THE REAL WILLIAM WALLACE - INTRODUCTION

William Wallace is a name that rings throughout Scottish history and now, thanks to Hollywood, the world. From Dehli to San Francisco people could tell you about this national hero of Scotland and his exploits against the English. But who was the real William Wallace?

The truth about William Wallace does not lie in the motion picture "Braveheart", although all credit should be given to the film itself as a successful movie. On the down side it's lavish artistic licence and wildly inaccurate historical facts and portrayals make it pure fiction. However it does convey some sense of patriotism, the general idea of who William Wallace was and the suffering of the brutal times in which he lived. The term "Braveheart" was originally coined for Robert The Bruce, who's heart was removed after death and taken on crusade, although it has been applied to Wallace in the movie. In fact the makers of "Braveheart" needed the artistic licence in order to make a movie about William Wallace because so little is known about him.

In the 15th Century a writer and poet called "Blind Harry" wrote a poem called "Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie". For a long time people looked at the works of "Blind Harry" as if he personally knew William Wallace. However nearly 200 years had passed before the poem was penned. Just like Hollywood, Blind Harry had artistic licence and needed so for his work. The little we do know for certain comes from church records, official crown records and other documented evidence of the time.

Scotland is an old country and it is easy to forget the timespan of the history involved. William Wallace lived seven hundred years ago in a world which was very different to the world we know today. Born sometime around 1270, during the reign of King Alexander, it is known he had two brothers, John and Malcolm Wallace. The depiction of a bowman on a recently discovered seal may suggest this as a background for his family. The seal suggests his father's name may have been Alan, although this is far from certain. The place he was born is also unknown and both Elderslie in Renfrewshire and Ellerslie in Ayrshire claim the title, althought here is no supporting evidence for either place. What we do know is that William Wallace was born into one of the most brutal and turbulent times in the history of Scotland.

At the time of Wallace's birth King Alexander ruled successfully in Scotland and although he was a brutal man in his own right, his reign was one of stability and security. He maintained a professional relationship with England, prevented any English claims to Scottish lands, provided security and stopped English military forays into Scotland. However an event occurred that would change the history of Scotland forever. To understand William Wallace, who he was and the world he lived in, it is vital to understand the series of events that happened next. For it is these events that placed William Wallace in the position he gained, and secured him a place in Scotland's history.

THE DEATH OF KING ALEXANDER

In 1286 King Alexander III of Scotland left Edinburgh Castle en route to visit his Queen in Kinghorn, Fife. The weather was atrocious but howling winds, heavy rain and pleading advisors couldn't persuade King Alexander to change his mind about travelling. During his journey the King and his guides became seperated due to the extreme weather conditions until finally King Alexander was thrown from his horse. The body of the King was found on the shore the next morning, he was forty four years old. The whole country was shocked and even worse, he had left no surviving heir. His pregnant queen then had a stillborn child and the throne was then passed to his granddaughter Margaret, also known as the "Maid of Norway" who was only four years old. It was decided by the Scottish lords to set up a temporary government until Queen margaret was old enough to rule for herself. However, on her way to Scotland aged only seven years old, Queen Margaret fell seriously ill and died. This was the opportunity that other claimants to the Scottish throne had been waiting for.

There was now a serious danger that Scotland could descend into civil war with both Robert Bruce and John Balliol claiming the right to the throne of Scotland. In order to avoid a catastrophic situation the most powerful men in Scotland decided to ask their neighbour, King Edward of England, to arbitrate in the dispute. King Edward, also known as "longshanks", saw an opportunity to bring Scotland under his control. He agreed to arbitrate but insisted that all the claimants accept him as "Lord Paramount Of Scotland", which met a great deal of initial resistance. To add to the confusion King Edward managed to come up with a number of other claimants to the crown of Scotland and eventually all the claimants, including Robert Bruce and John Balliol, were forced to accept King Edward's wishes. A special court was set up at Berwick-On-Tweed, right on the Scottish-English border, and on Novermber 17th 1292 King Edward declared that John Balliol was the rightful King of Scotland.

John Balliol, the new King, has agreed to pay homage to King Edward and essentially agreed to view the English king as overlord of Scotland in order to receive Edwards backing. However, seeing that Edward was continuing to erode the independence of Scotland, John Balliol broke his word and in March 1296 renounced his promises to Edward. Edward, now enraged, attacked Berwick-On-Tweed (which at the time was in Scotland), and slaughtered thousands of its inhabitants. It is said the river Tweed ran red with the blood of the townspeople. The Scottish army then lost the Battle of Dunbar and by July 1296 King Edward had forced King John Balliol to abdicate. To add insult to injury King Edward removed the precious Stone Of Destiny, the official and revered crowning stone of Scotland from the palace at Scone and took it to London, where he had it embedded in a specially made throne, so that all Kings of England would sit over the stone on which all crowned Kings of scotland once sat. The remaining nobles of Scotland were forced to pledge homage to King Edward. The ruthless English king, Edward Longshanks, had achieved his goal - the total control of Scotland.

