Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 21, 1896 - Miscellanies, Volume IV

THE PENTLAND RISING
shadows of night and of gloom were falling and
thickening.
It was while waiting on this spot that the fear-
inspiring cry was raised : ' The enemy ! Here come
the enemy ! '
Unwilling to believe their own doom — for our
insurgents still hoped for success in some negotia-
tions for peace which had been carried on at Colin-
ton — they called out, '■ They are some of our own.'
'They are too blacke' (ie. numerous), 'fie! fie!
for ground to draw up on,' cried Wallace, fully
realising the want of space for his men, and proving
that it was not till after this time that his forces
were finally arranged. 1
First of all the battle was commenced by fifty
royalist horse sent obliquely across the hill to attack
the left wing of the rebels. An equal number of
Learmont's men met them, and, after a struggle,
drove them back. The course of the Rullion Burn
prevented almost all pursuit, and Wallace, on per-
ceiving it, despatched a body of foot to occupy
both the burn and some ruined sheep walls on the
farther side.
Dalzell changed his position, and drew up his
army at the foot of the hill, on the top of which
were his foes. He then despatched a mingled body
of infantry and cavalry to attack Wallace's outpost,
but they also were driven back. A third charge pro-
duced a still more disastrous effect, for Dalzell had to
check the pursuit of his men by a reinforcement.
1 Kirkton.
18