John D. Carrick

“ Often, from an eminence, Edward could distinguish the lofty plume of the Scottish leader, as he dashed forward to charge some isolated corps of the English army; and while he beheld the enthusiasm with which his conduct inspired his followers, and saw the disorder of his own soldiers, hurrying to gain the protection of the main body, his heart misgave him as to the stability of his conquest, while Scotland contained a man whose appearance alone was capable of inspiring his friends with so much confidence, and his enemies with so much dread. ”

“ Though the Kings of Scotland repeatedly did homage to the Kings of England, for the lands they held in that country, it was no more than what the latter submitted to do to those of France. When the English, therefore, strove, by such insidious measures, to entrap the inexperience of the Scottish Kings, and to encroach on the independence of their crown, it engendered among those who had the honour of their country at heart, a bitterness of spirit, which, as the attempts were persevered in, settled down to a deep-rooted and inextinguishable animosity. ”

“ Besides, were you even successful, to your utmost wish, in expelling the English from our country, do you believe that so powerful, so ambitious a prince as Edward, one who is considered the most accomplished warrior of his age, would allow the laurels to be torn from his brow by the son of an obscure Scottish laird? Would not the whole force of his mighty kingdom, assisted, if necessary, by his foreign auxiliaries and181 vassals, be poured upon our devoted country? Would not the inhuman butcheries which were witnessed at Berwick be again renewed in all our cities? ”

“ English writers have lamented, with eloquence and pathos, the cruelties exercised in this invasion; and from their silence respecting the atrocities of their own countrymen, have endeavoured to fix the stain of exclusive barbarity on the arms of Scotland. This is all natural enough, and quite consistent with that national prejudice by which the people of every country are more or less imbued; but it is painfully mortifying, when we find Scotchmen of acknowledged talent and penetration forgetting what is due to themselves and to their country ”

“ Elated, first by the conquest of Wales, and afterwards by that of Scotland, Edward had already begun to stretch forth the iron road of oppression over the legitimate subjects of his own native kingdom; and, trusting to the assistance he should receive from the barons of his newly acquired conquests, who, he might naturally suppose would not be found reluctant to act as instruments in holding their late conquerors in subjection, he assumed, towards the nobles of England, an air of haughty superiority that awakened their jealousy, and alarmed their fears. ”

“ The ancient writers prove incontestably, that Sir John de Menteth, a Scottish baron, who had served along with and under Wallace against the English, deserted his country, swore homage to Edward, and employed a servant of Wallace to betray his master into his hands; that he seized him in bed, and delivered him to Edward, by whom he was instantly tried, condemned, and hanged. It was natural that the voice of popular tradition should continue from century to century, to execrate the memory of such a man. ”

“ In these juvenile bickerings, too unimportant to attract the attention of those in authority, Wallace had frequent opportunities of displaying that dexterity and strength, with which Nature had so amply endowed him. In him, his companions found united all the qualifications they could desire in a leader—a head to devise, and a hand to execute, the most daring enterprises—a fertile imagination ever teeming with stratagems—and a prudence and foresight which provided against all contingencies ”

“ As for you, who, in place of exerting your talents to turn the tide of battle in your country’s favour, choose rather to live a slave, if with safety to your life and fortune,49 than free, with the hazard of losing the latter, you may remain in possession of what you so much value, while the hollow praises of our enemies may blind you to the enormity of your conduct; but remember, my lord, they whom you are thus aiding to bind the yoke of slavery on the necks of your countrymen, will not long consider that conduct praise-worthy in you, which they would condemn as infamous in themselves ”

“ The treason of Siward did not consist in delivering the castle, according to agreement, but in making that agreement. There is enough in the fact of his consenting to surrender one of the strongest and most commanding fortresses in the country, in so short a time, to warrant the charge they have made against him. That the Scots nobles were ignorant of the terms, is evident from their flying to it, after the battle, as to a place of safety, which they would not have done, had they known that they were instantly to be delivered over in chains to the mercy of the enemy. ”

“ The numerous and independent parties and chieftains who rose in different counties—the silent satisfaction with which they were contemplated by the Bishop of Glasgow and the High Steward—their determination to collect them into one body, and to give them one common direction—their declaring themselves the assertors of Scottish independence—their summons to the different leaders to rally round them, and the prompt obedience of this summons by Wallace, Douglas, and the rest—are facts created by the ingenuity of the historian. ”

