He then exhorted Bruce to confide in
the Lords Ruthven and Bothwell, as his soul would commune with his
spirit, for he would find them true unto death. He counseled him, as
the leading measure to circumvent the treason of Scotland's enemies, to
go immediately to Kilchurn Castle, where he knew resources would be;
for Loch-awe, who retired thither on the last approach of De Warenne,
meaning to call out his vassals for that emergency, needed it not then;
for the battle of Dalkeith was fought and gained before they could
leave their heights, and the victor did not want them afterward. To
use those brave and simple-hearted men for his establishment on the
throne of his kingdom, Wallace advised Bruce. And so, amidst the
natural fortresses of the Highlands, he might recover his health,
collect his friends, and openly proclaim himself. "Then," added he,
"when Scotland is your oqn, let its bulwarks be its mountains and its
people's arms. Dismantle and raze to the ground the castles of those
base chiefs who have only embattled them to betray and enslave their
country." Though intent on these political suggestions, he ceased not
to remember his own brave engines of war; and he earnestly conjured his
prince that he would wear the valiant Kirkpatrick as a buckler on his
heart; that he would place Scrymgeour with his Lanark veterans, and the
faithful Grimsby next him as his body-guard; and that he would love and
cherish the brave and tender Edwin for his sake.
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