had 
 striven to destroy the liberties of a people, who 
 had never injured him, and who wished to live at 
 peace with their neighbors. As to his raid into 
 the northern counties of England, he wished (lie 
 said) to indemnify his countrymen for the many and 
 cruel losses they had sustained, at the hands of his 
 
264 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 subjects; and, as be intended soon to be in Eng¬ 
 land again in person, he would give him an answer 
 how far he would be prepared to submit to his 
 authority. The active and heroic governor of 
 Scotland did not mean to send empty threats to 
 the English monarch, but followed Edward’s mes¬ 
 senger with all possible speed, at the head of a 
 considerable army, into England. He came up 
 with the forces of his opponents on the twentieth 
 of March, which lay encamped near Stamnore, in 
 the County of Westmoreland. Although the Eng¬ 
 lish forces were far superior to his in number, and 
 commanded by the king in person, he was by no 
 means afraid to meet them; for his army was 
 made up of his veteran followers, who had scat¬ 
 tered and defeated their enemies on many an 
 occasion before. The troops advanced till within 
 a few hundred yards of each other, and fully 
 expected an engagement. The Scots were in high 
 spirits and eager for the conflict, while Wallace 
 himself looked forward with some degree of pride 
 to meet face to face, and to measure swords with 
 the king of England, whose fame as a warrior 
 had extended throughout Europe, and Asia also. 
 Edward, however, was too wily to be taken 
 unawares, or to fight where the issues in any way 
 would prove doubtful. And after beholding with 
 admiration the appearance and splendid discipline 
 of the Scottish troops, he retreated southward 
 with his whole army, without striking a blow. 
 This shewed the light in which the character of 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 265 
 
 the Regent of Scotland was viewed by one who 
 was so well capable of judging of it. And there 
 was, probably, no man alive, at home or abroad, 
 whom the English monarch dreaded so much, or 
 before whom he would have retreated, although 
 at the head of a formidable army, and in his own 
 country. While Edward was afraid to risk a 
 battle with the Scots, considering all the circum¬ 
 stances of the case, the Regent conld hardly ven¬ 
 ture to pursue the fleeing squadrons of the Eng¬ 
 lish. He remembered he was far away in an 
 enemy’s country. That it was possible an ambus¬ 
 cade might be laid for himself and his brave troops 
 by the warlike king, who was ever on the alert 
 for the destruction of his foes; and, restraining 
 his followers from the pursuit, he congratulated 
 them on the dread they must have occasioned to 
 those who had voluntarily fled at their appear¬ 
 ance. At the same time he returned thanks to 
 the God of battles, who had singularly interposed 
 in their behalf. But the seat of the war was once 
 more to be transferred to Scotland, where the 
 Regent and his troops would soon have a fit oppor¬ 
 tunity, once more of distinguishing themselves. 
 Aymer de Yallance, the son of the Earl of Pem¬ 
 broke, was a fit descendant of a long race of noble 
 ancestors who, in the wars in Ireland, and on many 
 other memorable occasions, had distinguished 
 themselves. Though still a youth, he had risen 
 rapidly in the royal favor in the wars in Flanders, 
 on account of his valor; and, what was more 
 
2G6 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 remarkable for a young man of eighteen years of 
 age, had displayed, at the same time, much judg¬ 
 ment and discretion, and on this account com¬ 
 pletely gained the confidence and affection of his 
 royal master. No one was more trusted in the 
 cabinet or in the field. And when a truce was 
 agreed upon between the belligerents in Flanders, 
 De Vallance was deputed to the French capital, as 
 the English commissioner, to sign the articles 
 agreed upon. When this was done the king 
 ordered his favorite to sail for Scotland, without 
 any further delay, with the force that had been 
 under his command, and co-operate with himself 
 in the invasion of that country. De Vallance lost 
 no time in landing in the north with a large force, 
 and began to lay waste the county of Fife with 
 fire and sword. This part of the country, even at 
 this early period, was rich, populous and well cul¬ 
 tivated; and from the fact that the Earl of Fife, 
 who owned large properties in it, had joined the 
 patriots, was considered fit to be devoted to ravage 
 and plunder. Before the English, however, had 
 commenced their work of destruction, Wallace 
 and his followers hurried back from England, and 
 threw themselves in the way of the invaders. 
 They came up to them while they lay concealed 
 in Blackironside woods, which then consti- 
 tuted an extensive forest, reaching from the 
 Forth far away into the interior of the coun¬ 
 try. It was midsummer when they did so, 
 and all nature was aglow. The trees were 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 267 
 
 fresh and green, affording a cooling shade to the 
 weary traveller, while the birds sang sweetly 
 above his head among the branches. But how 
 different the appearance of things when the two 
 contending forces came into deadly collision ! 
 The dense forest now far and near resounded with 
 the clash of sword and spear, and the beauties of 
 nature were sadly marred. The by-paths and 
 hidden tracks amid the lofty trees were soon 
 covered with dead bodies, and dyed with purple 
 gore. The birds themselves forsook their lonely 
 abodes, and the beasts of prey affrighted hastened 
 away, and left a w T ork to be performed by man, 
 that was far more in unison witn their own cruel 
 natures than with his! 
 
 “ Over the forests, sunk in blood, 
 
 Are the waves of ruin hurled; 
 
 Like the waters of the flood 
 Boiling round a buried world.” 
 
 De Yallance, the youthful warrior, was by no 
 means taken aback when attacked, but made his 
 dispositions with care and judgment. And having 
 done so, he charged at the head of a body of 
 troops, which in valor and equipment was equal 
 to any in Europe at the time. But the operations 
 of the English archers were rendered ineffective 
 by the density of the forest, while the Scottish 
 spearmen, who had often contended with success 
 in similar circumstances, made terrible havoc 
 among their foes, though driven back several 
 times during the day. 
 
268 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 “ For the fight did last from break of day, 
 
 Till setting of the sun.” 
 
 And the forces on both sides panted from heat 
 and thirsted for water, the heat being unusu¬ 
 ally great, and the water scarce. The Scottish 
 spearmen returned to the conflict with redoubled 
 fury and made the forest groan with the work 
 of destruction. DeVallance and his brave troops, 
 though flushed with recent victories on the 
 continent, were now more than matched by 
 the prowess and determined resolution of the 
 Scotch Regent and his followers, “ for the battle 
 went sore against the young man,” and the 
 wood devoured more than the sword,” as it didin 
 an ancient and unnatural conflict, betwixt an 
 affectionate father and disobedient son. By the 
 evening of this beautiful day in June, the Eng¬ 
 lish were entirely defeated, and when the rays of 
 the setting sun struggled through the thickets of 
 the forest, fifteen hundred of them lay dead, 
 scattered in all directions. No gentle hand to 
 touch their bleeding bodies! No pitying eye to 
 shed a tear over them ! But their bones were 
 left to bleach amid the dismal swamps and 
 forests of the North, and their bodies became 
 the prey of wild beasts, to satisfy a monarch, 
 whose desires for conquest were boundless as 
 the ocean and insatiable as the grave. Few 
 of the brave men that constituted De Yallance’s 
 force ever returned back to their own native 
 land, to feast their eyes on its beautiful green 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 269 
 
 fields and smiling pastures; but their slaughtered 
 bodies, lying far away in an enemy’s country for 
 many a long day, raised a silent protest against 
 the ambition of a tyrant, and the accursed work 
 of war in which he was ever more engaged. 
 
 “ Man’s inhumanity to man 
 Makes countless thousands mourn.” 
 
 Unmindful of this defeat of his brave general, 
 Edward assembled a meeting of his parliament at 
 York, in order to give something like an air of 
 authority for the prosecution of the murderous 
 work, in which, although advanced in years, he 
 was once more determined to engage. Although 
 the Scotch nobles found enough of excuses to 
 absent themselves from it, the meeting was 
 nevertheless largely attended. Fulsome flattery 
 was largely heaped upon the king by his subser¬ 
 vient nobles, his praises loudly sounded forth from 
 every mouth, and vengeance once more was vowed 
 against the Scotch and their refractory Regent. 
 Business was quickly despatched and festivities of 
 the most gay and costly character assumed its 
 place ; and well they might, for the English court 
 now held here was the richest in Europe. Edward 
 had forgotten by this time his first wife Eleanora, 
 whose piety and devotion to his person saved his 
 life in Palestine, when she sucked the poison with 
 her own mouth from the wound inflicted on his 
 own person by a fanatical Mahometan. And for 
 state purposes he had taken to himself as a second 
 wife Margaret, the sister of the French king 
 
2*70 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 “ Philip the Fair.” And “ that she might forget 
 her own country and father’s house,” everything 
 was done to satisfy the tastes of this beautiful and 
 accomplished woman. Gaiety and pleasure of 
 every description were allowed to run their riot. 
 Balls, tournaments and masquerades were of 
 daily occurrence, and in which the king heartily 
 joined. For the time being he forgot that the 
 days of youthful pleasure were gone by, and the 
 season of old age was not far off. But still all was 
 a mere outward show, to gratify the tastes of his 
 gay and youthful spouse. For the demon of war 
 still lurked in his bosom, and revenge on the 
 Scots for driving his myrmidons out of their 
 country, was all the while uppermost in his 
 thoughts. The parliament at York soon broke 
 up, and dancing and revelry with all their lively 
 concomitants were forthwith forgotten for the 
 tented field and all the bitter realities of war. 
 Edward resolved to loose no time, and commanded 
 his army to rendezvous at Roxburgh on the twenty- 
 fourth of June, in order that he might afford the 
 Scotch nobles the last opportunity of joining his 
 standard, and shewing their loyalty to him as 
 their sovereign lord. He himself, like another 
 pious saint, performed a pilgrimage to the shrine 
 of St. John of Beverly, then in high repute over 
 all the North of England, and as the favor of the 
 Saint was procured, he doubtless assured himself 
 that his expedition into Scotland would be crowned 
 with success. For with all his cruelty and per- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 271 
 
 fidy, the mind of Edward was largely embued with 
 religious feelings, in which, alas ! ignorance and 
 superstition held a prominent place. The stan¬ 
 dard of the same Saint, had been carried before 
 the army into Scotland in the former war, con¬ 
 ducted by himself and which he considered 
 successful, when cruelty and bloodshed were 
 everywhere the order of the day ; and to encourage 
 his troops and excite his own religious feelings, he 
 resolved to adopt the same course on this occasion 
 also. The pilgrimage terminated and the blessing 
 of the Saint invoked, Edward was prepared once 
 more for the execution of his ambitious projects. 
 And having committed the sacred standard of St. 
 John of Beverly to the charge of Anthony Beck, 
 “ the fighting Bishop of Durham,” he became con¬ 
 fident that success would attend his labors. 
 Anthony before this had been engaged in many 
 a tough and hard fight across the borders, and had 
 been ignominiously driven from the bishopric of 
 Glasgow with all his dependents. But he was 
 once more resolved to assume the sword under 
 the shadow of the holy cross, both the protection 
 of his own Saint, and amply avenge himself on 
 Wallace and the rest of his Northern foes. Strange 
 things have been done in the name of religion in 
 the past, as well as at the present day ! When he 
 marched into Scotland, Edward had great reason to 
 feel proud of his position, for he headed an army 
 which, in the number of its men and the splendor 
 of its equipment, had few to equal it before this 
 
272 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 anywhere. It was composed of seven thousand 
 horse, three of which were called “ equi cooperti,” 
 because they were completely clothed in iron 
 coverings. The other four thousand were lighter 
 cavalry, hut a more splendid body of men and 
 horses were hardly to be found. At the first, the 
 infantry consisted of eighty thousand foot, chiefly 
 Welsh and Irish, but this body, powerful as it 
 was, was soon strengthened by a large reinforce¬ 
 ment from Gascony in France. And now the 
 whole of this formidable force was ushered into 
 the midst of a country, whose only crime consisted 
 in this, that its inhabitants had disputed a tyrant’s 
 right to deprive them of their freedom, and to 
 assume a crown to which he was unable to 
 shew the slightest title. 
 
 “ By the lightning’s deadly flash, 
 
 Would its foes had been consumed ! 
 
 Or, amidst the earthquake’s crash 
 Suddenly, alive, entomb’d!” 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Edward met with difficulties when he marched into Scot¬ 
 land. Nobles refused to proceed beyond Roxburgh till 
 the Great Charter and others were ratified. The king 
 promised to do so if victorious. Proceeded North to 
 Kirkliston, and found the country deserted. Encamped 
 here, and waited for his fleet from the South laden with 
 provisions for the army. Kept back a whole month by 
 contrary winds. Famine and mutiny appeared in the 
 camp. Welsh soldiers while drunk and disorderly 
 broke into the English portion of it. Put to death a 
 number of priests. The tumult quelled by Edward. 
 The movements of the Scotch forces unknown to him. 
 Wallace resolved not to tight but to harass the enemy. 
 Edward on account of the scarcity of provisions 
 ordered a retreat. Informed by the earls of Dunbar 
 and Angus of the whereabouts of the Scotch army. 
 Resolved to proceed with his whole force and offer 
 them battle. On the night previous encampd on a 
 lonely moor near Linlithgow. The king slept on the 
 ground, and was accidently wounded by his horse. 
 Said mass early next morning with the bishop of Dur¬ 
 ham. The country everywhere covered with a thick 
 fog, retarding operations. Proceeded to the scene of 
 conflict early in the morning. When the fog had dis¬ 
 appeared, beheld the Scots preparing for the conflict. 
 Betrayed and unable to retreat. The nobles divided 
 among themselves, and jealous of Wallace. He put no 
 confidence in his cavalry. Commanded by the earl of 
 Badenoch, and composed mostly of the nobility’. His 
 infantry few when compared with the English. But 
 equal to any of the same number for heroic daring. 
 Encouraged such for the conflict. 
 
 S 
 
274 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 Although Edward had taken the field at the 
 head of a splendid army, difficulties came across 
 his path which he little expected. He had 
 not ratified in person, in his own dominions, 
 the “Great Charter,” or the “Charter of the 
 Forestsand as the nobles had no faith in his 
 promises, which he had often broken before when 
 it suited his selfish purposes, they refused to 
 advance a step from Roxburgh, till he had done 
 so. The monarch was filled with wrath when such 
 an announcement was made, but he had the policy 
 to dissemble his resentment; and, bringing for¬ 
 ward the Bishop of Durham as a go-between, he 
 solemnly swore on the soul of his royal master, 
 if he should happen to return victorious their 
 requests would be fully granted. The difficulty 
 being removed by this wary policy, the splendid 
 English army was once more in motion. Proceed¬ 
 ing slowly through Berwickshire and the Lothians^ 
 it advanced as far as Kirkliston, a small town 
 between Edinburgh and Linlithgow. Here it 
 encamped, and waited the arrival of a large fleet 
 in the Frith of Forth laden with provisions, lest 
 it should be reduced to terrible straits on account 
 of the want of such, as often happened to be the 
 case before, when invasions of Scotland by the 
 English took place. Hitherto the army met with 
 no opposition from the Scots ; for it was the policy 
 of the Regent to conceal himself and faithful 
 adherents, from the invading foes, to watch a 
 chance when a strolling party of them was sepa- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 275 
 
 rated from the main body, and to cut them to pieces. 
 And this Fabian system of warfare would have 
 been completely successful, but for the jealousy 
 and treachery of some of the Scottish nobles, as 
 we shall afterwards find. In regard to the coun¬ 
 try through which the army passed, although pre¬ 
 viously regarded as the most fertile part of Scot¬ 
 land,—and everything in the beautiful month of 
 June ought to have been fair and delightful.—all 
 was now bare and desolate. The houses of the 
 inhabitants were empty. The green crops cut 
 down and carried away. The farm steadings heaps 
 of blackened ruins; and the straw and provender 
 of the former year that had been preserved had 
 been collected together and committed to the 
 flames. No cattle were seen browsing, in the 
 fields; no sheep traversing the beautiful green 
 mountains that often skirted their path, as they 
 proceeded on their way to finish the work of 
 destruction they had begun. The inhabitants 
 drove them before them as they fled at the ap¬ 
 proach of the enemy in terror, and left the towns, 
 villages and rural districts empty and ruined,—, 
 a sad proof of the effects produced by unrestrained 
 ambition, and of the accursed influences of war. 
 
 “ Let there be light! said God, and there was light! 
 
 Let there be blood, say men ! and there’s a sea ! 
 
 The fiat of this spoiled child of the night, 
 
 (For day never saw his merit) could decree 
 More evil in an hour than thirty bright 
 Summers could renovate, though they should be 
 Lovely as those that ripened Eden’s fruit, 
 
 For war cuts up not only branch but root.” 
 
 
276 
 
 LIFE 01 SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 While Edward had pressed forward through a 
 desert country at the head of so formidable an 
 army, with the warlike Bishop of Durham in 
 front of it, bearing the standard of St. John 
 of Beverly, and resolving amid his superstitious 
 selfishness to crush the enemy, and secure a 
 victory; Wallace was endeavoring to gather 
 together the scattered forces of his country, 
 and to infuse into them the same indomitable 
 spirit which had ever actuated himself on all 
 trying occasions. lie was well aware he had a 
 formidable host to meet, and many of his friends 
 whose love for their country appeared to be great 
 at one time, were now cold. But the devoted 
 feelings of the people were unchanged, and those, 
 added to the fertile resources of his own daring 
 mind, together with his thorough knowledge of 
 the country, and the species of warfare that would 
 prove in the end the most destructive to the 
 English army, and weary Edward out, gave him 
 hope. He therefore entered upon his work once 
 more for the defence of his country with all the 
 sagacity, heroism and patriotism also, with which 
 he was richly endowed. But with all such feel¬ 
 ings the force he was able to gather together only 
 amounted to about thirty thousand men, and the 
 Scottish nobles on this occasion presented but a 
 very sorry appearance with their vassals. Be¬ 
 sides Kirkpatrick, Graham and some more of his 
 faithful co-patriots, Sir John Steward of Bonkyll, 
 brother of the steward of Scotland, with a 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 217 
 
 thousand splendid archers, joined the Scottish 
 army. Macduff, grand uncle to the Earl of Fife, 
 and John Comyn of Badenoch, also put in an 
 appearance ; but with regard to the last mentioned 
 nobleman it would have been far better if he had 
 stayed at home, or joined the English at once. 
 The wolf of Badenoch (as he was called by nick¬ 
 name) resembled in several ways that savage 
 animal. Sly, cunning and ferocious, he was false 
 and a mischief maker to boot; and willing that 
 the interests of his native country, and all other 
 interests besides, should rather be sacrificed, than 
 that John Conryn, who could trace his connection 
 with royal blood, should be displaced, or the forces 
 of Scotland on the trying day, that was looming 
 in the distance, should be led by another. Aware 
 that such a feeble force, and so inferior in cavalry, 
 could ill contend with Edward’s army so numerous 
 and so splendidly equipped—for being a practical 
 warrior many alterations had been introduced 
 during his wars in Palestine and his expeditions 
 to France, and many important inventions had 
 been adopted, which must have given him great 
 advantage over his enemies—Wallace resolved 
 strictly to adhere to his original plan of not 
 fighting a general battle. But while such was 
 to be his policy, he was the last man not to 
 fight when a fit opportunity presented itself. 
 He resolved to retire slowly before the oppos¬ 
 ing superior force, cut off their supplies, attack 
 their foraging parties, or when a chance presented 
 
278 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 itself fall upon the main body during the dark¬ 
 ness of the night, or at some other favorable time, 
 and compel them to retreat. These were the 
 weapons by which a wise and brave Roman saved 
 his country from impending ruin, when invaded 
 by the greatest general of antiquity; and Scot¬ 
 land would have likewise been preserved on this 
 occasion from dangers equally great, by the 
 means that were wisely adopted, but for the 
 jealousy and false dealings of many of the unpa¬ 
 triotic nobles. Edward had waited anxiously for 
 his fleet, on which so much of the success of his 
 expedition depended, for a whole month. But still 
 it was kept back by contrary winds, and his heart 
 began to be filled with dread and disappointment. 
 For no supplies could be procured from the neigh¬ 
 boring country for his army, and he felt persuaded 
 he would be forced to retreat back to England 
 with his whole force. In the meantime three 
 vessels of the fleet arrived, but the provisions 
 they carried were not sufficient to supply the 
 wants of the officers alone ; while at the same 
 time they brought the disagreeable tidings that 
 the remainder had not yet passed Berwick, and 
 had already experienced a terrible gale that had 
 divided and driven several of them far out into 
 the deep. A famine now began to threaten the 
 vast host that lay encamped around their monarch 
 near the precincts of the poor hamlet, that had 
 been stricken to the dust before its arrival, and 
 every living thing destroyed and carried off for 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 279 
 
 many miles in every direction. In connection 
 with this, a fearful mutiny began to manifest 
 itself in the English camp. It broke out among 
 the Welsh troops, who had already suffered fear¬ 
 fully for want of food, and who as yet were ill 
 reconciled to the English yoke. In order to soothe 
 down the excited feelings of these brave Celts, 
 the English monarch sent them a large present of 
 wine from his own tent; and while partaking too 
 freely of the same, they became wild and furious, 
 broke into the English quarter of the camp during 
 the silence of the night, and in a paroxysm of 
 wrath put eighteen of the priests to the sword. 
 This was to retaliate for the ill treatment they 
 had received, but especially to revenge the death 
 of their own bards who before this had been so 
 barbarously murdered. The camp became a scene 
 of the wildest confusion. Many of the Welsh 
 were slain, and the rest of them threatened in a 
 body to desert the English and join the Scots. 
 Edward alone remained cool and collected in the 
 midst of the tumult that existed everywhere, and 
 restored peace, while all was commotion around 
 him : “ Let them do so! (said this intrepid man) 
 let them join the Scots, but the day will soon 
 come when I will chastise both !” But while the 
 king outwardly displayed such composure, for 
 the purpose of animating his troops and prevent¬ 
 ing further disorders, his mind was all the time 
 racked with care regarding the future. He found 
 himself at the head of a great army, and without 
 
