713 years ago today in 1305 A.D, the Scottish
Knight and former Guardian of Scotland, Sir William
Wallace, was arrested at Robroyston outside
Glasgow by English troops after being turned over
by the Sheriff of Dumbarton, the Scottish knight
John de Menteith who subsequently became known
as Mentieth the treacherous. Wallace was thereafter
taken south to London and tried for treason in
Westminster Hall before being brutally executed
Contrary to the popular depiction of him in Mel
Gibson’s Braveheart as a Gaelic Highlander, Wallace
belonged to the lesser nobility of the lowlands, his
ancestors believed to have been of Norman or
possibly Welsh origins though his exact lineage
remains shrouded in mystery. Indeed even Wallace’s
birthplace is not known for definite though many
assume it to be Elderslie in Renfrewshire. Born in
1270 A.D, it has been theorised by some historians
that Wallace may have gained a degree of military
experience serving under Edward Longshanks in
Wales prior to the English King setting his gaze
upon the northern kingdom.
Following the death of King Alexander III in 1286
A.D, Longshanks had begun to expand his influence
and power into Scotland, manoeuvring himself into
a position to take the kingdom for himself, crushing
the Scots in 1296 A.D at the Battle of Dunbar.
Thereafter Edward installed his own men to govern
the kingdom. Wallace thereat started to emerge as
a figure of resistance to English rule, killing the
English High Sheriff, William de Heselrig, of Lanark
in 1297 A.D before joining with other nobles
including Andrew Moray in an open rebellion
against the English. In September that year, Moray
and Wallace won a great victory at Stirling Bridge by
using schiltron pike formations to push the English
infantry back along the narrow crossing into the
advancing heavy cavalry. Though Moray died from
his battle wounds shortly afterwards Wallace was
held in high acclaim, was made Guardian of
Scotland and was also knighted.
Wallace’s success however alarmed the English and
provoked Longshanks himself to lead an army north
and personally thrash Wallace’s army with his
superior longbowmen at the bloody Battle of Falkirk
in 1298 A.D. Wallace managed to survive the battle
but stepped down as Guardian of Scotland. He left
Scotland for a time, travelling to France to try and
forge an alliance with King Philip IV though with the
exception of a letter of safe conduct the mission
appears to have yielded little results and by 1304
A.D he was back in Scotland. Having avoided
capture for over a year he was finally turned in by
John de Menteith, a pragmatic knight of shifting
loyalties who had a tendency to serve whichever
side was in the ascendant.
During his trial Wallace was crowned with a garland
of oak leaves, thereby implying that he was some
kind of bandit king. He held firm however against
the charges that he was a rebel and a traitor,
stating that he could not possibly be as such “to
Edward, for I was never his subject.” Thereafter he
was imprisoned in the Tower of London before
being stripped and dragged through the city streets
by a horse. At his execution in Smithfield he was
first strangled by hanging but released before death.
He was then castrated and disemboweled, his
innards being burned before his very eyes.
After
enduring such agonies he was finally decapitated,
his lifeless head spiked on London Bridge whilst
his limbs were sent out to Newcastle, Perth, Stirling
and Berwick in a demonstration of Longshanks’
brutal unrelenting power.
Though Wallace himself ultimately failed to keep
the English out he is regarded as a Scottish hero to
the present day and perceived as the primary
driving force behind the struggle for Scottish
independence.
Young-po Reporters 