+Source.+--_The Book of Pluscarden_, pp. 117 _et seqq._ (_Historians of
Scotland_, vol. x.)
The same year, that renowned champion William Wallace, the terror of the
English, the son of a noble knight of the same name, rose in Scotland.
He was very tall of stature, of great bodily strength, pleasant and
merry of countenance, of kindly seeming to all his friends, but terrible
to his foes, bounteous in gifts, most righteous in judgment. Being a
true Scot, he loathed the English nation and their ways; and at the
outset of his rebellion against the English nation, he slew the Sheriff
of Lanark and many others with him. From that time there were gathered
unto him all who were bitter in spirit and weighed down by the burden of
most wretched thraldom under the unbearable domination of the English
nation. He became their leader and one of the Wardens of Scotland; for
he was a man of wonderful courage and daring, of knightly origin. His
brother, Sir Andrew Wallace, was girded with the belt of knighthood, and
was a very distinguished and gallant knight; and his patrimony is still
in the possession of his descendants. He himself, however, overthrew the
English on all sides and was always successful against them, so that by
force and by dint of his prowess he in a short time brought all the
magnates of Scotland under his control, whether they would or no; and,
when all had thus been gained over, he held out manfully, and devoted
himself with all his might to storming the stronger castles and bringing
under the sway and dominion of the Scots the strongholds where the
English were in power, for his aim was ever skilfully to overthrow and
undo the English, always sagaciously casting about to compass by tact
and cunning all he was unable to achieve by force and the strong hand.
In all his doings, and in the carrying out of every undertaking, he
would exhort his comrades always to have the cause of the freedom of
Scotland before their eyes in battle, and to charge in its name. He also
told them off by fives, appointing one to have command and maintain
discipline over four under him, and another over ten, and so with each
of them; and he gave instructions that whoever would not obey his
superiors in the ordering of the battle should be summarily put to
death; and so on up to twenty-five and fifty and a hundred in their
several ranks.... At length the renown of William Wallace's name was so
spread about that the noise of the damage done by him to the natives of
England reached the ears of the King of England, who sent into Scotland
a large force of men-at-arms, with his Treasurer, Hugh Cressingham, to
curb the daring of this William Wallace. On hearing this, William
Wallace, who was then engaged on the siege of Dundee Castle, entrusted
it to the burgesses, and, mustering his forces, set himself without much
ado to oppose the aforesaid Treasurer with all haste. He accordingly
engaged him at Stirling Bridge on the 11th of September, 1297, and made
great havoc among his train. Sir Hugh was killed there, and the remnant
of his army who escaped were put to flight, and returned to England;
many were drowned in the rout. So the said William happily gained the
victory; and here the noble Andrew Murray fell by the sword, with a few
others of Scottish birth. After this, however, William Wallace returned
to the siege of Dundee Castle, and brought that place under his sway;
and, finding there much treasure of the King of England, he generously
distributed it among his companions in arms. Thereupon so great fear and
trembling fell upon the enemy, that some of the wardens of castles left
their castles and fled from the fortified places, while others, after
sacking the castles, demolished the strongest towers and withdrew to
their own country. Now from lack of grain there was a great dearth
before the autumn, on account of which the General gave orders that the
army should make its way into England and live there at the expense of
the enemy, so as to save their own provisions and keep them for the
winter. The aforesaid William Wallace likewise appointed that a gallows
should be set up in every domain, so that all under orders to fight, if
absent or flying from battle at a critical time without leave or
reasonable cause, might be hanged thereon without mercy. When these
matters had been settled and completed, he made his way towards England,
and overran and ravaged the whole of Northumberland as far as Newcastle;
thus he wintered in England at the expense of the enemy, and saved his
country's substance; and he got home again safely with much riches and
honour....
During the time of his rule the Kingdom of Scotland prospered
wonderfully in happiness and in manifold ways; everyone dwelt in safety
with his own, and agriculture began to thrive everywhere. In spite,
however, of all his good deeds and deserts in the interests of the state
and the independence of the crown, certain sons of wickedness and imps
of the devil conspired and devised mischief against him, framing lies
and backbiting him behind his back while speaking him fair to his face
and meditating treachery, saying within their hearts, "We will not have
this man reign over us." But the lower orders and the populace were
exceedingly fond of him, as were also a good many of the older and wiser
of the great men of the kingdom. For God of His loving-kindness sent
this leader to snatch them from the snare of the fowler; and, whereas
the whole of Scotland was unable at that time to defend herself, he,
supported by the help of God and aided by the assistance of S. Andrew
and S. Cuthbert, did his best to free her from the chain of perpetual
slavery, and strove to exalt her with uplifted arm. So the death of the
guileless lamb was devised by those envious haters of the happiness of
mankind; and hard upon his death there followed struggles, the shipwreck
of the clergy of Scotland, the ruin of the people, the downfall of the
kingdom, and the destruction of the state.