o >f* - IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) /. h ^v 7a 1.0 S:"^ IM I.I 11.25 m m 12.2 :^ i^ 12.0 JA IIIIII.6 # <9^ ^I o / /A CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical Notes / Notes techniques Th po The Institute has attempted to obtain the best L'institut a microfiimi le meilleur exemplaire of fill original copy available for filming. Physical qu'il lui a At6 possible de se procurer. Certains features of this copy which may alter any of the dAfauts susceptibles de nuire A la quality de la images in the reproduction are checked below. reproduction sont notte ci-dessous. Th 1 — Coloured covers/ Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur or ap Couvertures de couleur 1 — Coloured maps/ Coloured plates/ Planches en couleur Th filr Cartes g6ographiques en couleur ins M Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ J Show through/ ^ Transparence Pages d^coiordes. tachetdes ou piqu6es M( in 1 — Tight binding (may cause Shadows or up bo distortion along interior margin)/ Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes fol Reliure serr6 (peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long da la marge intdrieure) .. ^ ," ', '■ ■"■,'■■'■' ■'■■->' \ ■■ ■ Additional comments/ - . .,.,''■__■-■ Commentaires suppidmentaires Bibliographic Notes / Notes bibliographiques Only edition available/ Pagination incorrect/ — 1 Erreurs de pagination Seule Edition disponible 1 — Bound with other material/ 1 Pages missing/ Des pages manquent Reli6 avec d'autres documents 1 — Cover title missing/ Maps missing/ — 1 Des cartes g6ographiques manquent Le titre de couverture manque Plates missing/ Des planches manquent Additional comments/ \ , ^" ' / ■,..)' ; ' ■ '■ Commentaires suppiimentaires The images appearing here are the best quaiity possibie considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in iceeping with the filming contract specifications. The last recorded frame on each micrcfiche shall contain the symbol — ► (meaning CONTINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. The original copy was borrowed from, and filmed with, the Icind consent of the following institution: National Library of Canada Maps or plates too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les images suivantes ont 4tA reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet* de rexemplaire fiimi. et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la der- nlAre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols ~^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole y signifie "FIN". L'exemplaire fiimA fut reproduit grAce d la g6n6rosit6 de I'itablissement prAteur suivant : Bibliothdque nationale du Canada Les cartes ou les planches trop^randes pour dtra reproduites en un seul cliche sont film6es d partir de I'angle sup6rieure gauche, de gauche d droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la m6thode : 1 2 3 4 6 6 T '^7" STRAY LEAVES FBOX SCOTCH AND ENGLISH HISTORY, WITH THE LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE, Scotland's fAXRior, J^ero, and J'olitical ^Iartyr. BY THE EEV. CHAELES GOEDON GLASS, A.M., Latb Principal of Woodstock Colleob, graduate of thk Univkbbitt OF Aberdeen, Alumnus of the University of St. Andrews, AND Honorary Member of its Literary Society, author of a Treatise on Education, &o. PRINTED BY JOHN LOVELL, 23 AND 25 ST. NICHOLAS STREET. 1873. &5 800 Entered according to Act of Parliament, in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy- three, by the Rev. CnAULKa Gordon Glass. M.A., in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture of the Dominion of Canada. sJ 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 tlie 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 creHit to yourself anc 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. ■ a 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. 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 on 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 vouths of both countries, and their descendants in the Colonies, may, therefore, claim 8 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 ' lay the proud usurpers low ' is one which stirs hi& 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 j 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 t'-ied, 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." '■■'i CHAPTER I. The Scotch people claim for their proujenitors 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 Eoman 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 . I 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 applied to the early Christians in Caledonia. Their efforts extended to Ireland through Patrick, one of their number. Ilis great success there, and the light of the Gospel reflected back to Scotland, and extended to \ England. Its effects destroyed there by the invasicms 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. If! m w ' 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 be little doubt but these traditions are largely verified by history. 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 hard}'^ 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 Icng, although at terrible odds, and repose them- selves amid their native glens and mountains, around whose summits the stormy mist and winter 14 STRAr LEAVES. H 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 w arriors "dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and which with its great iron teeth had devoured and broken in pieces the nations of the earth ;" and 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 cf the world when reaching the borders of this sterile country approached the goal of their victories for ever, and left it tjie 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 ("ralgachus sustained by Agricola at the foot of th mpians, 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 16 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 Pharoahs, 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 vaior 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 STRAF LEAVES. II i! 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 3an accjunt 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 \^ith 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 Druid ism 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 the 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 Culdee 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, hijtory alone can testify, when it records the fact, that by the middle of the third century the truths of the 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 eflfects 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 in 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 lona, 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. I P hasten anxiously to thy shores from the East and from the West, for if there is a spot of earth that appeals 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 lona, 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 lona, 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 lona. 