THE CAREER OF WILLIAM WALLACE

by Iona Gordon

William Wallace was not born into a noble family. His father was a knight from Elderslie, near Glasgow, and William was the second son to be born, so he was not important at all. Nothing was heard about Wallace's life until 1297 when he was described as a robber and an outlaw.

1297. In this year Wallace had a fight with some English soldiers. He escaped, but as punishment to Wallace they murdered his wife and this is where it all began. Wallace returned to Lanark were his wife was murdered and in retaliation to this he murdered an English sheriff called Hazelrigg. He gained respect of some of the Scots who did not want King Edward of England ruling Scotland. He became their leader and would attack and ambush Edward's men whenever he could. Wallace and his men would then disappear into the undergrowth where the English could not find them.

The success of Wallace's ambushes made Scottish noblemen support him openly. This small Scots army met with the English in Irvine and the outcome was that they decided to obey Edward. Wallace was not involved in these talks and he continued to fight.

In July of this year he had a major accomplishment by terrorising Edward's chief judge who fled. This attack gained him more respect from the people of Scotland, not just because of what he had done but the judge left all his money.also. so now Wallace had fame and money. More people now joined his army. Wallace's next big achievement gained him a knighthood and he became Guardian of Scotland, after he won the battle of Stirling Bridge against the English with only an untrained army and a cunning plan.

Over the months that followed William Wallace led Scotland and his aim was to make it an independent kingdom. He made sure that a Scotsman was made Bishop of St Andrews and he started his bid to get the Scottish King, John Balliol, released from prison in England. Wallace was also a good communicator and wanted to sort the economy in Scotland. He wrote to all the foreign traders and got them all to start dealing with Scotland again. He also wanted to organise an army so he could defeat Edward.

Wallace's downfall started at the Battle of Falkirk in 1299. He had a small, untrained army, and was unable to outwit Edward. He lost the battle and in turn had to give up the Guardianship of Scotland. Wallace went into hiding until he was captured in 1305 and turned over to Edward.

Edward wanted to make an example of Wallace because of all the trouble and embarrassment he caused the English. He was accused and punished as a traitor by being hung, drawn and quartered, but he still went out fighting, telling Edward that he had never promised to obey him.

William Wallace was sometimes called a terrorist, but I think he was a freedom fighter. He fought and died for his country and what he believed in. his war tactics could be said were those of a terrorist, but Wallace never killed women or children or used these kind of people to get what he wanted.