by Jane Porter
Chapter XXXIII.
Cambus-Kenneth.
Having secured the advantages he had gained in the town and on theworks of the castle, by manning all the strong places, Wallace setforward with his chosen troops to intercept De Warenne.
He took his position on a commanding ground about half a mile fromStirling, near to the Abbey of Cambus-Kenneth. The Forth lay beforehim, crossed by a wooden bridge, over which the enemy must pass toreach him, the river not being fordable in that part.
He ordered the timbers which supported the bridge to be sawed at thebottom, but not displaced in the least, that they might stand perfectlyfirm for as long as he should deem it necessary. To these timbers werefastened strong cords, all of which he intrusted to the sturdiest ofhis Lanark men, who were to lie concealed amongst the flags. Thesepreparations being made, he drew up his troops in order of battle.Kirkpatrick and Murray commanded the flanks. In the center stoodWallace himself, with Ramsay on one side of him, and Edwin, withScrymgeour on the other, awaiting with steady expectation the approachof the enemy, who, by this time, could not be far distant.
Cressingham was not less well-informed of the advance of De Warenne;and burning with revenge against Wallace, and earnest to redeem thefavor of De Valence by some act in his behalf, he first gave secretorders to his lieutenant, then set forth alone to seek an avenue ofescape, never divulged to any but to the commanders of the fortress.He soon discovered it; and by the light of a torch, making his waythrough a passage bored in the rock, emerged at its western base,screened from sight by the surrounding bushes. He had disguisedhimself in a shepherd's bonnet and plaid, in case of being observed bythe enemy; but fortune, favored him, and unseen he crept along throughthe thickets, till he descried the advance of De Warenne's army on theskirts of Tor Wood.
Having missed Wallace in West Lothian, De Warenne divided his army intothree divisions, to enter Stirlingshire by different routes; and so hehoped, certainly, to intercept him in one of them. The Earl ofMontgomery led the first, of twenty thousand men; the Barons Hilton andBlenkinsopp, the second, of ten thousand; and De Warenne himself thethird, of thirty thousand.
It was the first of these divisions that Cressingham encountered in TorWood; and revealing himself to Montgomery, he recounted how rapidlyWallace had gained the town, and in what jeopardy the citadel would be,if he were not instantly attacked. The earl advised waiting for ajunction with Hilton or the lord warden, "which," said he, "must happenin the course of a few hours."
"In the course of a few hours," returned Cressingham, "you will have noStirling Castle to defend. The enemy will seize it at sunset, inpursuance of the very agreement by which I warded him off, to give ustime to annihilate him before that hour. Therefore no hesitation, ifwe would not see him lock the gates of the north of Scotland upon us,even when we have the power to hurl him to perdition."
By arguments such as these the young earl was induced to give up hisjudgment; and, accompanied by Cressingham, whose courage revived amidsuch a host, he proceeded to the southern bank of the Forth.
The bands of Wallace were drawn up on the opposite shore, hardly fivethousand strong, but so disposed the enemy could not calculate theirnumbers, though the narrowness of their front suggested to Cressinghamthat they could not be numerous; and he recollected that many must havebeen left to occupy the outworks of the town and the citadel. "It willbe easy to surround the rebel," cried he; "and that we may effect ourenterprise before the arrival of the warden robs us of the honor, letus about it directly, and cross the bridge."
Montgomery proposed a herald being sent to inform Wallace that, besidesthe long line of troops he saw, De Warenne was advancing with doublehosts, and if he would now surrender, a pardon should be granted to himand his, in the king's name, for all their late rebellions.Cressingham was vehement against this measure, but Montgomery beingresolute, the messenger was dispatched.
In a few minutes he returned, and repeated to the Southron commandersthe words of Wallace: "Go," said he, "tell your masters we came nothere to treat for a pardon of what we shall never allow to be anoffense; we came to assert our rights--to set Scotland free. Till thatis effected, all negotiation is vain. Let them advance; they will findus prepared."