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 festnesses of Wales, where their pure and simple religion flourished for ages afterwards. an 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. Romans 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 com])romi8e the independency of the rest of the Kingdom, as William and his successors had to do the same in regard to their STRAY LEAVES. m 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 Richard 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 Picts, 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 happ3^ 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 Picts 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 Picts was dropped, and Kenneth Mc- Alpine, the last of the Scottish kings, in virtue of his being the nearest heir to the Pictish throne, ascended it, while he held possession of his own at the same time, and gave to the wliole 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- archs, and the members of their families, from 30 STRAY LEAVES. f i i I I I t:;, 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 anim.osities 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 ; 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 W^iW^f^'M 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 lie 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 Picts and Scots, who 32 STRAY LEAVES. i I ii| % .;i!'' 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 Picts 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 hounds of the seven States were constantly changing, and it was impossihle for the arms of any of its kings to be 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 Picts 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 tl' IV ,1 li ii" 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 Tynmoutli, and continued their ravages along the coast till defeated by him at Cornwall. But after this, though often repulsed, they became the terror and dreai 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 fovorite 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. 85 scri- sol- oints hief- jived ;bild- with was , and rass- with lilf of ited des- rchs |terly )r of Ire so [ad to le in- vasions of the fierce and rcmorHeless enemies nbove referred to, who so frequently visited their shores with such disastrous consequences. Durinj^ 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 conc^uered 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 bow 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. ■i the Saxons took place in the north of Enghmd. 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 contem. plated 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 Enghind tliemselves 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 ou 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, fil 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 IV., 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 tnan his brother, felt irritated that Scotland should have been robbed 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 irom his own private means ; but to dispose of rights that were sacredly vested in the Estates of the kingdom was altogether beyond his control. Besides it is questionable, whether conditions thus extorted from him while 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 win glory on the plains of Palestine, and cause the enemies of Christianity to tremble i 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 accomplisliments in the liner 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 Avas difficult afterwards to remove; and feuds and dissensions were engendered, which required cen- STB AY 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 cou]itry, and shedding the blood of its brave inhabitants, shewed how much he disap- proved of his conduct ; iind was alike honorablo 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 I ii !' 42 STRAF 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, STRAT 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. ti Necessary to nkctch the life of Edward of England. No monarch whoso life is so little known or understood by 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 tirst 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 j'etreats. Llewellyn 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. 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 lip 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 nuisehas 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 tiie 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. '1 ! 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. 41 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 were 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 li 48 S*rRAY 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 : ** Ellin 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." Ill STRAY LEAVES. 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- > 60 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 mont' 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. 61 when so much happiness and misery depended on the lite 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, and confusion and 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. ill ' 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 thi trust that a confiding people had generously reposed in him. But gratitude for past favors was no characteristic of Edward's, and his- tory afifords 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. S8 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, wiUi the nation's consent, 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 countrj^ 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, liad 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. I! ■\^ 'I I. 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 at Norham, 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 tctgether 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 Hi<2;h 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 ^'- I V .! ' 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 hfAuds 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 bi«hop 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, aud 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 I { If r 58 STRAY LEAVES. r- his 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 country in four pieces and deposited the fragments in the English treasury ; STRAY LEAVES. 59 and when he had once more sworn fealty to hi,s Lord Paramount, the puppet kiuj^ 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 heen 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. I 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 oflf 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. 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 inhabits 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. I ■ ' i ! CHAPTER IV. ♦ Wallace's blrth-placo and parentage. Of Norman extraction. His projL^enitors po8wibly came to Scotland about the time of Henry the First of England, and appear as witnesses in the signing of lloyai cliarterw 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 taithfuUy performed their duties. Eemoved to the Seminary at Dundee, and there ])roperly instructed. The Seminaries attached to the churches up to the requirements of the times. The oj)po- site opinion often entertained. While hero 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 EngUsh soldiers. Through insults oilcred, 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 miwle 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 secui'ity. William Wallace was born at EUerslie, near Paisley, in the County of Renfrew, Scotland, on LIFE OF STR WTLIJAM WALLACE. 