In Freedom's Cause : A Story of Wallace and Bruce Read online

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  In Freedom's Cause

  G. A. Henty

  CONTENTS

  I Glen Cairn II Leaving Home III Sir William Wallace IV The Capture of Lanark V A Treacherous Plot VI The Barns of Ayr VII The Cave in the Pentlands VIII The Council at Stirling IX The Battle of Stirling Bridge X The Battle of Falkirk XI Robert The Bruce XII The Battle of Methven XIII The Castle of Dunstaffnage XIV Colonsay XV A Mission to Ireland XVI An Irish Rising XVII The King's Blood Hound XVIII The Hound Restored XIX The Convent of St. Kenneth XX The Heiress of the Kerrs XXI The Siege of Aberfilly XXII A Prisoner XXIII The Escape from Berwick XXIV The Progress of the War XXV The Capture of a Stronghold XXVI Edinburgh XXVII Bannockburn

  PREFACE.

  MY DEAR LADS,

  There are few figures in history who have individually exercisedso great an influence upon events as William Wallace and RobertBruce. It was to the extraordinary personal courage, indomitableperseverance, and immense energy of these two men that Scotlandowed her freedom from English domination. So surprising were thetraditions of these feats performed by these heroes that it was atone time the fashion to treat them as belonging as purely to legendas the feats of St. George or King Arthur. Careful investigation,however, has shown that so far from this being the case, almostevery deed reported to have been performed by them is verified bycontemporary historians. Sir William Wallace had the especial badfortune of having come down to us principally by the writings ofhis bitter enemies, and even modern historians, who should havetaken a fairer view of his life, repeated the cry of the old Englishwriters that he was a bloodthirsty robber. Mr. W. Burns, however,in his masterly and exhaustive work, The Scottish War of Independence,has torn these calumnies to shreds, and has displayed Wallace ashe was, a high minded and noble patriot. While consulting otherwriters, especially those who wrote at the time of or but shortlyafter the events they record, I have for the most part followedBurns in all the historical portions of the narrative. Throughoutthe story, therefore, wherein it at all relates to Wallace, Bruce,and the other historical characters, the circumstances and eventscan be relied upon as strictly accurate, save only in the earlierevents of the career of Wallace, of which the details that havecome down to us are somewhat conflicting, although the main featuresare now settled past question.

  Yours sincerely, G.A. HENTY.

  Chapter I

  Glen Cairn

  The village of Glen Cairn was situated in a valley in the brokencountry lying to the west of the Pentland Hills, some fifteen milesnorth of the town of Lanark, and the country around it was wildand picturesque. The villagers for the most part knew little ofthe world beyond their own valley, although a few had occasionallypaid visits to Glasgow, which lay as far to the west as Lanark wasdistant to the south. On a spur jutting out from the side of thehill stood Glen Cairn Castle, whose master the villagers had forgenerations regarded as their lord.

  The glory of the little fortalice had now departed. Sir WilliamForbes had been killed on his own hearthstone, and the castle hadbeen sacked in a raid by the Kerrs, whose hold lay to the southwest,and who had long been at feud with the Forbeses. The royal powerwas feeble, and the Kerrs had many friends, and were accordinglygranted the lands they had seized; only it was specified that DameForbes, the widow of Sir William, should be allowed to reside inthe fortalice free from all let or hindrance, so long as she meddlednot, nor sought to stir up enmity among the late vassals of herlord against their new masters.

  The castle, although a small one, was strongly situated. The spurof the hill ran some 200 yards into the valley, rising sharplysome 30 or 40 feet above it. The little river which meandered downthe valley swept completely round the foot of the spur, forming anatural moat to it, and had in some time past been dammed back, sothat, whereas in other parts it ran brightly over a pebbly bottom,here it was deep and still. The fortalice itself stood at theextremity of the spur, and a strong wall with a fortified gatewayextended across the other end of the neck, touching the water onboth sides. From the gateway extended two walls inclosing a roadstraight to the gateway of the hold itself, and between these wallsand the water every level foot of ground was cultivated; this gardenwas now the sole remains of the lands of the Forbeses.

