The Wallace Sword
“The sword that seemed fit for archangel to wield was light in his terrible hand.”
The gigantic two-handed sword with which Wallace “made great room about him” in the fight always excites the visitor’s wonderment and veneration.
From the top of the pommel to the point of the blade this great weapon measures 5 ft. 4 ins., and it must be remembered that the blade (which is still 4 ft. 4 ins. long) has been reduced by fracture and re-welding.
The leather binding of the hilt is not original. It was added in the Tower of London in 1825, when the sword was sent for repair.
In London, at the request of the Duke of Wellington, the sword was examined by the celebrated authority, Sir Samuel Meyrick, who pronounced it late 15th century. This opinion, which at first seemed to doubt the authenticity of the weapon, rather seems to confirm it.
In the accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, dated 5th December, 1505, is an entry of a sum paid, at the command of James IV, for “the binding of Wallas sword with cords of silk” and providing it with “ane new hilt and plommet,” and also a new scabbard and a new belt.
So that the trappings really did belong to the period fixed by the expert, while the blade itself is shown to be of much more ancient date. The sword reposes in the Hall of Heroes in a shrine bearing on one end the inscription “Battle of Stirling Bridge, fought 11th September, 1297,” and on the other “Sir William Wallace died for his country, 23rd August, 1305.” Along the front of the casket runs the well-known quotation given:
“The sword that seemed fit for archangel to wield was light in his terrible hand.”
The sword was stolen by extremists who raided the Monument in November, 1936. Police recovered the weapon a few months later at Bothwell Bridge in Lanarkshire. The sword was restored to the Hall of Heroes in 1950.
- Text: Wallace Monument The Official Guide, with Panoramic Maps, (6d.), by William Power. Third Edn., Booklet designed and printed by D. Pearson & Son, at The Sentinel Press, 9 Barnton Street, Stirling. Fifth Edn., printed for Stirling Town Council by Jamieson & Munro, Ltd., at the “Observer” Press, 40 Craigs, Stirling. [OFC Library]
- Photo: [Left] wallace-8.jpg 12 KB Wallace in Bronze. This fine statue, the work of the sculptor, D. W. Stevenson, R.S.A., visualises the Patriot summoning his men to battle on the plain below. From heel to helmet the figure is 13 feet high, and to the point of the sword, 21 feet. [op cit]