Page:Life of Sir William Wallace.pdf/2



n the outset of the history of this hero, we have to regret that so little the known of his younger years, and so few of those personal and private anecdotes which give biography its charm. The only life of him now in being, is that written by Blind Harry, many of whose stories are altogether unauthenticated by the corroborative testimony of any contemporary author. Among these may be ranked, the journey of the Queen of England to sue Wallace for peace; his defeating Edward, at Biggar at a time when it is know that that monarch was in France; and several incidents of such magnitude that they could not have escaped the notice some author, either Scottish or English.

There was another history of this hero, composed in Latin ay by Mr John Blair, and partly by Mr Thomas Gray, who had been his school-fellow, and latterly his companion in arms; but this has unfortunately, been lost in the lapse of time,