(Throughout the narration, Scottish nobles are arriving out of the mist. Robert the Bruce's father, with his page, stops his horse on a rise. A rival noble and page stop on a distant rise. Cut to Wallace's farm. Malcolm and John are riding to MacAndrews.)
Malcolm: (stopping to speak to William who is running after them) I told you to stay.
William: Well, I finished my work. Where are we going?
Malcolm: MacAndrews. He was supposed to visit when the gathering was over.
William: Can I come?
Malcolm: No. Go home, boy.
William: But I want to go.
Malcolm: Go home William or you'll feel the back of my hand.
John: Away hame (home), William.
(Malcolm and John arrive at MacAndrews', finding that there is only silence.)
Malcolm: MacAndrews; MacAndrews. (Malcolm and John enter the barn to find everyone at the gathering hanged) Holy Jesus!
(Malcolm hears someone at the back door. He grabs John's axe, assuming it might be an English soldier still lurking. Instead he finds William. When Malcolm approaches William, the boy panics and runs off, running into the hanging corpses.)
William: Ah! (screams)
Malcolm: It's all right!
John: William! William!
Malcolm: It's all right. It's all right. Easy lad.
(Malcolm grabs William and holds him. William looks up at a dead page boy that is swinging from his noose. Later that night William dreams of the same page boy. The page boy looks up and whispers to William.)
Dead Page Boy: William!
(in Wallace's house)
Malcolm: I say we hit back now.
MacClannough: We cannot fight them. It's suicide.
Campbell: Wallace is right. We fight them!
MacClannough: Every nobleman who had the will to fight was at that meeting. We cannot beat an army. Not with the 50 farmers we can raise.
Malcolm: We do not have to beat them. Just fight them. Now who's with me?
Campbell (among others): I am, Wallace.
MacClannough: Alright, alright.
Malcolm: Aye.
(Next morning, Malcolm comes out of the house and gets his hidden sword from the roof's thatch. William is sitting on his father's horse.)
Malcolm: Where do you think you're going?
William: I'm going with you.
Malcolm: Oh, you're going with me, are you? And what are you going to do?
William: I'm gonna help.
Malcolm: Aye, and a good help you'd be, too. (He gets William down from the horse.) But I need you to stay here and look after the place for me while I'm away.
William: I can fight!
Malcolm: I know. I know you can fight. But it's our wits that make us men. See you tomorrow.
John: (laying a hand on William's shoulder, then tossing his head affectionately) Ha!
(William watches his father and brother ride away.)
(English soldiers ride by young William and Hamish.)
Hamish: English!
William: Get down!
Hamish: With your father and brother gone, they'll kill us and burn the farm.
William: It's up to us, Hamish.
Both boys: Ahhhh! (Throws rocks at sheep skulls)
(Hamish misses his throw. William hits both of the skulls.)
Hamish: (looking at William) Nah!
(He knocks William down with a punch. Then they continue to horse around)
(That evening, William walks home, stopping to look at it from a distance. No one is home.)
(William, having fallen asleep at the table, wakes up the next morning. He stretches and looks around.)
William: Da? (He walks to the door and calls out) Da?
(William goes out side to get water and sees the men returning from battle. He looks close and realizes that there are two missing and the two are his father and brother. William turns around afraid to hear the bad news.)
Campbell: William, come here lad.
(William continues to do his work without turning around.)
(Later, in the house, William watches as his dead father and brother are being washed for burial. William places his hand on his father's chest, staring at the lifeless body.)
(At funeral)
Priest No 1: (speaks Latin...) De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine. Domine, exaudi vocem meam. Fiant aures tuae intendentes in vocem deprecationis mei. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua lucet ad eis. Requiscat in pace, Amen. {From the depths I invoked you, Lord. Lord, answer my voice. Be your understanding in the voice of my despair. Give him eternal rest, Lord, and shine perpetual light to him. Rest in peace, Amen.}
Everyone: Amen.
(Everyone from the funeral leaves but young Murron turns around, picks a thistle and gives it to William. After she leaves, a man rides up)
Argyle: William, I am your uncle, Argyle. (Gets down from his horse and takes William's face in his hand.) You have the look of your mother.
(That night, in William's house, over dinner.)