63 the 5th day of August, 1270. He wastlio necond son of Sir Malcolm Wallace of Ellerslie, and his mother was daughter of Sir Reginald Craw lord, sherifT of Ayr. Although not descended of one of the greatest and richest families of the country his progenitors were nevertheless respectahle 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 rfFK OF HIH WJIJIAM WALrAr/H. f ! of KiigliHli N<)nniu» kniglilH Hoiifjjlit for inililnry (liHtiiuMion iiiultM' tlio hivniMMM of t)i(' Kiii^; ot' SootliHul, jumI jis Ji rowanl lur IIumi* H(»rviM, Imi^;o tracts oT land wiTo asHi^iuMl to iminv <>1' llwiii nordi i>r llu» TwiH'd. In tluH way, in all liko- liluxnl, tho lirHt of tlu» WallavoH mado IIhmt Hppraranci'. For ont* of (liiMn tnrns u|) an wKni'HH- ing to a oharliM' to Iho AbNoyol' Mclroso, granted by iho King, in I TJS, and strangle to nay, thirty years altorwards hisson. Kichard Walla(V,a|>|>(M\rH in tho same connection, when the Lord High Steward of ScotlantI granted a charter of the sanu kind to tlie Ahh(»N'ot' Paisley ; which marks ont the I'aniily oi Walhuu* at. this early period as men of high trust ami religions hearing. The same ]iowerl*ul haron gaye the Wallace tjimily a lariiv lirant ot* land in the district ol' Kyle, of which KiUerslie formed a ])art, so that at the time of the hirth of onr hero. Sir Malcolm Wallace, his father, was one of the most powerful of the lesser barons to be t\)und in the western part of Scot- land. But although descended of a Norman Englisli stock, he \yas a true Scotchman and patriot in all his feelings. He beheld with distress the woetul condition to which his country had ft' lK>en reduced, through the ^yrongs and the cruel- ties intiicted 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 sAvear fealty to Edward, he died fighting manfully by his father's side for the liber- S ■4 ■A IJFH O/r S!lf WTLfJA^I WAf,f,Af'K. 0ft ti<'H of Ihm comitry. 'PIi'ih ni('lnu(^lioly cirriim- Htnn<'(» (ook pliico while WiHiniii WcIIiun' wn,H ji mere cliild, wliicli llircvv him (Mitin»lv on the euro of hin tiiolhcr, ii, woimiiior Hiri}j!;iihir hrMiiily, ^fcnt, rcHohilioii 1111(1 iinlcnt piety inixcd up with lu^roif! €ourMg«Hiinl torvont pill riot iHin. She proved that plic WMH worthy of Hiich n, hou, niid thoiireHHed upon ITiM mind iin ardent desin? lor ever Hpeakin^ tho trill h, and iirlin^i; on lioneHi convictiofiH in what- <»ver circiniiHlanceM h(^ nii^dil. hc^ |)la(!ed. A\, the HMiiie time hIk^ ever wi.shed him to cln^riHh nri nrdeni love lor the memorieM of Ihe Ixdoved oik^h wlio had heen ho nitlil(!HHly nliiin, and who had freely devoted their liven to the nervicc of their <;oiuitry. So much, indeed, were thcHe fcolin^H on«i;ravcn from th(^ lirnt on an otlu^rwiHo ardent arid sennitive heart. Unit at the time thc^y were only be}i;iiiiiiiijLi; to iiianifeHt thiuiiHelveH in ordinary youths of the Hiime iii^e, and at this trying period of their country's hintory, they Inid hocome stronii; as death in the hoHom of our hero. lie brooded liiceHHantly over the de<^radation of his €omitry, and also over liis 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 E 6d LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. death. After the death of his father, Walhice appears to have become an object of suspicion to the English, and to have been driven from liis paternal home and everything he there esteemed dear, to avoid their suspicions; and after spending vsome years in secrecy in diiferent parts of the country with his motlier, he was phiced 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 i)laces 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 w^hose banks freemen till now had ever trod, they seemed to whisper in the ears of the youth that Scotland nught 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 nevertlle- LIFE OF SIR WILTJAM WALLACE. 07 -ii' lo»s a geiitlcnican and a scholar, and knew the education that was necessary for his nephew in that !ige of heroic daring. Whether he had any idea at this time of the future greatness of his youthful relative, history does not inform us, hut 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 he expected to he 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 heing a line 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 hoth sides, he often deeply hewailed the degraded state of his country in his presence, and caused him to commit to memory those suhlime 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 moth(*.r. This village was situated in the Carse of Gowrie, 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 ^s cultivated throughout like a garden, and being separated on the north from Strathmore e8 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. ^ f k by a beautiful ridj!;e of undubiting bills, and bouuilod on tbo soutb by tbo Tiiy, tlio largOHt river in Scoibind, it ailbrds a, picture of rural repose and unassuniini^: b)velines8 tbat can bardlvbe found in any otber portion of tliis fair ear tli. After staying for some time at tins [)bice Walhice was removed by bis friends to tlie town of Dundee, to complete bis studies so well begun witb liis uncle. Even at tbistime Dundee was a place of considerable trade and importance, and now in point of population and manufactures ranks as tbe tbird town in Scotland. Its barbor is tbe finest on tbe east coast of Scot- land, and in tbe manufacture of jute and some otber fabrics it outstrips all otber places. Its in- babitauts bave always been remarkable for tbeir patriotism, intelligence, and liberal sentiments; and in tbe defence of tbe civil aiid religious rigbts of tboir country bave stood in tbe front ranks. Perhaps, tbis spirit was early infused into tbeir minds from tbe fact tluit Scotland's patriot resided at tbe outset amongst tbem, and bere commenced bis struggle for tbe liberation of bis country. Wben be came to Dundee be was placed in tbe seminary attacbed to tbe catbedral of tbe place ; but bow long be continued to pursue his studies in it we bave no means of determining, owing to tbe confusion of tbe times tbat followed and tbe des- truction of all its records. It appears, however, from bis after history tbat be must bave remained aconsiderable time there, and prosecuted his studies witb perseverance and success. For wben be ap- TJFl': OF SIR WIIJJAM WALLACE. r,9 penrcMl on the public stage of lile, he wti8 in no way (ieficient in any of tliose natural or ac(iuired qualities that would fit liini for becoming a great lejider of the pe()[)le. This and other circumstances shewed tliat he lijul largely profited by the in- structions of the learned and pious monks who directed his studies, and that they cjirefuliy ibl- lowed up what had been connnunicated to him previously by his aftectionjite inicle and devoted mother. We are not one of those that run down the religion and teachings of the past because they were conhned entirely to the Catholic Chinx^h, or believe that she acted throughout on the motto, that ignorance was the mother of devotion. The educational institutions throughout the country attached to numy of the al)beys and cathedrals were then thoroughly ecpiipped, onducted by the best educated men of the age,ana up to the re([uirements of the times. The instructions thev delivered were largely impregnated with a religious and moral charjicter id never dissociated fi'om 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 dilferent from the secular edu- cation now in vogue among many of our leading ! i I 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 be 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 wdtli our hero for libertv when the chances for ob* \ininf!; 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 Inchaftray, a high dignitary of the Church, ought never to be forgotten, but to kindle a glow of LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. VI affection in the breasts of bis countrymen wbere- ever tbey 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, lie 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 Avhich Blind Harry appears to have been largely indebted 72 LIFE OF SIR W ILLFAM WALLACE. U for many of the facts he lias 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 fre(|uently to meet together to mourn over the degradation of their country, and divscuss the most probable means of liberating it from its terrible state of thraldom. In order ta 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 