ABSTRACT
It is largely on account of accretions which have grown into his story, in the same way as they did with that of Eustace the Monk, that William Wallace the Scotsman earns a place in the history of outlaw literature. His true story belongs rather to the annals of patriotism than of outlawry, and it is therefore with hesitation that I have included a chapter about him. It was his spectacular victory over the English at Stirling Bridge and the brief hour of his triumph which followed it in the year 1297 that made him a hero of legend. Subsequent story magnified his achievement out of recognition: he became the hero of a ten-years’ war against the English, who had three times rescued his country from their yoke; he became the leader of the Scottish forces in immense pitched battles at which either he was not present, or which were not fought at all; and the lives lost in the struggle against him ran into hundreds of thousands. He became a muscular giant whose strength was all but irresistible: he took part in battles upon the sea and in Gascony, concerning his role in which history remains silent. He became the chosen champion of Philip the Fair of France, and held parley with the Queen of Edward I of England, who was dead before his historical career opened. As in the case of Eustace, there is a residue of history buried beneath this welter of fiction: he really did visit France, and there really were more battles in the war between England 65and Scotland than he ever took part in. But the wishful thinking of ardent patriots has added so much to the tale, that it has become hard to say with any certainty just what kernel of truth is concealed under it.
