The same year, that renowned champion William Wallace, the terror of the English, the son of a noble knight of the same name, rose in Scotland. He was very tall of stature, of great bodily strength, pleasant and merry of countenance, of kindly seeming to all his friends, but terrible to his foes, bounteous in gifts, most righteous in judgment. Being a true Scot, he loathed the English nation and their ways; and at the outset of his rebellion against the English nation, he slew the Sheriff of Lanark and many others with him. From that time there were gathered unto him all who were bitter in spirit and weighed down by the burden of most wretched thraldom under the unbearable domination of the English nation. He became their leader and one of the Wardens of Scotland; for he was a man of wonderful courage and daring, of knightly origin. His brother, Sir Andrew Wallace, was girded with the belt of knighthood, and was a very distinguished and gallant knight; and his patrimony is still in the possession of his descendants. He himself, however, overthrew the English on all sides and was always successful against them, so that by force and by dint of his prowess he in a short time brought all the magnates of Scotland under his control, whether they would or no; and, when all had thus been gained over, he held out manfully, and devoted himself with all his might to storming the stronger castles and bringing under the sway and dominion of the Scots the strongholds where the English were in power, for his aim was ever skilfully to overthrow and undo the English, always sagaciously casting about to compass by tact and cunning all he was unable to achieve by force and the strong hand. In all his doings, and in the carrying out of every undertaking, he would exhort his comrades always to have the cause of the freedom of Scotland before their eyes in battle, and to charge in its name. He also told them off by fives, appointing one to have command and maintain discipline over four under him, and another over ten, and so with each of them; and he gave instructions that whoever would not obey his superiors in the ordering of the battle should be summarily put to death; and so on up to twenty-five and fifty and a hundred in their several ranks.... At length the renown of William Wallace's name was so spread about that the noise of the damage done by him to the natives of England reached the ears of the King of England, who sent into Scotland a large force of men-at-arms, with his Treasurer, Hugh Cressingham, to curb the daring of this William Wallace. On hearing this, William Wallace, who was then engaged on the siege of Dundee Castle, entrusted it to the burgesses, and, mustering his forces, set himself without much ado to oppose the aforesaid Treasurer with all haste. He accordingly engaged him at Stirling Bridge on the 11th of September, 1297, and made great havoc among his train. Sir Hugh was killed there, and the remnant