vv^ere of a differ- ent character. We need only refer to one of LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. •78 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 del)ate, to write essays and to declaim. And this gave inception to tlie " Edinburgh Review," the parent of all pe- riodical literature in modern times. It so(m 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 (juestions 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 be 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 occui)ied 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- u LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. lish, and defended many of their countrymen from positive loss, wanton assault and danger like- wise. In their exploits, as the reader might expect, Wallace was 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 tha* when any work was undertaken they began to feel assured it would be successfully performed, what- ever difficulties might occur ; for what prudence and foresight could devise, dexterity and strength could accomplish, all of these qualities he wonder- fully possessed. In this manner — which is gene- rally the case — what 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 towards 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, w^ien 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 ie LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. I expected, was tlirown into a wild paroxysm of grief and rage at the conduct of Wallace, and the unexpected death of his son. lie 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 sufiering, 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 V. s Motherly affection a principle strong and aliidinij. Powcr- fnily manifested itself in the breast of the mother of Niehol the poet, and likewise in that of Wallace's mother. Communicated with liim while hid from the Kn^Iish, and arran«;ed a pilgi-imai>;e to the shrine of 8t. i^Iar- gai'ct's, Dumfries, then a favorite resort from Scotland and Knu!;h\nd. After this, Wallace turns np in Clydes- dale, where his adventurous exploits bei'an to attract notice. Began to draw around him a chosen band of youths who were animateil 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 wlio were oppressing them. Found 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 tirst, 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 timeAVallace had grown up to manhood, and possessed every quality that would entitle him to be considered by his followers a great leader. His confidence in his Creator gieat 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 w LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. II ■ I I' ' (lan;:(cr and warding it off. A kocn oyo also and remark- ably retentive memory, llin physical ])Owers were extraordinary, and greater than those allotted to most of the Hons of men. Description of them by Jolin of Tordun. His eloquence easy and natural. Predicted })y Thonms the Ilhynier as the future deliverer of his country. Already the shrewd soer beheld an uneasy feeling throughout tlio country and a storm near at liand, and Wallace the most likely person to i)ilot tlio vessel of the State through it. Edward had left the country, as he supposed, completely subdued, but the work bad not 3'et begun. When tp*ants 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. ta If toil-worn and weary, at the dying chamber of her p,ifted son before the taper of life had expired, and aflorded 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 longtime 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 Avhile, when her serious apprehensions of his safety were removed, she opened communications with him, and urged upon him the necessity of removing as ftir 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 I I i if I, 1 ;| 1 1 1 11 HI ^ « ^' P ' l« mA _^ii 80 LIFE OF STR W/LLIArd WALLACE. lineal descendant of the last of the Saxon mon- archs, 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 |^ .^-formed. 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 to to mt day, the more intelligent portion of the inhabit- ants of this portion of the country are still a])le 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 ('Cgun. 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 [)refer 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 libert}^ and his ani- mosity against his oppressors into one deep and (i ! 82 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. I i * ! If \\ ' 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 Atliole 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 efibrts 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, which 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]; 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 oddH 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 tlesh 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 indicted 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. 86 hood ; for through the former vice he hud 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 coidd 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 w** 86 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. i „ 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. 8*7 accomplislied 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, wliicli 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 wos 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 miglit have been easily seen what a terrible storm this would raise all over the king- dom, for although the greater barons were bribed and sold, and silenced, the work of subjection was not half begun j for many of the lesser ones and 88 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. It! n ii 1 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 1 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 89 ■i from the first, on account of these things, and also for the remarkable judgment his plans disi)layed, 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. I nature and turbulence of character were toned down, and he became thoroughly acquainted with their habits, actions and trustv/orthiness, 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 t 1 ^? these tilings 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 difterent 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 Avas 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 sa. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I II.25 ^1^ 11^ S US 1110 U. Ill 1.6 V :1>^ :\ \ V 6^ . LIFE OF SIR WILLfAil WALLACE. 171 m jiloiig. Sir Nicl, {iftor imicli cure Jiiid circumspec- tion, succeeded in reacliin^' in sai'ety this high- land retreat, Ironi whii^h it would be no easy task to dispossess either him or his I'aithrul Ibl- lowers. And not only so, but he was now able to watch in security the tardy and perilous prcjgress of McFaydon and his troops, already suflering 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 creoped along singly without being able to cover their advance, they afforded a proper nnirk for the missiles that came pouring in upon them from all qnarters. Many whyq thus sorely galled and dis- couraged ; many were wounded ; and many more were struck dead. And while they rolled dow^n to the bottom of the deep and eddying abyss below, they tilled the hearts of those that were to follow after wdth 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 inunediate help. The ear of Wallace was ever open to the cry of any of his afflicted and down-trodden countrymen ; -w^ III 112 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLAChl. 