Q. REMINISCENCE OF WALLACE. Page 163.

Q. REMINISCENCE OF WALLACE. Page 163.

Among the few speeches of Wallace which we have on record, the following is mentioned by English writers, as having been addressed by him to the Scottish schiltrons, on the eve of the battle of Falkirk:—“I haif brocht you to the ring, hap gif you cun.” Respecting the meaning of these words, however, there is no agreement between Scottish or English writers. Walsingham has it, “I haif brocht you to the King, hop gif you cun;”—on which Lord Hailes very properly remarks:—

“This speech of Wallace has generally been related and explained in a sense very different. I must therefore give my reasons for having departed so widely from the common opinion. Walsingham, p. 75, says, ‘Dicens eis patriâ linguâ,—I haif brocht you to the King, hop gif you cun.’ This short speech has always appeared to me as utterly inconsistent with the character of Wallace. It is commonly understood to mean, ‘I have brought you to the King, hope if you can hope.’ To say nothing of the impropriety of the appellation of King, bestowed by Wallace on Edward, the sentiment, ‘hope, if you can hope,’ seems only fit for the mouth of a coward or a traitor. Abercrombie, perceiving this, has given a more plausible interpretation of the word hop. He renders the phrase thus, ‘Fly if you can;’ as if Wallace had meant to say, ‘Fight, for you cannot fly.’ There is nothing incongruous in this sentiment; but surely it did not merit to be recorded: Neither was it strictly true; for the Scottish army might have retired with unbroken forces into the forest which lay in the rear. The only satisfactory interpretation of Wallace’s address to his troops, is to be found in W. Westm. p. 451, ‘Ecce adduxi vos ad annulum charolate (chorolate) sive tripudiate vos, sicut melius scitis.’ King, in Walsingham, ought to be ring. The words of Wallace were, ‘I haif brocht you to the ring, hap gif you cun.’ The ring means the dance à la ronde. Douglas translates ‘Exercet Diana choros,’ Æneid ii., thus, ‘Ledand ring-dances,’ p. 28. l. 42. ‘Te lustrare choros,’ Æneid vii., thus: ‘To the scho led ring-sangis in karoling,’ p. 220, l. 31. Elsewhere, in his own person, he says, ‘Sum sang ring-sangis,’ Prologue, xii. B. p. 402, l. 33. That hap or hop is understood of dancing, is also plain from Douglas. He thus paraphrases ‘Hic exultantes Salios,’ Æneid, viii.

“I need not prove, that ‘gif you cun’ implies ‘if you have skill,’ or, ‘according to your skill.’ The verb is obsolete; but the noun and the adjective are still remembered. ‘Let my right hand forget its cunning,’ ‘a cunning artificer,’ ‘a cunning man.’ Langtoft, vol. ii. p. 305, as translated by Brunne, reports the words thus: “To the renge ere ye brouht, hop now if ye wille.” But he does not seem to have understood the import of the words.”

The above is all learned enough; but his lordship has stopped short in his explanation, and left his readers as much in the dark, as any of his predecessors, respecting the meaning or propriety of such a phrase in the mouth of a general, on the commencement of a great battle. Some of our readers perhaps require to be told that schiltron means a body of men drawn up in a circle.105 The war-dance of the Scots and other northern nations, as is well known, was performed round a large fire. Each warrior’s hand was firmly clasped in that of his neighbour. Their motion was at first slow, and gradually increased, till their rapidity almost rivalled the velocity of the whirlwind. When arrived at this state of fury, if any luckless wight slipped his hold, or otherwise became unsteady, the impetus which he and his fellows had acquired, pitched him headlong amid the flames, when his endeavours to extricate himself from the blaze, and regain his place, formed the chief sport of his companions. To render the schiltron the most formidable figure for defensive operations, steadiness was all that was requisite. When Wallace, therefore, on the rapid advance of the English, addressed his soldiers in the manner alluded to, he gave utterance to the happiest thought, in the fewest words, that perhaps ever presented itself to the mind of genius in a case of emergency. The striking similarity between their form of battle and their favourite dance, was apparent to all; and the impending conflict became instantly stript of its terrors, by a playful allusion to an amusement with which they were familiar, while it flashed upon their minds with all the conviction of experience, that on the preservation of their ranks their safety depended. The behaviour of the schiltrons on that fatal day showed that they understood the address of their leader better than any of its subsequent commentators.