e Scotch writers affirm that this lady,
whom he appears to have married, and who at any rate bore him a
daughter, a year or two after forming her connection with Wallace fell
into the hands of his enemies, and was barbarously executed by order of
Hazelrig, the English Sheriff or Governor of Lanark, while her husband,
or lover, was doomed to witness the spectacle from a place where he lay
in concealment. Such private injuries were well fitted to raise his
hatred to an unextinguishable flame.

How far the guerilla warfare maintained by Wallace and his associates
contributed to excite and spread the spirit of resistance to the English
government, we have scarcely the means of judging; but it seems probable
that it aided materially in producing the general insurrection which
broke out in the spring of 1297. The accounts we have of the
commencement of that movement represent Wallace at its head, in command
of a considerable force, and in association with some of the most
distinguished persons in the kingdom, such as the Steward of Scotland
and his brother, Wishart, Bishop of Glasgow, Sir William Douglas, etc.
Soon after this he was joined by the younger Robert Bruce (afterward
King Robert I.) who had hitherto, as well as his father, who was still
alive (the son of the original competitor for the crown), professed to
adhere to the English king.

This, however, appears to have been but an ill-cemented confederacy.
When the force despatched by Edward to quell the revolt presented itself
before the Scottish army posted near Irvine, in Ayrshire, the leaders of
the latter, throwing off the authority of their nominal chief, could no
more agree what to do than whom to obey: and the result was that Bruce,
the Steward, Douglas, and others of them, availing themselves of the
diplomatic talents of the Bishop of Glasgow, concluded a treaty on July
9th, by which they agreed to acknowledge Edward as their sovereign lord.
All the rest ultimately acceded to this arrangement, except only Wallace
and his friend, Sir Andrew Moray, of Bothwell. The treaty of Irvine,
which is printed by Rymer, is, we believe, the first of the few public
documents in which mention is made of Wallace; to the instrument (which
is in French) are subjoined the words, "Escrit a Sir Willaume," the
meaning of which Lord Hailes conceives to be, "that the barons had
notified Wallace that they had made terms of accommodation for
themselves and their party." The words, more