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

22
LIFE OF
day, on pretence of fishing, having betaken
himself to the Irvine, on the secluded banks of
which he had frequently met and consulted with
his outlawed associates. In order to exhibit as
peaceful an exterior as possible, he had left his
sword behind him, and with a boy, his only at¬
tendant, he appeared quietly pursuing his pas¬
time, when Lord Percy drew near, attended by
a numerous train of followers. The noble figure
of the young Scot attracted their attention, and
five of them lingered behind to observe his pro¬
gress ; it was. not long before his successful
dexterity excited their remarks, as well as a de¬
sire to appropriate the fruits of his exertions to
themselves. Wallace, from the injunction of his
uncle, as well as his own unarmed state, would
willingly have avoided a rupture by the sacrifice
of part of the fish he had caught, but every
proposal for a division was insolently spurned,
and nothing would suffice but an unconditional
surrender of the whole; a remonstrance from
Wallace was followed by one of them snatching
the basket from his boy, at the same time threat¬
ening to chastise what he termed the sauciness
of the Scot. Wallace, fired with indignation,
seized the poutstaff, and laid a blow on the
cheek-bone of the Englishman, which brought
him to the ground, while his sword, springing