and Cressingham; and when nearly the half had passed, Wallace charged them with his whole force, before they had time to form, and threw them into inextricable confusion. A vast multitude was slain, or drowned in the river in attempting to rejoin Surrey, who stood on the other side, a spectator of the discomfiture. Cressingham, the treasurer, was among the first who fell; and so
deeply was his character detested, that the Scots mangled his dead body, and tore the skin from his limbs.[1] Twenge, by a gallant struggle, regained the bridge, and got over to his friends. A panic seized the English who stood with Surrey, spectators of the rout Abandoning their wagons and baggage, they fled precipitately, burning the bridge, (which was of wood,) to prevent pursuit. The earl of Lennox and the Scottish barons, perceiving this, threw off their mask of alliance with Edward; and, being joined by part of the Scottish army, who crossed the river by means of a ford at some distance from the bridge, pursued the English with great vigour as far as Berwick, which was soon abandoned, and taken possession of by the victorious army. It is not known how many of the English fell at this battle, but the slaughter must have been great, as few of those who crossed the bridge escaped; and the Scots, smarting under the cruel insolence and rapacity with which they had been treated, gave little quarter. On the side of the Scots, few of any note were slain, with the exception of Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell, the faithful companion of Wallace, whose son, some time after, was made regent of Scotland.
This decisive engagement took place on the llth of September, 1297; and its consequences were important. The castles of Dundee, Edinburgh, and Roxburgh, immediately surrendered to Wallace: and in a short time not a fortress or castle in Scotland remained in the hands of the English. Thus, through the means of one man, was Scotland delivered from the iron yoke of Edward, and her name and independence among the nations of the earth restored.
Wallace was now declared, by the voice of the people, governor and guardian of the kingdom, under Baliol.[2] About the same time, a severe dearth and famine, the consequence of bad seasons and the ravages of war, afflicted Scotland; and Wallace, with the view of procuring sustenance for his followers, and of profiting by his victory at Stirling, resolved upon an immediate expedition into England. For the purpose of raising a formidable army, he commanded that from every county, barony, town, and village, a certain proportion of fighting men, between the ages of sixteen and sixty, should be levied; and although the jealousy of the Scottish nobility began to be more than ever excited, and many endeavours were made by them to prevent cordial co-operation, he soon found himself at the head of a numerous body of men, with whom he marched towards the north of England, taking with him, as his partner in command, Sir Andrew Murray of Bothwell, son of the gallant knight who fell at the battle of Stirling bridge. The approach of the Scottish army, struck the inhabitants of the northern counties with terror: they abandoned their dwellings, and, with their cattle and household goods, took refuge in Newcastle. "At this time," says Hemingford, an English historian, "the praise of God was unheard in any church or monastery throughout the whole country, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne to the gates of Carlisle; for the monks, canons regular,
- ↑ It is said in an old MS. Chronicle, that Wallace made a sword-belt of Cressingham's skin. Ihis may be the origin of the story, that the Scots made girths of his skin; an absurdity upon which lord Hailes is at the pains of passing a joke.
- ↑ His title runs thus in a document of his own time:—"Willelmus Walays, miles, custos regni Scotiie, et ductor exercituum ejusdem, nomine præclari Principis Domini Johannis, Dei gratia, regis Scotiæ illustris, de consensu communitatis ejusdem.
