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

NOTES.
237
'£here is a passage in the work of the Minstrel
which may be quoted as corroborating the statement
of a portrait of Wallace having been taken while in
France. It would be very difficult for the poor Min¬
strel to convey his ideas of a picture in other lan¬
guage than the following:
“ The wyt of Frans thocht Wallace to commend
Into Scotland with this harrold, thae send
Part off his deid, and als the discripUoune
Off him, tanethar by men of discretioun,
Clerk is, knychtis, and harroldys, that hym saw;
P. 218. Independent of all the difficulties which
Wallace had to encounter in the; low country, the
turbulent state of the Highlands prevented him from
receiving any assistance of consequence from that
quarter. The chieftains there seemed to consider
their interest as very little connected with the safety
or independence of the Lowlanders; and they car¬
ried on their feuds with as much inveteracy as if no
foreign enemy had been in the country. We find,
“ About the year 1299, there was an insurrection
made against the Earl of Ross by some of the people
of that province inhabiting the mountains called
Clan-Iver-Clan-tall-wigh and Clan-Leawe. The
Earl of Ross made such diligence that he apprehend¬
ed their captain, and imprisoned him at Dingwall;
which so incensed the Highlanders, that they pur¬
sued the Earl of Ross’s second son, at Balnegowen,
took him, and carried him along prisoner with them
—thinking thereby to get their captain relieved.
The Monroes and the Dingwalls, with some others