The triumphs and tragedies of Scotland's famous Clan Wallace

Without Sir William Wallace and King Robert the Bruce, Scotland as we know it would almost certainly have become part of the English empire, as happened to Wales. Had England’s King Edward II been as much of a warrior as his father Edward Longshanks, Scotland would have been conquered and subjugated in the first quarter of the 14th century.

I have no doubt that a Scottish Resistance movement would have formed and would have fought against English invasion and London rule, just as the Ukrainians are doing now against Russia and President Putrid, but asserting Scottish independent nationhood might just have been impossible had Wallace not inspired the rising against English rule and had the Bruce not won the Battle of Bannockburn.

I have shown from the start of this series how crucial certain Lowland clans – even if they did not think of themselves as clans but families – were in the development of Scotland. Both William Wallace and Robert the Bruce prove that assertion, as both were products of Lowland clans that exist to this day. Clan Wallace and its society is hugely proud to promote the history of Scotland and the role their ancestor played, while I like the fact that Clan Bruce these days calls itself the Family of Bruce – clan being the Gaelic for family or group of families. Both clan chiefs are members of the Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs and both clans are recognised by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, as are their crests.

The foundation histories of both clans show that they were immigrants to what we now call Scotland, and since the Wallaces may – I stress may – have been the first to arrive here, I will tell their story first.

I acknowledge my indebtedness to the excellent website of clanwallace.org for some of the information contained in this column but, as always, I carried out my own research in my own extensive archive and library of books on Scotland and therefore responsibility for any mistakes is mine alone. I would recommend anyone wishing to learn more about the two clans to check their websites.

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As I stated, I will deal with Clan Wallace this week, and as usual, I will be charting how the clan came into being. In the case of Clan Wallace, there are two distinct theories about the start of the clan, but both acknowledge the family have early links to Wales.

One theory is that the Wallaces – the name ultimately derives from an Old French word “Waleis”, meaning “Welsh” – came to live in Strathclyde at the time of the ancient Britons. Their kingdom extended down the west of Great Britain, with the capital at Dumbarton and the southern border somewhere near Derwent in the Lake District and linked to Wales.

The other theory is that they were a family of Welsh ancestry who lived in Shropshire and came north in the service of Baron Walter FitzAlan during the reign of King David I, who reigned from 1124 to 1153. David made FitzAlan his high steward, and it was he who is seen as the founder of the Stewart clan. He was given large tracts of land by the king, and founded Paisley Abbey – which lends credence to the first Wallaces being based in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire as they received lands from FitzAlan.

The early members of Clan Wallace were certainly nobles and known to the royal family. I was able to track down The Book of Wallace, published in 1889 and written by Reverend Charles Rogers for the Grampian Club of Edinburgh.

He contended that an Eimarus Galleius – Aymer de Wallace – was a witness to the charter of 1134 by which David I founded Kelso Abbey, while in another charter by David’s son King Malcolm IV, the name of John de Vallibus is given as a witness.

THERE is no doubt that one Richard Wallace was given land near Kilmarnock by the High Steward – the village of Riccarton is said to be named after him. According to Reverend Roger, he built a small castle at Yardside in the parish of Riccarton, which became the family seat.

Richard Wallace – there are numerous variations of the spelling of the name, which did not finalise as Wallace until the time of Edward Longshanks – had two sons, Philip and Richard, both mentioned in documents at the start of the 13th century. Richard succeeded to Riccarton and his son Adam succeeded him in turn. As clanwallace.org records: “Adam Walays had two sons, the eldest of whom succeeded to the family estates in Ayrshire. Malcolm, Adam’s younger son, received Elderslie and Auchinbothie in Renfrewshire.”

Malcolm was the father of Sir William Wallace, and that is why Elderslie has – until quite recently – had the greatest claim to be the birthplace of the patriot.

However, all factual details claimed for Wallace should be treated with skepticism, because the best source we have for his life was Blind Harry, the poet and minstrel who wrote The Wallace more than 170 years after his execution.

As recently as 1999, the seal of Wallace was rediscovered, and leading Scottish historian Dr Fiona Watson showed that Wallace himself said his father was Alan Wallace who had lands at Ellerslie in Ayrshire.

It’s all very confusing, and I suspect we will never know the actual birthplace of William Wallace, but we do know what a hero he was.

Sir William Wallace was also never actually chief of his clan. I have told his story before and you can check those pieces online, but suffice to say he was the greatest of all his clan and he will never be forgotten.

Varying accounts say that his father, Malcolm Wallace of Elderslie, was killed along with his son Andrew for refusing to accept the overlordship of Edward I, but on the Ragman Rolls of nobles, which did homage to Edward in 1296, there is one Adam de Waleys from Ayrshire. He is described as a “Crown tenant” of the county of Ayr.

