A Story of William Wallance(4)

By now the name of William Wallace had reached London. King Edward had believed that Scotland was firmly under his control. Now he learned that from all over the country men were hurrying to join Wallace. The young man in GREen no longer had a small band of followers. He had an army. And his example inspired others. One of these was a young nobleman. Robert Bruce, the Earl of Carrick in Ayrshire. Another was Andrew Murray, who came from Moray in the northeast.

But the day when Bruce would become King Robert and finish the task that Wallace began was still far off. When Bruce’s army was faced by a small English army at Irvine, it ran away. Andrew Murray did far better, capturing castles in the north and raising many men to help in the fight. Then he joined up with Wallace. They were named as the two Guardians of Scotland. Soon, they knew, a GREat English army would come to regain control of Scotland. King Edward of England was not a man to give up.

When the English army did come, they were ready to meet it. At the Battle of Stirling Bridge, Wallace and Murray defeated a GREat English force. In fact, not all the men on the English side were Englishmen. Some of the Scottish lords had decided to follow Edward. He had promised them more land and power if they would support him. Their men had to fight against Wallace and his Scottish army. Before the battle began, they sent two friars to speak to Wallace. They were sure they would win the battle. After all, they had armoured knights on horseback and Wallace had only foots-soldiers. The friars gave Wallace a chance to surrender without fighting. Wallace sent them back with this defiant message:

“Go back and tell your masters that we come here not to ask for peace as a boon (a favour) but to fight for our freedom.”