280 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 supplies in the midst of ail enemy’s country. To 
 advance any further into it was sure destruction, in 
 such destitute circumstances. Mutiny, famine, 
 disease and death in the camp all stared him in 
 the face ! And even the element: of nature,in keep¬ 
 ing back his fleet and scattering it amid the billows 
 of the angry ocean, seemed to be contending sorely 
 against him ! But while the iron will of the 
 bold Plantagenet was sadly tried, and though he 
 was compelled to order a retreat against all his 
 cherished wishes, he was quickly delivered out of 
 all his difficulties by an occurrence that will reflect 
 everlasting disgrace on the parties connected with 
 it. Early in the morning of the day when the 
 retreat was to commence, two rascals,—although 
 they wore coronets on their heads,—sneaked into 
 the English camp and sought an audience with 
 the Bishop of Durham; for, as they were connected 
 with the Scottish army they were afraid to en¬ 
 counter the king himself. These were the Earls 
 of Dunbar and Angus, who informed the bishop, 
 and all parties concerned, that Wallace and the 
 Scottish army lay in the “ Forest of Falkirk,” and 
 intended to make an attack on the English camp 
 that very night. The tidings brought joy to 
 “ Anthony,” who immediately conveyed them to 
 his sovereign, and who, on receipt of them, was 
 unable to restrain his feelings. “ Thanks be to 
 God,” exclaimed Longshanks. “ Thanks be to 
 God,” he repeated, “ who hath hitherto extricated 
 me from every danger. They shall not need to fol- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 281 
 
 low me. I shall forthwith go and meet them!” And 
 he was as good as his word; for, buckling on his 
 armor and mounting his superb charger, he rode 
 from post to post and hurried on the preparations. 
 And, strange to say, although the news of the 
 position of the Scotch army was received in the 
 morning, by three o’clock in the afternoon 
 Edward’s huge world of men and of horses was 
 in full motion, and on its way to Falkirk. To¬ 
 wards nightfall the army reached a lonely moor 
 in the neighborhood of the town of Linlithgow, 
 where they rested ; and, according to an English 
 historian who was an eye-witness of the scene, 
 “ each soldier had to sleep upon the ground, and 
 use none other pillow than his shield. Each horse¬ 
 man had his horse bridled, and armed beside him, 
 and the horses themselves tasted nothing but cold 
 iron, champing their steel bits for want of better 
 fodder.” By and by the hum of the living mass 
 died away amid the stillness of the night, and 
 nothing was heard amid the camp that was lately 
 so full of noise and tumult, but the tramp of the 
 pacing sentinels as they went their rounds. And 
 the proud Edward himself shared no better than 
 the meanest of his soldiers; for he slept on the 
 ground clad in armor, while a page held the reins 
 of his favorite and gorgeously caparisoned war- 
 horse that stood beside him. But he was well ac¬ 
 customed to such exposure, and reposed himself as 
 soundly as he would have done in any of his 
 royal residences, with his stern features relaxed 
 
282 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLI A 11 TJ All ACE. 
 
 and illumined by the sweet rays of the summer 
 moon. And there did he rest on that lone heath, 
 with all his angry passions, cruel resolves, and past 
 terrible memories hushed into silence and buried 
 in oblivion; and he would have done so till morn¬ 
 ing had not an incident occurred which disturbed 
 his rest, and caused no little commotion through¬ 
 out the camp. On account of the carelessness of 
 the page the bridle of the king’s horse had been 
 dropped, and in changing his position he had 
 severely struck the king on the side. He awak¬ 
 ened in the midst of the greatest perturbation, and 
 his guards were soon on foot and around his person, 
 crying out that the enemy was in their midst, 
 and that their sovereign had been stabbed. The 
 camp was soon in the wildest uproar, and all stood 
 to arms and were prepared to fight. But the 
 alarm was false, and the weary soldiers once more 
 threw themselves upon the cold ground and were 
 soon again hushed to repose, forgetful of the past. 
 As soon as morning broke, Edward, although 
 smarting from the effect of his wound, insisted on 
 mounting his charger, and gave orders to the army 
 to march. They did so with the best spirits under 
 their respected chiefs, and by the time the sun 
 had begun to streak the eastern horizon with his 
 approaching light, they hastened to defile through 
 the town of Linlithgow. It was deserted. For, 
 at the approach of the invading foe, the inhabi¬ 
 tants with all the effects they could carry along 
 with them, had betaken themselves beyond the 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 283 
 
 reach of their enemies; and the confused hum of 
 the living mass of men and of horses, the noise 
 of drums and the braying of clarions must have 
 produced a strange effect in the midst of its lonely 
 streets,—now stripped of its residents. As the 
 army passed along through the town, says a gra¬ 
 phic writer, “ it seemed to lengthen into an inter¬ 
 minable array, issuing as it came to view, as if 
 from some interminable source on the verge of the 
 horizon ; every now and then the glittering array 
 disappearing in undulating movements again to 
 shine forth.” It was a long time before the cavalry 
 and infantry were able to reach the western end of 
 the town, and when they did so a thick fog hung 
 over the plains and rising eminences in all direc¬ 
 tions, concealing everything from their view. 
 This often happens in Scotland at this season of 
 the year during the early part of the morning, and, 
 on the present occasion, was a great obstruction 
 to Edward’s plans; and at the same time increas¬ 
 ing his anxiety lest he should be suddenly attacked 
 by the Scots, who were so thoroughly acquainted 
 with the country and the immediate neighbor¬ 
 hood. In order that his mind might be stayed up 
 amid the exciting scenes that were near at hand, 
 he once more resolved to devote himself to several 
 acts of devotion, as he had previously done at the 
 commencement of the campaign. And if the 
 cruel and relentless mind of this man wished to 
 be so employed, previous to the commencement 
 of a great battle, and desired to crave the forgive- 
 
284 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 ness of heaven on past misdeeds, bloody memo¬ 
 ries must have crowded in upon it. The fate of 
 the Welsh bards, wantonly murdered amid the 
 bleak mountains of Wales, must have started up 
 before his unclouded fancy while lying prostrate 
 before the sacred altar ! And the blood of the 
 children and helpless women that flowed like 
 water down the streets of Berwick, to be carried 
 away by the ceaseless tide, and buried out of sight 
 amid the waves of the mighty ocean, must have 
 sorely confronted him! Being the feast of St. 
 Magdalen, the king sent for the Bishop of Dur¬ 
 ham, and requested mass to be said. The bishop, 
 as on former occasions, extolled the king’s piety 
 and thoughtfulness; assured him that, on the 
 battle-field, there would be little time for such 
 religious duties, as every one would be otherwise 
 employed. Before Edward and the priest how¬ 
 ever, had finished their religious task, the fog 
 began to disappear from the surrounding valleys, 
 and creeped up towards the heights of the emi¬ 
 nences that were near, and the mountains that 
 stood out in bold relief that were afar off. The 
 rays of a bright morning’s sun were joyfully wel¬ 
 comed by the whole English army. For they 
 scattered the gloom of a night that had been 
 accompanied with unpleasant remembrances, and 
 flung themselves across the whole country, chasing 
 away the last traces of an enemy, that was likely 
 to prove both dangerous and troublesome to them. 
 Such a sight enlivened the heart of the king, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 285 
 
 although it soon drew it away from heaven 
 and all devout contemplations. For the feast of 
 the Saint, “ who washed Christ’s feet with her 
 tears and bathed them with her hair,” in token 
 of gratitude and humility, was soon forgotten, and 
 left little impression on the proud and ungrateful 
 heart of one who was incapable of making any 
 thankful return even to his Maker,who had lavishly 
 bestowed upon him many of the richest bounties 
 of his providence. When the fog had disappeared, 
 in looking up to a rising ground at some distance 
 in the front, the English observed it lined with 
 lances, and the whole Scotch army apparently 
 ready to receive them. Not a moment was to be 
 lost, and Edward resolved to attack and drive 
 them from the field before the heat of the day 
 had set in. But when the English columns 
 marched up the hill nothing was to be seen, for it 
 only happened to be the advanced guard of the 
 Scotch army, who immediately retired on the 
 approach of the enemy, and fell back upon the 
 main body who were seen in the distance making 
 arrangements as best they could for the bloody 
 conflict so near at hand. Wallace, as we stated 
 already, had no intention at the first of fighting 
 openly in the field with so small an army as he 
 had at his command, and so ill provided with, 
 cavalry. But now that the enemy through 
 treachery had become acquainted with his situa¬ 
 tion, and he found it impossible to retreat on so 
 short a notice, he resolved to do so, however great 
 
286 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 the odds against him, or however little the chance 
 of success. In the circumstances it was impos¬ 
 sible for him to do anything else ; for the English 
 were too near, and too well provided with cavalry 
 for him to get beyond their reach. There would 
 be more glory therefore for his little army to face 
 the enemy boldly on the battle field, than to 
 endeavor to attempt an unsatisfactory retreat, 
 that must become disastrous from the fact that 
 the English were made acquainted with their 
 numbers and position, and would follow them in 
 their retrograde movements, and hang, upon them 
 with deadly effect. The main strength of the 
 force of this intrepid leader lay in his infantry, 
 trained under his eye to deeds of self-denial and 
 heroic bravery, and which at this time was equal 
 to that of any army in the world. It was his 
 great object therefore to avail himself of the 
 nature of the ground, so as to enable them to 
 receive and resist successfully the attacks of the 
 English cavalry, and if possible throw them back ; 
 for he knew how difficult it would be for his 
 troops, who were but lightly armed, and fought 
 chiefly with long spears, daggers, and battle-axes, 
 to meet such a force as was preparing to dash 
 itself against them with deadly effect. On his 
 cavalry Wallace put no confidence, as they were 
 mostly composed of the nobles of the land and 
 their adherents, who were at best but half hearted 
 in the cause of liberty, and many of whom hated 
 him at heart. 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 287 
 
 And besides all this “ coming events were 
 casting their shadows before them,” which augured 
 ill already for the Scots. It was not sufficient for 
 the Scottish nobles to betray the interests of their 
 country, to reveal the hiding place of the army 
 with which they were connected, to prevent a 
 safe retreat, and to bring sure and sudden destruc¬ 
 tion on it; but the envy and jealousy of the 
 same body towards Wallace were brought out 
 anew and hastened on the destruction of all parties 
 concerned. Comyn the Lord of Badenoch, de¬ 
 manded the leadership of the Scottish army on 
 account of his near connection with the crown of 
 Scotland ; and on this account, because it was 
 refused him, was more inclined to fight the battles 
 of England than be placed under the control of 
 one whom he despised on account of his inferior 
 rank. In order to show how little Wallace was 
 entitled to such honor, Comyn compared him to 
 the owl in the fable “ which after having borrowed 
 a feather from every bird, became, like the pea¬ 
 cock, vain of his plumage, and wished to lord it 
 over the other birds;” “ for, continued he, if every 
 nobleman in the land were to claim his part of 
 the vassals who followed Wallace’s banners, his 
 own retainers would be few and small.” Sir John 
 Steward of Bonkyll claimed the leadership on the 
 ground of his close relationship to the Earl of 
 Bute; for he not only headed his own tenantry, 
 but the men of Bute who were numerous in the 
 absence of his brother the lord high steward of 
 
288 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 Scotland. Every feeling and action among the 
 Scottish nobles only indicated disunion and strife, 
 and to Wallace and others deeply interested in 
 the ensuing conflict forboded terrible consequences. 
 But while he found it impossible to reconcile the 
 nobles on the one hand, or to retreat on the other, 
 with any degree of safety, as the enemy was 
 close at hand; he arranged the lines of his trusty 
 followers, few but firm, and without any further 
 delay, drew them up in order of battle. As far 
 as he was able he wished to encourage them, how¬ 
 ever sad the feelings were that agitated his own 
 bosom, in order that they might prove themselves 
 invincible, whatever the crayen nobles might do ; 
 for to welcome death rather than the chains of a 
 tyrant would make their lives ever dear in the 
 memories of their countrymen, and enable them 
 “ to live above them in eternity.” 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The English army, on the twenty-fourth of July, drew up 
 in battle array in three divisions near the town of 
 Falkirk. Edward commanded the reserves. Scottish 
 army drew up on the opposite rising ground. Amounted 
 to about thirty thousand. Not one-third of that of the 
 English. Divided into four circles. The same as the 
 Saxons at the battle of Stamford Bridge. Intermediate 
 space occupied by the archers. Commanded by Sir 
 John Steward. The Earl of Badenoch commanded the 
 cavalry. The Scottish troops ably addressed by Wallace 
 before the battle. From the place where Edward pitched 
 his camp, he had a splendid view of the surrounding 
 country. Wished his army to rest and take refresh¬ 
 ment before engaging. Opposed by his generals. The 
 Marshal of England and Earl of Hereford led on the 
 first division. Bishop Beck, the second. English 
 horsemen dashed themselves against the Scottish spear¬ 
 men. Several times repulsed. Cornyn, with all the 
 Scottish cavalry, retired from the field without striking 
 a blow. Contemned, even by the English, for so doing. 
 English horsemen charged the Scottish archers. Unable 
 to defend themselves. Killed to a man, with their brave 
 leader. English archers and slingers galled the Scottish 
 circles. Broke them up. Cavalry rushing in slew many 
 of them. Wallace retreated. Turned upon the cavalry 
 in the retreat, and put many of them to the sword. 
 Returned after night to the field of battle. Deeply 
 bewailed many of his former] associates now slain. 
 Especially Sir John De Graham. Buried during the 
 night, and a deadly attack made upon the English army 
 T 
 
200 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 Early on the morning of the twenty-fourth of 
 July, when the fog that had enveloped the whole 
 of the surrounding country had been chased away 
 by the gladsome rays of the morning sun, Edward 
 advanced at the head of his forces to the rising 
 eminence, that had been previously occupied by 
 the more advanced guard of the Scottish army. 
 There he pitched his royal tent, and began to pre¬ 
 pare for immediate action. Mass, prayers, the 
 feast day of the holy Saint, all were forgotten, 
 and fell revenge boiled up in his unforgiving 
 breast. The English army was drawn up in three 
 divisions, and each of them considerably out¬ 
 numbered the \vhole of the Scottish army. The 
 proud De Lacy,Earl of Lincoln,and De Bohun, Earl 
 of Hereford, commanded the first division. The 
 banner of the former was of yellow silk, and that 
 of the latter deep blue, and of the same materials, 
 richly adorned with heraldic devices. The “ fight¬ 
 ing Bishop of Durham,” Anthony Beck, proudly 
 assumed the command of the second division, and 
 was more gorgeously appareled than any other 
 of Edward’s lords on that portentous day ; for he 
 had thirty-nine banners of rich and varied devices 
 that floated in the breeze above the wood of spears, 
 marking out the same number of leaders of dis¬ 
 tinction that clustered around his standard, and 
 shewed that he had spared no expense to make 
 his division the observed of all, on that memorable 
 day. The King commanded the third, and besides 
 the royal standard, there waved, as a matter of 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 291 
 
 course, the banner of St. John of Beverly, for, 
 nolens volens, the ghost of the pious Saint must 
 give his sanction to the work of slaughter, from 
 which his righteous soul, had he been alive, would 
 have at once recoiled. Besides those, there was 
 the standard of St. George, the patriot saint of 
 England, and at some distance from it waved the 
 banners of St. Edmund, the pious prince of East 
 Anglia, murdered by the Danes, and of Edward 
 the Confessor, that poor monkish king, whose 
 whole time had been engrossed with the visions 
 of superstition, to the neglect of his wife and 
 kingdom, and everything else. The Scottish 
 army, amounting to nearly thirty thousand in¬ 
 fantry, was drawn up on the side of a small hill 
 opposite the English; and between them there 
 ran a small brook, and an extensive morass also 
 intervened. It was commanded by Wallace in 
 person, and divided into four circles or scbiltrons. 
 This was the disposition the brave Harold, the 
 last of England’s Saxon monarchs, used so success¬ 
 fully at the battle of Stamford Bridge, when his 
 troops dashed furiously upon the Norwegian horse¬ 
 men and glittering spearmen; and although the 
 royal banner of their country floated over them, 
 they cleft their circle like a wedge, and left their 
 king and the greater proportion of his followers 
 dead on the field. Between the circles the inter¬ 
 mediate space was occupied by the Scottish archers, 
 chiefly from the forests of Ettrick and Selkirk, 
 and commanded by Sir John Stewart of Bonkyll, 
 
292 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 the brother of the high steward of Scotland. 
 Although Steward was opposed to Wallace, and 
 contended along with Comyn for the leadership 
 of the Scottish army, he was altogether a different 
 person from his opponent. Brave and patriotic, 
 he was deadly opposed to Edward, and deeply 
 interested in the liberty of his country, and pre¬ 
 pared to contend unto the death for the main¬ 
 tenance of the same. After the dispositions were 
 made of the infantry, the cavalry under the 
 command of the lord of Badenoch—a thousand 
 strong, and mostly composed of the aristocracy of 
 Scotland—took up their position in the rear of all, 
 and at the foot of the hill. When these arrange¬ 
 ments were made, Wallace, as he was wont, 
 addressed his army in one of those stirring 
 speeches that found its way to the heart of every 
 faithful adherent of the cause in which he was so 
 ardently engaged. “ He reminded his soldiers of 
 the great deeds they had often accomplished, 
 and how when but few and poorly equipped, they 
 had slaughtered and put to flight great hosts of 
 their enemies. And although comparatively small 
 in number at this time, when contrasted with the 
 English that swarmed like grasshoppers on the 
 other side of the valley, yet the God of Battles 
 whom he trusted was on their side, could vanquish 
 by few as well as by many. He reminded them 
 still further of the honor of their country, which 
 had been so often betrayed by a base nobility 
 and trampled under the feet of a tyrant who had 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 293 
 
 used every means to degrade and erase it from the 
 rank of nations—although its brave inhabitants 
 in earlier days had hurled back the legions of 
 Rome, the conquerors of the world, and he trusted 
 they themselves would acquire like honor in 
 driving back the troops of the cruel Plantagenet, 
 who so perseveringly wished to enslave and 
 degrade them. The liberty of their country he 
 assured them hung at this moment doubtfully in 
 the balance. They alone stood to maintain it in 
 whole, whether in life or in death, and now that 
 they had strongly drawn the sword for freedom, 
 “ freemen they would stand, or freemen they would 
 falland then, although with the terrible realities 
 of a bloody conflict before him, and principally 
 for the purpose of throwing new life and energy 
 into his brave soldiers, he assumed a tone of mirth 
 and pleasantry, as he was wont to do, and told 
 them, “ he had brought them to the ring, and it 
 was for them now to dance.” While Edward 
 remained in his royal tent scanning the spot 
 where the Scottish army had taken its position, 
 and the dispositions they had made, he hesitated 
 for some time to begin the attack ; and in the 
 meantime all clouds and vapors had disappeared 
 from the valley of the Carron, and the whole of 
 the surrounding country, and the sun shone forth 
 in all the brightness of a mid-summer morning. 
 No finer prospect in Palestine, or anywhere else 
 ever presented itself to the eye of the English 
 monarch, than now appeared to him from the spot 
 
294 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 where the royal tent was pitched. An area of 
 thirty miles and upwards of a country containing 
 some of the highest mountains, the richest valleys, 
 and one of them watered by the finest river in 
 Scotland, now lay stretched out at his feet. Benlo- 
 mond and Benledi, two of the highest mountains 
 of the rampian chain, had thrown off their 
 thick and watery covering, and were seen shutting 
 in the landscape from afar. The waters of the 
 silvery Forth danced in the streaming beams of 
 the sun, and hastened on in their impetuous 
 course to the ocean, leaving Stirling with its glit¬ 
 tering towers and curling smoke far behind. The 
 flower-enamelled green fields and valleys were 
 everywhere to be seen near at hand, and far off; all, 
 all bespeaking much of the beauty of nature, and 
 plenty flowing from the hand of the God of Peace. 
 But alas! 
 
 “ While everything was pleasing, 
 
 And only man was vile 
 
 and while all nature was smiles, spoke of peace 
 and displayed marvellous beauty which nothing 
 but a Divine hand could shew forth, a large 
 portion of the country was soon to be marred by 
 the hand of one man, whose rapacity and cruelty 
 were boundless, and whose revenge was deep as 
 hell itself. And on this account his thronging 
 legions, who ought to have been industriously 
 employed in their own land in cultivating the 
 soil, and gathering in the crops, were scattered 
 over the country like the locusts of Egypt, marring 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 295 
 
 the works of God, and destroying the peace and 
 industry of a people, whom they might torture to 
 death, and exterminate, but never conquer, for 
 life to them when conquered seemed entirely 
 worthless. 
 
 “ Shall victory exult, or in death he laid low, 
 
 With his back to the field, and his feet to the foe. 
 
 And leaving in battle no blot on his name, 
 
 Look proudly to heaven from the death bed of fame.” 
 
 As it was still early in the morning, and all the 
 dispositions carefully made, Edward thought it 
 would be better to pitch their tents, and allow 
 the men and horses time for rest and refreshment, 
 before beginning the battle. But this proposal 
 was opposed by his officers, who reckoned it unsafe 
 to go to rest in such close proximity to a watchful 
 enemy. “ Then what would you advise ?” asked 
 Edward anxiously. “ An immediate advance,” 
 said they. “ The field and the victory shall be 
 ours.” “ In God’s name then let it be so,” replied 
 the king, and having said this, the proud and 
 arrogant Longshanks sprang into the saddle of his 
 superb Arabian charger, and moved on to the 
 conflict. By this time the marshal of England 
 and Earl of Hereford, who commanded the first 
 division, led their soldiers directly against the 
 enemy; but were ignorant of an extensive moss 
 that stretched in front of the Scottish army, and 
 by reaching it were obstructed in their progress, 
 and compelled to make a circuit further to the 
 West. Meanwhile Beck, the bishop of Durham, 
 
296 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 who seemed to have been better acquainted with 
 the nature of the ground, inclined more towards 
 the East, and came thundering on at the head of 
 his brigade. Beck, though as brave as a bishop 
 could be expected to be, had so much experience 
 of Wallace already, and had seen so many disas¬ 
 ters, the result of precipitancy, requested them to 
 hold back till the reserve under the King had 
 moved forward to succor them. In this proposal, 
 however, he was overruled by a bold baron who 
 fought under him, Ralph Basset of Drayton, who 
 boldly told him that “ he had better stick to his 
 mass, and not to teach the nobles of England what 
 they ought to do in the face of an enemy.” Beck, 
 being check-mated, concealed his resentment, and 
 allowed the forces to take their own way, “ for,” 
 says he, “ we are all soldiers here to-day, and each 
 is expected to do his duty.” So saying, they were 
 immediately engaged with the first column of the 
 Scots, whilst the division of the English which 
 had extricated itself from the morass, commenced 
 its attack upon the flank of the enemy. Thou¬ 
 sands of horsemen at full gallop forthwith dashed 
 themselves against the impenetrable circles, but 
 the wood of spears quietly received them. The 
 ground trembled at the fearful onset, and the 
 dreadful shout and shriek that arose when the 
 antagonists met, and the English cavalry rushed 
 with impetuosity against the long lances that 
 were extended to receive them, were heard from a 
 great distance, amid the mild calm of a beautiful 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 297 
 
 summer morning. At the first clash of spears, the 
 traitorous Comjn, with his whole body of horse, 
 amounting to a thousand strong, turned bridle and 
 rode off the field. He did so without a blow 
 “given or taken,” to use the forcible language of 
 an English historian, who happened to be on the 
 field of battle ; and the baseness of his desertion 
 seemed to have excited the indignation of the 
 Engl’sh themselves, who branded him, and all 
 who followed him as false cowards, to fly at the 
 first sight of an English force. But the desertion 
 of Comyn and all his followers was not a thing 
 that much surprised Wallace, who was well 
 acquainted with the pride, selfishness and cow¬ 
 ardice of the man, who had always been prepared 
 to sacrifice the good of his country and every¬ 
 thing else for his own private purposes. He 
 therefore looked away from all assistance in this 
 direction, and encouraged his porcupine circles by 
 reminding them that the honor and liberty of 
 their country depended alone upon themselves. 
 And they knew their duty and performed it right 
 nobly on that bloody day; for they stood up as 
 strong as a castle walled with stone, with their 
 spears, point over point, so thick and so close 
 together that it was fearful to behold, and the 
 array seemed so impenetrable, that it was com¬ 
 monly said, “ no living man could pierce through 
 them, though you mustered the bravest in Eng¬ 
 land from Berwick to Kent.” While the battle 
 raged and the carnage became frightful, seven 
 
298 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 thousand English horsemen charged the archers 
 from “ Ettrick Forest,” only consisting at first of 
 a thousand footmen, and who occupied the spaces 
 betwixt the schiltrons. They were men of noble 
 stature, and of beautiful symmetry, and designated 
 by the historians of both countries as the flower 
 of the Scottish army. But the cavalry that were 
 to protect them had fled, and it was impossible 
 that so few, with their armor so light, and their 
 situation so exposed, could repel thousands of 
 horsemen, composed of the finest troops of Chris¬ 
 tendom. But, like Leonidas, and his three hundred 
 Spartans at Thermopylae, each archer fought as if 
 he were a divinity, aud each one courted death 
 as if it were a boon. The mailed horsemen, and 
 steel-clad knights rushed upon them with all the 
 fury of a tempest, but it mattered nothing to 
 them ; for they had made up their mind never to 
 flee, and defended their bodies with such deter¬ 
 mined heroism with their short daggers, as to 
 extort the wonder and admiration of their very 
 enemies. The brave foresters lost their leader 
 near the commencement of the engagement, but 
 still they resolved to fight it out, or die on the 
 ensanguined field. They nobly carried out their 
 purpose, and perished to a man at their post, with 
 the brave Sir John Steward their commander, and 
 twenty knights besides, without one ever shewing 
 the least inclination to turn his back; and when 
 Edward, and his officers rode over the battle field 
 at the close of the contest, they were all struck 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 299 
 
 with the tallness and beauty of the brave men of 
 Ettrick, who, in their lives and in their death? 
 had redeemed their country from the sad disgrace 
 that had been put upon it, by the coAvardice the 
 nobles had in this, as on former occasions, so 
 meanly dislayed. 
 
