Cries Of Freedom - English Essay

Ariella Krupp

Septembember 16, 2010

English 121

Christina Eisert

Hero Essay

Cries of Freedom

“His visage was long, well-proportioned and exquisitely beautiful; his eyes were bright and piercing…his head and beard auburn… His lips were round and full.  His stature was lofty and majestic… Yet his form, though gigantic, possessed the most perfect symmetry… no-one, except when on horseback could outstrip or escape from him when he happened to pursue.”  To the Scots, William Wallace is a martyr, a war hero, a patriot; to the English, he is a barbarian, an outlaw, and a traitor.  What really gave Wallace his irreplaceable spot in history, however, was his reputation as an unnerved, unshakeable brute force.  William Wallace was a charismatic and tactful military leader, as well as an unpursuadable patriot, who laid the groundwork for the independence of Scotland.

William Wallace’s life before 1297 is quite the mystery.  It is known that he was raised by his father and uncle, and that his uncle was a priest who probably taught him French and Latin.  Also, based on his future military leadership, it is thought he had some military training.  In 1291 his beloved father was struck down in a scuffle against English troops.  Wallace was devastated and discouraged.  He ran into the thick woods and lived as an outlaw, evading the English and biding his time until he could avenge his father’s death.

Enraged from his father’s death and the conquering of Scotland by King Edward, Wallace involved himself in a scuffle with local south-east soldiers.  He killed several, but was eventually overpowered and thrown into a dungeon where he was left to starve to death.  A few empathetic villagers  nourished him back to health and soon he was back on his feet, ready with a small band of rebels to take on the English.  After Wallace tracked down and sought revenge on his father’s murderer, a knight of England, he became of personal enemy of the throne.

“I have brought you to the ring boys, no see if you can dance!”  And with that, Wallace and his associates crafted an attack on the Stirling Castle:  Wallace’s men taunted, flashing their naked butts, luring the over-confidant Brits slowly across the Stirling Bridge.  When half had crossed, the Scots slaughtered an estimated 5,000 English, alongside their leader and despised treasurer, Cressingham.  As the rest of the English fled, Wallace captured Stirling Castle, thus temporarily evacuating Scotland’s occupying forces.  A great moral victory, it ignited the rebels, and many civilians, in Scottish patriotism.  Wallace then pillaged northern England in an attempt to reclaim a small portion of what his homeland had lost to the English.  Upon his return, he was knighted and bestowed the honor of Guardian of the Kingdom.

After completion of his campaigning in France, King Edward returned to Scotland furious, intent on crushing the independence-seeking Scots, mainly his arch enemy Wallace.  In the battle at Falkirk, approximately 10,000 Scots were killed, shamefully destroying Wallace’s military reputation and forcing him to retreat once again into the woods.

After making peace with France in 1303, King Edward returned to the conquest of squelching Scotland with fervor.  Edward declared Wallace a traitor to the throne, opening the floodgates for his Englishmen and Scottish English-supporters to capture the determined Wallace.

In August 1305, a Scottish knight in Wallace’s ranks betrayed his whereabouts.  He was immediately arrested and taken to London for trial, where he was accused of being a war criminal (for the murder of civilians), an outlaw, and a traitor.  Wallace maintained that he was not a traitor because “I cannot be a traitor, for I owe him no allegiance.  He is not my Sovereign; he never received my homage; and whilst life is in this persecuted body, he shall never receive it.”  He readily confessed, “To the other points whereof I am accused, I freely confess them all.  As Governor of my country I have been an enemy to it’s enemies; I have slain the English; I have mortally opposed the English King; I have stormed and taken the towns and castles which he unjustly claimed as his own.  If I or my soldiers have plundered of done injury to the houses or ministers of religion, I repent me of my sin; but it is not of Edward of England I shall ask pardon.”  He was dragged by horse through London to the gallows, where he was hanged for a time, then cut down while still alive.  His entrils were drawn and set on fire.  He was then maimed and decapitated, and his body parts were strewn across England and Scotland as a warning.

Although Wallace was dead, it was not long before another country-loving Scot, Robert the Bruce, revived the rebels of Scotland.  On his way to conquer Scotland’s newest rebellious force, Edward ironically died.  Robert and his gang eventually won their country’s independence from the empire of England.

Wallace is a national hero to his homeland.  He was barbaric, charismatic, passionate, and tactical.  He was the ultimate patriot.  The statue commemorating Wallace’s bravery  bears and inscription of his uncle’s proverb: “This is the truth I tell you: of all things, freedom’s most fine.  Never submit to live, my son, in the bonds of slavery entwined.”

Works Cited

• Campbell, Roy. "Sir William Wallace." Electric Scotland. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. <http://www.electricscotland.com/history/articles/william_wallace.htm>.
• "Sir William Wallace." Clan McAlister. 2001. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. <http://www.clanmcalister.org/wallace.html>.
• "William Wallace." BBC. Web. 15 Sept. 2010. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/independence/features_independence_wallace.shtml>.

Reviews

[shoaib]

wow ... really awesome
i know the story of william wallace
this is def nice to read
awesome WORK and yes you did put a lot of work into this i can tell