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 inlluence 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 liis 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 conqilement 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- iy0 ■>; LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 173 lives and inducinp^ them to attach theiuHelvcs to tlie fortunes of the patriots. They accepted as their guides the l)rave Duncan of Lome and his faitliful servant Micliael, than whom there were none hetter acquainted with the rufxged and in- tricate paths of tlie hi^hhvnds, 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 foUow up the game amid its most dangerous caves and retreats, in which exciting work Michael excelled, that were safe guides in such unfrequented phices. After being led through gorges, forests, and by- paths which would have appeared perilous and |)erplexing to a single stranger, and much more so to a large armed force, they ascended a high mountain, which was accomplislied with the ut- most toil and trou] lie, for the path here was hardly discerna])le, and tlie weary foot-soldiers began to Hag, became dispirited and fell into disorder. Such trying marches are often more dillicult to be borne by armed troops than a sharp encounter with the enemy. As their leader was, however, at their head, and had been sulmiitting to every privation which the meanest soldier had endured, he called a halt and wcs 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 1'74 jJFE OF SIR WILJJAM WALLACE. I I'! . i' tlie smiie power Avitli tlie kind feelings of a friend, for he addressed tliem in tluit faeile elo(|iiGnce wliiclt in more trying emergencies bad 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 serioii s dam- age ourselves, but can do them little burt in re- turn. It is necessnry we sliould 1)e up with them as soon as possible, for if they hear of our approach the}' may choose a plain wlierc tlieirnuml)ers will give them advantage. To t)revent this 1 will go forward with those thfit are aljle, and leave the rest to folloAv." In this short Ijut 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 cons})icuous, he infused new ardor into the l)reasts of all his followers of every rank; and after halt- ino' for some time and recruitinu' their stren^tb, the jxencral feelinii' of all was how to march for- ward, show themselves worthy of such a leader, and fight or die in the defence of the lijjerties of their country. The descent from the mountain having been achieved; the forces landed in Glen Dochart, a lonely spot, sleeping in the mid^^t of its unconscious beauty, surrounded on every side by iiiountain barriers which guarded it like so many laithful sentinels on every hand. They noAV l)egan to feel they were ai^proaching near the scene where a conllict was inevitable, for here a ■ 1 LIFE OF SIR WIIJJAM WALLACF. ITS scout uK't tlioin from Sir Nit'lCamphell iiifonnino; tbeiii of the i'act that the WMry cliiol' had already retired with liis three hundred uien iuto tlie strou^- mountain tort, described above, and tluit McFa)- don with all his Ibrce was hard in pursuit of him. Wallace having received the inlormation necessary with repj'ard to the eneiuy, and the disposition of the force under his command, lost no time in fol- lowin_;z' him up in order that he nuglit assail him before he had received any notice of bis approach, and cut him ofl' if j)ossible before he could choose a plain for his battle ground, wluu'e his superior force Avould have given him a better advantage over his ()])ponents. The ground becoming iui- passilde for cavalry, it was decided to letive them behind and proceed on foot in a (luietaud ex])edi- tious way, and by wo doing they would sur[)rise the lariic force a^'ainst whom they had to contend and cut them olf 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 au advantage. The plau was executed with great ability, for as McFaydon's spy had been killed, he had no iiccount of the near approach of AYallace and his followers, aud conse([iiently the Irish chief with his forces w'ere talvcn by surprise, and in a situation where llight 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 nuinage the broadsw^ord better than most 17G 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 long time it was doubtful on Avhich 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 resisi, and which decided the fate of the day. A terrible panic, as well as slaughter, iu)W commenced, for it became known among the Irish troops that Wallace was leading on the Scots, and they now gave way and fied, to be cut to pieces by their pursuers. Multi- tudes of them w^ere thrown over the rocks into the gulf below. Others of them cast themselves >i! I LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 177 re fore, I con- is Ibl- tiicked uongst ) bend niglity to the le Irish f their fought I which .n. The d fury, hich of accord- liercest iiy. eel, tid- niade a all his ^ii sup- it of his decided as well became ace was A'ay and Multi- ks into niselves s 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 light 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, eftected 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, drao-ji-ino: 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. 178 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. I: % " For northern freedom, cried my sons, combine j Dread not your foe, the land of hills is mine. The hill-born heroes freedom's flag unfurled, And checked his progress in the north-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 tribeiB. 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. i ■-'IT ' i CHAPTER X. Hitherto the contcndini^s of the Scottish patriots overlooked by (he lOngiish. Wiilhice himself considered as the leader of banditti, rather than a general. The terrible work at Ayr, and the extinction of the J\lcFaydon force, waked them up to the serious state of atfuirs. Edward, altliough in Flanders, became uneasy. Dead or alive, was bound to secure AVallace. An important accession to the Scottish patriots in the person of Robert Bruce, grandson to the competitor for the Scottisli 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. AVhen asseml)led the English force amounted to forty thousand foot and three thousand cavalry. Passing through Annandale, invested Loch- M;d)en Castle, one of the most imposing and strongest fortitications in the south of Scotland. The })i'incipal 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 ontended for the mastery. Sir Richard 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- li 1 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 181 looked as the errible <'aydon art'uirb. Dead portant Robert :5C'ottiHh west of ■all forth usli out \\ force housand (I Loch- iroiigest riucipal .'cs were a body ito con- n build- He. The 'rom the forward d in the mastery, ilh all his example, he with- 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 indigiumtl}' 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, de8tro3'ed the residence and carried away the horses of Bishop Wishart. Afterwards advanced towards the north, and went to Aberdeen. Took Forfar, Kin- cardine and Dunottor 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 wore 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 ovedooked 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 4 iif ' • F H 182 LIFU 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, but rather make it a hunting field than allow it to be 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 (IB HI ^ ^ 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 nortli 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 eff'ectually, 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 ! ! If? I '-in '1 I i I 'if ' i^j , III , " iij ! ; I 184 Z//'£' OF SIR WILL/AM WALLACE. prevent their vassals from joining tlie insurgents. Tlie 