Wallace the Guerilla

William Wallace was the son of Sir Malcolm Wallace, the Laird of Elderslie, which is now a district of Paisley. At one time in his youth he lived with his uncle who was a cleric at Cambuskenneth Abbey outside Stirling. He grew up to be a fine strong land over 6ft tall, a giant among men in those times. A a second son with no land of his own, he was possibly rather wild, with a fiery temper which he was later to vent on the English. It was in Dundee that the first recorded afray took place between Wallace and Selby, the son of the English constable of Dundee Castle. It is quite likely that this event took place in December 1291. Furious at his taunts, Wallace stuck his dirk into Selby's heart and escaped into he crowd on onlookers.

Cambuskenneth Abbey, where Wallace lived as a boy

There were to be other tales of his becoming embroiled with Englishmen, and singel-handedly despatching several at a time. His reputation as an anti-English firebrand attracted a small band of like-minded men with whom he lived a will-o'-the wisp life in the South West of the country. Eventually at Louden Hill in the Irvine Valley he ambushed Fenwick, the Kninght who had killed his father. It is said that although Wallace only had 50 men against 200 soldiers, Fenwick was killed and the English scattered, leaving 100 dead altogether, along with a large number of useful armour, weapons and horses. Wallace was subsequently declared an outlaw; this is thought to have happened around the time of Balliol's humiliating defeat by Edward in 1296.

		After Loudoun, Wallace and his compatriots retreaed into Etterick Forest, a large and impenetrable area without roads in which no army would dare move nor cvalry scouts enter. On its pheriphery were the towns of Selkirk, Moffat and Lanark, and it was in the latter that Wallace secretly courted Marion Baraidfute, a beautful young heiress. They may have been married in St kentigern's, the now ruined parish church, but her is no proof of that, nor that she bore him a daughter. What is known is that the Sheriff of Lanark, Hazelrig, had had her brother put to death. To avenge him, Wallace stole into town with some comrades and, after killing about 50 English soldiers, hid in Marion's house before fleeing back to the safety of the forest. Hazelrig, having failed to capture Wallace, executed the innocent Marion instead 'to deny Wallace of the woman he truely loved'. It was probably the biggest mistae any sheriff made. Wallace gathered a large force and again crept into the town under darkness, overpowered the castle guards and killed Hazrlrig in his bed, then struck down his son and 240 English soldiers, merchants and commoners, sparing only their women and priests - a luxury not afforded the people of Berwick by Edward.
The ruins of St Kentigern's Church, where Wallace is thought to have married Marion

News of the slaughter lit the fire of independence among the people and thousands joined Wallace's crusade. In a bold atttack they took Scone and overran the neighbouring country. With Wallace currently in the ascendancy, he was joined by several nobles including the young Robert Bruce, who was destined to take up Wallace's cause after his death and eventually restore the Scottish crown. Soon most of the country was in revolt, and Edward ordered Sir Henry de Percy and Sir Robert de Clifford to restore order. They raised an army in the north and marched into Scotland via Annandale and Nithsdale to confront the Scots at Irvine. At this point the Scottish nobles decided that because Wallace was a plebian they could no longer serve him, and all but Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell promptly surendered to the English commanders. Not so the common people. They literally rampaged across Scotland, bewildering the English with their guerilla tactics and taking every castle in their path until they confronted the main English army outside Stirling.