The spring of 1297 had scarcely set in before the guerrilla-parties thus formed began to molest the invaders; and so persevering and successful were their attacks, that in a very short time, throughout the whole range of the forest of Clydesdale, Wallace and his followers held undisputed sway; and, emerging from parts least expected by the enemy, surprised and cut off their convoys. The English garrison which occupied Bothwell Castle made several attempts to drive them from their concealments in the woods, but all their efforts had ended in discomfiture and disgrace; while the prisoners left in the hands of the Scots were hung up at different parts, along the skirts of the forest, as a warning to all hostile intruders. These proceedings of the insurgents alarmed and perplexed the English, as it kept them in profound ignorance of the numbers they had to cope with. Left to their own conjectures, their heated imaginations peopled the impenetrable recesses of the woods with swarms of fierce and merciless enemies, headed by a chief against whose sword the strongest of their armour afforded but a feeble protection.
While the Scots were thus engaged, their leader received advice that a strong convoy was on its way from England for the supply of the garrison of Ayr, under the command of Fenwick, the person who headed the attack so fatal to Sir Malcolm Wallace. Roused by the hopes of avenging the death of his father, our hero determined to way-lay the party. For this purpose he selected fifty of those on whose strength and courage he could place the greatest reliance; and thus attended, he set forward to occupy a position on the road the enemy had to pass. It was night when the little band of patriots reached the spot from whence they meant to make their attack; but hearing nothing of the advance of Fenwick, he ordered his men to take shelter for the night in a neighbouring wood. The morning was pretty far advanced, when two scouts, whom Wallace had sent forward at day-break, returned with the intelligence that the enemy was at hand. Having arranged his men for the onset, his friend, John Blair, offered up prayers for their success, which were scarcely over before the English came in sight. Fenwick, on observing the small body of Scots that awaited his approach, felt perfectly assured of taking them, and the far-famed chieftain, whom he suspected to be their leader, prisoners with him to Ayr; and congratulated himself on the satisfaction which the capture of the bold outlaw would afford to his superiors. This pleasing reverie was, however, disturbed by a rapid movement of the Scots, who, charging with their long spears, threw his advance into confusion, and, following up their advantage with the most daring intrepidity, carried disorder to the very centre of his squadron; where, undismayed by the superior numbers that surrounded them, Wallace and his brave companions fought with all the fury of exasperated lions. The repeated charges of the English were repulsed and returned with such increasing vigour and resolution as alarmed and confounded their commander. Wherever he turned his eyes, the sword of the Scottish chief seemed clearing a path toward him; helmet after helmet disappeared beneath his ponderous weapon; and the whole exertion of his mighty arm seemed directed towards the hated Fenwick. Conscious of the justice of that vengeance which inspired our hero with more than usual ferocity, the English chief would gladly have avoided a personal rencounter. His attempts to escape, however, were in vain,—the brand of the vengeful Scot reached him at last; and the blow, though broke by the intervening sword of a trooper, fell with sufficient force to strike him from the saddle. Falling on the opposite side of the horse, Wallace had not the satisfaction of giving the deathblow;—this was an honour reserved for Robert Boyd, one of his most intimate companions. Although Fenwick was thus slain, yet the conflict continued with great obstinacy. The English, under one Bowmond, who was second in command, made great efforts to retrieve the advantages they had lost. The Scots, however, maintained their ground with inflexible resolution, while the sword of their chief was rapidly increasing the gaps in the ranks of their enemies. Adam Wallace, the promising heir of Riccardtoun,[65] had the good fortune to come in contact with the leader of the English; and, after an obstinate engagement, the intrepid Bowmond fell beneath the hand of the youthful Scot. Deprived of their leaders, the English now fled in the utmost confusion, leaving one hundred of their companions on the field. The Scots pursued them only so far as to make their victory certain; and, returning to the spoil, found their labours amply rewarded. A numerous train of waggons, loaded with flour, wine, and all sorts of provisions, with warlike stores in abundance, and two hundred draught-horses, besides money and other valuables, fell into the hands of the victors, who, after dividing their booty, and appropriating part of it to the relief of the oppressed inhabitants in the neighbourhood, departed to secure the remainder in their inaccessible retreats among the then extensive forests of Clydesdale.
