Sir William Wallace of Elerslie

Documented historical evidence of the line of Wallace is confusingly split. Some say he is descended from Richard the Welshman, dating back to the times of William the Conqueror - others have him traced back to the traditional Scots line of the Cragies. For reasons of simplicity and to keep with the theme of these pages, which focus manly on William Wallace and the reasons and situations that made him 'Scotland's greatest hero', we'll keep to the facts that are well known and true as much as is possible.

William Wallace, second of three sons of Sir Malcolm Wallace was born on January 1272, (although many will debate the year to fall somewhere between 1270 and 1276 - 1272 seems to be the most precise in my research), in Scotland in the town of Elerslie (known now as Elderslie - see "Wallace Family").

His father, Sir Malcolm Wallace, although endowed with the title of a knight held little rank in the world of politics and the nobility of Scotland. He owned a certain amount of land under his title and lived a relatively peaceful life.

The Scotland that William Wallace was raised in during the late 1200's was a wealthy country far removed from the beggarly picture of a nation which English propagandists were to paint. It is plain to see from the Great Cathedrals which still stand from Glasgow in the south to as far north as Dornoch. The magnificent abbeys and monasteries in Arbroath, Scone, Dunfermline and Cambuskenneth as well as the great palaces and house in Paisley, Kilwinning, Crossraguel, New Abbey, Dundrennan, Holyrood, Kelso, Jedburgh, Dryburgh and Melrose.

It is clear that these marvelous buildings could only have been erected in a country possessed of considerable wealth and resources. Studded with hundreds of Castles, regal, baronial and knightly, the fortified homes of the landed classes: it was an age in which emerged a prosperous bourgeoisie.

The powerful King Alexander II was on the throne and had not only the ability but the standing to fend off possible invaders. Around the time of Wallace's birth the then king of England, King Henry III died and was succeeded by the man who would one day become William's deadliest adversary - Edward I (Longshanks). On August 18th 1274 Edward was crowned at Westminster. He was 35 years old, tall, well proportioned and considerably above average height, he certainly deserved his nickname of Longshanks.

William Wallace also grew up to become a powerful and sturdy young man, with a height of 6 foot 7 inches and a physique to match, he too was a giant of a man. It is often debated that it would have been impossible for such a man to exist in a time when the average height of a man was little over 5 feet. However, to judge by the clothing and armour of the time it is clear to see that not only was Longshanks a towering figure, even by today's standards, but so was William Wallace.

It is also clear to see that in a time when to be considered 'middle aged', one would only have to be somewhere in the region of 20-25 years of age. In order for a man to become a leader and be successful in battle he either had to have been born into the rank, or like Wallace, earn the rank by feats of battle. In an era where strength, stamina, endurance, courage and, above all, skill in handling the sword and dagger were of paramount importance in the emergence of leaders - when warlike renown depended so essentially on a personal deeds of daring it would be impossible for him to be anything less than what he was.

Had Wallace not been a man of considerable strength by what other means could the second son of an obscure knight, a mere youth just out of his teens, without the support or patronage of a single noble, have maintained himself, attracted followers, stuck fear into the enemy during face-to-face combat, secured the hatred of Edward Plantagenet I of England, and become the hero of a nation if he did not possess quite exceptional physical strength and prowess?

However, it is not only his physical attributes which made William Wallace such a hero, his mental faculties were considerable. Where, and when, exactly William Wallace gained his education is a long and in-depth story which involves the telling of a rather long tale. In order to keep things simple we'll reflect on the disruptions which were in place before the crowning of John Balliol. Sir Malcolm Wallace was called to bear arms in a revolt know as 'the revolt of the Turnberry Band'.

The idea was to issue a levie which would gather a force together in support of the House of Bruce. William now at the age of fourteen would surely have been page or esquire to his father, and possibly his elder brother, also called Malcolm. This would have been his first taste of military action, but the revolt - if it can be called that - fizzled out before it really started, peace and tranquillity reigned but that meeting on September 1286 had an important part to play in future events. For around 3 years there was an uneasy peace within Scotland - the calm before the storm if you like - and it is during this time of secret meetings and coming and going that William would have spent some time at Dunipace in east Stirlingshire where he lodged with an uncle, a younger brother of his father, who was the cleric there, at a chapelry of Cambuskenneth Abbey.