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, w^hen 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 fi.t- 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 i LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 185 3nts> le to icate -y to t De brce* forty rhich [\ the with imaii- Loch- no-est as the Bruce, into a Lmpos- & vast of the moun- n sum- is in ays fit- kvonder bd time d com- iudden- ho had its, and when to the 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 ma,de 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 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 ^1^ U£ US 1^ III 2.2 I.I 1.25 1.4 1.6 ^4 I i ;i n f 186 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. \i! li 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 i n i H 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 them 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 his 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, how » iter bed up rer 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 LIFK OF SfR WILLIAM WALLACE. hupponed tosbaro the largest in it; for the Hteward of Scotland and Earl of Lennox, who, although allioH of the king of England, wer« all the while intriguing with Wallace, stood at a diHtance during the time of the battle, and never Htruck a blow ; but 80 soon as the Knglish army was defeated, the traitors threw olf the mask, and leading a party of their fellows, began to kill and plunder their flying unfortunate confederates. Such conduct would have iKJcn 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 tlie battle was immense, besides tliose 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 nuich sympathy among his country- men. " For he," say^ 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, LltE OF SIR WIJJJAM WALLACE 215 amid all diHcoiiragementH, to a.ssist and uphold the liberties of his country when the cloudrt were dark and nearly all had forsaken the jjjood eauso. But alas! when the dream had vrjilshed and the sha- dows of the ])ast had lied away, the noble spirit, who had toiled so hard, and bled and sull'ered to secure liberty to others, did not live to share in its blessings himself. " lie labored and others entered into his labors." It is true the valor and noble exjdoits 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 : '• Typo of a rnco wlio hIiuU tlio invaclor scorn, As rocks resist (ho billows roiiD'i iho shore, • • ^fyp^' of a I'jice who shall to time .mborn, Their country leave uncoiupiorod as of yore I" 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. Eetired 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 dm'ing 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 ; but 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 r 218 LIFE OF SIR }MLUAM WALLACE. Dunbar, he 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. Thus 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 IJ ji 220 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. QXiy 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 Walhice 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 parti zan 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 OP SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. I his life, he 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 ; Typo of a race who shall to time unborn. Its country leave uncompicrcd 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 j 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. \i 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 b afore in the spoils of other nations. After being fully prepared for the ex- pedition, the Scottish array 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 laild," 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. 22» 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 array be- gan to feel the little chance that would be pie- 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. I at least childhood, and female weakness, from falling a prey to a blood-thirsty soldiery. Still, we must make large allowance for the cruel 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 It was about the thirty-first of October, rear. >> 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 ed ied tne of Ind of •ed ihe ler, Ind tve of 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 j 7T 25S liFK orsfff mrjj.i^WAKKArE. iiuportani ]>orlif tho Hot\\ivnn. lunl (ornuMl (ho kov iVomllm north of Kni>li\H(l to tho soiithrrn i\\u\ wpsti'rn parts ot' Sootl'uul. Whon the Si'ottiHJi iiriny ap)>n>uoho(1 near tho city, tbov (1os]>(itcluHl apriopt as tlioironvoy and donnnuloii an instunt purronder of tlio \)\[wx\ " My ni!\stor. stiys lusviz: — ^Wil- \\i\n\ iho (\>nq\UM'or. bids yon. if yon ro^nrd yonr own livos !\nd nro nnxions {o sparo tluMHlnsion of Mth von and it/' To this l>o]d rc(picst an ccpjjilly hohl n^ply was returned hy tlic hrnvo citizens. ** Hetnrn whence von came, sav thev. (\,m\ tell vonr ninstcr that if he is eager to pos!ine as a conrageoiis conqueror, nnd storm the wallsand make hiiUvself unisttM'of the citv antl c^\stle with all their einUents." This was not a mere en\pty detiance that ws\s made, unaccom- panied by deeds; (ov instantly the walls were manned bv a larsre muster oC some of the finest tivops in l\ngl!vnd, with a formidable array of several o( the best constructed engines that the times oimld aflord. which were prepared to throw missiles to a gi*eat dist;incc npon any force who might have the haixlihood to appiH^ach near the walls. Wallace's army was totally improvided with any battering engines, or weajHrns of attack, and even if the seige had been successful it would l.lfK Dir SIH WILLIAM WALLACPl. as0 Imvc (i(»tninp(l them ioo long in a coimfry Aiir- rouiulod l»y oiHMiiioH, Mild at n vury unf ivoriihU^ tiirio of (lio vojir. Ih^ iM'linMl ilMMclon^ from (JniljHlo, and lol't the iKMiiitil'id riiy willioiit an attvinpt to hrciH^li the wmIIh, iinprcBHcd with th(^ highr'Ht reRpeet lor Mie attiludt; nnHnined l»y tin? inlm!.»i- tants of the i)la(}e, who cniwded aJI of th<«rn, father and Hon, hiiHhand nnd hrother to the rnnipartP. IA)r they were renolved to Hpend the hiHt dro|) of their hlood in its defence, rather than allow itH gates to he Ihnig open, nnd its wmIIh U) bo Mealed by crnel I'oeH who Inid everywlnjro left behind them nnmlHtnkabh; traees of crnelty and bloodshed. Leaving (Jjirlinle they ])}iHMed throngh Ingli^wood IA)reHt, rnvnging th(» whole eonntrv throngh whi<'h they pnHned. They eoni- milted the name erneltieH they had done in Nor- thuinl»erhind ; and a whole generation puHHed away before (Jnmberland recovered from tlie wild deedH of a, licentiouH Holdiisry, jxnjM^trnted in a dintrict of eonntry, whiM'e natiU'eabonndH in every Ibrm of grandeur and lovelineHH, and where Home of the linent peasantry of Europe were to be found. '* Yon naked waHte Hiirvoy, Whoro lato whh hoard tlio flnfo'H molliflnoim lay ; Wlioro late tho rony hoHomnd Iioupb, 111 looHo array daiiccid li/i^hily o'or the floworH ; Whore hite tho Hhoplionl told \m tender tale, Tho voiee of cheerful labor tilled the dale ; * How Hadly 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 MFE OF StR Wn,LlAy[ W.iCDiOB. 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 II \\ 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 robhed 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 2M LfFK OF SfR WffJJAM WALLACE, I S ■ form a circle round the altnr and say masH, and afterwards when lie retired iVoni l)ev()nd the sacred precincts of the chapel, he put some of the more viident and sacriligious of the soUliers to death, whiU> at the same time lie ordered the timid n\o!