 “ But strew their ashes to the wind, 
 
 Whose sword or voice have saved mankind— 
 
 And are they dead whose glorious name 
 Lifts them on high ? 
 
 To live in hearts we leave behind, 
 
 Is not to die.” 
 
 The Scottish circles still remained unbroken, 
 but all external aid had now disappeared, and the 
 whole force of the English troops were now 
 directed against them. Edward himself had 
 moved forward at the head of the reserves, with 
 the royal standard, and also the standard of liis 
 father floating before him. It was a glorious 
 emblem of war, never displayed but during a fight; 
 formed of red satin bearing a dragon embroidered 
 in gold streaming on the right of the others, 
 and indicated destruction to the enemy, and safety 
 to the weary and wounded among the conquerors. 
 In the reserve, were the English archers, each of 
 whom was said to have carried a dozen of Scots in 
 his girdle; and such as had frightened Lewellyn 
 and his brave Welsh followers amid the moun¬ 
 tainous retreats of Snowdon into submission, and 
 filled the glittering phalanxes of Saracens in the 
 Holy Land with terror and dismay. These 
 

 300 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 columns of archers advanced close to the enemy, 
 and discharged their shafts in perfect security ; for 
 the cowardly cavalry that should have scattered 
 them had already skulked away, and the noble 
 archers of Ettrick that would have met them on 
 equal footing, lay bleeding on the field. Their 
 attack was again and again repeated, and still with 
 more deadly effect, for the English arrows thick 
 and fast fell among the circles, doing great execu¬ 
 tion in every direction. In addition to this a 
 large number of slingers were likewise brought 
 into the field, who showered (by their war-wolfs) 
 large bodies of stones upon them, covering the 
 whole ground, and killing great multitudes of 
 those who were prevented from moving an inch, 
 from the place assigned them. Against such wea¬ 
 pons of attack the Scots had no defence, for their 
 light armor was ill fitted to resist the strength 
 of the English bowmen, who, standing at such 
 a distance as to be beyond the reach of their 
 spears, sent their cloth-yard arrows with all their 
 might into the hearts of thousands of their foes, 
 killing them dead on the spot—without any resist¬ 
 ance offered. It was now that the treachery of 
 Comyn, and the nobles who had fled off the field 
 with the cavalry, began to be felt, and filled the 
 heart of the Scottish leader, with anguish and 
 indignation. Five hundred light cavalry, a few 
 years afterwards at Bannockburn, broke and 
 routed a more numerous body of English archers; 
 and if so, what a grand opportunity presented 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 301 
 
 itself for a thousand heavy armed cavalry at Fal¬ 
 kirk to perform a like feat, and immortalize them¬ 
 selves in the annals of their country ! But, unfor¬ 
 tunately, such was not to be ! and therefore the 
 fatal phalanxes of English bowmen dared, after 
 every successive charge, to approach nearer and 
 nearer the doomed ones, and quickly reached the 
 living walls! Soon the first, or outer, rank was 
 struck down and slain by this continued and gall¬ 
 ing attack. The second moved forward with the 
 utmost devotion to fill their place, but suffered the 
 same fate, till, at last, the heavy armed horse, pour¬ 
 ing through the terrible gaps that were made,threw 
 all into confusion, and carried terror and indiscri¬ 
 minate slaughter along with them wherever they 
 went. Many of Scotland’s noblest heroes were 
 struck down, while marshalling their troops 
 against the deadly attacks made upon them at this 
 trying hour, and who, on this account, remained 
 long firm as a rock, in spite of all odds. Among them 
 was McDuff, along with many of his vassals from 
 Fife, and Sir John De Graham, one of Wallace’s 
 most trusty friends and beloved companions. The 
 quick and experienced eye of Wallace having seen 
 his circles broken, and disorder and death carried 
 into their very centre by means of the English 
 horse, knew that the battle was lost, and nothing 
 but a well effected retreat could save the remain¬ 
 der of his brave troops from utter destruction. 
 But he retreated in such a manner as sorely to 
 diappoint Edward, Bishop Beck and all concerned, 
 
302 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE 
 
 and to protect and keep together liis bleeding 
 schiltrons from the repeated charges both of the 
 archers and cavalry that pressed sore on their rear. 
 In doing so he performed one of his own peculiar 
 manoeuvres, with which his soldiers were well 
 acquainted. This was to wheel into line, and with 
 their levelled lances face the English archers 
 when in full pursuit. When they did this, the 
 enemy forthwith recoiled and fell back; for they 
 were no match for their northern antagonists in 
 a hand to hand encounter. They therefore felt 
 the worse of it, for more of them were killed 
 while pursuing their enemies, than fell on the 
 field of battle. No sooner was this movement 
 executed adroitly, than Wallace again presented 
 himself at the head of the foremost line in order 
 that his orders might be heard and carried out 
 with the utmost alacrity, as well as to furnish an 
 example of bravery and skill. He called again 
 to his men to form themselves into circles to 
 receive Edward’s cavalry, who were already dash¬ 
 ing on, as he expected they would do, to break 
 up and destroy his lines, and carry confusion with 
 them in every direction. The cavalry charge in 
 this way was fully anticipated—the impene¬ 
 trable schiltrons were reformed, and the gallop¬ 
 ing squadrons of horsemen thrown back and 
 broken by troops that were already beaten off the 
 field, and as it was supposed all but annihilated. 
 By such a skilful retreat, in which the prompt 
 sagacity and military genius of the heroic Wallace 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIA M WALLACE. 
 
 303 
 
 were as strikingly displayed as they had ever been 
 on any previous occasion, sometimes throwing his 
 infantry into circles, and anon into extended liues ? 
 he outwitted the warlike Edward, and slew more 
 of the English, than when contending with them 
 on the battle field. When his feeble army had 
 reached the borders of Callendar woods, Wallace 
 began to think he would soon be once more safe in 
 their shady retreats, and accordingly ordered a 
 deadly charge on the flower of Edward’s cavalry. 
 The Scots were now the assailants, and not the 
 assailed. Drove back the horsemen heavily armed 
 to the teeth, and smote the very front ranks of 
 immense hosts of the enemy that had been pur¬ 
 suing them. They killed many of them, and 
 among the number was Sir Brian De Jay, a natu¬ 
 ral brother of the King, upon whom Wallace turned 
 when anxious in the pursuit of the Scotch, and 
 felled him to the ground with his own hand. 
 The English forces did not dare to enter the wood 
 in pursuit of them, but speedily retreated to the 
 encampment in Linlithgow Moor, to rest after the 
 sore toil and excitement of this eventful and 
 bloody day, and to reap with disappointment the 
 fruit of a bootless victory. The English historians 
 give us the most exaggerated accounts of the 
 numbers slain among the Scotch army, reckoning 
 them as high as fifty thousand, while three hun¬ 
 dred thousand foot were taken prisoners ! This 
 shows us how difficult it is to arrive at any correct 
 conclusion on the subject, when the whole Scotch 
 
304 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 army only amounted to thirty thousand. But 
 after making full allowance for all exaggerations, 
 and finding that the English army were afraid to 
 pursue them, as they repulsed them in their last 
 attack before entering into the woods, it would 
 be giving a large amount of killed, if we were to 
 allow that it amounted to ten thousand. Even 
 this last number is conjectural, as no Scottish his¬ 
 torian near the time mentioned the number. The 
 loss of the English was much smaller, although 
 several of their greatest barons were included in 
 the number slain. After Wallace’s troops were 
 fairly within the shelter of the primeval forest, 
 that stretched far away into the distance, he halted 
 his weary troops, and made arrangements for 
 giving the English a warm reception, provided 
 they should have the hardihood to follow them. 
 But Edward was too experienced a warrior to 
 endeavor to do so; for his troops had suffered 
 too severely already in the pursuit to allow them 
 to enter after a flying foe into the intricacies of a 
 dense forest, where they might turn with deadly 
 effect upon them, and sorely diminish their num¬ 
 bers. After Wallace found that there was no 
 danger to be apprehended from this quarter, his 
 thoughts soon reverted to the bloody field of 
 battle, and to many faithful associates that were 
 lying there unconscious of the terrible grief that 
 lacerated his bosom. And he resolved at whatever 
 cost to visit it, for deep was his love for such, and 
 unvarying and changeless his fidelity; and as the 
 
LIFE OF SIR. WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 305 
 
 ties that strengthened and bound them more 
 closely together had often before this been ce¬ 
 mented with blood on the field of strife amid the 
 roar and carnage of battle, he thought it would be 
 doing his duty to visit them for the last time in 
 their gory beds, and bear himself towards them as 
 a brother. The brave Stewart was found lying 
 there, surrounded by his bold archers, who re¬ 
 solved to die to a man beside their heroic chief 
 rather than flee ; as their descendants did at bloody 
 Flodden, when they formed a ring round their 
 much loved king, and utterly perished! The 
 powerful McDuff was likewise lying cold and stiff, 
 with many of his devoted retainers near his body, 
 who loved him as a master, and followed him into 
 the field of battle as a chief, sworn to fight for 
 and defend him, which they faithfully did! The 
 appearance of such patriotic men, and worthy 
 chiefs, found dead, sacrificed for the good of their 
 country, could not help but awake feelings of the 
 deepest emotion in the breast of Wallace, when he 
 thought of the cowardly conduct of the rest of the 
 nobles, who had largely occasioned this sad disas¬ 
 ter. But the loss of his brave friend, Sir John 
 De Graham, was more grievous to him than all 
 others ! And as he hastened to the battle field 
 during the dead of night, accompanied by his pious 
 confessor, Father Blair, the brave Roger Kirkpat¬ 
 rick and others, he rode devoutly and silently 
 over the field of strife, as if unwilling to disturb 
 the repose of those whom a tyrant’s rod could no 
 
30b- 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 longer discompose, without uttering a word to mar 
 the deep solemnity of the scene. He was anxious 
 above all other things to descry the body of 
 Graham, and in this he was powerfully assisted in 
 his search by the silvery rays of the moon, that 
 shed her feeble light over the ensanguined field. 
 At last he discovered the body of his beloved 
 friend, by his brilliant armor with which he lay 
 covered, and that gleamed in the nightly rays of 
 the luminary that hung suspended in the heavens 
 as a lamp over their heads. When he found 
 it he instantly leaped from his charger—un¬ 
 covered liis head and was “ bathed in a flood of 
 tears.” He looked long and piteously on the pale 
 face, as if expecting to be recognized—but to no 
 purpose ! He then carefully composed as best he 
 could the disordered condition of his beloved 
 fellow soldier—raised up the cold body in his 
 arms, kissed it a thousand times, exclaiming, “ alas! 
 oh alas! my best brother—my true friend when I 
 was hardest tested.” Having again laid down all 
 that remained of the gallant Graham on the cold 
 ground, his weeping attendants took up the same— 
 for there was not a dry eye to witness the sight— 
 and bore him away, whose good fight was fought, 
 and whose battles were all done. To the church¬ 
 yard of Falkirk they silently and devoutly carried 
 him, and there “ they buried him darkly at the 
 dead of night, by the struggling light of the 
 moon.” In the same place, the dust still rests of 
 the hero and accomplished warrior, whose rare and 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 307 
 
 shining virtues every one who knew him acknow¬ 
 ledged ; and an ancient stone erected soon after 
 the engagement still marks the spot where the 
 good Graham of “ truth and liardiment ” found 
 his long home. 
 
 “ Slowly and sadly they laid him down, 
 
 From the field of his fame, fresh and gory; 
 
 They carved not a line, they raised not a stone, 
 
 But they left him alone in his glory.” 
 
 Wallace, in the midst of his woeful distress, 
 when depositing in the grave the remains of his 
 departed friend, is said to have vowed terrible 
 revenge on the English, whatever it might cost 
 him, on account of his death, as well as that of 
 many others of his brave followers. He accord¬ 
 ingly rejoined the army in the wood, and having 
 called a number of the leaders that were spared, 
 together, it was forthwith decided to attack the 
 English camp at dead of night, when the troops 
 would be sunk in slumber, after their previous 
 fatigues ; and when they imagined the Scots would 
 be far away, seeking safety in flight after the 
 defeat they had sustained. Onward they pro¬ 
 ceeded amid the stillness of the night to Linlith¬ 
 gow Moor, rushed suddenly into the camp with 
 Wallace at their head, and carried confusion and 
 slaughter along with them to the very neighbor¬ 
 hood of the royal tent, where the King was sunk 
 in the deepest repose. It was Wallace’s aim to 
 reach his person, at whatever hazard, and rid the 
 world for ever of such a tyrant. But before this was 
 
308 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 done, their drowsy foes began to awake, and finding 
 the Scots upon them fled with the utmost haste to 
 their arms, and prepared for self-defence. Before 
 doing so, however, their mysterious assailants had 
 fled without losing a man, but leaving a vast 
 number of the English dead behind, and much 
 terror in the camp besides. Edward now began 
 to see what litle advantage he was to reap from 
 the battle of Falkirk ; and although he commenced 
 an immediate pursuit of his nimble enemies, he 
 found they had completely surprised his camp in 
 spite of all his military abilities, and eluded his 
 grasp. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 After the the battle Edward pursued the Scots to Stirling. 
 Eound it burned down and the Scots escaped. Stayed a 
 fortnight in the Dominican Convent that had been 
 spared. Healed of the wound inflicted on him before 
 the battle. Divided his army into foraging parties. 
 One party sent into Clackmannanshire, and another pro¬ 
 ceeded eastward as far as St. Andrew’s. Found the 
 towns and villages everywhere deserted, and the ancient 
 city itself a heap of ruins. Found it impossible to ad¬ 
 vance further North. Proceeded in the direction of 
 Perth. Also reduced to ashes. The army nearly cut to 
 pieces by a stratagem of Wallace. Bridge over the Tay 
 cut down, and a division of the army destroyed. Find¬ 
 ing few provisions in Perth the army forced to retreat 
 back to Stirling. Here the prospects of the English 
 more dark than ever, owing to the destitution of provi¬ 
 sions and the discontent of the army. Resolved to pro¬ 
 ceed westward. Anxious to occupy Ayr Castle, the seat 
 of Bruce, who had remained neutral for some time. 
 Edward resolved to punish him for his vacillating con¬ 
 duct. The castle burnt down, and Bruce fled to Gallo¬ 
 way. Edward vainly followed him and desolated the 
 country. Found it desolate and compelled to retreat to 
 Carlisle. The nobles dissatisfied, and several of them 
 left with their vassals. Made them grants of lands in a 
 country not yet conquered. Proceeded to Durham and 
 met his young queen. Great festivities. Broken up by 
 the news of a Scotch insurrection. King marched to 
 crush it. The Scots nowhere seen. Edward proceeded 
 southward and was joyfully received in London. Wallace 
 resigned the regency of Scotland. 
 
310 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE.. 
 
 After the nightly attack upon the English camp 
 the rage of Edward knew no hounds, and he made 
 all necessary arrangements to pursue the enemy ; 
 with the alacrity and perseverance for which he 
 was so remarkable. He forthwith led his army 
 to Stirling, for the purpose of securing the pro¬ 
 tection of the formidable castle there, as well as 
 for obtaining supplies for the troops, who began 
 to be in great want. But witness his disappoint¬ 
 ment, when approaching near Stirling, although 
 only four days after the battle of Falkirk, he 
 found the place a heap of ruins! scarcely a build¬ 
 ing was left unconsumed, and the fortress itself 
 was greatly damaged by the hands of Wallace’s 
 fugitive forces. Not only so, but everything 
 throughout the neighboring country had been de¬ 
 stroyed by the inhabitants themselves, rather 
 than it should fall into the hands of the English - 
 for they chose rather to become houseless and flee 
 to the rocks and mountains around them for pro¬ 
 tection, than submit to the iron-handed rule of 
 one who had so long been the curse of their be¬ 
 loved country. Happily for Edward, when he 
 arrived in Stirling, he found the Dominican Con¬ 
 vent had been spared from the general confla¬ 
 gration, and here he took up his residence. It was 
 a spacious stone building, erected through the 
 piety of the inhabitants for religious purposes, 
 and never intended as a receptacle for the man 
 and his troops, who had embrued his hands in the 
 blood of thousands of their countrymen.. But he 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 311 
 
 forcibly took possession of it, driving out its pious 
 inmates who were humble worshippers of the God 
 who loves peace, and who threatens to scatter 
 those that delight in Avar. It was well for Edward 
 to get Avithin the halloAvecl precincts of this build¬ 
 ing, for iioav the wound he received from his horse 
 on the night previous to the battle of Falkirk 
 gave him much pain. Here he stayed for a fort¬ 
 night in quietude and retirement, and through the 
 skilful treatment of his physician Avas by that 
 time able again to take the field at the head of 
 his army. In the meantime it had been divided 
 into different parties, and a large division of it 
 had been sent across the Firth into Clackmannan 
 and Fife shires, for the purpose of ravaging the 
 country, plundering the villages, and punishing 
 the natives for the large share they had taken in 
 the battle of Falkirk, along with their brave and 
 unfortunate chief. Another division proceeded 
 eastAvard as far as the city of St. Andrew’s, Avdiich 
 even at this early period in the history of Scot¬ 
 land Avas a place of considerable importance. For 
 centuries afterAvards it maintained the pre-emin¬ 
 ence in commerce and learning it had early ac¬ 
 quired, and in the latter capacity, it still occupies 
 an enviable position. When the English forces 
 reached the place, they found it, like Stirling, a 
 heap of ruins. In this respect its inhabitants, as 
 well as those of the toAvns and villages every - 
 Avliere throughout the country, acting upon the 
 Avise instructions of Wallace, burnt down their 
 
312 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 houses, removed their goods, cattle and provisions 
 beyond the reach of the enemy ; and having done 
 so Wallace and others of them narrowly watched 
 their movements, broke into their camp when 
 they least expected it, prevented supplies from 
 reaching them, and cut them off. In these cir¬ 
 cumstances Edward began to see the folly of 
 advancing northward into a country where 
 everything was burnt up and wasted ; and where 
 a watchful enemy was ever near at hand for the 
 purpose of destroying his foraging parties. He 
 next proceeded towards the fair city of Perth, 
 where he expected for some time to rest with his 
 toil-worn troops, after so many days and nights of 
 anxiety and of suffering. It might have been 
 fairly presumed he would be allowed to do so, and 
 that its strong fortifications would have protected 
 his army from any sudden attack from without; 
 while the rich and beautiful country all 
 around it, blooming in the freshness of mid¬ 
 summer, would have been more than sufficient 
 to supply his army for many weeks to come with 
 every kind of provisions. But even here he was 
 once more disappointed! for, on approaching near 
 the city he found it reduced to ashes, the country 
 wasted, and the inhabitants had all disappeared. 
 Nor was this all; but while the English forces 
 were here, they were not only well nigh con¬ 
 sumed by famine, but cut to pieces by a bold strat¬ 
 agem of Wallace their unwearied and restless 
 enemy. Watching, when a large division of the 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE, 
 
 313 
 
 army bad left the city for foraging purposes, and 
 crossed the wooden bridge over the Tay, he 
 adopted the same plan, in which he had so com¬ 
 pletely succeeded, in annihilating Surrey’s army 
 at Stirling. He hastened with a number of his 
 faithful followers that had been concealed in the 
 neighborhood, watched the movements of the divi' 
 sion, and, approaching the bridge before they 
 found themselves in circumstances to return from 
 the country, he cut it down and destroyed the 
 most of the force—while their friends could only 
 look on from the other side, without being able to 
 afford any assistance. Edward could stay no 
 longer in Perth, where he was so subject to a night 
 attack, and where no provisions could be obtained 
 for his army. And yet to proceed northward was 
 impossible, for the country in many places was 
 rendered dreary and desolate by the hands of the 
 people themselves; and small parties of them 
 would ever be on their track, determined at any 
 moment to fall upon their rear and cut them to 
 pieces. He, therefore, wisely came to the resolu¬ 
 tion of collecting his forces together, however great 
 his disappointment and that of his army, whose 
 visions respecting plunder and rich supplies of 
 provisions had been sadly marred ; and, moving 
 on through the forests of Crieff and Ardocli, he 
 proceeded in the direction of Stirling. In doing 
 so he passed over the battle ground of the ancient 
 Bomans, and of the Caledonians, and his position 
 was nearly similar to that of the former, upwards 
 
314 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 of a thousand years before this period. Agricola, 
 with his famous legions, had defeated the hold 
 inhabitants of the North in a great pitched battle 5 
 and so had the English monarch, by means of his 
 celebrated cavalry. But, in either case, the 
 natives of the county scarcely appeared to feel 
 that they were beaten, but retired before their 
 victors only with the view of rushing upon their 
 rear guard or straggling parties with more deadly 
 aim ; so that both had the fruits of their victories 
 wrested from them at the moment they expected 
 to reap great gain, and were ultimately compelled 
 to retire from a country, after they considered it 
 all but completely subdued. Edward, with great 
 mortification, arrived at Stirling with an army 
 famished, discontented and greatly diminished in 
 numbers. Here his prospects, if possible, were 
 darker than before, for a strong spirit of dissatis¬ 
 faction began to evince itself among the troops in 
 a way that could not be mistaken. And if his 
 fleet did not arrive in a few days, he would be 
 compelled to retreat without any further delay 
 from a country he considered subdued, or allow 
 his army to become a prey to famine and disease. 
 Crushed with gloomy thoughts he left Stirling, 
 after strengthening its garrison and promising to 
 send it additional supplies, which, alas ! never 
 reached it. From thence he proceeded to the 
 neigliboi'hood of Queensferry, vainly expecting 
 the arrival of his fleet with supplies, but in this 
 again he was disappointed. He therefore ordered 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 315 
 
 a retreat to the West, with all convenient speed, 
 and passing Glasgow, he proceeded through 
 Clydesdale to Ayr, to take possession of the strong 
 castle there, that had been for some time in the 
 hands of the younger Bruce. This powerful baron 
 had remained neutral for some time, neither join¬ 
 ing the party of the patriots, nor that of Edward; 
 but waiting in the midst of his vassals, at a dis¬ 
 tance from the scene of strife, to see to what side 
 victory would incline. How different throughout 
 was his conduct,from that of Wallace at this trying 
 crisis in his country’s history ! Edward was not a 
 man to tolerate such vacillating conduct, and re¬ 
 solved to punish Bruce for his apparent lukewarm¬ 
 ness in respect to his interests in English affairs. He 
 therefore marched into the territory of the Chief, 
 but Bruce was too sagacious to meet the King 
 face to face whose suspicions he had often excited ; 
 and therefore, setting fire to the Castle of Ayr, 
 he betook himself to the wilds of Galloway, where 
 he would be amongst his own vassals, and allowed 
 the King to pursue him thither if he dared. The 
 chagrin and disappointment of Edward were 
 great when arriving near the strongest fortifica¬ 
 tion in the west of Scotland, he found it reduced 
 to ashes, and the bare walls only remaining to 
 receive him. In his wrath lie foolishly under¬ 
 took to follow the recalcitrant chief, with the 
 whole body of his army, into the wild region to 
 which he had retreated, in order to apprehend 
 and punish him for his defection. But the task 
 
316 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 was found to be a hopeless one; for after fifteen 
 days were spent in laying waste the country, his 
 army was reduced to a state of starvation, and 
 Bruce laughed at his attempts either to surprise or 
 take him. Moody and disappointed, Longshanks 
 was once more outwitted, and glad to retrace his 
 steps to Carlisle to avoid insurrection and the 
 starvation of his whole army. He had already lost 
 more of his men by disaster and famine than the 
 Scots had lost at the battle of Falkirk. Booty he 
 had acquired little, for although he had ravaged 
 the different counties through which he had 
 passed, the inhabitants were ahead of him, and 
 removed from beyond his reach everything that 
 was fit to be carried away. Moreover, they became 
 more resolute than ever in defending their liber¬ 
 ties, and ignoring the authority of a man, who 
 had in every way endeavored to rob them of 
 their freedom. He might, as on former occasions, 
 enter their country without any ceremony. He 
 might sanction the burning of their dwellings, 
 the ravishing of their women, and the murder 
 of their innocent children ; but they were as firmly 
 resolved as ever to oppose him, for he might 
 annihilate, but could never vanquish them. The 
 fact that they had just now wasted the country 
 with their own hands, in order to compel Edward 
 to retreat even after he had achieved a great vic¬ 
 tory over them—that they had fled from their 
 towns, villages, and rural homes, consuming them 
 with fire rather than that he should find any 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 317 
 
 shelter or support in the midst of them—was proof 
 positive how firm was their resolve, to maintain 
 and transmit to their descendants what had cost 
 them and their fathers so much. 
 