William was showing his intellect that he could easily make a career in the Church, which was the traditional role for landless younger sons. Now at the age of 16 his education was taking a more mature direction. His uncle instilled in him moral maxims compactly framed in Latin, and referred frequently to the great classic authors. William's passion and love of liberty which would become his basis for his glorious career can also be credited to his uncle-priest who inculcated the very values and essence of freedom and liberty with in his mind. This was a precept which remained firmly implanted in William's mind till the end of his days.

United again with his family, and now 17 years old, something else was to happen which would take William into the care of the church. During the time of his education (14 - 16 years old), John Balliol had been exiled and in order to restore the Gaurdians of Scotland back into govern Scotland they first had to pay homage to Longshanks. The taking of this oath had to be outright, and the deadline for taking the oath was set for July of that year.

Responsibility for administering the oath for Ayrshire fell upon the hands of Sir Ranald Craufurd, William's grandfather - his mothers father. Anyone not paying homage to Longshanks was in for severe penalties, and when Sir Ranald noticed that Sir Malcolm Wallace's name was not on the list, and realising that retribution from the English garrisons, which now governed Ayr and Irvine (where they were), was about to descend upon Malcolm he took his daughter and her younger sons under his care.

Sir Malcolm and his oldest son fled north leaving his wife Margaret and two youngest sons William and John behind. After a short while with Margaret's father Sir Ranald, he sent them all to Kilspindie in the Carse of Gowrie where they were kept by another uncle of William's - probably a brother of his mothers.

As was the custom in those days, the younger brothers followed the education of the church while the eldest would inherit lands and title's. The uncle which he was now with was also a priest of the district and it was here, now at the age of 17 or 18 that William continued his education in Dundee. It was here that William met John Blair, who soon after became a Benedictine monk, following that he eventually left his monastery to attend his friend William and become his chaplain and comrade in arms.

In this church school William also met and became friends with Duncan of Lorn and Sir Neil Campbell of Lochawe, both young men like William who were to take a major part in William's first exploits. Why such a well built and physically strong youth would follow the career of a priest is easily answered. As I have already said it was the custom for both the Wallace family (his fathers side) and the Craufurd family (his mothers side) to send the youngest sons to the church for their education, and in unsettled times as there were, it was prudent to have a firm grasp on languages and politics and the learning's of the church, as the church was a major power.

Also with his older brother Malcolm and his father Sir Malcolm on the run in the north it was clear that William, being the largest and strongest family member would be in a good place to take care of his mother and his younger brother John. Oddly enough, Dundee was also one of the few places at this time where there was little revolt against the English takeover - he could sleep safely out of the way of the troubles.

In the film 'Braveheart', both writer Randall Wallace and Director Mel Gibson will have you learn that William's mother was already dead. They also do not mention his younger brother John, and in the first half hour or so they kill off his father and older brother when William was just a small boy. This is of course not true. However, in saying that, it is clear to see from the brief outlook I have given you here that should they have gone into this in any detail at all then the film would have easily been twice as long and we could have all been fast asleep by the time all the good bits started!

They may have felt, in their judgment, that these points were fairly insignificant compared to William Wallace's feats and daring. Personally I feel that it wouldn't have taken too much time to explain the situation surrounding his education and his family in a more accurate light. These comments in mind, it would make the situation of him traveling south after his families death to live with his uncle and his graveside meeting with Murron totally fictitious. But it did make for a good movie.

The situation in Scotland was building into civil war, infighting between rival families and rival towns was heating up, as well as the fight against English occupation. Brawling turned to riots - riots turned to ambush and sporadic battles. Sir Malcolm Wallace was back in the south with his son Malcolm when one of these ambush type battles in 1291 at Loudoun Hill in Irvine saw the death of William's father. This was the start of William's personal resentment of the English which would later develop into utter hatred.

He was now around 19 years of age, his mother was devastated and his older brother Sir Malcolm Wallace junior was now the head of the family. This is now the time for William to cast of the binds of the church and turn to his sword for the first time. He had grown up watching the people around him (his kinfolk) being split by infighting backed by the hand of the English. The cruel treatment of his oppressed country, the exile of his mother into hiding, the death of his father by an Englishman called Fenwick at a minor scuffle in Irvine: it was all too much for this 19 year old boy in a giants body to take.

