Life of Sir William Wallace of Elderslie, Vol. 2 (of 2)Carrick, John D. (John Donald)
History
Life of Sir William Wallace of Elderslie, Vol. 2 (of 2)
Carrick, John D. (John Donald)
Wallace, William, Sir, -1305
alone, whose early success first caused him to be joined by Douglas,
and afterwards by the Bishop and the Steward, along with Lindsay,
Moray, and Lundy. Indeed, instead of playing the part ascribed to him
by Lingard, the patriotism of the Steward and the Bishop, was of that
lukewarm and short-lived kind which little deserves the name. It did
not outlive eight weeks; and they seized the first opportunity to
desert Wallace and the cause of freedom. The attack upon Ormesby the
Justiciary took place some time in May 1297; and on the 9th of July of
the same year, did Bishop Wishart, this patriot assertor of Scottish
independence, negociate the treaty of Irvine, by which he and the
other Scottish barons, with the single exception of Wallace and Sir
Andrew Moray of Bothwell, submitted to Edward. Lingard’s other hero,
the High Steward, who is brought in to divide the glory with Wallace,
was actually in the English service at the battle of Stirling; and
although he secretly favoured the Scottish cause, he did not openly
join his countrymen till he saw the entire destruction of Surrey’s
army. I may remark, in concluding this note, that the idea of an attack
upon Wallace, and an eulogy on the clemency of Edward, has probably not
even the merit of originality. It appears to be borrowed from Carte,
vol. ii. p. 290; but it is only the idea which is taken. The clumsy
and absurd argument of Carte is discarded, and a far more ingenious
hypothesis, with a new set of facts, is substituted in its place. On
reading over Hemingford again, I find one expression which may perhaps
have suggested this theory of Lingard. Hemingford says, speaking of
Bruce, p. 120, that he joined the Bishop of Glasgow and the Steward,
‘qui tocius mali fabricatores exstiterant.’ Yet this is inconsistent
with his own account in p. 118, and is not corroborated, so far as I
know, by any other historian.”
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