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

LIFE OF
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warrior was also one of those who swore fealty
to Edward I. when he overran Scotland, 1296;
but throwing off his disgraceful allegiance in
1297, he became ever after the inseparable com¬
panion of Wallace. His father , in consequence
of the gallantry he displayed at the battle of
Largs, obtained a grant of lands in Cunningham
from Alexander III. The name is derived from
Boidh, the Celtic term for fair or yellow hair, and
was first borne by the grandfather of Robert
Boyd.
Kneland, or Cleland, and Edward Little, two
near relatives of Wallace, whose names are fre¬
quently mentioned with applause by the authors
who write of this period.
Stephen of Ireland- This brave and useful
soldier is sometimes called Stephen Ireland; but
this is only by modern writers. Blind Harry,
and other ancient authors, invariably designate
him as of Ireland. It is highly probable that he
was one of those self-expatriated Irish noble¬
men, whose love of liberty induced them to seek
in foreign countries what they could no longer
hope for at home. Whatever his birth may have
been, he appears to have come to Scotland at an
early period—perhaps in the reign of Alexander
III—and seems, from his being occasionally em¬
ployed as a guide in the expeditions of W'allace,