Throughout his life so far he would have been protected as a scholar of the church and the talk on the lips of his friends, who would also have had fathers and brothers already with sword in hand ready for the fight, would surely have been revenge. As a Scot he would have been more than ready to stand with his family and claim their rights in their own lands. Bear in mind that his first teachings had already installed in him the principals of liberty and the rights of the individual.

The moment when he would strike the first blow in relation for his family's sufferings was not far off.

Dundee castle was well under the control of the English and was now owned by Brian Fitz-Alan of Bedale, he had placed the castle under the control of a constable named Selby, this man was a hardened veteran with a great thirst for blood, and in particular the blood of the Scots. Selby had a son who was just slightly older than William. On a cold December day in 1291, young Selby caught sight of William, who not only stood out from the crowd as being someone worth picking a fight with because of his size, but also because of the bright green clothes that he wore.

Young Selby, accompanied with a number of English friends pulled William aside and began to make remarks about his attire. "Thou Scot, abide; what devil clothed thee in so gay a garment? An Irish mantle were the right apparel for thy kind; a Scottish knife under thy belt to carry; rough shoes upon thy boorish feet." In saying these he was basically demanding the handsome dirk at William's belt. William's response was swift and dramatic; grabbing the Englishman by the collar, he drew his blade and thrust it through his assailant's heart.

Selby's friends made a move on William, but the crowd which was quickly gathering around the dead Selby made it too difficult for these young men to draw their swords. This gave William just the few moments that it took to strike out with his dirk, kill or wound most of the gang and make his escape.

He ran to the house of his uncle where he was greeted by the house keeper, he told her of what had just happened and she covered him in a red cloak and sat him in the corner of the room at the spinning-wheel. Moments later when the English guards came hunting for the young William they passed his uncle's house when they realised that the only occupants were two elderly ladies weaving and spinning. The ruse worked. It was announced that afternoon that there was a warrant out for the murderer of Selby's son, if the town didn't bring forth the murderer then the whole town would be burnt to the ground and everyone within it.

William made his way home to his mother who having already heard the news was beside herself with worry. Everyone knew that it was William that they were after as no one else could fit the description of the man they wanted.

William and his mother immediately left for Dunfermline, but William insisted that they return to Elerslie where they were from and her family was. After a cunning escape and quietly trudging their way to Elerslie they were met by Margaret's father Sir Ranald. Sir Ranald informed them that the news of Selby's son's death was quickly spreading, and a price had been placed on William's head and he was labeled an outlaw. Not wanting to make life difficult for himself he told them that he could look after his daughter but could do nothing for the outlaw William, his best advice was for them to split up and for William to join his uncle Sir Richard Wallace who lived in Riccarton. After some time William reached Riccarton by February 1292 and stayed there until April.

This uncle is most likely the uncle referred to in the film 'Braveheart'. Uncle 'Argyle' as he is known in the film, was portrayed as half blind, educated in languages, skillful with the sword and a general all round clever guy with a strong will. It is more likely that "uncle Argyle" is a character made up of all of the uncles that William lived with. Two uncles taught him the skills in the church and languages and the uncle he was with now after the Selby incident, Sir Richard Wallace, can be described as having been blinded, disabled and enfeebled through loss of blood in some previous skirmish he had with the English.

Everything seemed quiet and William had found a friend in his uncle's page. It is reported that one day when he was fishing on the Irvine a garrison of English soldiers rode passed. The last five soldiers, who were impressed with William's catch decided that they should have it for themselves. When William exclaimed that the catch was intended for the super of an elderly knight, the English soldiers said that they had their permission to continue fishing in order to catch more. Everything was all very peaceful and when William asked if he could at least keep half of the catch as this would be 'fair', the ring-leader of the five Englishmen became angry at being talked to so familiarly by an upstart Scot; he drew his sword and lunged for William.

William defended the blow with his fishing-pole and struck the soldier knocking him to his feet and sent his sword flying. William rushed for the sword in order to arm himself, he detached the head of the soldier with a hard blow to the neck and turned to the other soldiers who had already dismounted and were making their way to aid their fallen comrade. William's blood was boiling; he hacked one to the collar-bone, another he struck on the arm with such force that both sword and arm fell to the ground. While the other two made off, William quickly finished off the man he had just maimed by running him through with the English sword.

On return to his uncle's house, he explained what had happened and told his uncle that he would leave his home in order to spare him the wrath of the English who would surely be soon on their way. He gathered together his possessions and William and his new page, who would also have been targeted with a price on his head, took to the woods in the north just like his father and brother had done a few years before.