  It was a narrow patrimony for Archie, the only son of Dame Forbes,and his lady mother had hard work to keep up a respectable state,and to make ends meet. Sandy Grahame, who had fought under herhusband's banner and was now her sole retainer, made the most of thegarden patches. Here he grew vegetables on the best bits of groundand oats on the remainder; these, crushed between flat stones,furnished a coarse bread. From the stream an abundance of fish couldalways be obtained, and the traps and nets therefore furnished ameal when all else failed. In the stream, too, swam a score and moreof ducks, while as many chickens walked about the castle yard, orscratched for insects among the vegetables. A dozen goats browsedon the hillside, for this was common ground to the village, andDame Forbes had not therefore to ask for leave from her enemies,the Kerrs. The goats furnished milk and cheese, which was deftlymade by Elspie, Sandy's wife, who did all the work indoors, as herhusband did without. Meat they seldom touched. Occasionally theresources of the hold were eked out by the present of a littlehill sheep, or a joint of prime meat, from one or other of her oldvassals, for these, in spite of the mastership of the Kerrs, stillat heart regarded Dame Mary Forbes as their lawful mistress, andher son Archie as their future chief. Dame Mary Forbes was carefulin no way to encourage this feeling, for she feared above all thingsto draw the attention of the Kerrs to her son. She was sure thatdid Sir John Kerr entertain but a suspicion that trouble might evercome from the rivalry of this boy, he would not hesitate a momentin encompassing his death; for Sir John was a rough and violentman who was known to hesitate at nothing which might lead to hisaggrandizement. Therefore she seldom moved beyond the outer wallof the hold, except to go down to visit the sick in the village.She herself had been a Seaton, and had been educated at the nunneryof Dunfermline, and she now taught Archie to read and write,accomplishments by no means common even among the better class inthose days. Archie loved not books; but as it pleased his mother,and time often hung heavy on his hands, he did not mind devotingtwo or three hours a day to the tasks she set him. At other timeshe fished in the stream, wandered over the hills, and brought inthe herbs from which Dame Forbes distilled the potions which shedistributed to the villagers when sick.

  Often he joined the lads of the village in their games. Theyall regarded him as their leader; but his mother had pressed uponhim over and over again that on no account was he to assume anysuperiority over the others, but to treat them strictly as equals.Doubtless the Kerrs would from time to time have news of what wasdoing in Glen Cairn; and while they would be content to see himjoining in the sports of the village lads, with seemingly no wishbeyond that station, they would at once resent it did they seeany sign on his part of his regarding himself as a chief among theothers.

  No inconsiderable portion of Archie's time was occupied in acquiringthe use of arms from Sandy Grahame. His mother, quiet and seeminglyresigned as she was, yet burned with the ambition that he shouldsome day avenge his father's death, and win back his father's lands.She said little to him of her hopes; but she roused his spirit bytelling him stories of the brave deeds of the Forbeses and Seatons,and she encouraged him from his childhood to practise in arms withSandy Grahame.

  In this respect, indeed, Archie needed no stimulant. From Sandyeven m
ore than from his mother he had heard of his brave father'sdeeds in arms; and although, from the way in which she repressed anysuch utterances, he said but little to his mother, he was resolvedas much as she could wish him to be, that he would some day winback his patrimony, and avenge his father upon his slayers.

  Consequently, upon every opportunity when Sandy Grahame could sparetime from his multifarious work, Archie practised with him, withsword and pike. At first he had but a wooden sword. Then, as hislimbs grew stronger, he practised with a blunted sword; and nowat the age of fifteen Sandy Grahame had as much as he could do tohold his own with his pupil.

  At the time the story opens, in the springtime of the year 1293,he was playing at ball with some of the village lads on the green,when a party of horsemen was seen approaching.

  At their head rode two men perhaps forty years old, while a lad ofsome eighteen years of age rode beside them. In one of the eldermen Archie recognized Sir John Kerr. The lad beside him was hisson Allan. The other leader was Sir John Hazelrig, governor ofLanark; behind them rode a troop of armed men, twenty in number.Some of the lads would have ceased from their play; but Archieexclaimed:

  "Heed them not; make as if you did not notice them. You need notbe in such a hurry to vail your bonnets to the Kerr."

