Wallace History

The term "Welsh"appeared in the earlier form of Weallise and the mediaeval form Wallensis, and was applied to the British peoples from Strathclyde in Scotland to Brittany in France who spoke that branch of the Celtic family of languages now represented by Breton and Welsh. In the 12th century the Kings of Scots were still addressing their subjects as distinct ethnic groups. French and English, Scots and Welsh. Hence the surnames Inglis, Scott and Wallace. The ancient capital of Strathclyde is still remembered as Dumbarton, the Fortress of the Britons.
In the second half of the 12th century a man called Richard, defined as a Wallace, obtained lands in Ayrshire, which belongs to the former kingdom of Strathclyde. His property was called Richardston, now Riccarton; and his great-grandson Sir Malcolm Wallace, received the lands of Elderslie in Renfrewshire. Such was the background of Malcolm' s son William, who was to evoke a national spirit which united so many disparate peoples and to earn his place as Scotland's greatest patriot. Sir William Wallace of Elderslie was born between 1274 and 1276. In 1286 Alexander III, King of Scots died, leaving his grand-daughter the Maid of Norway as his sole descendant. When the Maid died in 1290 the direct line of the kings of Scots was extinct, and the crown was in dispute between collateral claimants, all of whom were subjects of Edward I of England. He was invited to adjudicate between them and at once revived the claim of his predecessors to be Lord Paramount of the kingdom of Scotland. He then selected the rightful heir, John Balliol; but treated him with such ignominy as a vassal king that King John was finally provoked into resistance. Thereupon Edward invaded Scotland, carried John Balliol off to the Tower of London, and subjugated his kingdom.
It was now that Wallace emerged as a guerrilla leader of indomitable courage and skill. One of the English captains reported in 1297 that Wallace was "lying with a large company in the forest of Selkirk". A force moved north to destroy him, and the same summer Wallace routed it at Stirling Bridge. Stirling Castle, the key to the kingdom, surrendered to him and in a few weeks the Scots were invading England itself. Wallace and his associate Sir Andrew of Moray were able to write to foreign countries on behalf of "the community of the realm", to inform them that they could now resume trade "because the Kingdom of Scotland, thanks be to God, has been recovered by war from the power of the English."
In fact the war of independence continued for many years longer before it was won. In 1304 Wallace himself was betrayed to the English and executed in London with extreme cruelty. But he had sown the seeds of patriotism as none of his nation had done before him, and those who have garnered the harvest have raised him to the place of highest honour.
Although he left no descendants, there are many fortunate enough to bear his name who can trace their descent from the same house of Riccarton.