"Then onward!" cried Montgomery; and, spurring his steed, he led theway to the bridge; his eager soldiers followed, and the whole of hiscenter ranks passed over. The flanks advanced, and the bridge, fromend to end, was filled with archers, cavalry, men-at-arms, andwar-carriages. Cressingham, in the midst, was hallooing in proudtriumph to those who occupied the rear of the straining beams, when theblast of a trumpet sounded from the till now silent and immovableScottish phalanx. It was re-echoed by shouts from behind the passingenemy, and in that moment the supporting piers of the bridge** werepulled away, and the whole of its mailed throng was precipitated intothe stream.
**This historical fact relating to the bridge is yet exultantlyrepeated on the spot, and the number of the Southrons who fell beneaththe arms of so small a band of Scots, is not less the theme oftriumph.-(1809.)
The cries of the maimed and the drowning were joined by the terrificslogan of two bands of Scots. The one with Wallace toward the head ofthe river, while the other, under the command of Sir John Graham,rushed from its ambuscade on the opposite bank upon the rear of thedismayed troops; and both divisions sweeping all before them, drovethose who fought on land into the river, and those who had just escapedthe flood, to meet its waves again, a bleeding host.
In the midst of this conflict, which rather seemed a carnage than abattle, Kirkpatrick, having heard the proud shouts of Cressingham onthe bridge, now sought him amidst its shattered timbers. With theferocity of a tiger hunting its prey, he ran from man to man, and asthe struggling wretches emerged from the water, he plucked them fromthe surge; but even while his glaring eye-balls and uplifted axthreatened destruction, he only looked on them; and with imprecationsof disapointment, rushed forward on his chase. Almost in despair thatthe waves had cheated his revenge, he was hurrying on in anotherdirection, when he perceived a body moving through a hollow on hisright. He turned, and saw the object of his search crawling amongstthe mud and sedges.
"Ha!" cried Kirkpatrick, with a triumphant yell, "art thou yet mine?Damned, damned villain!" cried he, springing upon his breast: "Beholdthe man you dishonored!-behold the hot cheek your dastard hand defiled!Thy blood shall obliterate the stain; and then Kirkpatrick may againfront the proudest in Scotland!"
"For mercy!" cried the horror-struck Cressingham, struggling withpreternatural strength to extricate himself.
"Hell would be my portion did I grant any to thee," cried Kirkpatrick;and with one stroke of the ax he severed the head from its body. "I ama man again!" shouted he, as he held its bleeding veins in his hand,and placed it on the point of his sword. "Thou ruthless priest ofMoloch and of Mammon, thou shalt have thine own blood to drink, while Ishow my general how proudly I am avenged!" As he spoke, he dashedamongst the victorious ranks, and reached Wallace at the very moment hewas freeing himself from his fallen horse, which a random arrow hadshot under him. Murray, at the same instant, was bringing up thewounded Montgomery, who came to surrender his sword, and to beg quarterfor his men. The earl turned deadly pale; for the first object thatstruck his sight was the fierce knight of Torthorald, walking under thestream of blood which continued to flow from the ghastly head ofCressingham, as he held it exultingly in the air.
"If that be your chief," cried Montgomery, "I have mistaken him much--Icannot yield my sword to him."
Murray understood him: "If cruelty be an evil spirit," returned he, "ithas fled every breast in this army to shelter with Sir RogerKirkpatrick; and its name is Legion! That is my chief!" added he,pointing to Wallace, with an evident consciousness of deriving honorfrom his command. The chief rose from the ground dyed in the sameensanguined hue which had excited the abhorrence of Montgomery, thoughit had been drawn from his own veins, and those of his horse. All,indeed, of blood about him
seemed to be on his garment; none was in hiseyes, none in his heart but what warmed it to mercy and to benevolencefor all mankind. His eyes momentarily fell on the approaching figureof Kirkpatrick, who, waving the head in the air, blew from his buglethe triumphal notes of the Pryse, and then cried to his chief: "I haveslain the wolf of Scotland! My brave clansmen are now casing my targetwith his skin,** which, when I strike its bossy sides, will cry aloud.So, perishes thy dishonor! So perish all the enemies of Scotland!"