  "Look at the young dogs," Sir John Kerr said to his companion."They know that their chief is passing, and yet they pretend thatthey see us not."

  "It would do them good," his son exclaimed, "did you give yourtroopers orders to tie them all up and give them a taste of theirstirrup leathers."

  "It would not be worth while, Allan," his father said. "They willall make stout men-at-arms some day, and will have to fight undermy banner. I care as little as any man what my vassals think ofme, seeing that whatsoever they think they have to do mine orders.But it needs not to set them against one needlessly; so let thevarlets go on with their play undisturbed."

  That evening Archie said to his mother, "How is it, mother, thatthe English knight whom I today saw ride past with the Kerr isgovernor of our Scottish town of Lanark?"

  "You may well wonder, Archie, for there are many in Scotlandof older years than you who marvel that Scotsmen, who have alwaysbeen free, should tolerate so strange a thing. It is a long story,and a tangled one; but tomorrow morning I will draw out for youa genealogy of the various claimants to the Scottish throne, andyou will see how the thing has come about, and under what pretenceEdward of England has planted his garrisons in this free Scotlandof ours."

  The next morning Archie did not forget to remind his mother of herpromise.

  "You must know," she began, "that our good King Alexander had threechildren--David, who died when a boy; Alexander, who married adaughter of the Count of Flanders, and died childless; and a daughter,Margaret, who married Eric, the young King of Norway. Three yearsago the Queen of Norway died, leaving an only daughter, also namedMargaret, who was called among us the 'Maid of Norway,' and who,at her mother's death, became heir presumptive to the throne, andas such was recognized by an assembly of the estates at Scone. Butwe all hoped that the king would have male heirs, for early lastyear, while still in the prime of life, he married Joleta, daughterof the Count of Drew. Unhappily, on the 19th of March, he attendeda council in the castle of Edinburgh, and on his way back to hiswife at Kinghorn, on a stormy night, he fell over a precipice andwas killed.

  "The hopes of the country now rested on the 'Maid of Norway,' whoalone stood between the throne and a number of claimants, most ofwhom would be prepared to support their claims by arms, and thusbring unnumbered woes upon Scotland. Most unhappily for the country,the maid died on her voyage to Scotland, and the succession thereforebecame open.

  "You will see on this chart, which I have drawn out, the lines bywhich the principal competitors--for there were nigh upon a scoreof them--claimed the throne.

  "Before the death of the maid, King Edward had proposed a marriagebetween her and his young son, and his ambassadors met the Scottishcommissioners at Brigham, near Kelso, and on the 18th of July, 1290,the treaty was concluded. It contained, besides the provisions ofthe marriage, clauses for the personal freedom of Margaret shouldshe survive her husband; for the reversion of the crown failingher issue; for protection of the rights, laws, and liberties ofScotland; the freedom of the church; the privileges of crown vassals;the independence of the courts; the preservation of all chartersand natural muniments; and the holding of parliaments only withinScotland; and specially provided that no vassal should be compelledto go forth of Scotland for the purpose of performing homage orfealty; and that no native of Scotland should for any cause whateverbe compelled to answer, for any breach of covenant or from crimecommitted, out of the kingdom.

  "Thus you see, my boy, that King Edward at this time fully recognizedthe perfect independence of Scotland, and raised no claim to anysuzerainty over it. Indeed, by Article I it was stipulated thatthe rights, laws, liberties, and customs of Scotland should remainfor ever entire and inviolable throughout the whole realm and itsmarches; and by Article V that the Kingdom of Scotland shall remainseparate and divided from England, free in itself, and withoutsubjection, according to its right boundaries and marches, asheretofore.

  "King Edward, however, artfully inserted a salvo, 'saving the rightsof the King of England and of all others which before the date ofthis treaty belong to him or any of them in the marches or elsewhere.'The Scottish lords raised no objection to the insertion of thissalvo, seeing that it was of general purport, and that Edwardpossessed no rights in Scotland, nor had any ever been assertedby his predecessors--Scotland being a kingdom in itself equal toits neighbour--and that neither William the Norman nor any of hissuccessors attempted to set forward any claims to authority beyondthe Border.