The result of this affair with Fenwick was not less encouraging to the Scots, than prejudicial to the English. The valuable convoy, which the latter had been thus deprived of, was a subject of serious regret to Percy; more particularly, as it appeared irretrievable—his foraging parties having already exhausted the district under his controul, and reduced the inhabitants to the most wretched expedients, in order to maintain their miserable existence. The fields remained in a great measure uncultivated; and those among the commons who were fortunate enough to possess a cow, endeavoured to conceal her as their only resource. The poor starveling was bled as often as nature would permit; and the blood, boiled to a consistency, formed almost the sole repast of the unhappy owners. Percy, already aware of the impoverished situation of the country, had husbanded the resources of the garrison, in order to make them hold out till the arrival of the expected supplies. Under these circumstances, his disappointment may be easily conceived, when the disordered remains of Fenwick’s party arrived at Ayr without a leader, to give an account of their disaster, every man being at liberty to tell his own story; and, as might be expected, all of them agreed in exaggerating the number of the Scots, and the gigantic stature and strength of their chief. Percy, even from the most favourable view of the affair, could only see the embarrassing situation in which he was placed. The uncertainty of procuring supplies by land was but too evident; and to bring them by sea was equally precarious, as the Scottish ships were still numerous on the coast, and had not acknowledged the sovereignty of Edward, but in the unsettled state of the country, continued to capture all the English vessels that came in their tract.
In this battle, which was fought at a place called Beg,[66] above Allanton, in the parish of Galston, few of any note among the Scots were slain. Of those present on the occasion, the following names have been handed down—Sir Andrew Murray, Sir William Douglas, Robert Boyd, Alexander Scrimgeor, Roger Kilpatrick, Alexander Auchinleck, Walter Newbigging, Stephen of Ireland, Hugh Dundas, John Kneland or Cleland, Ruthven, Sir David Barclay, Adam Curry, John Blair and Thomas Gray. In justice, therefore, to these brave and early confederates of our hero, we shall appropriate the remaining part of this chapter, to such notices of them as our scanty materials may afford. The following account of the first of those worthies is taken from the Peerage and Baronage of Scotland.
Sir Andrew de Moravia, dominus de Bothwell, succeeded his brother Sir William Murray, in the Lordship of Bothwell. This Sir William was chamberlain to Alexander III., and a man of singular merit; but dying without issue in 1294, he was succeeded by his no less meritorious brother, who also filled the office of chamberlain under the short reign of Baliol. Sir Andrew married a daughter of Sir John Cumin, Lord of Badenoch, by whom he had two sons, Sir Andrew and Sir William, the former of whom was associated in the command of the Scottish army when led by Wallace to the invasion of England. He also was chamberlain to Bruce, and regent of the kingdom in the minority of David II. He married Lady Christian Bruce, sister of the immortal King Robert, by whom he had two sons, John and Robert. His brother William was the progenitor of the Murrays of Abercairnie. The present “Sir Andrew sat in parliament in 1290, and appears to have sworn fealty to Edward 1291. When Sir William Wallace raised the standard of national independence, and when the other powerful barons deserted the cause, he was the only person of consequence who adhered to Wallace.”
Sir William Douglas, designated the Hardy, succeeded his brother Hugh. He was also known by the name of Long Leg, and reckoned to be a very handsome and powerful man, surpassing most of his countrymen in stature. He appears to have been present in the Parliament at Brigham in 1289, as his name is appended to the letter addressed by “the community of Scotland,” to Edward I., as “Guillame de Duglas.” He swore fealty to Edward in the Chapel of Thurston, 5th July 1291. His first wife was Elizabeth, a near connection of the Steward of Scotland, who died shortly after her marriage. His second was Eleanor, the widow of William de Ferrier. She being a ward of the English crown, had an assignation of the manors of Stubbings and Woodham Ferriers in Essex (part of her husband’s lands), until she should have her dowry set forth; which, being soon after assigned to her, she came to Scotland, there to obtain her right to such lands as her husband had possessed in that kingdom. But being at Tranent, (the manor-house of Helen la Zusche), expecting the like assignation, Sir William de Duglas came and forcibly carried her off.[67] As the lady had made oath before she left England, not to marry without the royal consent;—to save appearances, and to preserve her property, a complaint was made of the aggression, and Edward sent his precept to the sheriff of Northumberland, to seize all the goods and chattels of the said William de Duglas which were in his bailiwick; but shortly after, in 1291, in consequence of a fine of 10l. to the King, his permission was obtained. In 1296, Sir William had the command of the Castle of Berwick, which he surrendered to the English, being allowed to march out with the honours of war, after taking an oath never to bear arms against England. Such oaths, however, in that age it was reckoned more dishonourable to keep than to break. The following account of some of his exploits is from Hume of Godscroft’s History of the House of Douglas:
“When he” (Sir William) “heard that William Wallace was risen up, and had taken open banner against the English, he joined with him; by which accession of forces, Wallace’s army was much increased and strengthened. Yet they were not always together; but, according to the occasion, and as opportunity did offer, they did divide their companies, and went to several places, where they hoped to get best advantage of the enemy, and where there needed no great army, but some few companies at once. In these adventures, Lord William recovered from the English the castles of Desdier and Sanquhair.
