His Trial and Execution
His fate, as was to be expected, was soon decided; but the circumstances of refined cruelty and torment which attended his execution, reflect an indelible stain upon the character of Edward; and, were they not stated by the English historians themselves, could scarcely be believed. Having been carried to London, he was brought with much pomp to Westminster Hall, and there arraigned of treason. A crown of laurel, in mockery placed, was on his head, because Wallace had been heard to boast that he deserved to wear a crown in that hall. Sir Peter Mallorie, the king's justice, then impeached him as a traitor to the King of England, as having burnt the villages and abbeys, stormed the castles, and slain and tortured the liege subjects of his master the king. Wallace indignantly and truly repelled the charge of treason, as he never had sworn fealty to Edward; but to the other articles of accusation he pleaded no defence: they were notorious, and he was condemned to death. The sentence was executed on the twenty-third of August.Discrowned and chained, he was now dragged at the tails of horses through the streets, to the foot of a high gallows, placed at the elms in Smithfield. After being hanged, but not to death, he was cut down yet breathing, his bowels taken out, and burnt before his face. His head was then struck off, and his body divided into four quarters. The head was placed on a pole on London Bridge, his right arm above the bridge at Newcastle, his left arm was sent to Berwick, his right foot and limb to Perth, and his left quarter to Aberdeen. ยง "These," says an old English historian, "were the trophies of their favourite hero, which the Scots had now to contemplate, instead of his banners and gonfanons, which they had once proudly followed."