Midway between the shameful collapse at Irvine and the formal submission at Carlisle lay September 11, 1297, and Wallace's memorable victory at Stirling Bridge. In this great triumph of patriotism Bruce had neither part nor lot. Neither was he present at the disastrous battle of Falkirk on July 22, 1298. The Scottish chroniclers, indeed, relate the popular story that the English victory was primarily due to Bruce, who, with Bishop Bek, stealthily caught the Scots in the rear and broke up the schiltrons. But this is a complete misconception, due possibly to a confusion of Bruce with Basset, who, with Bek, delivered the attack on the left wing, not on the rear, or with Bruce's uncle, Sir Bernard, who fought on the English side. In any case, Bruce stands clear of Falkirk. For English chroniclers relate that, when Edward withdrew towards Carlisle, Bruce burnt Ayr Castle and fled away into Carrick. Yet it seems all but certain that he was in Edward's allegiance within three weeks before the battle. He had gone over before the result reached him, possibly on learning the dire straits of Edward immediately before, or on the strength of a false report of the issue. The stormy meeting of Scots nobles at Peebles on August 19, 1299, discovers Bruce in a remarkable attitude. One object of the meeting was to choose Guardians of the realm. The discussion was sufficiently warm; for Sir John Comyn--the Red Comyn, afterwards slain at Dumfries--seized the Earl of Carrick by the throat, and his cousin of Buchan tried a fall with de Lamberton, Wallace's Bishop of St Andrews. The outcome of the wrangle was a purely personal accommodation of an essentially momentary character. It was settled that the Bishop of St Andrews, the Earl of Carrick, and Sir John Comyn should be the Guardians, the Bishop as principal to have custody of the castles. Bruce, through the Wallace influence, had gained the upper hand. But it must have cost him a pang to consent to act in the name of Balliol. Bruce, with Sir David de Brechin, returned to the attack of Lochmaben peel, where the Scots had been pressing Clifford since the beginning of August. They were unsuccessful in direct assault, but they seriously hindered the victualling of the place by infesting the lines of communication. Bruce would seem to have been in consultation with his colleagues in the Torwood on November 13, when the Guardians, who were then besieging Stirling, despatched to Edward an offer to cease hostilities on the terms suggested by the King of France. At any rate he is named as Guardian, and it is to be noted that the Guardians write 'in the name of King John and the community of the realm.' Edward was compelled to abandon Stirling to its fate, and Lochmaben fell in the end of the year. Warenne's December expedition to the western March was a failure. Edward, in fact, had been paralysed by his refractory barons.