[63] The servility of the Scottish Barons was not always unrequited. By the Rotuli Scotiæ, 19 Edward I. et passim 24, it appears he gave obligations of the following import.
| Annual Value. | ||
| To the Bishop of Glasgow, lands of | L.100 | |
| To James the Steward | 100 | |
| To Patrick Earl of Dunbar | 100 | |
| To John de Soulis | 100 | merks. |
| To William Sinclair | 100 | |
| To Patrick de Graham | 100 | |
| To William de Soulis | 100 | |
Edward afterwards changed his plan, and gave these barons and prelates gratifications in money, or other value. But to John Comyn the King gave the enormous sum of L.1563: 14: 6½d.—Tytler’s Hist. vol. i. p. 99.
[64] Prophetic announcements respecting him were also, at an after period, sent abroad by the Scottish clergy.—“Nam revelatione mirifica ostensum est fide dignioribus diversis, sanctissimum apostolum Andream, regni Scotiæ, protectorem et patronum, dicto Willielmo Wallace gladium cruentatum manu aliter commisisse, stricte sibi præcipiendo eo utrobique uti ad defensionem regni Anglicos propulsando.—Custos itaque effectus, misit manum suam ad fortia, Anglicos prosternens, Anglicatos reconcilians, oppressos relevans, et quotidianis incrementis proficiens.” M.S. Cuprensis. See Fordun’s Scotichronicon, vol. ii. p. 170.—This vision of St Andrew is also taken notice of by Blind Harry.—Vide Buke Sewynd, v. 57.
[65] “Riccardtoun is evidently a corruption of Richardtown. It is generally said to have been so called from a Sir Richard Wallace, who lived in the vicinity of the village, and who is said to have been uncle to the celebrated patriot Sir William Wallace. Of his house no vestige now remains. The place, however, where it stood is well known. The village of Riccardtown is within one mile of the market town of Kilmarnock.”—Stat. Acc. vol. vi. p. 117.
[66] “Among other antiquities, there may be mentioned a place called Beg, above Allinton, where the brave Wallace lay in a species of rude fortification, with only fifty of his friends, yet obtained a complete victory over an English officer of the name of Fenwick, who had two hundred men under his command. This gallant hero, it is well known, had several places of retirement towards the head of this parish, and in the neighbourhood, some of which still retain his name to this day. Wallace-hill, in particular, an eminence near Galla-law, and a place called Wallace-Gill, in the parish of Loudoun, a hollow glen to which he probably retired for shelter, when pursued by his enemies.”—Stat. Acc. ii. 74.
[67] Dugdale, vol. i. p. 266.
[68] Froisart.
[69] The ruins which are now called Crosby Castle, are situated in the district of Cunningham, within a short distance of the village of West Kilbride. They occupy part of the ground on which stood the old castle belonging to Sir Raynald Crawford. By the date on the wall, it seems to have undergone repairs in 1676. The present building has never been a place of great strength. From the ap *pearance of the ground, however, and other indications in the neighbourhood, the former castle must have been of a different character. On the edge of a deep precipitous glen, well adapted for concealment, it afforded every facility for eluding the pursuit of an enemy. A noisy brook dashes from rock to rock down the dark and well-wooded ravine, whose craggy sides must often have witnessed the meeting of Wallace and his associates.
[70] The Charter of Wallace, by which Scrimgeor held the Constabulary of Dundee, is still in existence, and will be given in vol. ii. of this work. The seal affixed to the instrument is that of Baliol, and accompanies, as a frontispiece, the present volume.