 “ For body killing tyrants cannot kill 
 The public soul—the hereditary will 
 That downward as from sire to son it goes; 
 
 By shifting bosoms, more intensely glows; 
 
 Its heir-loom is the heart, and slaughtered men, 
 
 Fight fiercer in their orphans o’er again.” 
 
 By the time Edward had reached Carlisle with 
 his army, all were disgusted and worn out by 
 their labor in the north. The vigor that animated 
 the troops when they first entered Scotland was 
 now gone, and the bright prospects presented 
 before them there had all proven delusive. Their 
 cohesive power was entirely broken up, and some 
 of the barons with all their vassals returned home. 
 They excused themselves for doing so from the 
 fact that their men and horses, from a long term 
 of service, were entirely worn out; but their 
 principal reason for so doing was owing to the 
 extraordinary conduct of Edward himself when 
 at Lockmaben : for, without consulting any of his 
 nobles, he had granted the Isle of Arran to a 
 Scotch renegade of the name of Bisset, and the 
 rest of the estates of the lord high steward of 
 Scotland. 
 
 This was contrary to a solemn compact he had 
 formed with the nobles before they had under¬ 
 taken the expedition into Scotland; as they were 
 
318 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 solemnly promised the estates of the northern 
 barons who had sided with Wallace, in case of the 
 English proving victorious. They were incensed 
 beyond measure, therefore, when the King had the 
 meanness to ignore his former promises, and in 
 order to show contempt for his person, and despise 
 his authority, the Earls of Hereford and Norfolk, 
 besides others of lesser note, withdrew from the 
 camp and returned to their own homes. The 
 King was annoyed and perplexed at the awkward 
 position in which he had placed himself, but at¬ 
 tempted to cover over his duplicity and arbitrary 
 doings, by calling a meeting of Parliament at Car¬ 
 lisle, where, with a large amount of apparent 
 liberality, he rewarded the past services of many 
 of his barons and chief officers in the war with 
 estates, which he pretended were forfeited in the 
 rebellion. This, however, was a mere stroke of 
 policy on the part of the English sovereign, to 
 allay discontent, and calm down the angry feelings 
 that were ever apt to manifest themselves against 
 the actions of this shameful truce-breaker. At the 
 moment he made those large promises he knew he 
 did not possess a foot of land in Scotland; and 
 Hemingford, the English historian, has well ob¬ 
 served—with a considerable degree of waggery, 
 however—that the large districts assigned by the 
 King to his English nobles at the time, “ were 
 grants in hope, not in possession.” Besides all 
 these things there were other complaints that the 
 barons at this time had to prefer against their 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 319 
 
 King. Although he had shortly before this 
 solemnly pledged himself, in case of obtaining a 
 victory over the Scots, to ratify the “ Great Char¬ 
 ter,” as well as the “ Charter of the Forests,” em¬ 
 powering every baron to hunt on his own estates 
 without let or hindrance, he now hesitated to do 
 so ; for the truth is if Edward had not been a 
 successful warrior, as well as an astute politician, 
 liis insincerity, deceit and constant evasions would 
 have made his name contemptible among English 
 sovereigns, and brought him, like his son and 
 others of his successors, to an untimely end. The 
 meeting of the Parliament held at Carlisle was 
 closed by the King in person, not with a great 
 amount of satisfaction ; for the grievous complaints 
 of the nobles who had suffered such heavy losses 
 in the late unprofitable war in Scotland, could 
 hardly be expected to be removed with a few 
 empty promises. After this meeting Edward pro¬ 
 ceeded to Durham, with the remains of his army, 
 and took up his residence within the walls of the 
 magnificent palace of Bishop Beck, who had safely 
 returned from his northern campaign. The 
 bishopric of Durham was then, as well as for many 
 centuries afterwards, little else than a petty king¬ 
 dom, and its bishops owed a mere nominal sub¬ 
 jection to the kings of England. They held court; 
 they coined money; they raised troops on their 
 own charges from the vast revenues derivable 
 from the church lands attached to their See. And 
 this was the reason why Beck, at the battle of 
 
320 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 Falkirk outstripped all the rest of the nobility, in 
 the richness of his equipage, and the number of 
 barons that followed his standard. Never had 
 the fine old city of Durham, witnessed such a rich 
 display of royal magnificence, priestly pomp, or 
 aristocratic profusion, as were now seen within 
 its venerable walls. Edward had been but recently 
 married to his second wife, who met him here on 
 his return from Scotland, and nothing was spared 
 to make the meeting grand and imposing. During 
 the whole period of the other Plantagenets who 
 had preceded him, the English court had never 
 been so gay, nor did noblemen and ladies fair, and 
 even dignitaries of the church, vie so much with 
 one another in the exhibition of wealth, beauty and 
 costly magnificence. In the absence of the King, 
 who was still smarting from the wound he received 
 from his horse weeks before, Anthony Beck did 
 the honors of the court. He continued to conduct 
 Edward’s youthful and lovely queen into the ban¬ 
 queting hall, whose beauty and fascinating man¬ 
 ners gained the hearts of all, and presided at 
 feasts and entertainments that so quickly suc¬ 
 ceeded each other ; that the nobles in the midst of 
 them began to forget their troubles in Scotland, 
 and the many broken pledges of the King. But 
 the revelries, sham-fights, and musical entertain¬ 
 ments were soon broken up by the extraordinary 
 tidings that the Scots were once more in arms! 
 And the nobles began to see that their titles, to 
 the estates of their neighbors north of the Tweed, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 321 
 
 were in truth “ grants in hope,” and likely to be 
 long deferred, for the war with this stubborn race 
 was as likely to be interminable, as the ambition 
 of their monarch appeared to be unbounded. True 
 to his warlike instincts, Edward soon forgot the 
 pleasures of the court for the tented held, and was 
 soon in readiness again to march into a country 
 where his troops would be sure to meet with a 
 heroic enemy, and many of them doubtless with 
 an early grave. A great many of the barons and 
 their vassals that went through the former cam¬ 
 paign had returned home, brooded over the boot¬ 
 less victory they had obtained at Falkirk, and the 
 trouble and privations they had undergone, and 
 were not likely to be readily induced again to take 
 up arms against an enemy, that appeared so reso¬ 
 lute even after defeat. With the troops at his 
 disposal,Edward soon crossed the borders, and with 
 all his former ardor and determination, proceeded 
 towards Tynemouth, and from thence to Colding- 
 ham. But the enemy was nowhere to be seen, 
 and only wanted to draw him farther north at 
 this late season of the year, and cut his troops to 
 pieces. Edward’s army, few in number compared 
 with what it formerly was, could not be induced 
 to follow the Scots into the inhospitable regions 
 of the north, where they had endured so many 
 privations on former occasions. Neither was 
 Edward himself disposed to do so in the face of 
 such insuperable difficulties, however greatly mor¬ 
 tified he was, and anxious to punish his daring 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 foes. Deeming prudence on this occasion, there¬ 
 fore, the better part of valor, he returned home¬ 
 ward, boiling with rage and vowing soon to be 
 avenged on his intractable opponents. He, there¬ 
 fore, issued “ writs ” for the assembling of an 
 army at Carlisle, on the eve of the day of the 
 feast of Pentecost; and while he gave strict orders 
 to the clergy of the diocese of York, to be punctual 
 in the payment of the grant of money offered to 
 assist in the subjugation of their neighbors, he 
 sent writs to the barons to meet him at the same 
 place on the day appointed, with all their feudal 
 strength, to enable him at an early day to march 
 into Scotland, and put down once more the foes 
 that were again causing him so much trouble. 
 Having made all such arrangements, he turned 
 his face southward in the direction of his splendid 
 capital, terribly mortified at the, turn his affairs 
 had taken ; but resolved never to desist from his 
 purpose till the country north of the Tweed “ was 
 not only his in hope but his in reality.” 
 
 “ Still are the Scots determined to oppose, 
 
 And treat intruding Edward’s friends as foes, 
 
 Till the revengeful king in proud array, 
 
 Swears to make Scotland bend beneath his sway.” 
 
 The King’s march to London must have cheered 
 up his moody spirit, for it resembled a triumphal 
 procession along the whole road. Multitudes of 
 his subjects in their gayest attire greeted 
 him everywhere, and bands of minstrels turn- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 323 
 
 ed out of the various towns along the way, 
 to discourse stirring music, to glorify the 
 man who was returning from the slaughter of 
 his Northern neighbors; who were guilty of the 
 unpardonable crime of opposing a tyrant, who 
 dared to deprive them of their dearest rights. 
 On approaching London the citizens greeted their 
 Sovereign; forgetting all the disasters connected 
 with his late Northern campaign. And not only 
 so, but they decreed him a triumphal procession, 
 and the different corporations vied with each 
 other in the richness of the display they made on 
 the occasion. A Pompey, or a Cmsar, during the 
 days of Rome’s brightest glory,—when returning 
 from the conquest of the East or West,—would not 
 have been ashamed of such a display. London 
 felt honored in the presence of its Sovereign ; for 
 although he was now considerably advanced in 
 life, he had spent little of his time hitherto in 
 it, notwithstanding it was considered the richest 
 city in Europe at the time. His restless, warlike, 
 and ambitious spirit induced him to seek glory 
 abroad, and from the time he had drawn the 
 sword, when apparently young, against the Sara¬ 
 cens, till now, it had rested little. The Welsh, 
 French, and now the Scots, were the nations with 
 whom he sought a quarrel, and to crush the one 
 after the other appeared to be the great object of 
 his life; but he only succeeded in subduing the 
 first. In regard to Wallace, although he had 
 been able after the battle of Falkirk to achieve a 
 
324 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 safe retreat for liis army—to burn down the towns 
 and villages ahead of the English, and prevent 
 them from pursuing him and reaping any benefit 
 from the victory—yet the lesson he learned from 
 the defeat was sad and mortifying. He knew 
 that owing to it the nobles of Scotland would 
 seek out reasons for undervaluing his services— 
 however great they previously were for the libe¬ 
 ration of his country, and that they would charge 
 him with the cause of the recent disaster, that 
 was purely owing to themselves, in their want of 
 unity and patriotism on the occasion. Moreover, 
 he was now convinced that, with the divided state 
 of feeling that prevailed in Scotland, it would be 
 impossible to resist the repeated invasions of 
 Edward. For while the feudal system was stronger 
 there at the time than in any part of Europe, and 
 strictly bound the vassals of the country to follow 
 their chief to the field of battle, on whatever side 
 he might range himself, it would be impossible 
 for him to bring an army into the field of any 
 strength against the English monarch; and what 
 was worse, were he to do so, many of the forces 
 collected might desert his standard, as had been 
 done on former occasions, and go over with their 
 chiefs without striking a blow, to the side of the 
 enemy. In addition to all this, he began to learn 
 that a powerful faction had been formed among 
 the nobility, with Comyn and the steward of 
 Scotland at its head, animated with the keenest 
 and deepest feelings of malignity against him- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 32 
 
 which had resolved to be satisfied with nothing 
 less than with his utter ruin. The same party 
 was to bring him to trial for high treason for 
 wishing to usurp the chief authority in the king¬ 
 dom—for disposing of the property of the* sub¬ 
 jects without the consent of the “ Estates,”—and 
 with other crimes and misdemeanors. Although 
 the charges were false, Wallace knew they would 
 be brought forward and supported b.y his bitterest 
 enemies, from whom there would be no appeal; for 
 the common people that loved and revered him 
 had no power whatever in the matter, and could 
 afford him no support. He therefore resolved to 
 resign the office of Governor of Scotland, which 
 he could no longer hold with advantage to the 
 country, and return to the status of a simple 
 knight. He had held it hitherto with the great¬ 
 est credit to himself, and honor to his country; 
 and during the time had increased its com¬ 
 merce and the comforts of its inhabitants. 
 He had also raised and organized an army 
 which believed in him, and was ready to follow 
 him. Had he chosen, the same army would 
 have raised him to supreme power in spite of the 
 nobles, who had hated and often insulted him. 
 But he loved his country too well to be tempted 
 even Avith the bauble of a crown that appeared 
 before him ; and like the great and good George 
 Washington, when placed afterwards in similar 
 circumstances, he resolved to return to the rank 
 of a private individual, possessing as he did the 
 
326 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 same upright and patriotic spirit, and fighting, if 
 required, to the last, for the liberties of his country. 
 Accordingly a meeting of the Estates of the 
 kingdom was called by the Regent, to be held near 
 the bridge of Stirling, at which he made up his 
 mind to resign his office, although the circum¬ 
 stance was only known to a few of his most 
 intimate friends. Several of the leading nobles, 
 among whom were Bruce and Comyn, assembled 
 there on the occasion, to watch his proceedings; 
 as they were afraid he was about to assume regal 
 power, backed by the influence of many of the 
 leading clergy throughout the country, and that 
 of the whole people. But these apprehensions 
 were without any foundation, for although the 
 barons appeared with their vassals armed to the 
 teeth, the Regent was protected by no military 
 force on the occasion. The herald having an¬ 
 nounced that the conference was about to begin, 
 Wallace in virtue of his office took precedence of 
 all others, and addressed the meeting in a most 
 practical and eloquent strain. He told the barons, 
 and the multitude assembled, that he had assumed 
 the regency by the consent of the nation, and 
 certainly not to gratify any private feeling of 
 his own, but for the defence and protection of 
 the liberties of his country; that he believed at 
 the time that what he had done was acceptable to 
 the great majority of the inhabitants of it, who 
 were sick and tired of the oppressions they had 
 so long endured; that it had been his great object, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 327 
 
 during the time he was in power, to deliver them 
 from their oppressors, who had endeavored to 
 hold influence over them so long, and to drive 
 them out of the country. He further assured 
 them if he were confident at the moment he 
 addressed them, that Avhat he had alway s endea¬ 
 vored to do was acceptable to the great majority 
 of his countrymen, and that his remaining in 
 office would combine all parties together for this 
 object, he would not desert his post at this critical 
 period of his country’s history ; but he was sorry 
 to find out that such was not the case, and that a 
 strong feeling against him was manifested by a 
 large portion of the nobles now, as it had ever 
 been before, and as the forces of the country 
 when united were but small, when compared with 
 those of their enemies, who were preparing for 
 another attack—when divided, they would appear 
 weak and helpless for the work. Therefore, in 
 order to remove all barriers from the way, he 
 would resign his office into the hands of those 
 from whom it had been received, and retire into 
 the ranks of a private subject, as he perceived that 
 his elevation to power did not contribute to the 
 well-being of his country. And now that he did 
 so we may state to the credit of this noble man, that 
 if he was poor, before he was elevated to the rank 
 of governor of his country, he was equally poor 
 after he resigned his office. He appropriated 
 none of the estates of the nobles to his own use 
 or that of his adherents, (however treasonable 
 
328 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 many of their acts.) Neither did he alienate any 
 of the revenues of the crown, which at this period 
 of the histofy of the country were great. But the 
 only possessions he retained were those of the rank 
 of a simple knight, and his unflinching resolution 
 to live and die a free man, as his fathers had done 
 before him. He might become houseless and a 
 weary wanderer among the forests and mountains 
 of his native country. His principal dwelling 
 might be amidst its moors, savage rocks, hidden 
 dens and caves. But whatever his privations 
 might be, his interest in it remained for ever the 
 same, and his love towards it burnt as intensely 
 in his bosom, as the internal fires that smoulder 
 beneath our feet, and which will ultimately con¬ 
 sume this fair globe which we inhabit. But 
 however true all this might be ; the resignation 
 of the office of regent by Wallace, presaged disas¬ 
 ters to his country for a long time to come, and if 
 the light that was in him became darkness, how 
 great was the darkness,” elsewhere. When the 
 brave Epaminondas, the Theban general, feel vic¬ 
 torious at the head of his troops at the battle of 
 Mantinea, it is said the sun of prosperity, that had 
 risen with him and shone brightly during his day 
 upon his country, went down in darkness. And so 
 it was for many days with Scotland. The resig¬ 
 nation of her regent, gathered dark clouds around 
 her for a long time, and her fate appeared sealed ! 
 Other regents were appointed, but the contest with 
 England became more feeble every day, the nobles 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 329 
 
 more divided, and the country more exhausted. 
 At last, bleeding and helpless, it sank broken¬ 
 hearted and dispirited, and allowed its sworn 
 enemy to have everything his own way. But it 
 was not always so to be ; for the contendings of 
 Wallace, after he had fallen a victim to a false 
 friend, and his body had been shamefully outraged 
 by a cruel foe, encouraged another to strike for 
 liberty, and the boon was obtained, but not till the 
 country suffered unheard of privations, and drained 
 of the best blood of thousands of its noblest sons. 
 “ On to the battle, on ! 
 
 Kest will be sweet anon ; 
 
 The slave may yield, may fly, 
 
 We conquer, or we die.” 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Obscurity in the history of Wallace after the regency was 
 demitted. Occupied no command afterwards. Never¬ 
 theless gave his advice to the parties in power, who 
 hated him. Comyn and De Soulis appointed governors. 
 The former made himself popular by contributing his 
 means to assist the poorer of his countrymen. Sent 
 ambassadors to France to procure assistance according 
 to previous stipulations. Laid siege to Stirling Castle, 
 took it, and appointed Sir William Oliphant governor 
 of the same. Edward again invaded Scotland. Ad¬ 
 vanced as flxr as Dumfries, and took Caerlaverock 
 Castle. Ketired into Galloway, and afterwards with¬ 
 drew his troops to the South, without accomplishing 
 much. A truce granted the Scots at the intercession of 
 the Pope and the Iving of France. During the same 
 Wallace paid a visit to France. Was welcomed joyfully 
 at the French Court. When reaching the shores of 
 France his vessel assailed by the “ Ked Kover.” A ter¬ 
 rible conflict ensued. Hand to hand fight between 
 Langueville the pirate and Wallace the patriot. The 
 struggle long and doubtful. Wallace’s superior strength 
 and endurance enabled him to prevail. Took Langue¬ 
 ville into his service. Procured pardon for him from 
 his Sovereign. Ilad great offers made to remain in 
 France. Eejected the same, and returned back to his 
 own country. Took Langueville along with him, who 
 became a faithful adherent to the cause of liberty. 
 When Wallace was slain, sided with Bruce in his great 
 struggle for the crown, and a large tract of land near 
 Perth assigned him. The family of Charteris descended 
 from him. - 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 331 
 
 There is a vast obscurity in the history of Wal¬ 
 lace after he demitted the Regency, and returned 
 to the station of a private knight. For six long 
 years does this obscurity hang over this remark¬ 
 able man. Neither is there any authentic record 
 to shew that during the whole of this dark and 
 eventful period in the history of his country, he 
 occupied even a secondary command in the wars 
 with the English. Still there are strong reasons 
 for believing that, although he was disgusted with 
 the selfishness and pride of the nobles, and felt 
 convinced that their vacillating and divided action 
 would ultimately prove the ruin of their country, 
 the fires of patriotism burned as brightly as ever 
 in his honest breast; and many of the advantages 
 obtained over the English after he retired from 
 office were mainly to be ascribed to his counsel, or 
 the military system he had adopted on former 
 occasions. For we are assured, on the authority 
 of Fordoun, that when he relapsed into the state 
 of a private baron, his interest was deep as ever 
 in the well-being of his country; and overlooking 
 everything of a personal and selfish nature he never 
 hesitated to give his experience and advice when 
 required to do so. These were tendered to the 
 parties that he and the most patriotic of his fol¬ 
 lowers considered as his greatest enemies, whose 
 meanness and jealousy had compelled him to retire 
 from an office which, of all others, he was best 
 fitted to fill. Upon the retirement of Wallace 
 from the regency, the party of the Scottish nobles 
 
332 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 who resolved to continue the straggle against the 
 English, resolved to fill up the office. Strange to 
 say, the choice fell on John Cornyn, who had 
 basely acted the part of a traitor at the battle of 
 Falkirk, and John De Soulis was elected with him 
 a joint governor of the kingdom. Some time 
 after, Robert Bruce, the Earl of Carrick, and the 
 Bishop of St. Andrews’, in order to give strength 
 and coherence to the whole thing, were also asso¬ 
 ciated with them. It has been truly said by an 
 eminent jurist and historian, that Robert Bruce 
 and John Comyn, the bitterest enemies of each 
 other, and both disappointed competitors for the 
 Scottish crown, when John Baliol gained the 
 prize, acting as brother guardians in the name of 
 that person, is a historical enigma of difficult solu¬ 
 tion ! Yet, so it was, and their principal bond of 
 union appears to have been their ardent desire to 
 destroy the power of Wallace. But the coalition 
 soon fell to pieces, and Bruce made his peace 
 shortly after this with the English monarch. 
 Comyn therefore became, to all intents and pur¬ 
 poses, the governor of the kingdom, and for some 
 time a gleam of popularity, seems to have shone 
 upon him. And this is easily accounted for, from 
 the fact that the important office now held by this 
 designing and unprincipled man, whose character 
 by all historians who have written on the subject 
 is delineated in the worst colors, opened up to his 
 ambition the brightest prospects, even including 
 the crown of Scotland itself. And such being the 
 
LIFE UF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 333 
 
 case, he used every means in his power, whether 
 lawful or not, to gain the affections of the people; 
 and in resisting the invasions of Edward, adopted 
 the line of policy that had been pursued by his 
 great predecessor. Being the richest man in 
 Scotland, in his day, he gained popularity by 
 freely contributing his means to assist the people 
 in paying the heavy taxes, that were put upon 
 them to support the government, which they found 
 themselves unable to do, owing to the cruel inva¬ 
 sions of the country, and the desolating influences 
 connected with the same. And not only did he do 
 so from his own private resources, but made urgent 
 appeals to France, the ancient ally of Scotland, 
 to come to its succor at this trying period in its 
 history. He besought the help of the generous 
 French people in troops, and in military supplies, 
 which they were bound to grant, according to the 
 treaty that had been made previously with them. 
 But as the monarch of that country was about to 
 conclude a treaty with Edward, the interests of 
 Scotland were sadly overlooked, and the urgent 
 applications of the Regent were only answered by 
 evasive promises. Annoyed at the conduct of 
 France in the matter, he sent ambassadors to that 
 country to urge the fulfilment of the compact; 
 and in case of their not being able to succeed in 
 their mission, they w r ere ordered to proceed to 
 Rome, and lay their case before the Pope. In 
 the meantime, active measures were adopted to 
 repossess the castles, that had recently fallen into 
 
334 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 the hands of the English ; for besides other con¬ 
 siderations that induced the Regent so to act, the 
 continual presence and watchfulness of Wallace, 
 overawed him into compliance with the strong 
 wishes of the people in this respect. A numerous 
 army was raised accordingly, and siege laid to 
 Stirling castle, that had fallen into the King of 
 England’s hands, and been repaired after the 
 battle of Falkirk. After Edward had retired to 
 the South he left a garrison here, with a promise 
 to send them succor as quickly as possible. But 
 this promise he was unable to fulfil, although he 
 was well aware of the loss he would sustain pro¬ 
 vided this strength fell into the hands of the 
 enemy. But he had broken the pledges solemnly 
 made to his nobles beforehand, to ratify the 
 Charters to which we have several times before 
 referred. And as might have been expected they 
 became sullen and untractable; and although 
 Edward proceeded as far as Berwick, with an 
 army for the purpose of relieving the beleaguered 
 garrison at Stirling, the nobles positively refused 
 to proceed further north with their vassals. 
 Meantime the garrison was hardly pressed, and 
 messages were despatched to Edward acquainting 
 him with the fact that they were greatly in want 
 of provisions, and could not stand out much longer, 
 however brave and obstinate their defence might 
 be. The King was neither able to send them 
 supplies, nor raise the siege, and as the last resort 
 advised them to surrender. They did so, and the 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 335 
 
 castle was put into the hands of Sir William 
 Oliphant, who was well deserving the trust 
 reposed in him, as will afterwards appear from 
 the gallant siege he sustained so successful]} 
 against terrible odds. 
 
