Worth Remembering is a dive into the history of Stirling, Scotland and beyond. Looking at everything from legendary battles to old folktales, because every story is worth remembering.
There’s a special place in history for William Wallace.
One of Scotland’s most legendary freedom fighters and someone who still lives as an icon of liberty over 700 years later, his life has become one of the most well-known in all of Scotland and the world.
Yet for such a giant in our history, there is still so much that we don’t know about the man. Medieval history is already often difficult to chart but Wallace especially has remained elusive.
Regardless, there’s no doubting his mythological status in Scotland and today, we’ll look at how some of those mysteries contribute to the living and ever-changing legend of Sir William Wallace, Guardian of Scotland.
Where was William Wallace born?
To answer this mystery, historians have looked to solve another problem: The identity of his father.
The first clue comes from a rather sketchy source. A piece (allegedly) written in 1327 by Arnald Blair who was (allegedly) William Wallace’s chaplain. It describes that “In the year of grace 1299 William Wallace, hammer of the English, son of the noble knight Sir Andrew Wallace, lord of Craigie, first raised his head”
Vigorous historical analysis has cast doubt on that date of birth, which seems to suggest that Wallace’s most legendary victory, at the Battle of Stirling Bridge, came at the ripe old age of negative two years old.
Another suggestion comes from Blind Harry, the man largely responsible for Wallace’s immense popularity today. Although there’s slightly less “Allegedlys” attached to his name, he’s still seen as something of an unreliable narrator, writing around 150 years after the fact.
Blind Harry says that Sir Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie, believed to be the small town near Paisley, was the father of Wallace. It’s a satisfying answer and was the predominantly accepted birthplace of the Scottish hero for centuries.
That was until 1912, when a copy of a letter Wallace had sent to the merchants of Lübeck was uncovered. Attached was his seal which stated that he was the son of Alan Wallace, a crown tenant in Ayrshire.
From here on, it’s generally been believed that Alan was Wallace’s actual father, which would mean Wallace was most likely born in Ayrshire.
Nevertheless, there’s yet to be any definitive proof of where Wallace or even when he was born. All that can be said for certain is that he was born sometime in the 1270s, somewhere in Scotland.
What did William Wallace do before his revolt?
This is by far one of the most fascinating facts about Wallace. He came from the lower nobility and didn’t show up on the historical record until his murder of the Sheriff of Lanark in 1297. Within that year, he was Guardian of Scotland.
We can only speculate on who Wallace was before he was caught up in the storms of revolt. Firstly, we know that Wallace was a middle child, meaning he wouldn’t inherit any land from his father. As such, he would’ve had to have made his own living.
Blind Harry suggests that he trained in the priesthood but the seal from the Lübeck letter depicts a bow and arrow, appearing to suggest that Wallace was an archer of some kind. That, too, has been corroborated by English sources.
Those sources often describe Wallace as an “Outlaw” even prior to his initial rebellion. Indeed, a William Wallace is named as a perpetrator of a burglary in 1296 but there’s nothing to conclusively say that it was the William Wallace we know today.
Many historians also assume Wallace must have had some sort of military experience, given his later successes commanding the Scots army. None of the records appear to mention this however and there remains the possibiliry that Wallace was simply a talented general by birth.
Regardless of who he was before, what we do know is that Wallace launched a brutal raid on Lanark, killing its sheriff and becoming a legend in the process. Here, however, yet another question mark arises.
Why did William Wallace rebel?
The story popularised by Blind Harry was that William Heselrig, the sheriff of Lanark, had killed Wallace’s young wife and Wallace murdered him in cold-blooded revenge. It’s a story that’s great for poetry and for Braveheart.
But can we seriously imagine Scotland’s greatest patriot remaining largely content with the English regime, so long as his wife hadn’t been killed? The real reason may be a bit less dramatic.
What we do know is that William Heselrig had been holding court on the day of Wallace’s raid. Perhaps Heselrig had threatened Wallace in some way with a declaration of outlawry and Wallace sought revenge for that.
Another possible explanation is the symbolism of a raid launched on the day the English sought to exercise their control over the area. Wallace rushing in to the aid of Lanark against the tyrannical English certainly helped to make an impression.
All we can say for certain was that there was no going back for Wallace from this point on. He was now certainly an outlaw and would have to fight to the last to avoid execution. That’s exactly what he did.
Where did William Wallace go after Falkirk?
Wallace’s disastrous defeat at the Battle of Falkirk in 1298 is well-known but he wouldn’t be captured and executed for another 7 years. What Wallace spent this period doing isn’t exactly clear.
Falkirk disgraced Wallace and he resigned as Guardian of Scotland shortly after. He would never again reach those same heights of splendour and power. The great outlaw of legend left his position in Scotland to become a diplomat.
Soon after resigning, he left for Europe, joining a diplomatic expedition to the King of Norway, France and the Pope. Most likely, it was an attempt to win international support for the cause of Scottish independence.
The Pope was the most powerful figure in Europe during the medieval period and, importantly for the Scots, former Scottish King John Balliol in Papal custody. The Scots left to see if some kind of agreement could be arrived at to restore Balliol to his Kingdom.
Any such agreement would have required the approval of King Edward and it was most likely this hitch that saw Wallace return to Scotland without any real guarantees of support. From here, he would participate in occasional raids against the English before being captured in 1305.
Wallace’s legendary allure
There may be many unknowns in the life of William Wallace but what we do know of him has been enough to capture the minds of Scots for generations.
The mundane details of Wallace’s birthplace and family background are nothing when compared to the heights of his success. And there’s little need to discuss motivations when looking at his legendary raids and battles.
Yet Wallace demonstrates that even for titans of history, there are still new things to be learned, discovered and speculated on. The story of Wallace has become entangled with myths, mistakes and even forgeries.
But if you’ve been as captivated by the figure of Wallace as millions of others have, you can rest assured that there is still history needing to be solved and debates to had. The story of William Wallace is still being written.
Featured Image Credit: Bolgwrad via Wikimedia Commons
Sources and Further Reading
Andrew Fisher’s William Wallace. Available at: https://history-books.weebly.com/uploads/6/9/9/0/6990231/william_wallace_-_fisher_andrew.pdf
Fiona Watson on Wallace’s lineage. Available at: https://blanchewallace.wordpress.com/sir-william-wallace-d-1305/sir-william-wallace/