erors was the lesson lost, for at Cressy, when attacked by
vastly superior numbers, Edward III dismounted his army, and ordered
them to fight on foot, and the result gave a death blow to that
mailed chivalry which had come to be regarded as the only force
worth reckoning in a battle. The conduct of Edward to Wallace,
and later to many other distinguished Scotchmen who fell into his
hands, is a foul blot upon the memory of one of the greatest of
the kings of England.

Edward might now well have believed that Scotland was crushed for
ever. In ten years no less than twelve great armies had marched
across the Border, and twice the whole country had been ravaged
from sea to sea, the last time so effectually, that Edward had
good ground for his belief that the land would never again raise
its head from beneath his foot.

He now proceeded, as William of Normandy after Hastings had done,
to settle his conquest, and appointed thirty-one commissioners, of
whom twenty-one were English and ten so called Scotch, among them
Sir John Menteith, to carry out his ordinances. All the places of
strength were occupied by English garrisons. The high officers and
a large proportion of the justiciaries and sheriffs were English,
and Edward ruled Scotland from Westminster as he did England.

Among the commissioners was Robert Bruce, now through the death
of his father, Lord of Annandale and Carrick; and Edward addressed
a proclamation to him, headed, "To our faithful and loyal Robert
de Bruce, Earl of Carrick, and all others who are in his company,
greeting;" and went on to say that he possessed the king's fullest
confidence. But though Scotland lay prostrate, the spirit of
resistance yet lingered in the hearts of the commonalty. Although
conquered now the memory of their past success still inspired them,
but until some leader presented himself none could stir. It was in
August that Wallace had been executed. Archie had received several
summonses from the English governors of Stirling and Lanark to
come in and do homage to Edward, but he had resolutely declined,
and the task of capturing his castle was too heavy a one to
be undertaken by any single garrison; still he saw that the time
must come, sooner or later, when he would have to choose between
surrender and death. When matters settled down it was certain that
a great effort would be made to root out the one recalcitrant south
of the Forth. For some time he remained gloomy and thoughtf