\ks to renuiin beside him. " For," says he, "soldiers are an evil race" and I dare not restrain them/* At the same tinu> 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 grit-f and sorrow to the good pious king David the First >\ hen 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 w^cre their fiivorite pastimes. If CHAPTER XIII. Wallnoo rolnniod rrom lln^laiid, ntnl ^Indly iwoivod Iwk. Hnvcd Ills country from fiiminn. 1 1 in prniHOH on tho lipH (d' nil, oxcopt llio nobU^H. (iroaf. oppoHition Htill to moot with. Moans roqiiired to enaldo iiitn io do ho. Proclaimed rcgont at Fon»Ht-kirl{. HovornI of fhe nobility pi'OHinit, Imt. aH a body oppoHod it. It iriHidtod tlicir f(Midnl prido wlion Wallace was (dcvatod to that bi/i;li poHition. Tbo appoinlmont afl'onbtd rrnudi satis- laetion to tJio people. Appli(*d liiniHelf at the oiitBot to tho redroHH of ^I'ievanceH. liiHtalbvi in oiHcoH of trust many of those who had fought with him. l(e-organi/,o(J tho army. System now and complete. The nobloB opposeil this also, and several of tho bnrgh(M'8 in tho larger cities. Tho attention of tho governor next directed to tho internal state of tho country. Tho trallic of Scotland with foreign nations largo before Edward invaded it. Nearly annihilated after tho dos" truction of Herwick. Tho object of tho governor to bring baxdc tho commerce to its former channel. Adf)pted and carried out froo trade principles. Opened up com- municiitionH with the Flemings and tho liaiiso towns of (Jermany. Wetitovor to Flanders liimself and addressed a letter to tho froo towns of Hamburg and LuboC' Ijatoly discovered in tho library of Hamburg. Its genuineness not disputed. Goods of all kinds began to bo imported into the seaport towns of Scotland ; and tho country to recovei* from tho otl'octs of war. Tho praises of the i-egent high in Franco and Germany, and over all Europe. Had his regency been long continued tho Scottish nation would havo boon great. Otherwise ordered by Providence. 2nn LIFE OF SIR WlLhlAM WALLACK. The rotiirn of Walliioo fVom Ku^;lund with Iuh viotoriouH army wjih hailod with (ho f!;rea,(cHt HutiHraction bv all parties in tlio oonnminity, with the cxooption of tho nobility. And vvidl itn)i}!;ht be so, for he had lirHt saved the kinp;d()ni from oppression and slavery ; and then preserved the lives of its inhabitants from famine and death during one of the severest winters of whieh we have any aeconnt. Still, like another Cineinnatua, our hero returned from the desolating work that had artbrded riches to nuiny of his eountrymen, poor as he had ever been himself, but rich in fame, and rejoicing in the salvation of his country. Well might his praises be soumletl throughout the hind, and his popuhirity become greater than that of any one that luid gone before him ! For although those that possessed wealth and power had remained indiiferent 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 " 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 wTath and heart burnings among the craven nobles who had long lost sight of everything but their own in- LIFE OF SIR wrUJAM WAhLACK. 237 teroHtM — juid tluit liis prniHOH, wliirli woro licnilded every wln^ro nbroad, nm^ like ho many Hlini^ing rc]>n)iiclieH jip;niuHt tlieniHelveH, wliowcire novvliere to bo loiiiid when duty called tlnMri loudly to defend the snored rightn that, luid been tramphid in the duHt. These prjiises will continue to he reitenited hereafter by every lover of liberty; and the battles he fought, the victories he achieved and the triumphs he won will remain starjding memorinls of the seUislineHs, su{)ineness, and slug- gish indifVerenco of the nobility of the country, who stood aloof when called upon to defend its freedom, when it was in danger of })eing lost to them and to others in all succeeding generations " YoH, in thai /^(iru^rons (lauHo forovor Hiron/L?. Tlio pal riot's virtuo and tlio pool's song Htill, as tho lido oCa^oH roll away, Shall cJiarni tho world unconHciouH of decay I" 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 afibrded 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 conductc ' "-nself in his elevated station with all the ^■' and prudence with which it was posg jr him to do ; yei, 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, 11 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 EUerslie 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. !;! 'I ' IJ interest of those whom they considered beneath them. It insulted to a great extent their feudal pride, and hurt the feelings in which they had been educated, when Wallace, whom they considered so much below them, was elevated to be governor of Scotland. Besides all this, they 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 ihe 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 filler", 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 the 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, !1 i 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 coKceived 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 ancl 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 hia 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 ■m 242 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. gruntod in 1 21^S,wln»^]i wjih nn lioiior that fow would have bocMi oonsidorod worthy oriiolding citlior be- fore or alitor him. Other sitiiations t)rreHj)oiiHihility were ansigned to many otliers of hiw more desi^'v- iiig adherentH, who had braved the battle strife w^ith himself, and secured for themMelves, and their country, the priviU»gea of freedom and inde- pendence. By tliene and other wise arrange- ments lie inaugurated, and enforced mcawures which, while they secured the liberty of his country, and advanced the interests of his friiMids, punishcvl, deprCwSsed and weakened his enemies the nobles, who looked upon him with jealousy and hatred, and waited t'or an opportunity to be- tray and ruin him. Some of the tirst 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 ])l;\ccd Scotlaiul at the head of all the nations of V'urope, for the completeness of its military eq\iipment. One of the greatest diihculties 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. i«it M LTFE OF SIR WILILAM WALLACE, 243 m oiia if* thoir capricious mjiHterH thought fit that such ou<^ht to he the case. And the coiiHeciuciice was that the military power of the kingdom was con- centrated in tlie hands of a few, wlio often used it for suhverting, instead of iiphohling its rights, and thus the most fatal elfects foHowed. And still it was a subject most dillicidt 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 recjuired 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 bcmt interests of the country. lie 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 divisi(ms 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 ibrth in its service ! But the efibrts 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 the its 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- I 246 LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. If 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 measure s 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 eftect 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 ii! 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 info 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 suftered so much would have begun to feel that they were free, happy and con- tented. " Merrily every bosom boundeth, merrily, Oh I When the song of freedom soundeth, merrily, Oh I There the warrior's arm sheds more splendor, There the maiden's charms shine more tender, Every joy the land surroundoth, merrily, oh ! merrily, oh !" 