Argyle: We'll stay here tonight. Tomorrow you'll come home with me.
William: I don't want to leave.
Argyle: You didn't want your father to die either, did ya? But it happened. Did the priest give a poetic benediction? "The Lord bless thee and keep thee"?
William: It was in Latin.
Argyle: You don't speak Latin? Well that's something we shall have to remedy, isn't it.
(After dinner; Argyle praying with William)
Argyle: The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord cause his light to shine on thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee. And give thee peace. Amen.
(William dreams, with slow heartbeat.)
Dead Malcolm: Your heart is free. Have the courage to follow her.
(William wakes up to the sound of thunder and bagpipes. He goes outside, joining his uncle, who is listening to Campbell play the bagpipes.)
William: What are they doing?
Argyle: Saying goodbye in their own way. Playing outlawed tunes on outlawed pipes. It was the same for me and your daddy, when our father was killed.
(Noticing William's interest in the sword he's holding, Argyle hands it to him.)
Argyle: First, learn to use this (taps William's forehead), then I'll teach you to use this (Argyle lifts the sword).
(Argyle and William leave the farm with William looking back in sorrow.)
Robert the Bruce (narrator): Many years later, Edward the Longshanks, King of England, supervised the wedding of his eldest son, who would succeed him to the throne. As bride for his son, Longshanks had chosen the daughter of his rival, the King of France. It was widely whispered that for the princess to conceive, Longshanks would have to do the honors himself. That may have been what he had in mind all along.
(Wedding ceremony. The priest lifts Isabella's veil. Prince Edward is shocked and distressed. He looks over his shoulder, past Longshanks, to his friend Phillip, who returns an intimate smile. The prince reluctantly kisses his bride. It's a hurried, embarrassed kiss on the cheek. Isabella looks up at the priest in confusion and disbelief.)
(In Longshank's Council Chamber)
Longshanks: Scotland; my land. The French will grovel to anyone with strength, but how will they believe our strength when we cannot rule the whole of our own island?
(Princess Isabella enters the chamber)
Longshanks: (to Princess Isabella) Where is my son?
Isabella: Your pardon, my Lord. He asked me to come in his stead.
Longshanks: I sent for him and he sends you?
Isabella: Shall I leave, my Lord?
Longshanks: If he wants his Queen to rule when I am gone, then by all means stay, and learn how. Please.
Longshanks: Nobles. Nobles are the key to the door of Scotland. Grant our nobles lands in the north. Give their nobles estates here in England, and make them too greedy to oppose us.
Advisor: But sire, our nobles will be reluctant to uproot. New lands mean new taxes, and they are already taxed for the war in France.
Longshanks: Are they? Are they? The trouble with Scotland is that it's full of Scots. (Everyone laughs except Princess Isabella) Perhaps the time has come to reinstitute an old custom. Grant them prima noctes: first night. When any common girl inhabiting their lands is married, our nobles shall have sexual rights to her on the night of her wedding. If we can't get them out, we'll breed them out. That should fetch just the kind of lords we want to Scotland, taxes or no taxes.
Advisor: A most excellent idea, sire.
Longshanks: (curtly) Is it?
Robert the Bruce (narrator): Now in Edinburgh were gathered the council of Scottish nobles. Among these was Robert, the 17th Earl of Bruce, the leading contender for the crown of Scotland.
(In the castle courtyard, Robert greets incoming riders, then returns to Lords Craig and Mornay.)
Robert the Bruce: I hear that Longshanks has granted prima noctes.
Craig: Clearly meant to draw more of his supporters here.
Robert the Bruce: My father believes that we must lull Longshanks into our confidence by neither supporting his decree nor opposing it.
Craig: A wise plan. And how is your father? We missed him at the council.
Robert the Bruce: Ah. His affairs in France keep him long overdue. (Looks up to see his father walking on the battlement.) But he sends his greetings, and he says that I speak for all the Bruces, and for Scotland.
(William, now a man, returns to his boyhood home and smells the air.)
(Outdoor wedding celebration. Music is playing and people are dancing. Murron watches as William walks among the crowd. A large man steps in front of William and drops a large rock at his feet.)
Man: Ah, it's all over now.
William: You dropped your rock. (To the man standing on the other side of the rock.)