 “ The love of liberty with life is given, 
 
 And life itself the inferior gift of heaven.” 
 
 While engaged in the siege of Stirling, the 
 Scottish Regent and DeSoulis, his coadjutor, sent 
 a letter to Edward, acquainting him with the fact 
 that the King of the French had informed them 
 of the truce that had been formed with him, to 
 which they were willing to adhere, provided he 
 did the same. This truce included in its stipula¬ 
 tions the release of Baliol the King of Scotland, 
 who had been closely confined as a prisoner in the 
 Tower of London, since the battle of Dunbar, with 
 several of the nobles of Scotland. To this letter, 
 however, Edward did not even deign to send an 
 answer, which so exasperated the Scots, that they 
 resolved, whatever might be the consequence, to 
 become master of that celebrated stronghold. 
 They succeeded in their attempt, but the thing so 
 terribly exasperated Edward, that he became de¬ 
 termined once more to punish the Scots for their 
 daring conduct. To secure the lost affections of 
 his nobility he ratified the Charter of the Forests; 
 and having done so summoned them, and all who 
 owed him military service, from Ireland, Wales, 
 Bretagne and elsewhere, to meet him at Carlisle 
 on the first day of July. And if we are to believe 
 
336 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 
 the historical bard of Exeter, who accompanied 
 the expedition, and who states, “ that the good 
 King with his household set forward against the 
 Scots, not in coats or surcoats, but on costly char¬ 
 gers and armed securely,” his army must have been 
 great, splendidly equipped, and perhaps little in¬ 
 ferior to the one he commanded at the battle of 
 Falkirk. 
 
 “ Still are the Scots determined to oppose 
 And treat intruding Edward’s friends as foes; 
 
 Till the revengeful king, in proud array, 
 
 Swears to make Scotland bend beneath his sway.” 
 
 Having entered into Scotland, Edward pro¬ 
 ceeded through the county of Dumfries, and 
 for some time met with no opposing foe; for 
 the Scots, profiting by the previous policy of 
 Wallace, determined to avoid a general engage¬ 
 ment, to watch the movements of the enemy, 
 harass them in every possible way, and cut off 
 their supplies. Approaching within some distance 
 of the town of Dumfries, Edward turned his 
 forces aside to besiege and take the Castle of 
 Caerlaverock, belonging to Sir Herbert Maxwell, 
 a powerful border chief, who had often inflicted 
 severe punishment on detached parties of the 
 English. The castle itself was remarkably strong. 
 It was in the shape of a shield, with three sides 
 all round and a tower at each angle. It was 
 always prepared for a defence with men, engines 
 and provisions; while its walls were strong and 
 its ditches wide and deep filled at all times with 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 337 
 
 abundance of water. No castle in Scotland was 
 more beautifully situated, for “ Maxweltown’s 
 braes were bonny,” that surrounded it even in the 
 days of Edward. Towards the west it commanded 
 an extensive prospect of the Irish sea, which with 
 its dark blue, hazy surface terminated the view. 
 Far to the north a rich and fertile country stretched 
 away in the distance, abounding in peace and 
 plenty; while the hilly slopes and the deep 
 defiles of woods and marshes extending towards the 
 south, added variety and beauty to the prospect, 
 and called forth glowing descriptions from several of 
 the English historians of the time. Edward’s whole 
 force was arrested here at the outset, by the 
 heroic defence and determined resolution of the 
 garrison, which was made up of only sixty men. 
 They put multitudes of the English to death, and 
 it was only when they were overwhelmed by a 
 superior force by sea and land, assisted by many 
 warlike engines, that they were compelled to suc¬ 
 cumb, when their heroic chief and many of his 
 staunch adherents were cruelly put to death. 
 After Caerlaverock Castle had fallen, Edward 
 advanced with his whole force into Galloway. 
 Here the Bishop of Galloway vainly endeavored 
 to mediate a peace, and Comyn and his brother-in- 
 law, the Earl of Buchan, repaired to Edward’s 
 camp for the same purpose, but failed in the 
 attempt. And after upbraiding the King for 
 detaining Baliol so long a captive, and seques¬ 
 trating so many of the estates of the nobles, 
 
 w 
 
338 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 they left in disgust,—determined to fight on to 
 the last. By this time the season of the year 
 was far advanced, and after the King had spent 
 months in a campaign, which ended in no 
 practical result,—so far as the subjugation of the 
 country was concerned,—he withdrew his troops 
 once more to the South ; and out of deference to the 
 Pope and to the king of France granted a truce 
 to the Scots. The truce extended from Hallowmas 
 to Whit Sunday, and while Scotland enjoyed a 
 short period of repose, Wallace thought proper to 
 pay a visit to France, which had been long the 
 tried friend and ally of his beloved country. He set 
 sail with a few of his trusty friends some time 
 during the winter or autumn of thirteen hundred. 
 His great object doubtless was to represent to 
 the French monarch the true state of the country, 
 and to urge upon him the necessity (according 
 to the provisions of the treaty formed betwixt the 
 two countries) of sending more material assistance 
 than he had yet done. The voyage of Wallace 
 and his companions was pleasant and prosperous, 
 until they nearly reached the shores of France. 
 And it was scarcely possible it could be otherwise, 
 or that the vessel could sink, which carried the 
 fortunes of one, whose heroic deeds had already 
 filled the whole of Europe with wonder and aston¬ 
 ishment. For if Providence had raised him up 
 to fight successfully against a foe, who was con¬ 
 sidered at the time the greatest monarch and 
 warrior of his age, the same All-wise power must 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 339 
 
 call him back to his native land, to seal with his 
 blood the truth of those principles he had ever 
 maintained, and to leave behind him a more glo¬ 
 rious legacy to his country than all the victories 
 he had ever gained. The death of the heroic 
 Leonidas, the king of ancient Sparta, in the Straits 
 of Thermopylm, bore down the springtide of 
 eastern oppression ; and that of our hero was to be 
 possessed of power equally great. It was to make 
 men feel in modernjas well as in ancient times, how 
 important liberty is, and how that life without it 
 is worthless and vain. 
 
 “ By oppression’s woes and pains! 
 
 By your sons in servile chains ! 
 
 We will drain our dearest veins! 
 
 But they shall, they shall be free ! ” 
 
 On reaching the coast of France, Wallace’s craft 
 was attacked by a notorious pirate of the name of 
 Langueville. He was a French nobleman of high 
 connection, and at one time in great favor with 
 the King. But having murdered a knight in his 
 presence in a fit of passion, he was banished from 
 the kingdom, and his estates forfeited. Galled 
 to desperation by such treatment, he turned liis 
 back on the gay court and refined society of the 
 proud Parisian capital to which he had been 
 accustomed. And as every avenue to royal cle¬ 
 mency and honor seemed to be shut against him, 
 he fitted out a craft of large dimensions, “ The 
 Bed Rover,” which soon became the terror of the 
 ocean. Nor was he the only pirate who at this 
 
340 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 early period began to infest the seas, for many 
 sucli swarmed everywhere near to the shores of 
 Asia and Europe, and preyed on the commerce of 
 the nations of the earth. 
 
 “ O’er the glad waters of the dark blue sea, 
 
 Their thoughts as boundless as their souls were free, 
 
 Far as the breeze could bear, the billow’s foam, 
 Surveyed their empire, and beheld their home!” 
 
 The Robin Hoods of England, and the Rob 
 Roys of Scotland, were not more unsparing in 
 their exactions by land, than were these self-con¬ 
 stituted monarchs of the boundless deep; and 
 whenever a vessel laden with a rich cargo hove in 
 sight, they were ready to risk their lives in the 
 struggle to secure it. And when they mastered 
 or sank the hapless craft, they proceeded to divide 
 the spoil—when they gamed, caroused and whet¬ 
 ted their brands, and manned and repaired their 
 vessel anew, till another object gladdened their 
 vision, as it appeared like a speck on the far dis¬ 
 tant billows—which generally shared the same 
 fate as its predecessors. The Red Rover now for 
 once met her match in the vessel that wafted 
 our hero to the shores of France ; for the ships 
 built in Scotland at this time were famed over 
 the whole of Europe for swiftness and durability. 
 It was manned, too, with a number of Wallace’s 
 firm friends and admirers —■“ men possessed of the 
 heart of oak and triple brass ’’—and some of them 
 amongst the best swordsmen in Europe. When 
 the sails were unfurled, the decks cleared,and the 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 341 
 
 vessels approached close to one another, the con¬ 
 flict became wild and furious. The wanderers of 
 the trackless way, judging at first that the crew 
 on board of the vessel they deemed as their own, 
 was made up of seafaring men never accustomed 
 to battle, wooed the fight,-maddened at the dangers 
 that thickened around them,—and dealt their 
 blows at all with whom they came in contact, with 
 an unsparing hand. But they found they had to 
 do with heroes, and not with simple-minded 
 sailors ; for from being the assailed, Wallace’s 
 vessel soon became the assailant, and its crew 
 dealt forth deadly blows among the wild corsairs. 
 At last they succeeded in boarding the Red Rover, 
 and a terrible hand to hand fight ensued betwixt 
 Wallace the patriot, and Langueville the pirate. 
 For a long time the contest was doubtful, as in 
 valor and the expert use of the sword, it would 
 have been difficult to find two combatants better 
 matched in Europe. But in bodily strength and 
 endurance, Wallace was the superior of the two 
 and after displaying a large amount of personal 
 courage and gallantry, Langueville surrendered 
 himself to his opponent at discretion. Wallace 
 was struck with the truly heroic conduct of the 
 man, learned his whole history, and took him 
 along with him to Scotland, having previously 
 procured his pardon from the hands of his 
 sovereign. When Wallace reached the proud 
 capital of France, he received a hearty welcome 
 from all parties, including the King, with his gay 
 
342 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 and accomplished courtiers. They looked with 
 delightful satisfaction on the man who. alone of 
 all others had baffled the schemes of proud 
 English Edward, and whose deeds of valor had 
 resounded over the whole of Europe. One of the 
 reasons why Wallace paid a visit to France in the 
 present distracted state of the country, was to 
 meet Baliol, his exiled sovereign, who had been 
 liberated from prison at the interest of the Pope 
 and the French monarch, on condition that he 
 would no longer return to Scotland, nor lay claim 
 to the crown of that country. “ For I will send 
 him to the Pope/’ said Edward, “ as a false seducer 
 of the people, and a perjured man.” The king of 
 France gave the exiled monarch the castle ofGalliard 
 for a residence, where for some time he enjoyed, 
 like James the Second of England, the shadow of 
 royalty. But after the treaty of peace was con¬ 
 cluded between France and England, the appen¬ 
 dages of royalty were taken from him, and he 
 died neglected and forgotten in a foreign land, 
 a sacrifice to blighted ambition. 
 
 “ Fame is an ill you may with ease obtain, 
 
 A sad oppressor to be borne with pain.” 
 
 Wallace’s visit to his exiled sovereign was 
 doubtless to console him in the midst of his mis¬ 
 fortunes, and to obtain release from all obliga¬ 
 tions to him, as his lawful prince for whom he had 
 fought so long. Baliol had virtually signed 
 away all right to the kingdom of Scotland, 
 and he saw it was a hopeless task to contend 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 343 
 
 any longer for him. He not only received a splen¬ 
 did reception at the French court, but, provided 
 he would stay in the country, had offers of 
 speedy advancement. But he could not he in¬ 
 duced to do so. And after many consultations 
 and negotiations respecting the state of his be¬ 
 loved country, he exchanged the sweets of beau¬ 
 tiful France, for the rugged grandeur of Caledonia, 
 and the gaiety of tlie most refined court of the 
 world, for the caves and fastnesses of its rugged 
 mountains and forests, where a heavy price was 
 put upon his head. That Langueville accompanied 
 him to Scotland there can be no doubt, as the fact 
 is proved from a manuscript lately discovered in 
 the Advocates’ Library in Edinburgh, bearing on 
 the subject, and from many traditions throughout 
 the country. On the death of Wallace he attached 
 himself to the interests of Bruce, and faithfully 
 adhered to him, amid all his vicissitudes till, he as¬ 
 cended the throne of Scotland. King Robert as¬ 
 signed him a large tract of land in the parish of 
 Kinfauns, near Perth, on account of his faithful 
 services, and a family there for many centuries 
 claimed to be descended from him. In the sta¬ 
 tistical account of this parish we find the following 
 curious statements regarding this remarkable man : 
 “ In the Castle of Kinfauns is kept a large, old 
 sword, probably made above five hundred years 
 ago, and to be used by both hands. This terrible 
 weapon bears the name of Charteris’ sword, and 
 probably belonged to Sir Thomas Charteris, com- 
 
344 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 monly called Thomas de Langueville, proprietor 
 of the estate of Kinfauns.” About forty years 
 ago, upon opening the burying vault under the 
 aisle of the church, there was also found part of 
 the armor in which this hero was consigned to 
 his resting place. 
 
 “ Yet what is all that fires a hero’s scorn 
 Of death: The hope to live in hearts unborn. 
 
 Life to the brave is not a fleeting breath, 
 
 But worth for tasting fame that follow’s death.” 
 
 Gratitude seems to have been a redeeming qua¬ 
 lity, among the worthies who followed the fortunes 
 of Wallace, irrespective of the country to which 
 they belonged. It was so in the case of Stephen 
 of Ireland, who joined himself to him during the 
 early part of his career, and who possessed all the 
 generous impulses of a true Hibernian. And the 
 same traits of character were largely developed in 
 the noble French knight, whose life was so 
 checkered, and whose history throughout was so 
 romantic. He made ample returns to Wallace for 
 the interest he had shown in him, and by his 
 bravery and firm attachment to the cause of lib¬ 
 erty, made full atonement for the blemishes that 
 were formerly connected with his character, the 
 rash actions he had performed, and the injustifi- 
 able work in which he had been long engaged. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 When Wallace returned to Scotland its prospects were dark. 
 The truce had terminated betwixt the Scots and Eng¬ 
 lish. And left to their own resources by the Pope and 
 the French king. Edward appointed Segrave governor 
 of Scotland. Sent a large force with him to support 
 his authority. Attacked and routed 3iear Eoslin by an 
 army under Sir Simon Frazer and Comyn. Three 
 successive engagements took place, but in all of them 
 the English were unsuccessful. According to English 
 writers Wallace contributed to the success of the Scots. 
 Last victory obtained by them during the reign of the 
 present Edward. Eesolved to head another expedition 
 in person into the country. Proceeded by the Eastern 
 Marches towards Edinburgh. The Prince of Wales 
 proceeded by the Western Marches. Great cruelties 
 committed on all sides. Alarie and the early ravagers 
 of Italy not to be compared to them. Proceeded as 
 far North as Morayshire, and destroyed everything in 
 their track. All the nobles gave in their adhesion to 
 English rule, but the brave knight of Brechin Castle. 
 Eesisted the forces of Edward for twenty days. Not 
 till slain were the gates of his castle opened to the 
 enemy. Edward proceeded to Dunfermline, and while 
 there received the homage of all the Scotch barons. 
 Collected and destroyed the records of the nation. Care¬ 
 fully excluded Wallace from all immunities, and laid 
 schemes for his destruction. Ilis authority in Scotland 
 nominal while he remained in the country. 
 
 Wallace returned to his native country, but its 
 prospects were gloomy and sad. The truce be- 
 
346 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 twixt Edward and liis countrymen had expired, 
 and he was more determined to prosecute the war 
 against them than ever. According to the promise 
 made to the archbishop of Canterbury, Edward 
 laid the claims of the Pope, regarding his right 
 to the kingdom of Scotland, before a parliament 
 at Lincoln, which indignantly rejected the same, 
 and a spirited remonstrance was sent to the holy 
 father to that effect. This remonstrance was 
 accompanied by a private letter from Edward 
 himself, in which, in soothing and honied words, 
 (accompanied doubtless with a large supply of 
 English gold) he endeavored to quiet and satisfy 
 the conscience of his spiritual superior. He 
 succeeded completely in doing so, for Pope 
 Boniface soon deserted his northern allies, sent a 
 letter to Wishart, the bishop of Glasgow, charging 
 him as a prime mover and instigator of all the 
 tumults and dissensions which had arisen between 
 his dearest son Edward, the English king, meaning 
 by that, it is to be presumed, their sovereign. 
 Rome failed the Scots in its support, and they 
 were equally unfortunate in looking towards 
 France ; for the sovereign of that country had 
 recently been defeated in Flanders, which had 
 hitherto received the assistance of Edward. And 
 as Philip was anxious to concentrate his efforts to 
 vanquish the count of Flanders, and Edward 
 entertained the same desire in regard to Scotland, 
 they resolved mutually to carry out their own 
 ambitious projects, and leave their allies to take 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 347 
 
 care of themselves. But this was not all; lor 
 Philip, with an amount of duplicity altogether 
 unworthy of the sovereign of a great and gene¬ 
 rous people, had the address to persuade the Scot¬ 
 tish ambassadors, consisting of some of the most 
 powerful, warlike and influential of the nobility, 
 to remain with him at court, while he mediated 
 a peace between them and England. At the same 
 time, however, by this false dealing, he was 
 consciously playing into the hands of the English 
 king, and keeping them back, till all his arrange¬ 
 ments were made for another fatal and terrible 
 invasion of their country. Edward, having ap¬ 
 pointed Segrave governor of Scotland, summoned 
 a number of his principal barons, with their 
 vassals, to proceed thither to support his authority 
 till such time as he could be able himself to 
 appear in that country in person, at the head of 
 an army. For the king asserted in the letters 
 addressed to his barons, that the enemy was 
 succeeding in ravaging the country, reducing, 
 burning, seizing towns and castles, and unless put 
 down, would soon invade and lay waste England 
 itself. The earnest entreaties of the king were 
 listened to, and Segrave, at an early part of the 
 season, marched for Berwick, towards the northern 
 capital, with an army of twenty thousand men, 
 mostly cavalry, and officered by some of the king’s 
 best leaders in his wars in Wales, and in Flanders. 
 Among these were found two brothers of the 
 governor, and Robert de Neville, a great baron and 
 
348 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 brave warrior, who assisted the King largely in 
 the conquest of Wales. On approaching near Roslin, 
 Segrave foolishly allowed his army to be divided, 
 and to encamp in separate divisions at some di¬ 
 stance from each other, with the communication 
 broken off. Early in the morning, when slumber¬ 
 ing in his tent, a boy rushed into it, and informed 
 the governor that the enemy was close at hand. 
 The report proved to be too true, for Comyn, the 
 governor of Scotland, and Sir Simon Frazer, who 
 had become disgusted and tired out with the 
 cruelties and exactions of Edward, and had joined 
 the patriots some time before, had collected an 
 army of eight thousand horse, and marching from 
 Biggar during the night, found out, to their satis¬ 
 faction, the careless manner in which the English 
 were encamped. And so they broke in with fury 
 on the principal division, headed by Segrave, 
 routed it entirely, and after putting many of the 
 principal officers to the sword, took him prisoner, 
 with thirteen knights and twenty-six esquires. 
 Before the Scots had time, however, to collect the 
 booty, and make any arrangements in regard to 
 their prisoners, the second division made its 
 appearance. They were compelled to put their 
 prisoners to death, although very reluctantly, and 
 again attacked the enemy with heroic courage 
 and success. It was led on by Sir Ralph, the 
 cofferer, a rich priest, and paymaster of the forces, 
 and after a bloody fight was forced to yield, and 
 put to flight with much slaughter. The cofferer 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 349 
 
 was taken prisoner by Sir Simon Frazer; he begged 
 anxiously for his life, and offered a large sum of 
 money for it, but to no purpose, and at the order 
 of Frazer was cruelly put to death. Many others 
 beside their leader fell into the hands of the 
 Scots as prisoners, and suffered the same fate. 
 This attack was hardly ended, when the third 
 division, led by Sir Robert Neville, appeared in 
 the distance. The sight of it filled the minds of 
 the Scottish leaders with anxiety and dread; for. 
 after two bloody engagements, and the fatigue of 
 a long march, they scarcely thought it would be 
 possible for their little army to encounter fresh 
 troops with success. They had all but formed the 
 resolution of a retreat; but the sudden and unex¬ 
 pected appearance of the enemy made it impos¬ 
 sible for them to do it; and, therefore, although 
 a bloody conflict ensued, the English were hope¬ 
 lessly beaten, their leader killed, and his division 
 nearly annihilated. The few of the scattered 
 forces that remained hastened across the borders 
 to relate the doleful tidings of their defeat; and 
 the Scots, after reaping rich booty, returned home, 
 rejoicing in the good fortune that had attended 
 their labors on this occasion. In the history of 
 ancient and modern warfare, there will be scarcely 
 found a sample equal to the battle of Roslin, in 
 which celerity of motion, and quickness of action 
 crowned the victors with a sure reward; while the 
 enemy, divided and thrown off their guard, suf¬ 
 fered a terribly humiliating and cruel defeat. 
 
