While Wallace confided the aged Elspa and her sister to the care of Sir
Reginald Crawford, to whom he also resigned the lands of his
grandfather; "Cousin," said he, "you are a valiant and a humane man! I
leave you to be the representative of your venerable uncle; to cherish
these poor women whom he loved; to be the protector of his people and
the defender of the town. The citadel is under the command of the
Baron of Auchinleck; he, with his brave followers, being the first to
hail the burning of the accursed Barns of Ayr."
After this solemnity, and these dispositions, Wallace called a review
of his troops; and found that he could leave five hundred men at Ayr,
and march an army of at least two thousand out of it.
His present design was to take his course to Berwick; and, by seizing
every castle of strength in his way, form a chain of works across the
country, which would not only bulwark Scotland against any further
inroads from its enemies, but render the subjugation of the interior
Southron garrisons more certain and easy.
On the third morning after the conflagration of the palace, Wallace
quitted Ayr; and marching over its far-stretching hills, manned every
watch-tower on their summits.
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