Wallace was the son of Margaret Loudoun

While most of the modern world thinks of Wallace as a blue-faced rebel as portrayed by Mel Gibson in the movie Braveheart, much of his actual life remains a mystery.  Since Wallace was not of noble birth, the recorded evidence is limited.  And as that it was 700 hundred years ago, the accuracy of  much of tht evidence is often disputed.

The Wallace Tartans

      Wallace (red)            Wallace (green)       Wallace (blue)

Tartans and such checkered cloths of this type did not begin to appear until 16th century, and were not worn in battle until the Battle of Culloden in the 1700s.  So, they would not have been worn by Wallace in the 13th century.

The Man Behind the Myth

According to Crauifuird Loudoun, in his book, In Pursuit of William Wallace, William Wallace was born in 1276 to Lady Margaret de Crauifuird of Loudoun and Alan Wallace in Ellersie near Killmarnock.  The 16th century wor History of William Wallace and Scottish Affairs claims 1276 as his year of birth and Loudoun documents tend to confirm William's connection. 

However, there is speculation that he was born in Elderslie near Pailsey, Renfrewshire  - quite a distance away.  My research leans toward Ellersie and Ayrshire for several reasons.

In 1999, William Wallace's seal was re-discovered. The seal identifies William as the son of Alan Wallace of Ayrshire, who appears in the Ragman Roll of 1296 as "crown tenant of Ayrshire". Historian Andrew Fisher, author of William Wallace (2002), writes, "If the Alan of the Ragman Roll was indeed the patriot's father, then the current argument in favour of an Ayrshire rather than a Renfrewshire origin for Wallace can be settled".

Alan Wallace was from Riccarton, Ayrshire (also known as Ellerslie) near Loudoun Castle. There are also strong Wallace family connections to Craigie Castle, southeast of Kilmarnock. Some of Wallace's earliest actions were in Ayrshire, and local tradition has the dispute with English soldiers over fish not in Lanark but west of Ellersie (also known as Riccardton) at a site known as the "Bickering Bush". 

Historian Crauifuird Loudoun examined ancient Loudoun family documents in the 1990s. One particular document was dated 1555 and written on behalf of the Sherrif of Ayr, Sir Mathew Campbell.  The paper was announcing the 250th anniversary of "the martydom of our heroic ancestor, William Wallace."  The letter goes on to comment on "the marriage of our good Lady Margaret de Crauifuird de Lowdun to Sir Malcom Wallace (Walays) of Ellerslie in the ancient parish of Kilmaurs."

But perhaps more significantly, after Wallace's death London in August 1305,  Wallace's sword was returned to Kilmarnock and presented to his widowed mother.  With the exception of 30 years when it was "borrowed" by King George IV, the Wallace Loudoun Sword, as it became known, hung in Loudoun Castle from 1305 until 1930 when it was sold at a private auction for 289 pounds (about $500 today).   If Wallace was born in Pailsey with no Loudoun connections, then why was his sword returned and displayed in Loudoun Castle for 600 years?

Many portraits and representations have been done of Wallace over the years, but we don't know exactly what he looked like.  There were no portraits made of him during his life.  A sketch made in the 19th century (in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery) is  said to be drawn from an original medieval piece of artwork although the original cannot be foundt.  This engraving is based on that sketch.

Other images abound, but there are many similarities.  Wallace was said to be a tall man - over 6' 7" in height.  He had to be tall as his sword is reputed to be over 5' feet in length.   The sword was 5 feet 4 inches (162 cm) long and so its user would have needed to be both tall and strong to use it properly in battle.

A passage from the Scotichronicon (the earliest Scotish history book known), by Walter Bower in 1440s states, "He was a tall man with the body of a giant, cheerful in appearance with agreeable features, broad-shouldered and big-boned, with belly in proportion and lengthy flanks, pleasing in appearance but with a wild look, broad in the hips, with strong arms and legs, a most spirited fighting-man, with all his limbs very strong and firm."