John D. Carrick

“ If we perish in doing so, we perish in doing what is right; and that God, who made us free men, will avert the scenes you dread, if we show ourselves worthy of his gift. If, on the contrary,182 we basely surrender what we only hold in trust for our children, the galling yoke of slavery will be a just retribution for defrauding them of their sacred inheritance. As to the proposal, come from whom it may, you can acquaint them, that the destruction of a single enemy of my country’s independence affords me more pleasure than all the wealth which our proud oppressor has it in his power to bestow. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ Having talents and ambition he allied himself to the enemies of his country, and, like other mushrooms, throve amid the rankness of that corruption with which he had surrounded himself. A wretch that had risen by oppressing and assisting to bind the necks of his free-born countrymen to the yoke of slavery, was a very fit instrument to employ in forwarding the views of Edward in the subjugation of Scotland. ”

“ 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 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ His front was defended by a castle, which commanded the only approach by which he could be assailed; while his rear was protected by the Awe, a deep and rapid river, running out of a loch of the same name. The almost perpendicular barrier of rocks which lined the side of the Awe—down which, as has already been mentioned, Sir Niel and his party had to make their way, before they could place the river between them and their pursuers—was of such a nature, that a man could not get on without the assistance of his hands, to prevent him from slipping down into the deep and eddying abyss below ”

“ It is a matter of notoriety, that about this time, Edward and his nobles were not on the best of terms. Having now, as he thought, in addition to Wales, insured the subjection and obedience of Scotland, and remembering the facility with which, by the aid of 30,000 Scots lent him by Alexander III., he overawed and suppressed the Earl of Gloucester and those who took part with him; he began to assume towards the English nobility an imperious and haughty demeanour, which both alarmed their fears and excited their jealousy. ”

“ Sixteen of the English had fallen beneath the swords of the Scots; but when Wallace came in contact with Sir James Butler, the conflict was of short duration. The old veteran was no match for the young patriot; and on seeing their chief fall beneath the arm of his adversary, the rout of the English became general. The disordered rabble fled in terror towards Kincleven, from the battlements of which their discomfiture had been observed; and those within hastened to let down the drawbridge to receive and shelter their flying countrymen. ”

“ On being dragged headlong to the street, after a stern reproof for his cowardly conduct, the trembling victim instantly received the reward due to his villany. The alarm now spread, and the garrison soon engaged with Wallace and his party; but deeply incensed at the late disgusting act of barbarity, the people of Lanark rose en masse against their oppressors, who, unable to stand their ground, were soon overpowered, and driven with great slaughter from the town. ”

“ The day of retribution had arrived;—the butcheries of Berwick, the carnage of Dunbar, with a long list of national234 indignities and personal sufferings had now to be atoned for. Conscious of the provocation which had roused to frenzy the vengeance of an infuriated people, Warren turned with dismay from the scene of havoc, leaving twenty thousand of his soldiers to manure the fields of those they had so lately oppressed. Cressingham, the most detested of all the tools of Edward, was among the number of the slain;—and when Wallace came up, a party were employed in flaying the body. ”

“ The conflict continued for two hours, with unexampled fury on both sides. Multitudes of the Irish were forced over the rocks into the gulf below. Many threw themselves into the water to escape the swords of the Scots; while various bands of Highlanders, stationed among the rocks, sent down showers of stones and arrows where the enemy appeared most obstinate in the strife. Wallace, armed with a steel mace, at the head of his veterans, now made a charge, which decided the fate of the day. ”

“ It was plate-armour and highly polished. The sons of the awl, however, had a taste of their own in such matters, and took the liberty of painting it in oil, of a colour more to their fancy. But on being returned in this altered condition, it was thrown aside by the indignant proprietor. All that they pretend to show in the Castle of Dumbarton, as having belonged to Wallace, is a sword of a very antique fashion, intended to be used with both hands, but by no means of a weight that would prevent men of ordinary strength of the present day from wielding it. ”

“ The talents, strength, and dexterity of the young outlaw, soon attracted to his fortunes a number of reckless and intrepid spirits, inclined alike from habit and from circumstances, to prefer a life of savage and unrestrained liberty, to the uncertain and degrading protection of those, who, though wearing the mask of friendship, were daily wounding their feelings, by their encroachments on the independence of their country. ”

“ Wallace heard of the infamous proceeding, and determined on severe retaliation. Selecting fifty of his confederates, he hastened to the spot, and being joined by a number of the retainers of the murdered gentlemen, they surrounded the buildings where the English were cantoned, and who, indulging in fancied security arising from the terror which they imagined the late severity was likely to impress upon the Scots, had, after a deep carousal, betaken themselves to rest, little dreaming of the vengeance that awaited them. ”

“ Adam Wallace, the promising heir of Riccardtoun,65 had the good fortune to come in contact with the leader of the English; and, after an obstinate engagement, the intrepid Bowmond fell beneath the hand of the youthful Scot. Deprived of their leaders, the English now fled in the utmost confusion, leaving one hundred of their companions on the field. The Scots pursued them only so far as to make their victory certain; and, returning to the spoil, found their labours amply rewarded. ”

“ The destruction of Berwick, and the discomfiture at Dunbar, laid Scotland prostrate at the feet of her invader, who marched triumphantly through the kingdom, receiving the homage of the terrified chieftains, and placing garrisons in the deserted fortresses; while churchmen of all grades, Earls, Barons, Knights and Esquires, hastened to avert his displeasure, by taking the oath of allegiance, and renouncing the French alliance. ”

“ William, it would seem, had been abroad in the fields, with a slender escort of sixty horse; and, mistaking the English for a detachment of his own troops, he was too far advanced to retire, before he became sensible of his danger. “Now it will be seen who are true knights,” said the intrepid monarch, and instantly charged the enemy. His efforts, however, were unavailing; he was soon overpowered, and, along with his companions, made prisoner.
The chivalry of Yorkshire thus secured for their monarch a valuable prize. ”

“ In the whole sixty-eight miles, which form the circuit of Loch-Awe, there is not a spot where these circumstances could have existed except in the Pass of Brandir. On no part of the shore is there a pass of the nature and difficulty implied in Blind Harry’s notices of MacPhadian’s embarrassment except there. Neither is there any part of the lake which could be interposed between two bodies of men, and yet rendered evadable by a bridge, except the arm which terminates in the river Awe. ”

“ Blind Harry, and other ancient authors, invariably designate him as of Ireland. It is highly probable that he was one of those self-expatriated Irish noblemen, whose love of liberty induced them to seek, in foreign countries, what they could no longer hope for at home. Whatever his birth may have been, he appears to have come to Scotland at an early period, perhaps in the reign of Alexander III., and seems, from his being occasionally employed as a guide in the expeditions of Wallace, to have had such a knowledge of the country, as could only be acquired by a long residence in it. ”

“ One day, having visited Ayr in disguise, his attention was attracted by a crowd collected near the quarters of the military. In the midst of a circle of his own countrymen, there stood an Englishman of huge dimensions, playing off his raillery against the Scots, and offering, for a groat, an opportunity of avenging any injury they might have received from the English, by permitting the best among them to exert their utmost strength in striking a blow upon his back with a pole which he held in his hand ”

“ The battle, however, still continued to rage with unabated fury on both sides;—the English, eager to revenge the slaughter of their countrymen, and the Scots, frantic with the wrongs they had already sustained, determined to conquer or die on the spot. ”