Page:History of Sir William Wallace, the renowned Scottish champion.pdf/19

19 Violence which broke two of his ribs; but, disregarding the pain, he mounted the horse and instantly led his troops to battle. The Scots were formed in a stony field on a Slightly rising ground, in the near vicinity of Falkirk Their infantry were drawn up in four circular bodies, while the archers were disposed in the intervals. The horse, amounting only to a thousand, were posted in the rear. In front of the whole lay a morass. * Now," said Wallace, I have brought you to the ring; hop gif you an;"—that is, " dance if you have skill." Edward's chief dependence was on his cavalry,4000 of whom were cased in complete armour. These are ranged in three lines. The first was led by Bigot, Earl Marshal, and the earls of Hereford Lincoln; the second by the bishop of Durham, having under him Sir Ralph Basset of Drayton ; the third, to act as a reserve, was commanded by the king in person. The assault was begun by the English horse, who, finding the passage of the morass, which lay in front of the Scots, to the impracticable, made a simultaneous attack on the right and left flanks of their enemy. The soft flank made a determined and bloody resistance but the Scots cavalry, panic-struck by the overwhelming appearance of the English horse, which, as well as their riders, were equipped in