Meantime, John Balliol was about to be crowned and the divide in Scotland was thickening. William was now an outlaw for, what would have been seen as, multiple cold blooded murders. He was an outlaw, a criminal and a man with a price on his head. His family were scattered to various parts of southern Scotland, his father was dead and William had no choice but to fight or die, the penalties for what he had done was death. He was only 20 years old.

To draw a comparison again with the film 'Braveheart' and James Mackay's research, from which most of this information is gathered, we can safely point out that the movie displays a man that rose from a common farmers son to become one of the Guardians of Scotland within a very short period of time.

The battle of Stirling Bridge, the sacking of York, the battle of Falkirk and William's execution all took place over a period of 8 years. We know that he was captured and executed in 1305, this would make William 33 years of age.

The victory at Stirling bridge was in 1297, from there he invaded England and sacked many towns and fortified castles. 1298 saw his defeat and betrayal at Falkirk but he wasn't captured until 1305. This leaves us with two blank spaces to be filled. The later being the 7 year period between his betrayal and his execution , and also the period between the incident at Irvine when he was 20 and his rise to become the leading force at Stirling bridge when he would have been 25 years old. What happened, and what was William Wallace doing during this period of 5 years before Stirling?

As you can see I have called this section "Robin Hood?". My reason for this is because I would like to draw some comparisons between Scotland's national hero, and a vague figure from English folklore who is portrayed as the English outlaw/hero.

After William had fled from his uncle's to the woods he spent the 5 year period I have talked about seeking revenge for what had happened to his family. You have to remember that in these time in the 13th century it was more than common place to take the law into your own hands, and the seeking of revenge for even trivial matters like the theft of a cow was punishable by whatever method the victim saw fit.

If you know the story of Robin Hood you'll be able to understand clearly why I am drawing this "resemblance".

As far as the English were concerned William was a dead man as soon as he showed face. He had nothing to lose at this point, if he surrendered he would surely have been put to the sword or the rope. From my impression of things he classed himself as 'dead already', something which to future generations the world over is what makes guerrilla warfare the most difficult to defend against, and easily the most lethal of weapons. It is quite possible that William Wallace could have had an attitude of 'if he was to go at least he could take as many as he could with him'. From his dwellings in the woods he would constantly attack and ambush anything with an English insignia on it, and with quite a brutal and unforgiving anger. He didn't do all of this single handed of course. He had previously made his way to gain the help and support of is kinsman Wallace of Auchencruive, and found refuge in the Leglen Wood on the banks of the River Ayr, this was one of his favourite hiding places, and in later years the woods was to be frequently visited by the bard Robert Burns who would go their every Sunday afternoon to pay his respects to his fellow Scot and someone with who he held great admiration for.

The image of William and his kinfolk rampaging around the woods of lower Scotland attacking everything English, who by this time were more than hated by every local in practically every town, makes him appear as some kind of avenging angel crossed with a serial killer with an attitude. He did indeed attack at will and without provocation from many different places within lower Scotland, and this is what gained him the reputation as a great warrior within his own people and a feared and rumoured enemy with the English garrisons. No one ever knew where he would strike next or when. Word of the giant size of this man soon spread and his skill with not only the sword and dirk but the bow and arrow followed quickly behind.

During a 3 year period of ambush and gathering local support to his, and their, fight, William would have easily gathered the knowledge and understanding of who his enemies were and how they drew up battle plans and tactics against his 'guerrilla' tactics, something which had never been done before. Until William Wallace no one had ever taken on an enemy in such a way - he had a new found talent for attacking and beating forces and garrisons of a much larger number than his.

Fighting and hiding from within the great forests of Selkirk one can't help imagine that a man of such size would not be easy to hide. It is not a fanciful idea to say that he could easily have disguised himself and made way through the crowded markets crouched, hunched and stinking of unpleasant items in order to gain supplies and rally support. He had done it successfully in the past as a youth!

One account tells us that he could not resist the challenge of an English churl who had a reputation for weight lifting. For fourpence he would let anyone hit him across the back with a rough pole which he carried. William offered the man 3 times his usual for the privilege, and subsequently hit the guy with such force as to break his back. The other soldiers present tried to overpower Wallace but he brained one with the cudgel and broke the neck of another, then drew his sword, felled a third and slashed through the armpit armour of a fourth. Including the churl. Wallace killed five Englishmen in this brief but bloody encounter before leaping on a nearby horse and making his escape back to his hiding place of Leglen Wood.

