Scotland/Scots > Life of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Ellerslie, and Guardian of Scotland

SIR WILLIAM WALLACE. 13
lace, found in him all the qualifications they
could desire in a leader—a head to devise, and
a hand that could execute the most daring en¬
terprises; a fertile imagination, ever teeming
with stratagems, joined to a prudence and fore¬
sight, which provided against all contingencies,
—so that, when he once determined on any
project, however difficult, his companions were
always confident of its being crowned with
success.
Under such a leader they had frequent oppor¬
tunities of chastising the most obnoxious of the
oppressors of their townsmen, and their conduct
had begun to attract the attention of those in
power, when a circumstance occurred which
had the effect of breaking up, for a time, this
fraternity of youthful patriots.
A young English nobleman, of the name of
Selby, having, through the indulgence of his
father, the then constable of Dundee, procured
a complete suit of burnished steel armour, from
Milan, a city at that time famous for such pro¬
ductions, the vain young man, having equipped
himself in his glittering array, was parading
about the market place, and occasionally trying
the temper of his newly acquired weapons on
the fleshy parts of those unprotected Scots, who
chanced to come in his way. This wanton