  "No sooner was the treaty signed than Edward, without warrantor excuse, appointed Anthony Beck, the warlike Bishop of Durham,Lieutenant of Scotland, in the name of the yet unmarried pair; andfinding that this was not resented, he demanded that all the placesof strength in the kingdom should be delivered to him. This demandwas not, however, complied with, and the matter was still pendingwhen the Maid of Norway died. The three principal competitors--Bruce,Baliol, and Comyn--and their friends, at once began to arm; butWilliam Fraser, Bishop of St. Andrews, a friend of Baliol, wrote toKing Edward suggesting that he should act as arbitrator, and morethan hinting that if he chose Baliol he would find him submissivein all things to his wishes. Edward jumped at the proposal, andthereupon issued summonses to the barons of the northern countiesto meet him at Norham on the 3d of June; and a mandate was issuedto the sheriffs of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, York,and Lancaster, to assemble the feudal array at the same rendezvous.

  "Now, you know, my son, that, owing to the marriages between royalfamilies of England and Scotland, there has been a close connectionbetween the countries. Many Scotch barons have married Englishheiresses, and hold lands in both countries, while Scottish maidenshave married English knights. Thus it happens that a great numberof the Scotch nobility are as much Englishmen as Scotchmen, and arevassals to England for lands held there. Four of the competitors,John Baliol, Robert Bruce, John Comyn, and William Ross, are allbarons of England as well as of Scotland, and their lands lyingin the north they were, of course, included in the invitation. InMay, Edward issued an invitation to the Bishops of St. Andrews,Glasgow, and other Scotch nobles to come to Norham, remain there,and return, specially saying that their presence there was not tobe regarded as a custom through which the laws of Scotland mightin any future time be prejudiced. Hither then came the whole powerof the north of England, and many of the Scotch nobles.

  "When the court opened, Roger Brabazon, the king's justiciary,delivered an address, in which he stated that Edward, as lordparamount of Scotland, had come there to administer justice betweenthe competitors for the crown, and concluded with the request thatall present should acknowledge his claim as lord paramount. TheScottish nobles present, with the exception of those who wereprivy to Edward's desig
ns, were filled with astonishment and dismayat this pretension, and declared their ignorance of any claim ofsuperiority of the King of England over Scotland. The king, in apassion, exclaimed:

  "'By holy Edward, whose crown I wear, I will vindicate my justrights, or perish in the attempt.'

  "However, he saw that nothing could be done on the instant, andadjourned the meeting for three weeks, at the end of which time theprelates, nobles, and community of Scotland were invited to bringforward whatever they could in opposition to his claim to supremacy.

  "At the time fixed the Scotch nobles again met, but this time onthe Scottish side of the Border, for Edward had gathered togetherthe whole of the force of the northern counties.

  "Besides the four claimants, whose names I have told you, were SirJohn Hastings, Patrick Dunbar, Earl of March, William de Vesci,Robert de Pinkeny, Nicholas de Soulis, Patrick Galythly, Roger deMandeville, Florence, Count of Holland, and Eric, King of Norway.With the exception of Eric, the Count of Holland, Dunbar, andGalythly, all of these were of Norman extraction, and held possessionsin England. When the meeting was opened the prelates and noblespresent advanced nothing to disprove Edward's claim to supremacy.The representatives of the commons, however, did show reason againstthe claim, for which, indeed, my son, as every man in Scotlandknows, there was not a shadow of foundation.

  "The king's chancellor declared that there was nothing in theseobjections to Edward's claim, and therefore he resolved, as lordparamount, to determine the question of succession. The variouscompetitors were asked whether they acknowledged Edward as lordparamount, and were willing to receive his judgment as such; andthe whole of these wretched traitors proceeded to barter theircountry for their hopes of a crown, acknowledged Edward as lordparamount, and left the judgment in his hands.