It was from his line that the senior branch of the clan, the Wallaces of Craigie, descended.

As clanwallace.org states: “The Wallaces of Craigie, Ayrshire, are descended from Adam Wallace of Riccarton, the uncle of the great patriot. They obtained the estate by marriage to the heiress of Sir John Lindsay of Craigie.”

Craigie having come into the Wallace lands, the senior line of the clan made it their family seat from the late 14th century onwards.

Here again we have an almost traditional form of clanship that endured in both the Highlands and Lowlands – land and influence was acquired by both intermarriage and money. In the Lowlands especially, there were just a few violent feuds. The Wallace clan had earlier made an advantageous marriage that would firmly bring them into the Bruce domain – Richard le Waleys married Eleanor, Countess of Carrick, the stepmother of Robert the Bruce.

RICHARD’S sons William and Robert are mentioned in several royal charters and church rolls during the reigns of both Robert the Bruce and his son King David II. One remarkable document quoted by Reverend Roger states that Sir Robert Wallace had been made Constable of Dumbarton Castle and was paid £8 10s for the three years’ sustenance of an English hostage, William of Bard.

There are plenty more documents regarding payments to the Wallaces for services rendered, and Duncan, the elder son of Robert, was made sheriff of Ayr in the 1360s. He survived into the reign of King Robert II and received large grants of land from that king – it helped that he had married another Eleanor, the Countess of Carrick.

The Wallaces maintained good relationships with the Stewart dynasty, though it did cause them triumph and tragedy, and sometimes both at once.

Sir John Wallace, 5th Lord of Craigie and Sheriff of Ayr, was one of the commanders at the Battle of Sark on October 23, 1448 when he is reported to have single-handedly turned the course of the conflict.

As Lieutenant General for King James II, he could have stayed behind his formation, or battle, but chose to lead from the front as the English archers poured their arrows onto the Scottish troops. In a display of courage that might just have inspired that famous scene in the film Braveheart, Wallace shouted to his men: “Why should we stand still thus to be wounded afar off? Follow me, says he, and let us join in hand-strokes, where true valour is to be seen!” He then charged and is said to have killed one of the English commanders, Magnus Reidman, with his own hands.

Wallace and his co-commanders caught the English army in a pincer movement and did great slaughter for the loss of few casualties. But one of them was Sir John Wallace, who died at Craigie a few months later of the wounds he had suffered at Sark.

Another William Wallace of Craigie died at the disastrous Battle of Flodden in 1513, as did a relative, Willielmi Wallace de Carnell.

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Clanwallace.org takes up the family story: “In 1669 Hugh Wallace of Craigie was created a Baronet of Nova Scotia. Sir Hugh married Esther Kerr, daughter of the Laird of Little Dean but sadly their only son was brain damaged. On Sir Hugh’s death, his grand-nephew, the grandson of his brother, the Rev. William Wallace of Falford, became the second Baronet. He was a distinguished lawyer who rose to the rank of Lord Justice Clerk, the second-highest judge in Scotland. The third Baronet left an only daughter, and was succeeded by his brother, Sir Hew Wallace of Wolmet. Sir Thomas Wallace was the fifth Baronet, and when his son, a captain in the Guards, predeceased him, the estates passed to his daughter, Frances. In 1760 she married John Dunlop of Dunlop, the friend of the poet Robert Burns. His eldest son, Sir John Dunlop, succeeded his maternal grandmother as sixth Baronet of Craigie, and assumed the name of Wallace.”

The Wallaces extended their reach with numerous cadet branches and the clan leadership served both as administrators and soldiers in the Empire, with clan chief Robert Wallace winning both the Belgian and French Croix de Guerre for bravery during the First World War.

The 35th chief was Ian Francis Wallace of that ilk, who was greatly respected by his clan and who died on May 14, 2016, at the age of 89.

His son Andrew now leads the clan as the 36th Chief of the Name and Arms of Wallace. He was born in 1964 to an English mother just 500 yards from where his great ancestor was so brutally executed in 1305. In an interview, Andrew Wallace showed that he will be fit to be a 21st century clan chief. He said: “What it’s all about now is not necessarily anything to do with the family per se, or the clan system. It’s just the fact that there are a lot of Scots all over the world who seriously value their Scottish roots. Given that, and given the fact that they identify with heads of their family, the modern role is to revitalise the idea of the extended family, which is what it was all about to start with, and have it as a form of kinship.”

I could not have put it better myself.

Next week: Clan Bruce.