**It is recorded that the memory of Cressingham was so odious to theScots, they did indeed flay his dead body, and made saddles and girthsand other things of his skin.-(1809.)
"And with the extinction of that breath, Kirkpatrick," cried Wallace,looking serenely from the head to him, "let your fell revenge perishalso. For your own honor commit no indignities on the body you haveslain."
"'Tis for you to conquer like a god!" cried Kirkpatrick; "I have feltas a man, and like a man I revenge. This head shall destroy in death;it shall vanquish its friends for me; for I will wear it like a Gorgonon my sword, to turn to stone every Southron who looks on it." Whilespeaking, he disappeared amongst the thickening ranks; and as thevictorious Scots hailed him in passing, Montgomery, thinking of hisperishing men, suffered Murray to lead him to the scene of his humility.
The ever-comprehensive eye of Wallace perceived him as he advanced; andguessing by his armor and dignified demeanor who he was, with a noblegrace he raised his helmed bonnet from his head when the earlapproached him. Montgomery looked on him; he felt his soul, even morethan his arms, subdued; but still there was something about a soldier'sheart that shrunk from yielding his power of resistance. The bloodmounted into his before pale cheeks; he held out his sword in silenceto the victor; for he could not bring his tongue to pronounce the word"surrender."
Wallace understood the sign, and holding up his hand to a herald, thetrumpet of peace was raised. It sounded--and where, the moment before,were the horrid clashing of arms, the yell of savage conquest, anddireful cries for mercy, all was hushed as death. Not that death whichhad passed, but that which is approaching.--None spoke, not a sound washeard, but the low groans of the dying, who lay, overwhelmed andperishing, beneath the bodies of the slain, and the feet of the living.
The voice of Wallace rose from this awful pause. Its sound was everthe harbinger of glory, or of "good will to men." "Soldiers!" criedhe, "God has given victory--let us show our gratitude by moderation andmercy. Gather the wounded into quarters and bury the dead."
Wallace then turned to the extended sword of the earl; he put it gentlyback with his hand: "Ever wear what you honor," said he; "but, gallantMontgomery, when you draw it next, let it be in a better cause. Learn,brave earl, to discriminate between a warrior's glory and his shame;between the defender of his country, and the unprovoked ravager ofother lands."
Montgomery blushed scarlet at these words; but it was not withresentment. He looked down for a moment: "Ah!" thought he, "perhaps Iought never to have drawn it here!" Then raising his eyes to Wallace,he said: "Were you not the enemy of my king, who, though a conqueror,sanctions none of the cruelties that have been committed in his name, Iwould give you my hand, before the remnant of his brave troops, whoselives you grant. But you have my heart: a heart that knows nodifference between friend or foe, when the bonds of virtue would unitewhat only civil dissensions hold separate."
"Had your king possessed the virtues you believe he does," repliedWallace, "my sword might have now been a pruning-hook. But that ispast! We are in arms for injuries received, and to drive out a tyrant.For believe me, noble Montgomery, that monarch has little pretensionsto virtue, who suffers the oppressors of his people, or of hisconquests, to go unpunished. To connive at cruelty, is to practice it.And has Edward ever frowned on one of those despots, who, in his name,have for these two years past laid Scotland in blood and ashes?"
The appeal was too strong for Montgomery to answer; he felt its truth,and bowed, with an expression in his face that told more than, as asubject of England, he dared declare.
