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

78
LIFE OF
resistless arm excited the greatest enthusiasm
among his followers, and spread horror and dis¬
may through the ranks of their enemies. Sir
William Lorans still urged his men on to the
conflict, and they as quickly receded, when they
found themselves opposed to that champion of
whose strength and exploits they had heard so
many appalling accounts. The battle, however,
still continued to rage with unabated fury on
both sides:—the English, eager to revenge the
slaughter of their countrymen, and the Scots,
frantic with the wrongs they had already sus¬
tained, determined to conquer or die on the spot.
At this time, their dauntless chief burst like a
thunderbolt amidst the thickest of the English,
and, having scattered them before him, ascended
a little hillock behind which they had retreated,
and applying his bugle to his mouth, made the
woodlands resound with a bold and animating
war-note. The English leader, conceiving that
this was done in derision, rallied his forces and
again advanced to the attack. Wallace and his
few hardy veterans were soon environed by
their enraged assailants, and the battle com¬
menced with all the rancour of their former ani¬
mosities. Though the Scots fought with the
most inflexible obstinacy, yet some of them from
the severity of their wounds appeared unable to