He ordered the timbers which supported the bridge
to be sawed at the bottom, but not displaced in the
least, that they might stand perfectly firm for as
long as he should deem it necessary. To these
timbers were fastened strong cords, all of which he
intrusted to the sturdiest of his Lanark men, who
were to lie concealed amongst the flags. These
preparations being made, he drew up his troops in order
of battle. Kirkpatrick and Murray commanded the
flanks. In the center stood Wallace himself,
with Ramsay on one side of him, and Edwin, with Scrymgeour
on the other, awaiting with steady expectation the
approach of the enemy, who, by this time, could not
be far distant.
Cressingham was not less well-informed of the advance
of De Warenne; and burning with revenge against Wallace,
and earnest to redeem the favor of De Valence by some
act in his behalf, he first gave secret orders to
his lieutenant, then set forth alone to seek an avenue
of escape, never divulged to any but to the commanders
of the fortress. He soon discovered it; and by
the light of a torch, making his way through a passage
bored in the rock, emerged at its western base, screened
from sight by the surrounding bushes. He had
disguised himself in a shepherd’s bonnet and
plaid, in case of being observed by the enemy; but
fortune, favored him, and unseen he crept along through
the thickets, till he descried the advance of De Warenne’s
army on the skirts of Tor Wood.
Having missed Wallace in West Lothian, De Warenne
divided his army into three divisions, to enter Stirlingshire
by different routes; and so he hoped, certainly, to
intercept him in one of them. The Earl of Montgomery
led the first, of twenty thousand men; the Barons Hilton
and Blenkinsopp, the second, of ten thousand; and
De Warenne himself the third, of thirty thousand.
It was the first of these divisions that Cressingham
encountered in Tor Wood; and revealing himself to
Montgomery, he recounted how rapidly Wallace had gained
the town, and in what jeopardy the citadel would be,
if he were not instantly attacked. The earl advised
waiting for a junction with Hilton or the lord warden,
“which,” said he, “must happen in
the course of a few hours.”
“In the course of a few hours,” returned
Cressingham, “you will have no Stirling Castle
to defend. The enemy will seize it at sunset,
in pursuance of the very agreement by which I warded
him off, to give us time to annihilate him before
that hour. Therefore no hesitation, if we would
not see him lock the gates of the north of Scotland
upon us, even when we have the power to hurl him to
perdition.”
By arguments such as these the young earl was induced
to give up his judgment; and, accompanied by Cressingham,
whose courage revived amid such a host, he proceeded
to the southern bank of the Forth.
The bands of Wallace were drawn up on the opposite
shore, hardly five thousand strong, but so disposed
the enemy could not calculate their numbers, though
the narrowness of their front suggested to Cressingham
that they could not be numerous; and he recollected
that many must have been left to occupy the outworks
of the town and the citadel. “It will
be easy to surround the rebel,” cried he; “and
that we may effect our enterprise before the arrival
of the warden robs us of the honor, let us about it
directly, and cross the bridge.”
