CHAPTER XI.
ROBERT BRUCE JOINS THE STANDARD OF WALLACE.—PERCY AND CLIFFORD SENT TO SUPPRESS THE INSURRECTION.—NIGHT SKIRMISH IN ANNANDALE.—DISAFFECTION OF THE SCOTTISH NOBLES.—WALLACE RETIRES TO THE NORTH.—BATTLE OF STIRLING BRIDGE.
The success of the insurrection excited by Wallace, has been attributed by some English authors—and by Langtoft[104] in particular—to the foolish parsimony of Cressingham, who had disgusted the English soldiery by withholding their pay, at a time when their services might have been of the greatest advantage. In consequence of this unjust procedure, many of the yeomen and pages, finding little else than danger to be met with in the service, deserted their posts, and returned to their own country. Although the impolitic and avaricious character of the English treasurer is a matter on which the authors of both countries are agreed, the precipitation with which the garrisons of the Usurper now retreated on the approach of the Scots, shows that the severe examples which had already been made were not without their effect.
While our hero was thus following up his plan for the emancipation of his country, his standard was unexpectedly joined by the younger Robert Bruce. This powerful baron, it seems, had incurred the suspicion of the Warden of the Western Marches, who summoned him to attend at Carlisle, on pretence of business relating to the kingdom. Afraid to disobey, Bruce made his appearance, accompanied by a numerous retinue of his followers, and was there obliged to make oath on the consecrated host, and the sword of Thomas à Becket, that he would remain the faithful vassal of the King of England. In order to prove his loyalty, and do away with the mistrust attached to him, he made an inroad on the estates of Sir William Douglas, who at the time was acting with Wallace, and carried off his wife and children to one of his own fortresses in Annandale. Having thus lulled the suspicions that had been awakened, he next assembled his father’s vassals, and endeavoured to persuade them to join him in attempting the deliverance of their country. In this, however, he was disappointed: he therefore collected his own retainers, and marched to the quarters of Wallace; consoling himself with the reflection, that the Pope would easily absolve him from his extorted oath.
The insurrection in Scotland had hitherto been regarded by Edward more as the unconnected operations of banditti, than any thing like an organized scheme for regaining the national independence. Having most of the Scottish barons in his power from whom he thought he had any thing to apprehend, and conceiving that their vassals would not dare to move without the warrant of their superior,—he looked upon the affair as one which the troops he had left behind were more than sufficient to suppress. In this opinion he was confirmed both by the English and the Scotch barons whom he had along with him. The latter, either ignorant, or pretending ignorance of the talents and resources of our hero, represented their presence as being absolutely necessary before any formidable force could be brought into the field; and Langtoft[105] charges the English barons with deceiving their sovereign in the affair, and concealing from him the real state of the country. It is a matter of notoriety, that about this time, Edward and his nobles were not on the best of terms. Having now, as he thought, in addition to Wales, insured the subjection and obedience of Scotland, and remembering the facility with which, by the aid of 30,000 Scots lent him by Alexander III., he overawed and suppressed the Earl of Gloucester and those who took part with him; he began to assume towards the English nobility an imperious and haughty demeanour, which both alarmed their fears and excited their jealousy. The unprincipled stretches of power which he had attempted since his triumphal entry into London after his victories in Scotland, had also sown the seeds of dissatisfaction among the inferior classes, who, no longer dazzled with the splendour of his achievements over the freedom of their neighbours, began to reflect on the encroachments which their ambitious sovereign was making on their own.
When Edward, therefore, became fully apprised of the serious nature of the revolt in Scotland, he paused in the midst of preparations for an expedition to Flanders, and despatched orders to the Earl of Surrey for the suppression and punishment of the insurgents. This distinguished and powerful nobleman, the most efficient perhaps of all Edward’s generals, was at that time residing in Northumberland for the recovery of his health. Having associated with him in the command, his nephew Lord Henry Percy, and Robert de Clifford, he sent them forward with forty thousand foot and three hundred cavalry, a force which he deemed sufficient to restore the country to the allegiance of his master.[106]
While the troops under Percy and Clifford were on their march through Annandale, their camp was attacked during the night by a body of Scots, led on by Wallace and Douglas. The darkness prevented the English from at first discovering the numbers of their assailants. Much confusion in consequence ensued; and many were either killed or driven into the adjacent morass. In this extremity, the English set fire to a number of their own tents; and, by the light thus obtained, they were enabled to form their ranks, and repulse the enemy, who were too inconsiderable in number to attempt any thing beyond a surprise. Hence, it may be inferred, that Bruce and his Annandale vassals were not engaged in the affair.
The English army lost no time in following the tract of the Scots, who retired towards those districts where the cause of national liberty had gained the greatest ascendancy. On reaching the neighbourhood of Irvine, the English commander found Wallace and the insurgent barons encamped on a well chosen position, and able, from their numbers, to have given battle, had they not been wofully enfeebled by dissension. The feuds among them ran so high, that Sir Richard Lundin, whose services had lately proved so useful, went over in disgust to the enemy, declaring that “he would no longer remain with a party at variance with itself.” His example was speedily followed by others, most of whom, as they were the cause of the dissension, could not assign the same reason for their conduct. Pride of birth, and reluctance on the part of the higher barons to submit to the only man among them who had talents[107] to meet the emergency, have been assigned, with great probability, as the cause of this unfortunate disagreement. The Steward of Scotland; his brother, the Knight of Bonkill; Robert Bruce; William Douglas; Alexander de Lindsay; and Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow, with their followers, were among those who submitted to the enemy. The Bishop negociated the terms on which they were to be admitted to the peace of their “Lord Paramount:”—an acknowledgment of their errors, and hostages for their future obedience, were the basis of the treaty; and a copy of the deed, to which their seals were appended, was sent to Wallace, in expectation of his following their example. The high-minded patriot, however, entertaining views of a more elevated nature, treated this record of their desertion of the liberties of their country with merited disdain.
At the head of his personal adherents, and a large body of the “liberi firmarii,” or free yeomanry of Scotland, Wallace retired indignantly towards the North. This latter class of men consisted of the tenants, and descendants of tenants, of the crown and church-lands, or those who occupied farms on the demesnes of the barons, for which they paid an equivalent rent in money or produce. They had the privilege of removing to whatever place they might think most desirable, and owed no military service except to the King for the defence of the country. Among them the independence of Scotland always found its most faithful and stubborn supporters. These “liberi firmarii,” for so they are called in the chartularies, and chamberlains’ accounts, were considered so useful from their superior industry, and agricultural knowledge, that during the minority of the Maid of Norway, a sum of money appears to have been distributed among them as an inducement to remain on the crown lands of Libertoun and Lawrence-town, which they were preparing to leave in consequence of a mortality among their cattle. They formed a striking contrast to the cottars or villeyns, who were entirely subject, both in body and means, to the will of the landholder, and were sold or transferred along with the estate; and could be claimed or brought back to it, if they removed, in the same manner as strayed cattle.[108] These formed the bulk of the degraded horde who followed the banners of the recreant barons, and whose servility, ignorance and ferocity, often made them dangerous to the liberties of the country; while the former class, along with the freemen of the boroughs, supplied the materials from which Wallace recruited the ranks of his patriotic battalions.