Note 74 — Chapter V · WALLACE AGAIN TAKES REFUGE IN THE WOODS.—ORGANIZES A SYSTEM OF WARFARE.—HARASSES THE ENGLISH IN THEIR CANTONMENTS.—CONFLICT OF BEG.—BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES OF HIS EARLY COMPANIONS.—HIS DRESS AND ARMOUR.—ANECDOTE OF THE RELATIVE PERSONAL PROWESS OF WALLACE AND BRUCE.
Reading edition
According to Pinkerton and other authorities, Henry did not finish his work till 1470. It is therefore more probable that the curiosity of James was excited by the original narrative of Blair; a book which, from his long captivity in England, he had perhaps heard little about, till his return to Scotland. The rehearsal, therefore, of the heroic achievements of his illustrious countryman, may have produced all the excitement which the Editor of the Perth edition supposes, though not made by the Minstrel.