It was the dangerous condition of his affairs which induced the King to yield to the pressure of the Barons; for in the spring of 1297, Wallace had made his appearance in Scotland. The younger son of a small proprietor in Elderslie, and without means of his own, he had established his fame as a guerilla leader. In the woods and mountains he collected a band of outlaws, with whom he attacked isolated parties of English, all of whom were at once put to death. His cruelties especially against the nuns and priests are described as most revolting. Cressingham, Treasurer of Scotland, foolishly despised him, and thus allowed the insurrection to gain head. He was joined by Sir William Douglas; but on the whole was both disliked and despised by the Scotch nobility. At length, as his followers had increased to an army, and threatened the fortress of Stirling, it became necessary to take measures against him. Warrenne, Earl of Surrey, and Cressingham, raised an army, and advanced to the Forth. The armies met early in September at Cambuskenneth, near Stirling. The river is there spanned by a narrow bridge, at the north end of which the Scotch were strongly posted. With overweening folly, Cressingham insisted on an immediate advance across the bridge. The natural consequence followed; when a small portion of the English had crossed, and were thus cut off from support, the Scotch fell on them and completely routed them. Warrenne, an old and feeble man, took to hasty flight, and the army was in fact destroyed. This victory was followed up by a fierce invasion of the north of England. Wallace seems to have collected troops by violent means; he then led them across the English border, and sweeping it lengthwise from Newcastle to Carlisle, “he left nothing behind him but blood and ashes.”[51] His cruelties were indeed beyond description, and could not but have filled the English with horror, something akin to that which the English in India must have felt at the outbreak of the mutiny. [Sidenote: Treaty with France. 1299.] Edward’s expedition to Flanders had been a failure. The people in the cities, angry with his interference in the wool trade, were opposed to him; his allies had been tampered with by Philip, who had also won a victory over them at Furnes; the Pope was urging peace; and Edward, who always regarded his French affairs as secondary, made a truce before the end of the year 1297, which two years afterwards ripened under the arbitration of Boniface to the Treaty of Chartres. By that treaty, Guienne was restored to the English King, who withdrew his support from his Flemish allies; while Philip in return gave up the cause of the Scotch. The treaty was cemented by a double marriage. Edward himself married Margaret, the French King’s sister; while his son Edward was betrothed to Isabella, Philip’s daughter. [Sidenote: Edward returns and invades Scotland.] [Sidenote: Defeats Wallace at Falkirk.] [Sidenote: Comyn’s regency.]