had failed to recognize the difference between the Scottish
barons and the Scottish people, to which we have referred in a former
chapter. To the Norman baron, who possessed lands in England and
Scotland alike, it mattered little that he had now but one liege lord
instead of two suzerains. To the people of Scotland, proud and
high-spirited, tenacious of their long traditions of independence,
resentful of the presence of foreigners, it could not but be hateful to
find their country governed by a foreign soldiery. The conduct of
Edward's officials, and especially of Cressingham and Ormsby, and the
cruelty of the English garrisons, served to strengthen this national
feeling, and it only remained for it to find a leader round whom it
might rally.[44] A leader arose in the person of Sir William Wallace, a
heroic and somewhat mysterious figure, who first attracted notice in
the autumn of 1296, and, by the spring of the following year, had
gathered round him a band of guerilla warriors, by whose help he was
able to make serious attacks upon the English garrisons of Lanark and
Scone (May, 1297). These exploits, of little importance in themselves,
sufficed to attract the popular feeling towards Wallace. The domestic
difficulties of Edward I rendered the time opportune for a rising, and,
despite the failure of an ill-conceived and badly-managed attempt on the
part of some of the more patriotic barons, which led to the submission
of Irvine, in 1297, the little army which Wallace had collected rapidly
grew in courage and in numbers, and its leader laid siege to the castle
of Dundee. He had now attained a position of such importance that Surrey
and Cressingham found it necessary to take strong measures against him,
and they assembled at Stirling, whither Wallace marched to meet them.
The battle of Stirling Bridge (or, more strictly, Cambuskenneth Bridge)
was fought on September 11th, 1297. Wallace, with his army of knights
and spearmen, took up his position on the Abbey Craig, with the Forth
between him and the English. Less than a mile from the Scottish camp was
a small bridge over the river, giving access to the Abbey of
Cambuskenneth. Surrey rashly attempted to cross this bridge, in the face
of the Scots, and Wallace, after a considerable number of the enemy had
been allowed to reach the northern bank, ordered an attack. The English
failed to keep the bridge, and their force became divided. Surrey was
unable to offer any assistance