350 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE . 
 
 
 Comyn and Frazer reaped the fruits of this deci* 
 sive victory over the English, which conferred a 
 great weight of honour on them, and on Scotland 
 also, in France, and over the whole of Europe. 
 “ But the race is not always to the swift, nor the 
 battle to the strong for if we are to credit the 
 statements of English historians, the victory 
 obtained over the English forces at Roslin 
 was neither owing to the ability of Comyn, 
 or the bravery of Frazer; but to the heroism, 
 advice, and martial achievements of Wallace, 
 who although present as a private individual, 
 wrought a charm upon the minds of the troops, 
 which carried everything before them. His 
 appearance brought terror to the minds of the 
 English, while it nerved his countrymen with 
 courage and self-possession, causing them to 
 sweep the enemy on three different occasions 
 from the field. Still this was the last victory 
 the Scots obtained during the life of the cruel 
 Edward; for by his determined perseverance and 
 overwhelming military strength, he was resolved, 
 at whatever sacrifice, to crush them. Already the 
 country was everywhere lying waste, and the 
 people poverty-stricken and heart-broken by the 
 repeated invasions of the enemy. Joy and glad¬ 
 ness were nowhere heard; “ and the voice of 
 the bridegroom and of the bride had been caused 
 to cease out of the land.” The hearts of the 
 most patriotic began to quail for fear, and all 
 now felt that the sun of Scottish liberty was about 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 351 
 
 to go down behind a terribly darkening cloud ! 
 But he was again to arise in all his meridian splen¬ 
 dor, scattering the fogs of a night of terror and 
 of darkness, and ushering in a long period of lib¬ 
 erty not yet gone by ! 
 
 “Land of the brave and free, whose fame sublime 
 Still beams resplendent through the clouds of time. 
 Birthplace of science, freedom’s noblest shrine, 
 
 Cradle of art; hail Scotland revered, divine! ” 
 
 The defeat of the English at the battle of Ros- 
 lin, and the praises heaped upon the Scots for 
 their valor and success, which rung out from every 
 court of Europe, only awakened afresh all the 
 rancorous feelings of Edward towards them. 
 Conquered they must be, though the English ex¬ 
 chequer should be drained to its last farthing, and 
 the blood of his noblest subjects should flow like 
 water ! And he would rather turn the country 
 to a desert, fit for wild beasts, where the hunter 
 might freely tread on the soil on which many a 
 happy family had once lived, and was comfortably 
 fed, than that a freeman should exist who dared 
 to dispute his authority in it! Such being the 
 feelings of the tyrant, who never in any circum¬ 
 stances consulted the interests of any, at the ex¬ 
 pense of his own, he resolved to give effect to the 
 thoughts that tumultuated in his dark and un- 
 principled breast, and to destroy the land utterly 
 with fire and sword, whose inhabitants had dared 
 so long to oppose him. The Pope had given up 
 his western see to the mercy of the enemy; and 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 352 
 
 in tlie treaty of Amiens, concluded between the 
 French and English monarchs, the interests of 
 this brave people had also been ignored. Separat¬ 
 ed and alone, they had now to brave the fury of 
 a storm, that was about to burst upon them, with 
 terrible violence, and through the blackening tem¬ 
 pest not a streak of light was there anywhere to 
 be seen. Edward being left to the freedom of his 
 own will—so far as any foreign sovereign was 
 concerned—directed all his energies to the final 
 subjugation of Scotland. He summoned his barons 
 to meet him with all their vassals at Berwick, on 
 the feast of St. John the Baptist. He fitted out a 
 large fleet of seventy vessels at the seaport towns, 
 to carry provisions for the army, and “ week in 
 and week out, from morn till night,” little else 
 was heard in these towns, hut the noise of the 
 hammer and anvil, that the fleet might be in 
 readiness, and if possible precede the army with 
 the vast supplies, that would be required for its 
 support. To make all things complete, the pious 
 King performed a pilgrimage to the shrine of 
 Thomas a Becket, whose brains his great grand¬ 
 father had bespattered on the altar of the cathe¬ 
 dral at Canterbury, and afterwards adored him as 
 a saint,—as his successor now did. He also solicited 
 the intercession of other saints, to render him suc¬ 
 cessful in the work of death and destruction in 
 which he was soon to be engaged—for like many 
 other tyrants, the king was a dupe to his own 
 superstitious notions. When crossing the border, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 353 
 
 Edward divided his army, assigning one division 
 to the Prince of Wales, who proceeded by the 
 Western Marches, and by the way of Dumfries; 
 while the King himself, at the head of the other 
 division of his troops, went by the Eastern Marches, 
 and had reached Edinburgh by the beginning of 
 June. But in all his journey northward there was 
 not even the vestige of an enemy to oppose him; 
 for a number of the Scottish nobles, in order to 
 secure their lands and lives from him, which they 
 considered forfeited by their late rebellion,had has¬ 
 tened to Berwick to propitiate his favor. And the 
 few chiefs, with Comyn and Frazer at their head, 
 who still maintained the cause of independence, 
 found it impossible to raise or keep together any 
 number of forces, and felt assured that the struggle 
 for freedom was fast drawing to a close. And yet, 
 with all this spirit of non-resistance shown by the 
 people, the footsteps of the King and his son were 
 everywhere marked with bloodshed and cruelty. 
 For the ravages of Alaric, the barbaric Gothic 
 king, who burst from the North into Italy with 
 one hundred thousand of his savage followers, 
 burnt down the magnificent city of Rome, and 
 carried fire and sword throughout the whole of the 
 Peninsula, hastening forward the downfall of the 
 mistress of the world with her large dependencies, 
 were never to be compared with those of the 
 savage Edward on this occasion. The recent de¬ 
 feat of his troops at Roslin had so irritated his 
 cruel nature and inflamed his vile passions, that 
 
354 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 he thirsted for revenge, which was now more than 
 gratified. And to enjoy it, the entire subjection 
 of the people was not reckoned enough ; but the 
 most relentless cruelties were exercised towards 
 them, without the smallest compunction. The 
 humility of the pilgrim to Canterbury, and his 
 prostrations before St. Thomas’ shrine, were now 
 forgotten, and revenge and death were substituted 
 in the place of his great penances. It is sad to 
 think that a man like Edward, now advancing in 
 years, should have acted thus in nearly his last 
 invasion of Scotland. But such happened to be 
 the case; for in recording the history of this in¬ 
 vasion, whether we relate the transactions that 
 transpired, as stated by Scotch or English chroni¬ 
 clers, they all amount to the same thing. Quiet 
 submission on the one hand, and pitiless cruelty 
 and revenge on the other, are everywhere 
 brought to view. The iron hoof of the op¬ 
 pressor treading slowly along, and meanwhile 
 crushing out the life’s blood of a free people, whose 
 only fault appeared to be that liberty was so dear 
 to them! If Edward’s march to Edinburgh was 
 marked by nothing—as well as that of his son— 
 but by the tame submission on the part of the 
 inhabitants, and the wanton cruelty and devas¬ 
 tation of their oppressors, his progress further 
 North was still more memorable for the same 
 things. He proceeded leisurely by way of Lin¬ 
 lithgow, Clackmannan, Perth, and Aberdeen, and 
 scarcely anything in the shape of an enemy was 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 355 
 
 anywhere to be seen; for all who were able had 
 fled beyond the reach of the oppressor to the 
 caves and fastnesses of their native mountains. 
 But neither the aged nor unprotected females who 
 were forced to stay behind received any sym¬ 
 pathy from the man, whose ambition had rendered 
 him callous to every feeling of humanity, and 
 whose hard heart was shut against every appeal 
 to the higher feelings of our nature. The young 
 and innocent were put to the sword, and were 
 happily removed in this way from beyond the 
 reach of the oppressor; while many of the noble 
 women, in whose bosom there burned a flame of 
 patriotic feeling, which all his legions could never 
 extinguish, were only spared to become the prey 
 of their wanton lust and lasciviousness. Besides 
 the cruelties inflicted on the unoffending inhabi¬ 
 tants, along the whole path where the tyrant 
 trod, the country itself suffered terribly also from 
 his scathing hand. Devastation and ruin marked 
 his footsteps wherever he went. Magnificent 
 forests of the largest description were burnt down, 
 and the smoke arising from such fearful confla¬ 
 grations w r as witnessed from afar. Towns and 
 villages were devoted to pillage. Whole garners 
 and granaries were robbed of their contents. And 
 the small tracts of fertile lands which the indus¬ 
 try of the natives had carefully cultivated, amid 
 all the distraction of the times, were too much to 
 be spared, and therefore remorselessly devoted to 
 destruction. From the city of Aberdeen, the king 
 
356 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 directed his march into the county of Moray, took 
 possession of Lochendorb Castle, where he stayed 
 for some time, and received the homage of the 
 Northern chiefs, who hastened to be at peace with 
 him. Leaving this he proceeded to Kildrummy 
 Castle in Auchendoir, Aberdeenshire, the strong¬ 
 est and most important strength in this remote 
 part of the country. It played an important part 
 in the history of Scotland, long before and after 
 this dark period, and afforded a safe retreat to the 
 wife and daughter of King Kobert Bruce, when 
 their safety from the English was a matter 
 of great importance. Still retracing his steps 
 southward, he passed through Perth and Stir¬ 
 ling, revelling in cruelty, and in the destruc¬ 
 tion of life and property ; and by the month of 
 December had fixed his quarters at Dunfermline, 
 where his beautiful queen joined him, and where 
 for some time there was much gaiety and many 
 festivities, and the future government of. the 
 country, which he foolishly imagined as for ever 
 conquered was duly established. In the whole 
 of this northern expedition, marked with such 
 cruelty and slaughter, it deserves to be ever re¬ 
 membered, that only one patriotic baron dared to 
 dispute the usurped authority of Edward, and 
 shut the g ates of his castle against him. This 
 was Sir Thomas Maule, a baron of singular courage 
 and intrepidity, the owner of Brechin Castle. 
 The ancestors of this brave knight were, like 
 Edward himself, of Norman extraction, but had 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 357 
 
 long settled in Scotland, and looked upon it as 
 their own native land. At this early period of 
 the history of the country, we know not what 
 amount of property the family owned ; hut at 
 the present time their possessions are great. 
 Abutting upon the Balmoral estates of Her 
 Majesty, they reach from the height of the Gram¬ 
 pian Mountains, to the shores of the German 
 Ocean, and run along the seaboard for nearly 
 fifty miles, comprehending some of the finest 
 lands in Scotland. The present proprietor (Earl 
 Dalhousie) is a fit representative of his brave 
 ancestor ; for his talents as a statesman, and his 
 popularity as a proprietor have earned for him 
 the affection and esteem of all classes of society. 
 Brechin Castle, that was now assailed by all the 
 united force of Edward, was strongly fortified by 
 nature and by art. It stood on a bluff of the 
 South Esk river that here meandered past grace¬ 
 fully in front of it, till, passing through a rich 
 valley, it emptied its waters in the German ocean 
 at Montrose. The side of the castle towards the 
 river was alike inaccessible and impregnable ■ 
 while the others were fortified as were few other 
 strengths, in this age of chivalry, in any other 
 part of the country. Edward brought all his 
 attacking force to bear upon the place, including 
 a number of warlike engines, which threw stones 
 of great size and other materials against the walls. 
 But though he looked grim, and was roused to a 
 pitch of great fury against the brave baron and 
 
358 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 his associates, for a long time no impression was 
 made on the fortress. And Maule, confident of the 
 strength and impregnable nature of the walls of 
 his noble keep, stood on the ramparts of the same, 
 and with a towel brushed away the dust and rub¬ 
 bish raised by the engines, in order to mark the 
 contempt with which he viewed the efforts of 
 Edward to reduce it. For twenty long days did 
 the English army toil and struggle around and 
 beneath the walls of this splendid fortress, with¬ 
 out producing any impression on them by the 
 terrible instruments of war, or on the mind of its 
 noble possessor; and but for an unfortunate occur¬ 
 rence, they would have done it always to all human 
 appearances. It happened that the unfortunate 
 Maule, however, was at last struck dead on the 
 wall, by one of those lethal missiles he affected to 
 despise; but while life was ebbing fast, and 
 the brave soldier lay dying on the ground, he pro¬ 
 nounced maledictions on the coward who dared to 
 open the gates of his castle to the sworn enemy 
 of his country. But unmindful of his last com¬ 
 mands, some of the defenders did so, and soon 
 after his death they were thrown open to Edward, 
 and a scene of bloodshed, rapine, and plunder 
 worthy of him took place. 
 
 “ Many centuries have been numbered, 
 
 Since in death the baron slumbered, 
 
 But the good deed through the ages, 
 
 Living in historic pages, 
 
 Brighter grows and gleams immortal 
 Unconsumed by moth or rust.” 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILL I Ml WALLACE. 
 
 359 
 
 While Edward reached and stayed at Dunferm¬ 
 line he committed several deeds of vandalism, that 
 were sufficient of themselves, independent of any¬ 
 thing else, to cause his memory to be ever execrated 
 by every right-thinking man. In that ancient town, 
 there was a splendid Benedictine monastery, built 
 of stone, where, on account of its ample size, the 
 Scottish Parliament had been often held. It was 
 so large in its dimensions, according to an ancient 
 historian, that three kings, with their united re¬ 
 tainers, could easily be accommodated within its 
 walls. But it was a sufficient crime in the eyes 
 of the English monarch, that it should be in any 
 way connected with a Scottish Parliament, and 
 neither the beautiful proportions of the building, 
 nor the sacredness of its character could save it 
 from his ruthless hand ; and, therefore, by his 
 cruel orders, his soldiers razed it to the ground. 
 This being accomplished, he set about a still more 
 extraordinary achievement. Already on a former 
 occasion he had removed from Scone, the famous 
 stone on which the Kings of Scotland had been 
 crowned for centuries, and placed it in West¬ 
 minster Abbey, along with the crown and sceptre 
 of Scotland, which he presented as an offering to 
 Edward the Confessor, as a memorial of the abso¬ 
 lute conquest of the country. But this was not 
 sufficient for him; but with a spirit of reckless¬ 
 ness unequalled by any prince that went before, 
 or succeeded him, he commanded the monasteries 
 throughout the country to be ransacked with all 
 
360 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 possible care, and the ancient records which they 
 contained to be carried off and committed to the 
 flames, so that the Scots would have no documents 
 to produce to falsify his claims to sovereignty 
 over them. The truth of these statements are 
 borne out by English historians themselves, for 
 Nicholson, one of the most learned, intelligent, 
 and candid of them, in referring to the subject, 
 thus remarks : “ King Edward the First having 
 claimed the sovereignty of Scotland, made a most 
 miserable havoc of the histories and laws of that 
 kingdom, hoping that in a short time nothing 
 should be found in that country but what carried 
 an English name and face. To this end he for¬ 
 bade, on severe penalties, the keeping of any such 
 books and records; and proceeded so far as even 
 to abolish the very name of Claudius Caesar in his 
 famous round temple which he ordered to be call¬ 
 ed, as it is to this day, Arthur’s Hoff, putting 
 away the stone which preserved the memory of 
 that great Emperor, and his concpiests.” The 
 legal right of Edward to the crown of Scotland, 
 even according to his own view of the matter, 
 must have been very small, when he became such 
 a notorious robber and destroyer of the public re¬ 
 cords of a country that had been preserved for 
 ages with pious care, in many of the monasteries 
 throughout the land. And it was doubtless a 
 knowledge of these records possessed by many of 
 the learned monks of the day, that filled them 
 with such patriotic feelings, and such intense 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 361 
 
 hatred to the rule of the English usurper. 
 Edward, having received the submission of the 
 regent Comyn, and the other parties who acted 
 along with him—who now came to the conclusion 
 that all further efforts to maintain the liberty of 
 the country were in vain—made a rigorous ex¬ 
 clusion of the brave Wallace, in the terms of the 
 agreement entered into between him and the said 
 parties, whose lives were preserved, and whose 
 lands were granted back to them on certain con¬ 
 ditions. It is worthy to advert to this agreement, 
 in order to see the bitter hatred that rankled 
 in the tyrant’s bosom against the man, who would 
 never stoop nor cringe to procure his favor. It 
 runs thus: “ As for William Wallace, it is coven¬ 
 anted that if he thinks proper to surrender him¬ 
 self, it must be unconditionally to the will and 
 mercy of the King.” In.other words, the English 
 king demanded a rendering up of a person into 
 his hands, upon whose head he had set a large price 
 for years, whom he considered the great disturber 
 of his peace and authority, and whom he desired 
 forthwith to be put to death. And well might 
 he anxiously long to have this ardent patriot with¬ 
 in his grasp ; for during his late cruel invasion of 
 the North, with the exception of the brave knight 
 of Brechin Castle, Wallace and his few tried fol¬ 
 lowers seemed to be the only persons that in any 
 way opposed his troops. Closely watching the 
 progress of their southern enemies, amid the 
 forests and mountainous regions of the North, they 
 
362 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 dashed forward often to charge some detached por¬ 
 tion of the troops, and cut them off before any 
 help could be gained. Edward’s best tried soldiers 
 quailed at his approach and gave way, while his 
 appearance nerved his adherents with unusual 
 confidence—and he was well aware that his con¬ 
 quest of Scotland was worth little, while such 
 an extraordinary, man was at large. Hence he 
 ardently thirsted for his blood, and allowed no 
 means to be spared to secure his person, and de¬ 
 vote him to destruction, with all convenient speed. 
 But Wallace pre-conceived the approaching storm, 
 and cared little to avoid it; for whatever the 
 consequence might be, he resolved to die as he 
 had lived—a true patriot. 
 
 “ Then to heaven in calm despair, 
 
 As he turned the tearless eye, 
 
 By his country’s wrongs he swore 
 With his country’s rights to die.” 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 All the barons submitted to Edward while at Dunfermline, 
 but Wallace. Large otfers made to him to acknowledge 
 the authority of the English King, which he rejected. 
 [Rebuked his friends for wishing to do so. Edward pro¬ 
 ceeded to the South. Made arrangements for the govern¬ 
 ment of the kingdom, and for the betrayal of Wallace. 
 Bribed Mowbray and Haliburton, two Scottish knights, 
 to track him everywhere. Wallace, with a few of his 
 followers, retired to the Western coast to embark in a 
 vessel for France, waiting for him near the shore. Sail¬ 
 ed before he reached the shore. Directed his steps 
 towards Glasgow. Wished to be within the reach of 
 Dunbarton Castle, and near Sir John Montefth, its 
 governor. Had been appointed by Wallace, and valued 
 as one of his true friends. Now bribed by Edward and 
 in his service. The leading spirit in the bloody con¬ 
 federacy against Wallace. Discovered his whereabouts 
 from a nephew of Monteitli’s, who waited upon the 
 fallen hero. Learned that he was lurking at Robroyston, 
 near Glasgow. While buried in sleep, deprived of his 
 armor by young Monteith. Killed the assailants who 
 dared to seize his person. The elder Monteith approach¬ 
 ed near, and falsely persuaded Wallace to allow himself 
 to be given up to the English. Promised him a safe re¬ 
 treat and proper treatment in the castle. Carried thither 
 and never permitted to see Monteith any more. A 
 strong escort appointed of the English to convey him 
 over the borders. Hastened forward to Carlisle. The 
 news of his capture spread everywhere, and thousands 
 of the English of all ranks crowded to catch a glimpse 
 of his person. 
 
364 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 Edward remained at Dunfermline till the last of 
 the Scottish nobles consented to accept of the hard 
 conditions imposed upon them, till the country 
 was reduced to ruin, and the people to a state of 
 absolute subjection. Everything had succeeded 
 according to the expectations of his cruel nature, 
 and had not the brave Wallace, in spite of the 
 high price he had put upon his head, still remain¬ 
 ed at large, his satisfaction would have been full. 
 But while he did so, although shut out from all 
 amnesty, and marked for destruction, the mind of 
 the tyrant could be ill at ease; for even in his re¬ 
 duced condition, he hardly knew how soon he and 
 his faithful followers, who still clung to him, might 
 assail him or his troops with deadly effect when 
 they least expected it. For although Edward was 
 enraged at the thought that such was the case, 
 cursed him as a traitor, and all who harbored and 
 supported him, he could not but dread the man, 
 whose very name stirred his countrymen to deeds 
 of valor; who had wrought such havoc among 
 the English in times past, and who alone, with 
 heroic courage, still remained a freeman, while all 
 beside were slaves! Surrounded by enemies on 
 all sides who watched to betray him, Wallace had 
 withdrawn from the impassable moors and marshes 
 of the North, with some of his most confidential 
 followers, to the vast and impenetrable forest that 
 at that time stretched away from Dunfermline in 
 every direction. Here it is said Edward, becoming 
 acquainted with the fact that he was not far off, 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 365 
 
 used means to convert this formidable enemy into 
 a friend. If Fordoun, the most veritable of all 
 Scotch historians, is to be credited, Edward pre¬ 
 sented before him the most tempting offers, and 
 among others of them, was the crown of Scotland, 
 provided he would accept it as Baliol had done, in 
 fee of the crown of England. Whether Edward 
 was sincere in this offer is extremely doubtful, 
 considering the intense hatred and fear he enter¬ 
 tained towards this, his bitterest enemy. And, 
 perhaps, it is more reasonable to suppose, that he 
 wished to cajole and deceive him, as he had pre¬ 
 viously done to others when placed in similar cir¬ 
 cumstances. For although Wallace, as he might 
 easily conceive, was not so simple as to be thus 
 easily caught; the very fact of the offer having 
 been made, lie imagined would excite anew the 
 suspicions of the nobles and his countrymen 
 against him, and hasten on his final ruin. But 
 whatever the motives were that induced the 
 tyrant thus to act, they all appeared the same, as 
 far as Wallace was concerned. Firmly he had es¬ 
 poused the cause of freedom at the first, and firmly 
 he would maintain it to the last! And although 
 all men should ignore its sacredness, and bow their 
 necks to the yoke of the oppressor, yet would not 
 he thus basely act ! When, therefore, sorely 
 pressed by his friends to accept the tempting offer 
 held out by the king of England, he thus feel¬ 
 ingly remarked : “ 0 ! desolate Scotland, too cre¬ 
 dulous of fair speeches, and not aware of the 
 
366 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 calamities that are coming upon you ! When I 
 was a boy, the priest, my uncle, carefully incul¬ 
 cated upon me this proverb, which I learned and 
 have never forgotten, I tell you a truth—Liberty 
 is the best of things ; my son, never live under 
 any slavish bond. Therefore, I shortly declare, 
 that if all others, the natives of Scotland, should 
 obey the King of England, or were willing to 
 part with the liberty that belongs to them, yet 
 shall not I.” The answer was such as we might 
 have expected from the man, who believed in the 
 truth of the great Greek poet, that “ he who trusts 
 his freedom to a tyrant, from that moment becomes 
 a slave.” And rather than do so, he was willing 
 to be driven, as at the beginning of his brilliant 
 career, to the mountains and forests of his native 
 country, with a few of his faithful friends, and 
 live on the plunder of his sworn enemies, than 
 that he should barter away his own, or the liber¬ 
 ties of his native land, however high the price 
 that might be offered. 
 
