The life of Sir William Wallace, the governor general of Scotland, and hero of the Scottish chiefs. By Peter Donaldson.

88 THE LIFE OF
" We have great need,answeredCorspatrick to the call,
now of a king, when Wallace reigns as governor. I
am king of Kyle: I cannot understand how I should
swear allegiance to him, I never held a furrow of land
from him. I am as free to reign in this realm, Lord
of my own lands, as any lord, prince or king; I also
possess great lands in England, and no subject can
demand fealty of me. I deride your call."
On reading Corspatrick's disdainful answer, Wallace could not be silent, and thus addressed the Lords
of the Convention:
"My Lords, there can be none but one king who
can, at once, reign over this realm. If Earl Patrick
takes such ways and is thus allowed to insult the
states, I plainly see that we are in a worse condition
than we were in before; I am, therefore, of opinion,
that he ought to be made to do homage to his lawful
king." &c.
They all agreed that submission was absolutely
necessary; and Wallace, the commander in chief ol
the forces, took his leave of them and marched away
to Kinghorn with 200 men. He received additional
troops under brave Seaton and Robert Lauder at Musselburgh and Lyle, with 20 men at Lintown, and
marched past Dunbar in pursuit of Corspatrick.The Earl marshalled nine hundred in the field of
Innerwick, as Wallace advanced with four hundred
strong, and furiously attacked Earl Patrick's host.The conflict was long and bloody, but Earl Patrick
was forced at last to retreat from the field of battle.
Wallace pursued him with three hundred men, by
Cockburn, and passed on to the Bunkle-wood; but
Corspatrick fled to Norham, and thence into England