  "Bruce and Baliol received handsome presents for thus tamelyyielding the rights of Scotland. All present at once agreed thatthe castles and strongholds of Scotland should be surrendered intothe hands of English commanders and garrisons. This was immediatelydone; and thus it is, Archie, that you see an English officerlording it over the Scotch town of Lanark.

  "Then every Scotchman was called upon to do homage to the Englishking as his lord paramount, and all who refused to do so wereseized and arrested. Finally, on the 17th of November last, 1292--thedate will long be remembered in Scotland--Edward's judgmentwas given at Berwick, and by it John Baliol was declared King ofScotland.

  "Thus for eighteen months Scotland was kept in doubt; and this wasdone, no doubt, to enable the English to rivet their yoke upon ourshoulders, and to intimidate and coerce all who might oppose it."

  "There were some that did oppose it, mother, were there not?--sometrue Scotchmen who refused to own the supremacy of the King ofEngland?"

  "Very few, Archie. One Sir Malcolm Wallace, a knight of but smallestate, refused to do so, and was, together with his eldest son,slain in an encounter with an English detachment under a leadernamed Fenwick at Loudon Hill."

  "And was he the father of that William Wallace of whom the talk waslately that he had slain young Selbye, son of the English governorof Dundee?"

  "The same, Archie."

  "Men say, mother, that although but eighteen years of age he is ofgreat stature and strength, of very handsome presence, and courteousand gentle; and that he was going quietly through the streets wheninsulted by young Selbye, and that he and his companions being setupon by the English soldiers, slew several and made their escape."

  "So they say, Archie. He appears from all description of himto be a remarkable young man, and I trust that he will escape thevengeance of the English, and that some day he may again strikesome blows for our poor Scotland, which, though nominally underthe rule of Baliol, is now but a province of England."

  "But surely, mother, Scotchmen will never remain in such a stateof shameful servitude!"

  "I trust not, my son; but I fear that it will be long before weshake off the English yoke. Our nobles are for the most part ofNorman blood; very many are barons of England; and so great are thejealousies among them that no general effort against England willbe possible. No, if Scotland is ever to be freed, it will be bya mighty rising of the common people, and even then the strugglebetween the commons of Scotland and the whole force of England aidedby the feudal power of all the great Scotch nobles, would be wellnigh hopeless."

  This conversation sank deeply into Archie's mind; day and nighthe thought of nothing but the lost freedom of Scotland, and vowedthat even the hope of regaining his father's lands should besecondary to that of freeing his country. All sorts of wild dreamsdid the boy turn over in his mind; he was no longer gay and lighthearted, but walked about moody and thoughtful. He redoubled hisassiduity in the practice of arms; and sometimes when fighting withSandy, he would think that he had an English man-at-arms before him,and would strike so hotly and fiercely that Sandy had the greatestdifficulty in parrying his blows, and was forced to shout lustilyto recall him from the clouds. He no longer played at ball with thevillage lads; but, taking the elder of them aside, he swore themto secrecy, and then formed them into a band, which he called theScottish Avengers. With them he would retire into valleys far awayfrom the village, where none would mark what they were doing, andthere they practised with club and stake instead of broadswordand pike, defended narrow passes against an imaginary enemy, and,divided into two parties, did battle with each other.

  The lads entered into the new diversion with spirit. Among thelower class throughout Scotland the feeling of indignation at themanner in which their nobles had sold their country to England wasdeep and passionate. They knew the woes which English dominationhad brought upon Wales and Ireland; and though as yet without aleader, and at present hopeless of a successful rising, every trueScotchman was looking forward to the time when an attempt might bemade to throw off the English yoke.

  Therefore the lads of Glen Cairn entered heart and soul intothe projects of their "young chief," for so they regarded Archie,and strove their best to acquire some of the knowledge of the useof sword and pike which he possessed. The younger lads were notpermitted to know what was going on--none younger than Archiehimself being admitted into the band, while some of the elders wereyouths approaching man's estate. Even to his mother Archie did notbreathe a word of what he was doing, for he feared that she mightforbid his proceedings. The good lady was often surprised at thecuts and bruises with which he returned home; but he always turnedoff her questions by muttering something about rough play or aheavy fall, and so for some months the existence of the ScottishAvengers remained unsuspected.