 “ ‘Make way for liberty,’ he cried, 
 
 ‘ Make way for liberty,’ and died.” 
 
 Edward, having already secured, as he supposed, 
 the conquest of Scotland by the reduction of Stir¬ 
 ling Castle—the last that resisted his power—and 
 every other strength throughout the country, 
 hastened South to make arrangements for the 
 government of Scotland. But while doing so he 
 learned with bitter regret, that Wallace still con- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 367 
 
 tinued his inexorable foe,—that his late attempts 
 to bribe and cajole him over to his interests had 
 proved worse than useless,—and that all his con¬ 
 quests in the North were truly precarious while 
 he remained at large. He had failed in his last 
 attempt to secure him to his side; but with 
 that inveterate enmity and unshaken persever¬ 
 ance for which he was ever remarkable, he re¬ 
 solved to have recourse to other means, and never 
 to cease, whatever might be the loss of life or 
 of money, till he was hunted down like a wild 
 beast, and devoted to destruction. The means 
 adopted for so doing were anything but creditable 
 to the hujli-souled Plantagenet, as he has been call¬ 
 ed ; and that he should have found instruments 
 among Wallace’s own countrymen for carrying 
 them out, is still more to be deplored ! But so it 
 was, and the king soon found that by means of 
 money, and territory, and titles, and royal smiles, 
 he would be able to accomplish the betrayal and 
 destruction of his most dreaded enemy. Thank 
 God ! this base work was not performed by any 
 of the common people. They would gladly have 
 laid down their lives for him on any occasion, 
 if necessary; but to sell or betray him they 
 would have considered an unpardonable sin ! 
 But the perfidious task was undertaken by some 
 of those who were considered among the nobles 
 of the land, and by the performance of it they 
 have added another indelible stain to their 
 character, in addition to all the rest connected 
 
368 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 with the struggle for Scottish independence, in 
 which they acted throughout a cruelly selfish, 
 shameful, and pusillanimous part! Edward gave 
 strict orders to his captains and governors in Scot¬ 
 land, to be constantly on the alert with the view 
 of endeavoring to secure the person of Wallace, 
 whether dead or alive; while he eagerly sought 
 out, with that deep cunning and policy that 
 belonged to him, any of the Scottish nation that 
 was likely to prove serviceable to him in the 
 matter. It happened at the time that a Scottish 
 knight resided at the English court, of the name 
 of Mowbray, who suddenly rose into great trust 
 and favor with the king. It was doubtless for a 
 consideration. For he was afterwards despatched 
 into Scotland, with all convenient speed, to accom¬ 
 plish a work which few would have envied him 
 in the performance. For this purpose, he was 
 enjoined to take along with him Ralph Haliburton, 
 who some time before this had been taken a 
 prisoner at the siege of Stirling Castle^ and carried 
 to England. We regret to find the name of such 
 a scoundrel associated with the list of the brave 
 defenders of this celebrated place—the real Ther¬ 
 mopylae of Scotland—but so it happened to be. 
 And he purchased his liberty at a costly price, in 
 the betrayal of one whose blood he will never be 
 able to atone for. It happened that this wretched 
 renegade, had been employed previous to the 
 defence of Stirling Castle in the service of Wallace, 
 and had been suffered often to approach near his 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 369 
 
 person, amid the mountains and forests of his 
 native country, when driven by hard necessity to 
 seek for shelter from his persevering foes. And 
 now that he had returned back to Scotland with 
 a bribe in his hand, and thirsting for the blood of 
 his former friend and patriotic leader, his know¬ 
 ledge of his person and retreats would render 
 him a proper agent for executing what few of the 
 English themselves would have wished to under¬ 
 take. There is considerable obscurity involved 
 in the doings of this wretch, with Mowbray his 
 superior, and the English officers, who were for 
 some time banded together, in order to secure the 
 person of this heroic man, whose valuable life was 
 to be sacrificed; who, goaded by the prospect of 
 obtaining great riches, and the favor of a prince 
 who deigned to stoop to the lowest means in 
 order to carry out his nefarious designs, appeared 
 to have watched his movements with the utmost 
 care and circumspection. Sometimes they beset 
 him with a strong body of cavalry, from which 
 it was impossible for any person but himself to 
 effect an escape. Sometimes they pursued him 
 into the midst of the forest, where he less dreaded 
 the attacks and ferocity of the beasts of prey, than 
 the cruel savages who were on his track. The 
 moor, the moss, the rugged mountain, the rocky 
 precipice—each of them in turn became his place 
 of resort—and often afforded him shelter from 
 the pitiless storm, and protection from his enemies, 
 when all other helps seemed to have failed 
 
 Y 
 
370 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 him. For some time Wallace and his faithful 
 adherents had wandered, forlorn and destitute, 
 along the shores of Loch Long, and through 
 the rugged districts of Lome, in the hope of 
 reaching a French vessel, which was represented 
 as having been seen for some time hovering 
 around the coast, with the view of picking 
 them up, and carrying them to France, be¬ 
 yond the reach of their enemies that were bent 
 on their destruction. Although the vessel, how¬ 
 ever, had anchored for some time at a creek in 
 the immediate neighborhood of where they now 
 were, she was obliged to depart before they were 
 able to reach her, lest she should be seized by 
 some of Edward’s crafts, that were everywhere 
 crowding the shores and harbors of the western 
 coast of Scotland, lor fear that Wallace might be 
 allowed to escape. Finding their prospects be¬ 
 coming darker, and their means of subsistance 
 more precarious, they resolved to quit that part 
 of the country; and after suffering an amount of 
 fatigue, cold and hunger, which would have 
 crushed the spirits of all others, they directed 
 their steps inland, and arrived in the neighbor¬ 
 hood of Glasgow, travelling mostly during the 
 night, and seeking concealment during the day. 
 He now imagined he would find himself and his 
 followers in greater security, for he was near the 
 place of his birth, and where, during the earlier 
 part of the history of his successful struggle for 
 the independence of Scotland, he had performed so 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 371 
 
 many daring exploits. Besides, he was now within 
 the shadow of the impregnable fortress of Dun¬ 
 barton Castle, which he had before this committed 
 to the charge of Sir John Monteith, as a reward 
 of his distinguished services in the cause of his 
 country. When he did so, his best historian says 
 he stipulated for the erection of a small house 
 within the fort for himself, (which still bears his 
 name) on account of the great friendship he bore 
 to Monteith, and in order to enjoy his society in 
 which he greatly delighted. But perhaps the 
 principal reason was, that both he and his friends 
 might have a safe asylum afforded them, both from 
 the English and the nobility of Scotland, who 
 bore both towards them and himself an inextin¬ 
 guishable hatred. But whatever were Wallace’s 
 reasons for so doing, it appears from what followed, 
 that the confidence he put in Monteith was 
 entirely misplaced. He now held this strong fort 
 in the interests of the English, and had been 
 bought over to betray Wallace for a large sum of 
 money—along with other villains, who for some 
 time had been on his track. We don’t know 
 exactly what plan they had previously concerted 
 for thus acting ; but there can be no doubt that 
 Monteith was the leading spirit in the bloody 
 confederacy, and his name and rank as a Scottish 
 baron of high standing, must have stimulated the 
 other parties to the perpetration of the deed. 
 Some have excused him for the betrayal of 
 Wallace, from a family feud that arose after the 
 
372 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 battle of Falkirk, and others from the hatred his 
 wife bore him, whose ambition goaded on her 
 husband to the committal of the terrible deed. 
 But by whatever mode he was actuated to the 
 perpetration of the crime, there is no doubt that 
 Monteith discovered Wallace’s retreat through 
 the information of a nephew of his own, who 
 waited upon him at the time, and got most of the 
 money that was set upon the head of the patriot, 
 by the King of England. So soon as his treachery 
 was discovered, and the success that accompanied 
 it, a burst of indignation broke forth against him 
 throughout the length and breadth of the land. 
 Nor was the feeling confined to the common 
 people, but all ranks unanimously shared in it,— 
 not even excepting Wallace’s enemies themselves. 
 And even yet, when centuries have gone by, the 
 name of the betrayer stinks in the nostrils of all 
 who wish well to the interests of Scotland. He 
 has been termed by some writers the Judas 
 Iscariot of that country, and in some respects he 
 bears no small resemblance to one who has im¬ 
 mortalized his name in connexion with a bloody 
 act, that has no equal in the history of the 
 world. Every possible contempt has been heaped 
 upon his memory by contemporary writers, and 
 even those who lived centuries afterwards. 
 “ Cursed be the day of the nativity of John 
 Monteith, says one of them, “may his execrable 
 name be forever blotted from the book of life!” 
 And well does he merit all the maledictions that 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 373 
 
 have been heaped upon him, for he executed the 
 bloody task assigned him, with a coolness and 
 effrontry that few would have done. Learning 
 that Wallace had retired to the woody retreats 
 near Robroyston, a village that lay between Glas¬ 
 gow and Dumbarton, and only accompanied by his 
 faithful attendant Kerlie, who never forsook him 
 in any emergency, he set about his destruction 
 with all possible speed. The hero and his com¬ 
 panion had betaken themselves to sleep in a barn 
 near to the village, and the nephew of Monteith, 
 as he had been previously directed, communicated 
 the tidings to his uncle, who was watching their 
 movements with a select body of sixty cavalry in 
 the neighborhood. Young Monteith had been 
 appointed sentinel at the door of the barn by 
 Wallace himself, who had every confidence in 
 him, and while he was locked in sleep, he 
 cautiously moved his bugle from his neck, and his 
 armor that lay beside him. When he had done 
 so, he quietly opened the door of the building, and 
 two ruffians armed to the teeth rushed into it, and 
 hurrying Kerlie from the barn instantly put him 
 to death. Wallace, roused from his slumber by 
 the noise, started to his feet, and grasping for 
 his armor found it had disappeared. He now be¬ 
 gan to see he had been betrayed ; but resolving 
 to sell his life as dearly as he could, and grasping 
 hold of a large block of wood that had been used 
 as a seat, he struck both of the assailants dead on 
 the spot. Beholding the fury to which he had 
 
374 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 been roused, and the difficulty that they might 
 yet find in securing him alive, Monteith, who had 
 been watching the whole affair from a distance, 
 approached near, taking every precaution to in¬ 
 vest the barn ; for he was to earn everlasting 
 infamy in his activity on this occasion, and for the 
 mean and bloody work in which he was engaged. 
 Writers also inform us that a bright moon shone 
 over the face of nature on that eventful night, 
 and the beams of that luminary helped forward 
 the work of the betrayal that cost Scotland so 
 many tears afterwards! In presenting himself 
 before the hero, with an air of falsehood and pre¬ 
 tended friendship, “ he stated to him that he had 
 followed the English, who had heard of his place 
 of concealment, in order that he might use his in¬ 
 fluence in his behalf. That they had listened to 
 him, in case of an immediate surrender to spare 
 his life : but if such did not take place he would 
 give no guarantee to that effect. Nay more, were 
 his person not immediately rendered up into the 
 hands of those that everywhere surrounded his 
 lonely hut, they were so bent on the execution of 
 their purpose to possess it, that they had resolved 
 to set fire to the building, and he must of neces¬ 
 sity perish in the midst of the flames. There was 
 no possibility of one man, now single-handed and 
 deprived of his armor, being able to resist the 
 armed force that everywhere surrounded him, and 
 it seemed to be the will of Providence, that he 
 should now relinquish the interest in which he 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 375 
 
 had so long hopelessly engaged with numbers 
 vastly superior to his own. If he would give him¬ 
 self up without further resistance, and accompany 
 him as a prisoner to Dunbarton, he would under¬ 
 take for the safe conveyance thither of his person, 
 and proper treatment by the way. Nay more, he 
 should live in his own house in the castle, that 
 he had prepared for himself in case of such an 
 emergency as the present, where his person would 
 be safe, and he alone should be his keeper. The 
 friendship that had so long existed betwixt them 
 was of too sacred a character, as not now to bear 
 fruit when needed, and he would willingly sacri¬ 
 fice his own life in order that his (Wallace’s) 
 might be preserved.” By such false pretences 
 did this cruel and deceitful man now prevail, and 
 Scotland’s champion allowed himself to be de¬ 
 livered up into the hands of the English. Bound 
 hand and foot, he was carried prisoner to Dunbar¬ 
 ton Castle, trusting to the faith and word of a 
 knight, who was formerly his friend and com¬ 
 panion in arms, that when he arrived there he 
 would be treated as he had said. But the cruel 
 governor of the castle lied to Wallace through¬ 
 out, and by so doing brought down upon his head 
 the indignation of all right-thinking men. Re¬ 
 tiring with the price of blood in his hand, into 
 the hidden recesses of the castle, to spend all his 
 ill-gotten gain in the company of his cruel and 
 ambitious wife, he forgot all his former promises 
 solemnly given to his friend, and former compan- 
 
376 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 ion, now completely in the power of his enemy, 
 allowed him to be heavily ironed and cast into a 
 dreary dungeon, and never again saw him in the 
 flesh. 
 
 “ Weep on, weep on, your hour is past. 
 
 Your dream of pride is o’er, 
 
 The fatal chains is round you cast, 
 
 And you are man no more.” 
 
 There he lay without a friend to comfort him, 
 or the light of the day to cheer him in his lonely 
 abode, and in the fortress that he had bravelv 
 wrested from the hands of the English, and 
 handed over to its present false possessor as its 
 guardian, now reserved by him to secure his person 
 from insult and a cruel death. The joyful tidings 
 are communicated to Edward, that his sworn enemy 
 is at last secured, and remains heavily manacled 
 in the strong fortress on the banks of the Clyde, 
 to await his further instructions. The heart of 
 the cruel man rejoiced greatly at the news this, 
 imparted, and preparations on a grand scale were 
 made for conveying Wallace in safety to Eng¬ 
 land, without any further delay. Two of his most 
 powerful barons, Robert de Clifford and Amyer de 
 Yallance, were appointed by the King with a 
 strong escort to take charge of the prisoner, and 
 to bring him with all convenient speed from Dun¬ 
 barton to London. So little confidence did he 
 place in the betrayer of the brave man, who was 
 now in his grasp, that he appeared anxious that 
 he should be as soon as possible, beyond his con- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 377 
 
 trol, as he knew that such a man was little to be 
 trusted. No reference appears to be made to the 
 wretch Monteith afterwards. And the cruel neo-- 
 lect he experienced, the contempt that was heaped 
 upon his person by the friends of Wallace, and 
 even the English—together with the stings of a 
 cruel conscience—must have been a hell to him. 
 It is true his person was securely shut up in one 
 of the strongest fortifications of the countrv, 
 kind nature smiled around him amid a land¬ 
 scape on which his eye from the castle wall 
 could catch some of the wildest, most varied, and 
 beautiful touches of her hand,—but all in vain 
 to make him happy ! His conscience made a coward 
 of him after all! 
 
 “ Whence is that knocking? 
 
 How is’t with me when every noise appals me ? 
 
 What hands are here ? Ha ! they pluck out mine eyes 
 Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash their blood 
 Clean from my hands ? No ; this my hand will rather 
 The multitudinous seas incarnadine, 
 
 Making the green erne red.” 
 
 Every precaution was taken lest Wallace should 
 escape, or be rescued by his friends before he 
 reached the English border. He was taken from 
 the dungeon. The irons were continued on him. 
 He was mounted on a sorry horse, and strictly 
 guarded by a strong body of English on every 
 side, who surrounded him, and who were armed to 
 the teeth, and prepared at any moment for defend¬ 
 ing themselves, and retaining their prisoner in 
 
378 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 case of a sudden attack. The orders given by 
 Edward were to hasten on the victim to the place 
 of his execution at London, and there was no more 
 kindness shewn towards him after this, than to 
 the oxen that are hurried forward to the shambles. 
 While this was to be done, the most unfrequented 
 roads and by-paths were to be chosen for the 
 escort, that their journey through the southern 
 part of Scotland might be undertaken without 
 many becoming acquainted with the fact, that they 
 had passed along. The injunctions thus strictly 
 given were carried out to the letter, and every 
 thing for this time succeeded according to the 
 most sanguine wishes of the English monarch. 
 His victim was within his toils, and his threaten- 
 ings against him were carried out in a manner 
 that shocked the bitter feelings of his own Eng¬ 
 lish subjects, and outraged the sensibilities of 
 right-thinking men, throughout the whole of 
 Europe, where the name of Wallace was known 
 and frequently adverted to, and where his heroic 
 exploits had become the admiration and wonder 
 of every one. However much the secrecy 
 adopted in regard to the betrayal, capture, 
 and conveyance of Edward’s prisoner to the 
 South, it was impossible long to conceal such an 
 important event from the public at large. As 
 soon as it was known therefore in Scotland, it 
 made men everywhere stand aghast! And as 
 this came upon the English suddenly, the news of 
 it spread like wild-fire over the whole country 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 379 
 
 South of the Tweed ; labor of every kind was 
 suspended ; the people flocked for hundreds of 
 miles to the points of the road where it w r as 
 expected the illustrious hero would pass. And if 
 they succeeded in obtaining only a glimpse of his 
 person they were satisfied, and would tell it to 
 their children’s children afterwards, as one of the 
 great events of their lives. At Carlisle the escort 
 halted for a night, and the dungeon in which he 
 was placed in the castle was shewn for ages after, 
 and bore his name. The next day as he was re¬ 
 moved from the castle, and the escort filed away 
 along the streets, the fair city of Carlisle perhaps 
 never before or after presented such a strange and 
 excited appearance. Thousands of people from 
 every part of the country lined the streets, and 
 crowded in to obtain the last sight of the man, 
 whose name for years had carried terror with it 
 into every part of the north of England. And 
 although it was so, and it appeared a moving 
 sight to behold the greatest captain of the age, 
 and the truest patriot driven along amid all the 
 ignominy that it was possible to devise; yet he 
 bore himself with such patience and magnanimity, 
 as to excite the wonder and commiseration of every 
 spectator. But so it was, that though through 
 the cruelty and meanness of Edward, he was 
 thus presented heavily manacled, meanly clad, 
 mounted on the hack of an unsaddled horse, with 
 his feet and limbs tightly tied beneath the belly 
 of the animal, so as fearfully to strain his body, 
 
380 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 and inflict upon it a large amount of pain, lie bore 
 all with such meekness and silent patience, as 
 never to utter a groan or raise a complaint! The 
 multitudes of people of both sexes beheld this, 
 and were struck with the bearing of the hero, 
 forgetful of all his past deeds which had occasioned 
 them so much loss of life and property. And while 
 they beheld his spirit, wonderfully triumphing 
 over such monstrous cruelty, needlessly inflicted 
 on him, they involuntarily prostrated themselves 
 before him, as he passed along, as a token of the 
 homage he begot; and wept as they knelt while 
 they thought of his misfortunes and sufferings. 
 The big and generous heart of this great people 
 was thus drawn out towards one, who had only 
 acted as they would have done, if placed in similar 
 circumstances. And if such feelings prevailed 
 among the English, respecting the cruelties and 
 mockeries needlessly heaped upon the head of one, 
 whose only fault was the great love he bore to 
 his country, we can easily conceive how the heart 
 of Scotland was stirred up with indignation when 
 the report of his betrayal by Monteith, and de¬ 
 livery to the English by false pretences, began to 
 be extensively circulated throughout the country. 
 A universal burst of indignation rose spontane¬ 
 ously against this cruel and unpatriotic man, 
 who had done a deed that would stamp him with 
 ignominy to the latest ages ; and if there was any 
 thing to equal it, it was the malignant feeling 
 that was excited everywhere against the cruel 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 381 
 
 and unmerciful Plantagenet, that was meanwhile 
 treating with such calculating indignity a noble- 
 souled, patriotic, but now, alas, a fallen enemy ! 
 
 “ But the dishonor, the stain, 
 
 Die as we may, will live on.” 
 