The late respectful silence was turned into the clamorous activity ofeager obedience. The prisoners were conducted to the rear of Stirling;while the major part of the Scots (leaving a detachment to unburden theearth of its bleeding load), returned in front to the gates, just as DeWarenne's division appeared on the horizon, like a moving cloud gildedby the now setting sun. At this sight Wallace sent Edwin into the townwith Lord Montgomery, and marshaling his line, prepared to bear downupon the approaching earl.
But the lord warden had received information which fought better forthe Scots than a host of swords. When advanced a very little onward onthe Carse of Stirling, one of his scouts brought intelligence thathaving approached the south side of the Forth, he had seen that riverfloating with dead bodies; and soon after met Southron horns blowingthe notes of victory. From what he learned from the fugitives, he alsoinformed his lord, "that not only the town and citadel of Stirling werein the possession of Sir William Wallace, but the two detachments underMontgomery and Hilton had both been discomfited, and their leadersslain or taken."
At this intelligence, Earl de Warenne stood aghast; and while he wasstill doubting that such disgrace to King Edward's arms could bepossible, two or three fugitives came up, and witnessed to its truth.One had seen Kirkpatrick, with the bloody head of the Governor ofStirling on his sword. Another had been near Cressingham in the wood,when he told Montgomery of the capture of De Valence; and concludingthat he meant the leader of the third division, he corroborated thescout's information of the two defeats, adding (for terror magnifiedthe objects of fear), that the Scots army was incalculable; but was sodisposed by Sir William Wallace, as to appear inconsiderable, that hemight ensnare his enemies, by filling them with hopes of an easyconquest.
These accounts persuaded De Warenne to make a retreat; and intimidatedby the exaggerated representations of those who had fled, his men, withno little precipitation, turned to obey.
Wallace perceived the retrograde motion of his enemy's lines; and whilea stream of arrows from his archers poured upon them like hail, he boredown upon the rear-guard with his cavalry and men-at-arms, and sentGraham round by the wood, to surprise the flanks.
All was executed with promptitude; and the tremendous slogan soundingfrom side to side, the terrified Southrons, before in confusion, nowthrew away their arms, to lighten themselves for escape. Sensible thatit was not the number of the dead, but the terror of the living, whichgives the finishing stroke to conquest, De Warenne saw the effects ofthis panic, in the total disregard of his orders; and dreadful wouldhave been the carnage of his troops had he not sounded a parley.
The bugle of Wallace instantly answered it. De Warenne sent forwardhis herald. He offered to lay down his arms, provided he might beexempted from relinquishing the royal standard, and that he and his menmight be permitted to return without delay to England.
Wallace accepted the first article; granted the second; but with regardto the third, it must be on condition that he, the Lord de Warenne, andthe officers taken in his army, or in other engagements lately foughtin Scotland, should be immediately exchanged for the like number ofnoble Scots Wallace should name, who were prisoners in England; andthat the common men of the army, now about to surrender their arms,should take an oath never to serve again against Scotland.
These preliminaries being agreed to (their very boldness arguing theconscious advantage which seemed to compel the assent), the lord wardenadvanced at the head of his thirty thousand troops; and first layingdown his sword, which Wallace immediately returned to him, the officersand soldiers marched by with their heads uncovered, throwing down theirweapons as they approached their conqueror. Wallace extended his linewhile the procession moved, for he had too much policy to show hisenemies that thirty thousand men had yielded, almost without a blow, toscarce five thousand. The oath was afterward administered to eachregiment by heralds, sent for that purpose into the strath of Monteith,whither
Wallace had directed the captured legions to assemble andrefresh themselves, previous to their departure next morning forEngland. The privates thus disposed of, to release himself from thecommanders also, Wallace told De Warenne that duty called him away, butevery respect would be paid to them by the Scottish officers.
He then gave directions to Sir Alexander Ramsay to escort De Warenneand the rest of the noble prisoners to Stirling. Wallace himselfturned with his veteran band to give a conqueror's greeting to theBaron of Hilton, and so ended the famous battles of Cambus-Kenneth andthe Carse of Stirling.