Another account helped William's public image no end. In an attempt to come to the aid of a youth being accosted by English troops he bit off a bit to much and found himself backed up and overpowered. He was pressed down, tied up and taken to the Wardens prison. At this time he was only an outlaw and not wanted so much by Longshanks as simply wanted dead by the local garrisons. He was thrown into jail and left to die. The jailer was instructed to feed him only with bread and rotten herring, after quite some time, weekend and starved he was mistaken for being dead when he fell into a coma. News was spread that William Wallace was dead and his body was thrown onto a dung heap to be left to rot.

In hearing that he was dead an old friend, namely his first nurse, made her way to the jail house and asked that she take the body away in order to give him a decent burial. Of course with William now dead and out of the way it seemed harmless enough to keep the locals happy by letting them bury him.

She took William back to her house and began to clean and prepare him for a burial which he deserved. However, in cleaning him she noticed that he still had a signs of life and she began to spoon feed him, and even her daughter, who had a twelve week old baby, suckled young William and together they both brought him back from the brink. It is not uncommon to find certain coma cases to still show signs of primitive, natural reflex.

About this time Sir Thomas Rymour of Ercildoune heard of the death of William and instantly sent a servant to find out what had happened. When the servant returned with the news that he was alive and had defied death to the point where it seemed he had actually returned from the grave, Sir Thomas Rymour, known to us know as simply 'Thomas the Rhymer", declared:

For sooth, ere he decease,
Shall many thousands in the field make end.
From Scotland he shall forth the Southron send,
And Scotland thrice he shall bring to peace.
So good of hand again shall ne'er be kenned.

Thomas the Rhymer, had already foretold the death of Alexander III and was widely regarded in his own lifetime as a soothsayer and prophet. Now that William was in good company having his name placed within the same mystical and supernatural circles as the great Alexander III, not only did the English as far south as London prick up their ears, but also William himself must have felt that he was something special and with a - now foretold - destiny, was there anything he couldn't do? He had stared death in the face and won. With his destiny in front of him it was not long before his kinsmen and fellow Scots rallied around him in support.

It was also in these times that his taste for the young girls became a costly problem. Sneaking around romancing the young girls proved to be a game that cost him many a man in battles of escape and also landed him in compromising positions which almost lead to being captured - again.

It wasn't until he met with Marion Braidfute, the eighteen year old daughter and heiress of Hugh Braidfute of Lamington that his heart was pierced by the arrows of love. William and Marion never married as William believed that romance and war did not mix, however, he did see Marion as much as possible secretly at her home. It is at this point that Marion is to have given birth to William's daughter. Many historians will deny that there is any evidence that William had any offspring, and if he had in fact married her then the history books would have definitely recorded the event. Marion was murdered shortly after the birth and this would only have spurred William into further action.

Also during this time he was joined by his old friends Tom Halliday and Edward Little who were more than pleased to see that William was not, according to the rumours, dead. The other old friend who joined the band was John Blair, If you refer to the previous section regarding William's education, you'll remember that John Blair was the Benedictine monk who left his monastery to join his friend William. He spent the rest of his time with Wallace recording every move that they made.

So allow me to quickly recap. We have a roving band of men making surprise attacks at English garrisons and troops. William, the leader, Marion his well-to-do mistress and, by this time, around 15 fellow Scots, one of whom was named Little (Edward Little), and a to add to the similarity a Benedictine monk. Sound familiar? It is not fanciful of me to draw this comparison. In the story of Robin Hood you have a giant of a man called Little John. It would be easy for such a man to be a mix up between the large frame of William, his friend Edward Little and possibly even William's younger brother John. Is it possible that his younger brother was with William, and if he were it wouldn't take much to assume that he would have been referred to as 'Little John' given the size of his older brother.

If you think that I am over simplifying matters by saying that 3 people could have been fused into 1 person, and in turn that the story of Robin Hood could actually be the English making their own version of William Wallace in order to claim their own hero in an attempt to 'keep up with the Joneses' - then let me remind you that Mel Gibson took 3 of William's uncles and forged them together to create a character called "uncle Argyle" in order to keep his version more compact.

The propaganda machine of English history?