1 248 LIFH OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. By such measures, adopted with such ability by the .Scottish Regent, as might have been expected, Lis power and popuhirity 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 liim as one of the greatest statCHUien that had appeared for "\any years in any country in Europe. At home the couunon 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 jneld 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, Vs LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 249 Is and that lie 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 hisbirtli. 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 obej^ed 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 r 1 li li ' i. i ■ i :■ ,lll 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 Christenflom 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. 261 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. >i»i not permitted to be so, and although through the selfishness and pride of a few, the wise IdgisUitive 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 th.-.t 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 bis being elected i I LIFE OF STR WILLIAM WALLACE. 253 ;s governor, could have been able to exercise any control over a large body of such solfiwh 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 arras would have never been able to crush him, nor subdue the people under him. Within a short time after he was appointed 264 LIFE OF SIR WJLLIAM WALLACE. f 1 I ■'■! ! if 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 Caesar, 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 f 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 tliis 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 ag 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 hopo »fas ever before him, and the love and liberty of his country consumed him. -m CHAPTER XIV. The rebellion in Scothuul irealed for a while with indiffer- ence. The buttle ofSlirlinfjj convinced the icin^ of the real ntjite of ailairn. Urged npon the Eetcentof Kni^land in his abnence to call a parliament. When asHcnibled, thedillicuKies of coUectlnu^an army increased. ]5arons refu^*etl to bring together their vaHsuln except the Great Chartern were ratified. King at last consented to do so. Addresseci letters from Flanders to the nobles to meet the Ilegent at York, iti January. Congregated in largo numbers. Leading nobility present. Jlesolved to meet at Newcastle soon after. Many of them obeyed his call. A splendid army collected also for marching into Scotland. When at Eoxburg, Surrey received notice from the king to suspend o])erations. Soon resolved to be at the hejul of the army himself. Landed afterwards at Santlwich. 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. Jle did not do so. Proceeded soon after into England with a considerable fore nd oU'ered to light Edward. Itefused to accept the challenge, and retreated South. Scots returned home and annihilated De Vallanco's division, l^klward once more collected an ai*my and entered Scotland. The king of England while in Flanders, treated the accounts from Scotland of the success of Wallace for so^e time with indifference, and imagined the country so completely subdued as LIFE OF SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 257 inotico vcd to wards mti; of ;ot'ond ed in )bility I Hoon flcrcd c, and liilatod itcd an leated iss of and id as to render any attempt at insurrection of little inoinent. When the newH, 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 aft'airs. 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 !^jondon, 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, n eared in the streets of London with thousands of retainers, accused the king of breach of promise, and demanded that the '* 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 hira, 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 the 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 rebsllion 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 tigly dto ons, and put htry, uiry, Icom- juisli Iking In all was I soon 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 be free ! Prone to the dust /oppression shall be hurled, Her name, her nature withered fj-om the world." Edward likewise forwarded letters to Scotland to many of the nobilit}^, 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 t e ranks of those that 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. i i 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 Avrong 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 Sill WILLIAM WALLACE. 261 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 Enghmd. 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 Jfefer 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 Nortli 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 liim there he thought the safest course for him to adopt, was to assume command of the forces destined for vScothmd himself. Big, therefore, as usual witli schemes of conquest, and burning with i< venge towards a people that had even dared, in spite of all liis 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 P'landers with- out any further delay. The ileet 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 tM|iial in number, and c(iuipmcnt to any that ever trod the Hoil of England, wan soon gathered together. To accomplish this desirable object he sunnnoned 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 tlie 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 Edwiird'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 (he said) to indemnify his countrymen for the many and cruel losses they had sustained, at the hands of his 2^4 IIFK OF aiK WIlllAM WMI^AVK. sul>j(M*\\\i- \\\\\i\ \\\x\\'\\\ in |>iM'H)n. iMMvonlil ^iNeliininn nnnwiM' l\o\v Imv ho wonlil ho |M(^HMrotl to Huhniil !<» hin authority. Tlio notivi* and horoio p,oviMnnr (tf S<^»th\n«l (li«l not ntoan to h^mkI iMnply thi'oiitfl to tln^ Isnulisli nionnn^h, l»nt lolh>wotl MilwMrd's ntop- HOnutM' with m11 pONsihh^ h|h^>(1. n( Iho licnd nf a oonsidoral^lo jomy. into Mnjiland. Ih* cmhio np with tin* lonM^s of liis o]>non(M«t>s on (h(» twontioth of March. \vhi«'h \\\\ onrMn\|)*Ml nom* Stnnni(tr(\ iti tluM\>unty ot' Wostnioroland. Allhonpji th<' Isng- lisli toroos woro tar sujuM-ior [y> liis in nnnd»or. and oon\niandod l>v tho kinu' in iHMN'^on. ho was hy no moans atVaid to nnnM thoni ; tor his arniy was n\a(U* n|> of liis \ ottMan t'ollowors, who jjad soat- torod and ihH'oatoi^ tln^r ononiios on nianv nn invasion ]>ot\)ro. 'I'hc troops avhani'od till within a tow hundred yards oT oao.h othor, and I'ully o\]HVti\i an ongagoniont. 'V\w v>oots woro in hii»li S]urits anti oai>vr for tho oi>ntliot. whilo Wallaoo hinisoltM(H>kod forward with sonio d(\u;roo of |)rido t<> moot laoo to faoo. and t<> nioasuro swords with tho king i>{ Kuiihnui. whos<^ fanio as a warrior had oxtcndod thriMiiihout Vluropo. and Asia also. Edward, howovor. was too wilv to ho takon unawaros, or to tiiiht whoro tho issues in any way wouhl ]>rino douhttul. And aft or hoholding with admiration tho a]>po;\ranoo and splonditl disoiplino o^ t])0 Soi^ttish troops, ho rotroatod southward with his whole army, witliout striking a hlow. This shewed the liiiht in whieh the character of t.lFK OF Sfff W It^ltAM WMJ.ACIi}. 2(^h tlio Kog'Mil nC S(M»lIinr«l wiih virvvcjl by ofn' who wn» HO wril cnpnliN' ol" jii(lj«iiig of it. Ami IIkto wiiM. prohnld V, nn inim nlivo, \\i limm» ni- nlii(»n(l, wliniii lln' Kiifilisli inoimrcli drriidcd sn mmkIi, or ln'IniM' wlmin Im» wniild Imvc rcl r('nl<'(l, nlllioii^h [\\ \\\v Ik'ikI nl' II, inrm'ulnlth' nrmy, himI in liis o\vr» connlrv, WliiN' hldwiird wmh iilVnid In iimU ji Imlllo willi tlu' ScntH, cniiHidcrin^ nil llic rirciiin- HtinuTH of (iio cMHc, tlu« |{«'^iit tlit^ H<:n.t ol' tlio wnr waH once more t(» h(» IranHlerrcd to Scothind, wIhto the Rei2;ent and liis troops wojild Hoon hav