“The manner of his taking the castle of Sanquhair is said to have been thus:—There was one Anderson that served the castle, and furnished them with wood and fuel, and had daily access to it upon that occasion. The Lord Douglas directs one of his trustiest and stoutest servants to deal with him, or to find some means to betray the castle to him, and to bring him within the gates only.
“Anderson, either persuaded by entreaty, or corrupted with money, gave my Lord’s servant, called Thomas Dickson, his apparel and carriages, who, coming to the castle, was let in by the porter for Anderson. Dickson stabbed the porter, and gave the signal to his Lord, who lay near by with his companions, set open the gates, and received them into the court. They, being entered, killed the captain and the whole of the English garrison, and so remained masters of the place. The captain’s name was Beauford, a kinsman of his own Lady Ferrars, who had oppressed the country that lay near him very insolently. One of the English that had been in the castle, escaping, went to the other garrisons that were in other castles and towns adjacent, and told them what had befallen his fellows, and withal informed them how the castle might be recovered. Whereupon, joining their forces together, they came and besieged it. Lord Douglas, finding himself straitened, and unprovided of necessaries for his defence, did secretly convey his man Dickson out at a postern, or some hidden passage, and sent him to William Wallace for aid. Wallace was then in Lennox, and, hearing of the danger Douglas was in, made all haste he could to come to his relief. The English, having notice of Wallace’s approach, left the siege, and retired towards England; yet not so quickly but that Wallace, accompanied by Sir John Graham, did overtake them, and killed five hundred of their number before they could pass Dalswinton. By these, and such like means, Wallace, with his assistants, having beaten the English from most part of their strengths in Scotland, did commit the care and custody of the whole country, from Drumlanrig to Ayr, to the charge of the Lord Douglas. Now, however, there be no mention of these things in our chronology; yet, seeing the Book of Wallace (which is more particular in many things) speaks of them, and the charter of the house of Symington, descended lineally of the said Thomas Dickson, who, for this and his other like services done to the Lord, and afterward to his good son Sir James, got the twenty merk land of Hesle-side, which his posterity doth still enjoy, holding of the Lords of Douglas and Angus; and there is no doubt to be made, but he hath done much more in his assistance he gave Wallace, than is recorded or extant any where; there being no likelihood that, in these so busy times, these two valiant and brave warriors did lie idle, although the particulars lie buried in deep silence.” The above account is fully confirmed by the manuscript history of the House of Douglas, written by Thomas Chambers, who adds, that “Sir William, before the battle of Falkirk, was betrayed into the hands of the English, and conveyed to Berwick, and from thence to York, where he was keeped close prisoner in the castle until his death, which took place in 1302, and was buried in a little chapel (now decayed) at the south end of the bridge.” The banner of Douglas was “azure a chiffe sylvir.”[68]
Sir Robert Boyd, or Boyt.—This bold and hardy warrior was also one of those who swore fealty to Edward I., when he overran Scotland in 1296; but throwing off his disgraceful allegiance in 1297, he became ever after the inseparable companion of Wallace. His father, in consequence of the gallantry he displayed at the battle of Largs, obtained a grant of lands in Cunningham from Alexander III., and was the near neighbour of Sir Raynald Crawford of Crosby,[69] the uncle of Wallace; the castles of the two families could communicate by signals with each other.