 But the calculations of tyrants are often false, 
 and their schemes baffled before carried out. And 
 such was the case in regard to Edward, on this 
 occasion; for all his previous invasions of Scot¬ 
 land, the cruel acts he did, and the large amount 
 of life and property he destroyed never aroused 
 in the hearts of Scotsmen such a universal feeling 
 of hatred and implacable, animosity against him, 
 as his cruel treatment to the brave Wallace now 
 happened to do. “ Henceforth it might be said he 
 had no friend or coadjutor north of the Tweed, or 
 instrument to do his dirty work, but Monteith ; 
 and his bitterest enemies could not have wished 
 him a worse fate than to be thus associated, so long 
 as Scotland is heard of by the sons of men.” 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 •ge crowds of the English people assemble to witness the 
 prisoner as he proceeds southward. Numbers increase 
 as he approached the capital. The party that conducted 
 him spent a whole day in passing along the streets to 
 the Tower. A large procession from it accompanying the 
 prisoner to Westminster Hall. Headed by the Grand 
 Marshall of England and Lord Mayor of the City. 
 Wallace meanly attired, and mounted on a sorry horse, 
 strongly fettered, followed after. Calm and dignified as 
 ever, and excited the compassion of the citizens. Placed 
 before Sir Peter Mallorie, the Lord Chief Justice of Eng 
 land. Accused of many crimes. Wallace made a noble 
 defence. The sentence handed to the Judge by the 
 King, and of the most barbarous character. To be mocked 
 disemboweled, hung, quartered. A Psalter taken from the 
 prisoner during his confinement restored to him at his 
 request. A gift of his mother and highly prized. ' Perused 
 during all his sufferings. Highly prized by many 
 others in similar circumstances. The terrible sentence 
 recorded against him now carried out. Different parts 
 of his body sent to various towns in England, and in 
 Scotland. Intended to strike terror into the minds of 
 the natives of the latter country. Failed in doing so. 
 Looked upon as sacred, and the streets where they were 
 suspended named after the hero. His devotion and 
 unselfishness have conferred upom him a perpetuity of 
 fame superior to that of any of his countrymen. His 
 history has been identified with the different localities of 
 Iris native land. His name has become a household word. 
 Likely to continue so. 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 383 
 
 If the number of English people was large, that 
 crowded into Carlisle to witness Scotland’s hero, 
 now fallen and ruined through his betrayal by an 
 intimate friend, it gradually increased as the 
 cavalcade proceeded along. The news of his capture 
 gathered strength as it moved southward, and the 
 excitement knew no bounds, as it neared the 
 proud Plantagenet capital, on the banks of the 
 Thames. Mighty crowds turned out to gaze on 
 the man, who had not only filled England for 
 many years, but the whole of Europe with his 
 wonderful exploits ; and eager spectators anxiously 
 availed themselves of every elevation and projec¬ 
 tion, where they could have any chance of behold¬ 
 ing his person. So entirely did the streets become 
 blocked up with the dense multitudes of men, 
 women, and children, who in one living mass 
 crowded along, that the escort, after toiling 
 along for a whole day through the streets on its 
 way to the Tower, was compelled at night to stop 
 short, and lodge their prisoner in the hands of a 
 private citizen. Perhaps, however, all this was 
 meant by the cruel, designing Edward for effect, 
 and with the view of exciting the worst passions 
 of the people, previous to the winding up of the 
 bloody drama that was near at land. For, accord¬ 
 ing to Stowe, an English historian, his progress 
 from the Tower to Westminster Hall was a pro¬ 
 cession on a gigantic scale, along the whole way. 
 From Fenchurch street, where he was lodged, the 
 procession was headed by John de Segrave, the 
 
384 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 grand marshal of England. After him came the 
 lord major, the sheriffs, and aldermen of, the city. 
 And then a whole host of the barons and knights 
 of England, magnificently attired, and followed 
 by their retainers,were to be seen pushing forward 
 in the surging mass to see the end. In the midst 
 of the cavalcade was Wallace, designed to give 
 effect to the whole scene ; but whose mean attire, 
 and cruel treatment would continue to reflect ever¬ 
 lasting disgrace in all coming ages on Edward, 
 who was so mean as to be the occasion of both. 
 He was mounted on one of the most sorry horses, 
 that could be procured from any of the poorest 
 of the citizens of his proud capital. Although at the 
 most sultry season of the year, he was bareheaded, 
 and covered in one of the meanest garments that 
 could be put on; while crowds of the train bands and 
 city officers pressed close upon his person, heavily 
 fettered, for the purpose of preventing his e,scape, 
 and as far as they could, endeavored to add every 
 possible indignity to the same. It has even been 
 stated that Edward had large portions of the 
 citizens bribed to insult him as he rode along; 
 but however mean the contrivance, it only redou¬ 
 bled the monarch’s disgrace, and contributed still 
 more to the renown and admiration of the hero. 
 Aware that his fate had been determined on long 
 before his capture, and that nothing awaited him, 
 but death in its most cruel form, he was prepared 
 to meet it with that becoming dignity and 
 unaffected fortitude, which had ever been characte- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 385 
 
 ristic of him. As he gazed on the crowds that 
 pressed upon him, or looked up to the windows or 
 balconies which were filled with the elite of this 
 proud city, as he passed along, he maintained the 
 same dignity of bearing and serenity of counte¬ 
 nance, as the great Roman patriot Regulus did, 
 when placed in similar circumstances, and which 
 drew murmurs of involuntary pity from all who 
 beheld him. They witnessed a man, who had 
 filled the world with his fame for many years past, 
 now entirely in the hands of his enemies, who 
 could have afforded to have treated him in a 
 different way than they happened to do ;• but his 
 heroic bearing, under the terrible load of suffering 
 that now weighed him down so heavily, awaken¬ 
 ed all the sympathies of a brave and generous 
 people in his behalf—while his tall and majestic 
 figure uncrushed by the sufferings it was made to 
 endure, astonished every one who looked upon it. 
 But “ mens conscia recti,” had hitherto sustained 
 him,amid all the meanness of insult to which he was 
 subjected; and although a baptism of blood awaited 
 him, unequalled for its terrible nature in the 
 history of the world, with one solitary exception 
 perhaps, yet the same noble and possessed bearing 
 that marked him out when fighting for the liberties 
 of his country were his, now that he was passing 
 through such deep waters. Nay, the spirit of the 
 hero triumphed so mightily amid all the mon¬ 
 strous cruelties to which a heartless tyrant unne¬ 
 cessarily subjected him, that his place was far 
 
386 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 more to be envied than his, and all the attempts 
 made to disgrace him only afforded additional 
 means for the triumph of his magnanimity, and 
 the further display of his moral heroism. Insults 
 were heaped upon him without number, and 
 attempts were made at ridicule by the parties who 
 intended them to produce an amazing effect 
 against him; but the noble appearance of Wallace, 
 together with his calm and unruffled demeanor, 
 disarmed the whole, and the procession from the 
 Tower to Westminster Judgment Hall, instead of 
 degrading, only tended to raise him in the thoughts 
 of every right-thinking Englishman, when view¬ 
 ing the melancholy circumstances of the whole 
 case. If the day during which Wallace passed 
 through the streets of London, heavily manacled, 
 and followed by such an innumerable host, was 
 one of extraordinary commotion throughout the 
 whole capital, the excitement was none abated, 
 when he was presented as a prisoner at West¬ 
 minster Hall, to pass through a mock trial, at the 
 instance of the fierce Edward, who thirsted keenly 
 for his blood. The scene enacted there was of 
 wonderfully tragic grandeur, and far surpassed 
 any of the kind ever witnessed before or after in 
 that august place, within whose walls many a 
 strange judgment has been passed, deciding the 
 fate of many of the best of the sons of men,—at 
 least so far as their interests in the present world 
 are concerned. Edward, on this occasion, had most 
 studiously caused the hall to be prepared in which 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 387 
 
 the mock trial was to take place, which was to 
 hand down his name with everlasting infamy to 
 coming ages. Everything was done to give an 
 •air of grandeur to the proceedings, so as to elevate 
 the King, and degrade the prisoner in the eyes 
 of the multitude of spectators present. The cour¬ 
 tiers and guards were numerous and splendidly 
 attired; and the puppet judge sworn to adminis¬ 
 ter even-handed justice, ascended the tribunal, 
 decked in all the gorgeous judicial trapping of the 
 day—with the sentence of the death of the illus¬ 
 trious prisoner in his pocket, handed him by the 
 King some time before he was brought to trial. 
 The meanest apparel it was possible to select had 
 been previously put upon him, and now a crown 
 of laurel was placed upon his head, as expressive 
 of mockery ; while the rabble was bribed to spit 
 upon him. How like the mockeries practised upon 
 One of far greater importance many centuries 
 before in another hall, and in another city, where 
 murderous hate and persecution impotently 
 wreaked themselves upon a victim, who yet merci¬ 
 fully forgave and saves many of them, and myriads 
 more in all ages from a terrible doom that inevit¬ 
 ably awaited them ! When all things were ready, 
 Wallace was brought forward and placed at the 
 bar in the manner above described, when the 
 King’s Chief Justice, Sir Peter Mallorie presided, 
 a name that ought to be placed side by side with 
 false Monteith; for, while one was the betrayer 
 of Wallace, the other polluted the fountain of jus- 
 
388 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 tice, and rendered the whole trial a mockery and 
 solemn farce to please the King on this memorable 
 occasion ! “ And, moreover, I saw under the sun 
 
 in the place of judgment, that wickedness was 
 there.” “ William Wallace,” said the Chief Jus¬ 
 tice, “ I impeach thee in the name of Edward, 
 King of England, Scotland and Ireland, the right¬ 
 ful ruler of these realms, as a traitor to his High¬ 
 ness; as having burnt the villages and abbeys 
 belonging to the first two kingdoms; as having 
 stormed the castles, and miserably slain and tor¬ 
 tured the liege subjects of their master, the King. 
 Furthermore, thou hast persistingly continued to 
 bear arms against the King thyself for many 
 years—enticed many more to do so—shedding the 
 blood of multitudes, and imperilled his crown. 
 What say you to these heavy charges against 
 you ?” If the facile eloquence of which the 
 arraigned was a master had served him on many 
 a trying emergency before, it eminently did so on 
 this occasion likewise. His calm composure, his 
 unruffled manner, and his dignified bearing, 
 hushed the court into silence at once, and with 
 the greatest ease he addressed himself to the 
 charges that were preferred. “ I cannot be a 
 traitor,” said he “ to Edward, for I owe him no 
 allegiance ; he is not my sovereign, he never re¬ 
 ceived my homage ; and while life is in this 
 persecuted body he shall never receive it. I bore 
 myself to him, and to his servants in their at¬ 
 tempts to enslave my country, as every freeborn 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 389 
 
 V 
 
 Scotchman was bound to do. I encountered them 
 as usurpers. I chastised them. I slew many of 
 them with mine own arm. And it is my pride 
 and my boast now, when arraigned before the tri¬ 
 bunal from which I neither ask justice nor mercy, 
 that I did so ; and it will cheer and comfort me, 
 when the hour of death is near at hand, and all 
 the tortures of a tyrant prepared to harass and 
 discompose my last moments that ought to be 
 quietly spent in communing with my Maker. To 
 the other points whereof I am accused, I freely 
 confess them all. I have stormed castles, and 
 taken them, when they were the abodes of my 
 country’s foes. I have burned villages of my 
 native land, when at all likely to afford shelter 
 and protection to those that were trying to bring 
 it under a cruel bondage. Abbeys and churches 
 I have rifled and destroyed, and the goods be¬ 
 longing to them that were taken from my country¬ 
 men at the first, and bestowed on Edward’s 
 creatures, who swarmed into the country in the 
 name of ministers of religion, but merely to preach 
 obedience to a foreign master, I have restored ; 
 and if in this case I have used harshness or cruelty 
 towards any of God’s servants, I repent me of my 
 sin ; but it is not of Edward of England I shall 
 ever ask pardon, but shall implore the mercy of 
 Heaven’s Majesty.” Such were the free and manly 
 utterances of Scotland’s patriot noble, when 
 brought in contact with all the terrors of perverted 
 justice; and if Edward and his puppet judge had 
 
39ft 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 previously determined, by their legal proceedings, 
 to crush and humble him, and to excite the anti¬ 
 pathies of the great heart of the English nation 
 against him, they signally failed. For sympathy 
 and admiration only arose at those utterances 
 towards him, and was quickened by the manly 
 defence that he had made in the presence of those 
 that had the power of life and of death in their 
 hands. Nevertheless they delayed not the passing 
 of the atrocious sentence Edward had studiously 
 concocted days before, and which even yet reflects 
 shame and disgrace on him, and his corrupt judge. 
 And it is strange it should have been allowed to 
 be uttered in the hearing of the most wealthy 
 and refined nobility in Europe at the time, as 
 the English undoubtedly were! The sentence 
 ran thus :—“ William Wallace (said the Chief 
 Justice) for treason thou shalt first be dragged 
 upon a hurdle to the place of execution. For 
 robbery and murder thou shalt be there and then 
 hung a certain time by the neck. Because thou 
 hast burnt abbeys and religious houses thou shalt be 
 taken alive from the gibbet, thine intestines torn 
 out and burnt before thee, thy body quartered, and 
 the parts thereof disposed of according to the cle¬ 
 mency of his Majesty King Edward.” The bloody 
 deeds of a Nero or a Caligula, the atrocious judicial 
 murder of the monster Robespiere and his asso¬ 
 ciates, during the time of the reign of terror in 
 France, pale before these terrible utterances of an 
 ermined sycophant, polluting the fountain head of 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 391 
 
 justice ! Moreover, the sentence passed, the chief 
 justice informed the accused, was to be recorded 
 in the books of the august council over which he 
 presided, to witness against him for ever ! To wit¬ 
 ness against him for ever ! No ! it was to witness 
 against himself, and his cruel unfeeling master, 
 whom he cringingly served ; and being still on 
 the statute book unaltered—unerased—it reminds 
 a brave and generous people still of the contend- 
 ings of their noblest son even unto a death of the 
 cruellest character, for liberties thus secured for 
 them ! And the body was to be disposed of accord¬ 
 ing to the clemency of the King ! The clemency 
 of the King ! Ah ! the tender mercies of such a 
 one were cruel! The condemned hero indeed 
 “ died as seldom any of the sons of men died ” ; and 
 that the body should have been quartered and sus¬ 
 pended so long in some of the cities where he had 
 performed several of his heroic exploits, was an 
 insult to the feelings of his countrymen, and to 
 those of the civilized world at the time, instead of 
 a mark of clemency ! The flesh of nearly every 
 one shivered and creeped at listening to a sentence 
 which equalled any in its atrocity, that all the 
 fiends united, in the abodes of darkness, could 
 have ever devised! One man alone in all the 
 agitated assembly, and to whom it most particu¬ 
 larly referred, was but little affected by it—he 
 heeded it not, neither regarded he its consequences; 
 but his contenance, which before this was pale 
 and haggard from the monstrous treatment he had 
 
392 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 received, had begun to be lighted up with a beam 
 of ineffable delight and joyous satisfaction—anti¬ 
 cipating the short period when the turbid dream 
 of life would close, and his weary pilgrimage would 
 terminate for ever. Rising up therefore into his 
 wonted majestic proportions, and lifting his eyes to 
 heaven, he gave utterance to the following brief 
 but expressive prayer : “ Thanks be to the Majesty 
 on High. I am now approaching the close of ray 
 weary journey upon earth—receive me, oh ye 
 angels of light, at the portals of Paradise, and carry 
 me into the bosom of the Martyr who died for me 
 on Calvary.” Such devout aspirations, it is said, 
 disarmed for the time being the stern but unjust 
 judge, who sat upon the bench, of all his cruel 
 severity, and melted the whole of the vast 
 assembly into a copious flood of tears. The 
 trial of sham and cruel mockery was now finished, 
 and the sentence passed upon the heroic prisoner 
 who had been placed at the bar, through treachery 
 and cruel hate, was now to be carried out in all its 
 terrible reality. Discrowned and chained, he was 
 now to be subjected to a mode of suffering which 
 we will be bold to assert has nothing to equal it, 
 and which will bear down the name of the insti¬ 
 gator of it, notwithstanding his warlike exploits, 
 to all future ages with everlasting shame and in¬ 
 famy. The condemned was ordered to be drag¬ 
 ged at the tail of horses from the hall of justice, 
 where the sentence had been passed against him, 
 onward through the streets for a certain distance. 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 393 
 
 Thereafter he was placed on a wretched hurdle, 
 fitted up for the purpose, and surrounded by a 
 strong guard of soldiers, he was dragged to the 
 Elms at Smithfield, where a high gallows was fit¬ 
 ted up for him, near to the place where many 
 afterwards were doomed to suffer like himself, as 
 martyrs of truth. “ Oh ! liberty, what strange 
 things have been done in thy name !” During 
 the whole of this new ordeal through which 
 the patriot-hero passed, he manifested the 
 same spirit he had previously done, and excited, 
 if possible, a deeper interest and admiration 
 in his person than before. Meek and unshrink¬ 
 ing, yet noble and dignified, he maintained 
 the same self-possession, the same undaunt¬ 
 ed behavior, when condemned to die; and now 
 that he felt it to be a solemn reality, in the ter¬ 
 rible insignia of death that were openly exhibit¬ 
 ed before him, he appeared, as he had ever done, 
 calm and serene, and powerfully exhibited in his 
 behalf the feelings of all that were about him. 
 
 Engrossed with spiritual contemplations and the 
 realities of the world unseen, the champion of a 
 nation’s rights forgot the scaffold, the gallows, and 
 the multitudes that gazed upon his person, and 
 earnestly requested of the Earl of Gloucester, who 
 was standing near, to let him have the privilege 
 of a priest, to v T hom he might confess himself, 
 before appearing before the Judge of all the 
 earth, to whom he appealed for mercy and for¬ 
 giveness. Strange to say this was forbidden him 
 
394 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 by Edward, who waited on to see the last of his 
 greatest earthly foe, and to finish up the bloody 
 drama he had planned with such exquisite cruelty. 
 But happily for the honor of good old England 
 in all the days that were to come, there was one 
 present who was far less subservient to the King 
 than Judge Mallorie, and openly rebuked him for 
 entering into a province that did not belong to 
 him. Overhearing with shame the disgraceful 
 refusal of the King, to grant the dying hero his 
 last request, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who 
 stood near the scaffold, and with tearful eye wit¬ 
 nessed the noble victim now to be devoted to de¬ 
 struction, felt indignant at it, and resolved to 
 comply with it, however much it might displease 
 the King. 
 
 “ The church (said this noble and pious prelate) 
 will not suffer any of her penitent children, what¬ 
 soever may be their guilt, or to whatsoever 
 country or kindred they belong, to request the 
 office of a priest in his last moments, and be re¬ 
 fused ; and I myself will officiate, since no other 
 appears so near.” And having thus spoken he 
 ascended the scaffold, approached the condemned 
 patriot with the greatest kindness and respect, 
 and having received his confession forthwith gave 
 him absolution. Thereafter he quitted the scene 
 of blood for ever, proceeded to Westminster, and 
 as one at least of England’s sons, entered a solemn 
 protest against the unheard-of cruelties that were 
 about to follow, and which yet fix a deep stain on 
 the principal instigator of them. 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 395 
 
 During the pause that followed the unhallowed 
 proceedings that went before, the mind of Wallace, 
 calm and unshaken as it had ever been, seemed to 
 have forgotten all injuries and insults offered on all 
 hands, and became largely occupied with objects of 
 much higher moment. Accordingly he turned to 
 Lord Clifford, who stood near by, and earnestly 
 entreated that a psalter, that was removed from 
 his person some time before, should be restored to 
 him. The removal of it had caused him much 
 uneasiness and grief, as it was bequeathed to him 
 when young by his pious and devoted mother, 
 whose great object from the first was to impress 
 upon the mind of her son the sacred precepts this 
 interesting portion of Divine Writ inculcated. 
 And we have no doubt her efforts were crowned 
 with success, for this sacred treasure he ever 
 carried along with him, whether concealed amid 
 the thickets of the forest, or waging a fierce and 
 bloody strife with the enemies of his country. 
 It was amongst the first articles of property he 
 appeared to have owned, and the last he died 
 possessed of, shewing us the great value he put 
 upon it, and how sacred its precepts were to him 
 in this his deep hour of trouble. After the con¬ 
 sideration the archbishop had shewn towards him 
 in regard to confession and absolution, the psalter 
 was returned to its owner, and as his hands were 
 chained, he desired a priest who stood near to 
 hold it up before him, which he kindly consented 
 to do, while he continued to look upon it with 
 
396 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 the deepest feelings of love and affection. And 
 even when he was taken down from the gallows, 
 breathing, and apparently sensible, his eyes con¬ 
 tinued immovably fixed on this sacred trust, as 
 they continued to be long afterwards, when the 
 terrible work of tearing out and burning his in¬ 
 testines before him, was carried out according 
 to the cruel sentence previously passed upon him. 
 
 “ Virtue, valor, nought avail’d 
 With so merciless a foe ; 
 
 When the nerves of heroes fail’d 
 Cowards then could strike a blow.” 
 
 How precious the book of psalms has appeared 
 to all who have studied it carefully, and when 
 placed in trying circumstances ! “ For all good 
 
 necessary to be known, or done, or had this celes¬ 
 tial fountain yieldeth.” Let there be any grief 
 or disease incident into the soul of man, any 
 wound, any sickness named, and in this the're is a 
 treasure house, a present comfortable remedy at 
 all times to be found. Like the paradise of Eden 
 every tree that is pleasant to the sight and 
 good for food, and above all the tree of life in the 
 midst of the garden is to be found. As it was 
 the manual of Wallace, so the book of psalms ap¬ 
 pears to have been the manual of the Son of God 
 when He tabernacled among men; for at the con¬ 
 clusion of His last supper, Lie sung a hymn taken 
 from psalms, as the Jews did on similar occasions. 
 And he expired with part of the psalter on his 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 397 
 
 lips : “ Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” 
 
 The horrid process of embowelling continued till 
 at last his heart broke while enduring untold suf¬ 
 ferings ; and he expired among the hands of his 
 tormentors with all the calmness and passive he¬ 
 roism that one might expect at the hands of so 
 glorious and elevated a character. The powerful 
 arm of the last of the freemen of an ancient 
 people “ was thus unstrung beneath the knife of 
 the executioner,” that Samson-like had performed 
 feats of valor that have few if any equals in ancient 
 or modern times. And that great heartthat felt so 
 intensely over the wrongs of its country, and 
 that never shrunk from danger when its inter¬ 
 ests or liberties were at stake, now ceased to 
 groan and beat amid the perplexing flames of mar¬ 
 tyrdom. His cruel enemies, not satisfied with 
 abusing him while living, even refused him a 
 grave, which the vilest malefactors have generally 
 found after death. They struck off his head, quar¬ 
 tered his body, and placed his head upon London 
 bridge, according to the clemency of the King. 
 They sent his right arm to Newcastle, his left to 
 Berwick, the right leg to Perth, and the left to 
 Aberdeen. Langtoft, the garrulous English his¬ 
 torian, seems quite elevated when recording these 
 great feats of Edward’s policy; for he says : “ they 
 hewed his body into four quarters, which were 
 hung up in four towns as warning to all who, like 
 him, raised their arms against their lord, that the 
 mangled remains would be gazed upon by the Scots, 
 
398 
 
 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 instead of bis banners and gonfannons wbicb they 
 bad once so proudly displayed.” But tbe historian, 
 and bis sovereign were never more mistaken in 
 tbeir heartless calculations, which they happened 
 to make on this occasion, for the blood of Scotland’s 
 bravest son thus wantonly shed became the seed 
 of Scottish liberty, that was soon to spring up and 
 bear abundant fruit. And these limbs and arms 
 of his thus wantonly displayed, instead of strik¬ 
 ing terror into the minds of his countrymen, only 
 filled their hearts with more pity towards him 
 whom they tenderly loved while living, and made 
 them revere and canonize his memory while dead. 
 They looked at them in their mutilated form, and 
 considered them more rich and glorious trophies 
 than the most brilliant banner they had ever car¬ 
 ried before their chief, and the sight of them mad¬ 
 dened them to desperation, and hurried them on to 
 execute vengeance on the tyrant whose deeds of 
 cruelty they would ever execrate. Thousands of 
 his countrymen hurried to the towns where por¬ 
 tions of his body were suspended, and with moist¬ 
 ened eyes looked upon the last remains of one 
 whose memory was sacred ; and the portions of 
 the streets where they hung became hallowed 
 also, and still bear his name. And thus it came 
 about, that this devotion to his country, and un¬ 
 selfishness of spirit, that caused him to sacrifice 
 everything to its freedom, have been repaid a 
 thousand fold, by conferring upon him a perpetuity 
 superior to that enjoyed by any other of his coun- 
 
LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 
 
 399 
 
 try men. The story of his romantic and wonder¬ 
 ful history has become identified with the rocks 
 and mountains of his native Scotland. It has 
 been handed down from father to son for centuries, 
 amid the glens and lonely solitudes of the same; 
 so that the name of Wallace Wight lias become a 
 household word which nothing is likely ever to 
 displace, and bids fair to be as immortal as those 
 rugged and immutable beauties of nature, that re¬ 
 main to mark out the feats of his glorious career. 
 
 “ In many a castle, town and plain, 
 
 Mountain and forest, still remain 
 Fondly cherished spots, which claim 
 The proud distinction of his name.” 
 
 THE END. 
 
NOTE. 
 
 At page 336 (“ Still are the Scots determined to 
 oppose,” &c.,) read: 
 
 “ Thrice happy they beneath their northern skies, 
 Who that worst fear, the fear of death, despise ! 
 
 Hence they no cares for this frail being feel, 
 
 But rush undaunted on the pointed steel, 
 
in > iiiifii l r!* 1 »«§'iS'i , i y . L ' brarfes 
 
 D00228474R 
 
 v , : y> ^j'J y* 
 
 /V.SfW*"'’"''*. I