The governor dispatched others, and at last
marched himself out to their support. No force seemed able to
withstand the pressing valor of the Scots. The Southron saw himself in
the midst of his slain, and deserted by half of his surviving troops.
A surrender, both of himself and his fainting companions, was now his
only recourse. His herald sounded a parley. The generous victor, in
the midst of triumph, listened to the offered capitulation. It was not
to include the citadel of Stirling.
Bruce stopped the herald at this clause, and at once demanded the
unconditional surrender of both the town and citadel. The governor,
being aware that in his present state there was no alternative, and
knowing the noble nature of the prince who made the requisition,
yielded to necessity, and resigned the whole into his hands.
Next morning Bruce entered Stirling as a conqueror, with the whole of
his kingdom at his feet; for, from the Solway Frith to the Northern
Ocean, no Scottish town or castle owned a foreign master. The
acclamations of a rescued people rent the skies; and, while prayers and
blessings poured on him from above, below, and around, he did indeed
feel himself a king, and that he had returned to the land of his
forefathers.
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