“ It is rather singular, that when John became the liegeman of the See of Rome, and, with the consent of his barons, surrendered the “KINGDOMS OF ENGLAND AND IRELAND TO BE HELD OF THE POPE IN FEE, FOR A THOUSAND MERKS,” that he should have tricked his Holiness out of THE KINGDOM OF SCOTLAND. Surely the example of Ananias was lost on the English monarch, when he thus trifled with the church, and kept back a third of his kingdoms. Dr Lingard does not inform his readers how the watchful guardian of “the Patrimony of St Peter” came to wink at so gross an imposition. ”

“ Left to their own conjectures, their heated imaginations peopled the impenetrable recesses of the woods with swarms of fierce and merciless enemies, headed by a chief against whose sword the strongest of their armour afforded but a feeble protection.
While the Scots were thus engaged, their leader received advice that a strong convoy was on its way from England for the supply of the garrison of Ayr, under the command of Fenwick, the person who headed the attack so fatal to Sir Malcolm Wallace. Roused by the hopes of avenging the death of his father, our hero determined to way-lay the party. ”

“ The spectacle which was now exhibited to the gaze of the inhabitants of the metropolis of England, was such as perhaps has never before been presented to the populace of any land. The LAST FREEMAN of an ANCIENT PEOPLE, not less renowned for their bravery, than for their love of independence, stood a calm and unshrinking victim, ready to be immolated at the shrine of despotism. ”

“ See’st thou the nobility, formerly venerable throughout Christendom, vilified by aliens, in their own native country? I therefore charge thee, by the name of Christ to stand up like a man for the honor of God and his church, and the redemption of thy country, associating thyself to that valiant, noble, and prudent person, Guy, Earl of Warwick, when it shall be most proper to discourse of the public affairs of the kingdom, who is so judicious in counsel, and mature in judgment. ”

“ An army so numerous as that we have mentioned, no subsequent monarch of that kingdom ever had it in his power to bring into the field. On the death of Alexander III. the prosperity of Scotland became eclipsed—anarchy overspread the land—the machiavelism of her arch-enemy prevailed—her ancient glory was trampled in the dust—and commerce deserted a country overrun with the horrors of war. ”

“ Thus, after a lapse of ages, the root of that oak which had preserved the houseless patriot when outlawed by the enemies of his country, has, by a strange vicissitude, been transplanted to the personal possession of the legitimate descendant of that race of kings for whose right he so nobly contended, and whose beloved representative now wields a sceptre over a countless accumulation of subjects, and a dominion from which the sun may be said never to withdraw his light. ”

“ In an age when the Minstrel’s profession was a passport to the presence and protection of the great, and the persons of those who exercised the calling were held sacred even among tribes the least removed from barbarism, the mind must have reached a fearful state of depravity, that could break through those barriers with which the gratitude and veneration of mankind had surrounded the children of genius, and thus immolate at the shrine of an heartless despotism, the innocent and meritorious depositories of a nation’s lore. ”

“ After a victory achieved in the face of difficulties so formidable; with what feelings must the hero of Stirling Bridge and the Scottish aristocracy have regarded each other! The mighty force of him whom they had acknowledged as their Lord Paramount, was now broken and dispersed before the superior valour and steadiness of one whom they had so rashly abandoned. In the rich harvest of laurels which had been acquired, they had excluded themselves from all participation ”

“ To an aristocracy, at that time perhaps unrivalled in Europe, and headed by a monarch as distinguished for ambition, sternness of purpose, and warlike propensities, as he was notorious for the absence of those virtues which constitute the redeeming traits in the character of a soldier—the magnanimous patriot had at first little to oppose, save the innate energies of his own invincible heart, and the resources of a genius which Heaven seems peculiarly to have fitted for the task. ”

“ As the enemy advanced, Wallace, mounted on the horse of Moreland, kept in front of them, and rode, with so much sang froid, occasionally looking over his shoulder, that an uninterested spectator might have supposed he was rather leading the English party on, than watching for a favourable opportunity of attacking them, while the terror of his name prevented any of them from moving from their ranks. They had thus contrived to follow the retreating Scots for some time, when Graystock ordered a movement, by which he imagined he would be able to surround Wallace and his little band. ”

“ The Scottish army, by the prudence of its leader, had hitherto been kept as it were invisible from the enemy, who were only aware of its existence, by the desolation with which it surrounded them; and the excellent generalship of Wallace was now to all appearance about to be crowned with its usual success, when his plans were rendered abortive by the treachery of his pretended adherents. ”