Wyntown finished his _Cronykil_ A. 1418. He, it is generally believed, was born little more than fifty years after the butchery of our magnanimous patriot. Sir D. Dalrymple could not, one would suppose, reasonably object to his testimony. Let us hear it.
A thousand thre hundyr and the fyft yhere Eftyr the byrth of oure Lord dere, Schyre Jhon of Menteth in tha days Tuk in Glasgw Willame Walays, And send hym in-til Ingland swne, Thare wes he quartaryd and wndwne Be dyspyte and hat inwy: Thare he tholyd this martyry.
I shall only add an important proof from the Lanercost MS., referred to in the _Preliminary Remarks_. “_Captus_ fuit Willelmus Waleis per unum Scottum, scilicet per dominum Johannem de Mentiphe, et usque London ad Regem adductus, et adjudicatum fuit quod traheretur, et suspenderetur, et decollaretur, et membratim divideretur, et quod viscera ejus comburentur, quod factum est; et suspensum est caput ejus super pontem London, armus autem dexter super pontem Novi Castri super Tynam, et armus sinister apud Berwicum, pes autem dexter apud Villam Sanctis Johannis, et pes sinister apud Aberden.” Fol. 211. _Mentiphe_ is obviously an _erratum_ for _Mentithe_.
_A spy thai maid, and folowed him but let_ _Till_ Robrastoun, _was ner be the way syd,_ _And bot a howss quhar Wallace oysyt to byd._--V. 996.
i. e. Only _one_ house, where he was wont to conceal himself, while waiting for Bruce.
“At Robroystone, in this parish, [Cadder, Lanarkshire] on the 11th September 1305, Sir William Wallace was betrayed and apprehended by Sir John Monteath, a favourite of King Edward I. of England. After he was overpowered, and before his hands were bound, it is said he threw his sword into Robroystone Loch. An oaken _couple_ or joist, which made part of the barn in which the Scottish hero was taken, is still to be seen in this neighbourhood, and may yet last for ages.” Stat. Acc. VIII. 481, 482.
_Rycht suth it is, a martyr was Wallace,_ _Als_ Osauold, Edmunt, Eduuard, _and_ Thomas.--V. 1307.
In Edit. 1620, these lines are thus varied:--
Wallace was martyred, the trueth to you to tell, As were _Osweld, Edmond, Edward_ with paine fell.
_Osauold_ must be Osuald, the King of Northumbria, who, having embraced Christianity, was slain by Penda the pagan king of Mercia. Bed. Hist. Eccl. III. 9. Eng. Martyrol. p. 213, 214. _Edmunt_ is St Edmund, King of the East Angles, barbarously slain by the Danes of Northumbria for confessing Christ. Martyrol. p. 319. _Eduuard_ seems to be St Edward, King of the West Saxons, slain at the instigation of his step-mother. Ibid. p. 72. _Thomas_ is most probably the well-known Thomas a Becket.