“About forty years ago, upon opening the burying vault under the aisle of the church of Kinfauns, erected by this family, there was found a headpiece, or kind of helmet, made of several folds of linen, or some strong stuff, painted over with broad stripes of blue and white, which seems to have been part of the fictitious armour wherein the body of Sir Thomas Longueville, or Charteris, had been disposed.[51]
“Some persons of the surname of Charteris,” says the editor of the Perth edition of Wallace, “lairds of Kinfauns, and of Cuthilgourdy, were provosts of Perth, and would make a distinguished figure in the heroic annals of Perth, if the old writs of that city were properly displayed.”
According to the same authority, there were families of the name of Charteris in Scotland, long before the time assigned to Thomas de Longueville. Andrew de Charteris, who swore fealty to Edward in 1296, is said to have been the ancestor of the noble family of Wemyss.
CHAPTER VIII.
EDWARD AGAIN INVADES SCOTLAND.—SIR SIMON FRAZER DESERTS THE ENGLISH, AND JOINS HIS COUNTRYMEN.—WALLACE RETURNS TO SCOTLAND.—BATTLE OF ROSLIN.
The truce which circumstances had extorted from Edward, was no sooner expired, than the campaign was opened by a fresh invasion of Scotland. The English army again advanced as far as Linlithgow, where, fixing their head-quarters, they commenced building a fortress for the same object as had induced them to rear similar structures in the south. The treaty of peace had not yet been concluded with the King of France; and Edward anxiously endeavoured to detach him from the interests of the Scots. In this he was successful; for, by giving up his allies, the Flemings, to the chastisement of Philip, and sacrificing a lucrative branch of trade, in order to gratify his enmity against the Scots, he obtained the King of France’s consent to a separate peace, stipulating only for a truce with Scotland, to endure till St Andrew’s day, 1302,—after which period, Edward was left at liberty to prosecute his views against that country.
In the meantime, the cause of independence acquired a valuable accession in the person of Sir Simon Frazer, who at last—awakened to the injuries of his country, and a just sense of his own unnatural conduct—deserted the standard of Edward, and enrolled himself among the asserters of the liberty of Scotland.[52] The talents and bravery of this leader more than counterbalanced the loss which the patriots had sustained in the defection of the Bishop of Glasgow; who, on the 7th October 1300, at Holmcoltrum, had renewed his former fealty to Edward, swearing upon the consecrated host, and upon the Croyz Gneytz[53] and Black Rood of Scotland; in consequence, as is supposed, of a remonstrance from Boniface, who now thought proper to espouse the interest of Edward.
On hearing of the situation of Scotland, Wallace withdrew from the French court, and returned home. What services he was enabled to render his country during his absence, do not appear in any of our records.
1302. After the expiry of the truce, Edward sent John de Segrave with an army of 20,000 men into Scotland, who, having advanced to the neighbourhood of Roslin, divided his troops into three divisions, for the purpose of procuring forage. In the meantime, John Cumyn and Simon Frazer, having collected a body of eight thousand Scots, suddenly fell upon the first division, which they defeated with great slaughter. While engaged in collecting the spoil, the second division came in sight, on which the Scots, elated with the success they had already obtained, stood resolutely to their arms, charged, and, after a desperate conflict, again drove their enemies from the field. After this double victory, the Scots, exhausted with the fatigues of the day, were preparing to refresh themselves, when their scouts brought notice that the third division of their enemies was at hand. Their leaders flew from rank to rank, beseeching them to make one effort more to preserve the glory they had acquired; and having equipped the followers of the camp in the arms of their slain enemies, they again commenced the bloody strife, with that enthusiasm which the remembrance of their former victories inspired. The fury of the Scottish charge decided the third battle: the English were once more thrown into confusion, and fled in the greatest terror, leaving behind them all their camp-equipage a prey to the conquerors. The advantages resulting from this day’s successes were not thrown away: the Scots every where flocked to the assistance of their countrymen; and the fortresses which Edward possessed in the south of Scotland, were quickly recovered, and garrisoned by their lawful masters.