Braveheart ( 1270 - 1305 )

He was a Caledonian patriot, a legend in his time,
Wallace was a hero. against a historical English crime.
King Edward came to arbitrate, for a Baliol accession,
With him his large army, he attacked and took possession,

Baliol could only rule, if faithful to Edward's order
As Longshanks invasion force quietly waited on the border,
No Scot would ever be a subject of an English crown.
A reason for invasion for Longshanks had now been found.

A rule of tyranny started, young Wallace felt their wrath,
Attacked by two English soldiers, Wallace duly killed them both.
He became a folk hero to many, a prize was set upon his head,
He refused to be the hunted, seeking a Scots' resistance instead,

His country was subjugated and now his father was slain,
He initially show restraint, in silence he suffered his pain,
Till Lanark, when the sheriff cruelly took his sweetheart's life,
Wallace took his revenge, slaying the sheriff with his knife

And so began the resurgence, for Scotland to be free,
His army of followers grew larger, to strive for victory,
Wallace and De Moray were master tacticians  in the field,
Louden Hill, a Scottish triumph, the English forced to yield,

At the battle of Stirling Bridge, outnumbered in their fight,
The Scots outfought and outwitted the greater English might,
They took their cause south, to invade many a Northumbrian town,
Before the coming threat of winter, would force a turn around,

Edward not to be outdone, he had spies in the Scottish camp,
Betrayed by fickle noblemen whose cowardice was their stamp,
At Falkirk they withdrew their cavalry, left Wallace's men exposed,
The cruelty of Edward Longshanks, maliciously was imposed,

Wallace fled to France and sought help from the Vatican state,
Then returned home to fight again and sadly tempt his fate,
Upon visiting Bishop Wishart. the secret mission was his brief,
Again he was betrayed by a despicable Sir Stewart of Monteith,

Brought to Dumbarton Castle he was then slowly taken south,
Crowds began to gather as the news spread by word of mouth,
To London town he arrived and was taken to Westminster Hall,
Where a hastily arranged court,  prearranged the guilty call.

Paraded for refusing to recognise their England as his nation,
He was dragged for miles by horses as a final degradation,
Mercilessly tortured and slain, Wallace's loyalty was painfully clear,
He was hung, drawn and quartered, to fill the Scots with fear,

But they made the man a martyr, a folklore hero to this day,
To Newcastle, Berwick and Perth, his remains were on display,
In Saint Fitticks or Saint Machar's, lying buried in a wall,
To Aberdeen was sent his left quarter as a lasting message to all,

The Scots will never surrender and will never agree to a truce,
History tells of his successor, victorious King Robert the Bruce
They are all part of the Scottish heart, a pride in its turbulent past,
A freedom of spirit, now and forever, the die so  irrevocably cast

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