THE APPEARANCE OF WILLIAM WALLACE

As you may imagine many people in Scotland were extremely unhappy and the waves of revolt were rippling through the whole country. This is the first time we hear of William Wallace, as a matter of record in Scottish history, when he killed the English sherriff of Lanark William Heselrig. According to the tale writtin by Bling Harry, the killing of Heselrig was in revenge for the murder of Wallace's wife Marion, although there is no proof of this. More likely it was simply an attack against English rule, and William Wallace was soon to achieve some more minor victories at Loudoun Hill, Ayr, and also fighting alongside Sir William Douglas at Scone, defeating the English justice William Ormesby.

However, William Wallace had another brother-in-arms and fellow rebel, a long forgotten Scottish hero and a man who was arguably much more successful than Wallace himself - the highlander Andrew Murray or Moray. A seperate rebellion was begun by the battle-hardened and experienced Andrew Murray and soon he successfully took Aberdeen, Glasgow, Perth, Scone, Dundee and in fact all the lands north of the Firth of Forth.

Castle by castle, stronghold by stronghold, Andrew Murray and his army of Highlanders essentially kicked the English out of the whole of the northern half of Scotland. This must have greatly impressed William Wallace and they agreed to combine their forces and prepare for battle against the English at Stirling.

THE BATTLE OF STIRLING BRIDGE

In the Hollywood movie "Braveheart" the battle at Stirling is depicted on a flat green field. In fact this is not the case. William Wallace must have known he could never win a battle against the greatly superior English army in a face-to-face conflict on open ground. The key to winning battles in these circumstances is knowing how to use the land and other natural features to one's advantage. At the time of the battle the wooden bridge at Stirling was not only a critical crossing point but also only wide enough for three or perhaps four horsemen abreast. The Earl of Surrey, in command of the English forces, had turned up at Stirling with 10,000 infantry soldiers and just over 3000 cavalry - the tanks of their day. In an open charge there was little that would stop these heavily armed horsemen.

The English cavalry began to cross the bridge and the Scottish army, led by Wallace and Murray, waited until about half of them had crossed the bridge. The Scottish army then thrust forward with huge vigour, killing many of the cavalry that had already crossed and causing a "horse traffic jam" on the bridge, with some cavalry stopping and others still trying to get onto the bridge from the English side. The sheer amount of horsemen on the bridge caused it to collapse and a large number of English cavalrymen drowned in the river below.

In the writings of Blind Harry he claims the collapse was planned with Scottish soldiers hidden down in the river. However this is almost certainly not true and exactly the kind of enhancement Blind Harry would have no doubt enjoyed adding to his tale. Nevertheless, the English army was routed and the Scots won an incredible victory against all odds. Andrew Murray was mortally wounded although it is not known for certain if he died at the battle scene or some time later from his wounds. After the battle William Wallace was knighted and pronounced Guardian Of Scotland. To demonstrate how sketchy official records are from that time, it is not known who knighted him, although in all probability it was Robert The Bruce.

THE DEMISE OF WILLIAM WALLACE

There is no doubt that William Wallace was a true Scottish patriot who had absolutely no intention of submitting in any way to English rule or domination. One year after the battle of Stirling Bridge, William Wallace lost the battle of Falkirk, probably due to the relentless arrows of King Edwards army. This loss affected Wallace's reputation badly and in September 1298 he resigned as Guardian Of Scotland in order to make way for Robert Bruce. In 1302 Robert Bruce drew up peace plans with Edward but this was not with the blessing of William Wallace. Wallace then made a trip to France, Scotland's old ally, to plead for help, and returned in 1303.

Wallace managed to evade capture until August 1305 when the Scottish knight John De Menteith, who was loyal to King Edward, captured him at Robroyston near Glasgow. William Wallace was taken to London and placed on trial for treason. According to records Wallace claimed he could not possibly be guilty of treason as he had never sworn loyalty to Edward. Found guilty, William Wallace was hung, drawn and quartered on the 23rd of August 1305, and his limbs were sent to Newcastle, Berwick, Stirling and Aberdeen to be put on public display on pikes as a warning to others.

CONCLUSION

There is no doubt that Wallace believed in his country and had a deep rooted hatred of the English, as was the case with many Scottish people at the time. However few have the courage to put their feelings into action, and Wallace did. There were quite a few historical documents written with content about William Wallace at the time but the main issue is the elaborate poem written by Blind Harry two centuries later. Unfortunately many of the subsequent tales about Wallace have been based on the poem, not documents, and the poem was mostly a ficticious work from the creative mind of Blind Harry.

At the close of the day one thing rings true about William Wallace that nobody can deny - he was a loyal and fierce Scottish patriot, not driven by greed, money or lands, but for this love of his own country and determination to make sure that the people of Scotland never had to be subjected to the rule of England. It is for this reason that William Wallace is an inspirational figure in the history of Scotland and the hearts of the Scottish people.