This is the story of William Wallace and his fight for freedom. This is a true story and it happened in 1293 in Scotland.
William Wallace was a brave young boy who always hated the English. The English were a cruel and destructive people. Edward the 1 was a greedy king who showed no mercy. He had taken over Wales and Ireland and many other countries. The only country that would not submit to English rule was Scotland. Thus a long and bloody war began.
William was a young boy when the English killed his father and brother. So, William went to live with his uncle. His uncle taught William all he knew. He taught him how to speak in several languages fluently. After William was well educated he was taught to use the sword. William learned fast and became a strong and good swordsman in a matter of weeks.
William and many other young lads would practice fake battles and fight to increase their strength and fighting ability. None of these lads ever paid homage to the English. They would only shrink back when an English soldier went by.
William became well known throughout all of Scotland and England as a great fighter and a possible threat to the English.
King Edward devised a plan to get rid of the Scottish race. He declared that he would breed them out. So the wicked king issued a decree stating that all the kings soldiers had the right to take any Scottish bride on her wedding night and do with her as they pleased. During this time William fell in love and married a beautiful young lady, Marion. They were married in secret but the English soon found out. They took Marion, but William fought for his wife. The English murdered his wife and William fled. The murder of the woman he loved sparked the fire that set off his desire to fight for Scotland's freedom.
He and his men banded together and began the quest for freedom. They fought several small battles at first, but soon the English had their great army ready to fight the small number of Wallace's men. The first large battle was fought at Stirling Bridge. They were defeated, but did not lose hope.
The next most important battle was fought at Falkirk. Scottish nobles were going to fight on behalf of Scotland also. In the heat of battle William was betrayed and the nobles left, thus William and his men were vastly outnumbered and lost yet another battle. Easliy they could have won if they would not have been betrayed. Among these cowardly nobles was Robert the Bruce.
William new the way to win Scotland back was through the nobles. So Willaim personally went and talked to the head of them, Robert the Bruce. He admitted to his cowardice behavior and asked for William's forgiveness. Robert agreed to fight on behalf of the nobles and for Scotland. Most of the noblemen remained neutral and refused to fight.
Sir John Menteith betrayed William into the hands of the English. William was taken to Westminister by the mayor, aldermen, and many other men. William was given no trial and was sentenced to a cruel and painful death. No matter what Wallace went through he continued to resfuse to pay homage to England. William was drawn through the streets by horses, hung for sometime, mutilated, and disemboweled, and then was cut into four. They distributed his body to the four corners of Scotland. William was a noble man; one of the noblest ever recorded in history. He would without doubt have been the greatest commander and leader if he was never betrayed by his own Scots men. To this day William is still remembered in Scotland as the man who brought freedom to their country and inspired many others to keep up the fight after his death.
William Wallace was just the spark that lit the flame of fire which spread all across Scotland. He was brave enough to face England and its evil powers because he had a love and passion for freedom.