Hamish: Test of manhood.
William: You win.
Hamish: Call it a test of soldiery, then. The English won't let us train with weapons, so we train with stones.
William: Well, a test of a soldier is not in his arm, it's here.
(William points to his head)
Hamish: No, it's here.
(Hamish points to his arm, then punches William, knocking him to the ground.)
William: Hamish?
Hamish: Mm-hmm. (Winking at William)
(William throws the large rock first, the crowd approves.)
Campbell: Here you go, son. Show him how. Come on!
Morrison: Come on, Hamish!
(Hamish throws the rock further.)
Campbell: Haha, my boy!
William: That's a good throw.
Hamish: Aye. Aye, it was.
William: I was wondering if you could do that when it matters. (Hamish gives William a mean look.) As it, as is matters in battle. Could you crush a man with that throw?
Hamish: I could crush you, like a worm.
William: You could?
Hamish: Aye.
William: Well then do it. (Asking the crowd) Would you like to see him crush me like a worm?
(William walks to the spot where Hamish's last throw landed, picking up an egg sized rock on the way.)
Crowd: Aye!
William: Come do it.
Hamish: You'll move.
William: I will not.
Campbell: (handing Hamish a large rock) He'll move. Come on there, boy.
(Hamish misses)
Man: Well done.
(William hits Hamish in the forehead with the small rock)
Campbell: Fine display, young Wallace.
William: You alright? You look a wee bit shaky.
Hamish: I should have remembered the rocks.
William: Aye, you should have. (Hamish falls onto the ground.) Get up you big heap. It's good to see you again.
Hamish: Aye, welcome home. Oh, me head.
William: Well, you should have moved.
(William walks up to Murron and is about to ask her to dance.)
Toothless Girl: William, will you dance with me?
William: Of course I will.
(English ride in on horses)
Lord Bottoms: I have come to claim the right of prima noctes. As lord of these lands, I will bless this marriage by taking the bride into my bed on the first night of her union.
Bride's Father: O' by God, you will not!
(Morrison swings at an English soldier. English soldiers hold him with knives to his throat.)
Lord Bottoms: It is my noble right.
(The bride gently moves the knife from her husband's throat with her hand and then whispers something along the lines of "I will be okay. I love you. I will be okay" and kisses him. Then the English soldiers ride off with her.)
Smythe: Ha ha. Ha ha.
(Later, William stands in his former house while the rain drizzles through gaping holes in the thatched roof.)
(William rides to the MacClannough residence)
William: Good evening, sir.
MacClannough: Ah, young Wallace. Grand soft evening, huh?
William: Aye, 'tis that. I was wondering if I might have a word with your daughter.
MacClannough: What do you want to have a word with her about?
William: Well, ah, Murron, would you like to come and ride with me on this fine evening?
Mother MacClannough: In this? You're out of your mind.
William: Oh, it's good Scottish weather, madam. The rain is fallin' straight down, well slightly to the side like.
Mother MacClannough: She cannot go with you.
William: No?
Mother MacClannough: O' no the noo, anyway.
MacClannough: No the noo.
William: No the noo?
MacClannough: No the noo. We'll see you later.
Murron: 'O the weather's just fine. It's hardly raining.
(Murron runs from the house and joins William on his horse.)
Mother MacClannough: (calling out to her daughter as she and William ride away.) Did you no hear what I said?
MacClannough: Murron
Mother MacClannough: Now get-- (turns to her husband) It's you she takes after.
(William and Murron ride off to the top of the mountain)
William: How did you know me after so long?
Murron: Why, I didn't.
William: No?
Murron: It's just that I saw you staring at me and I didn't know who you were.
William: I'm sorry, I suppose I was. Are you in the habit of riding off in the rain with strangers?
Murron: It was the best way to make you leave.
William: Well, if I can ever work up the courage to ask you again, I'll send you a written warning first.
Murron: 'O it wouldn't do you much good. I can't read.
William: Can you not?
Murron: No.
William: Well that's something we shall have to remedy, isn't it.
Murron: You're going to teach me to read, then?
William: Ah, if you like.
Murron: Aye.
William: In what language?
Murron: Ah, you're showing off now.
William: That's right. Are you impressed yet?
Murron: No. Why should I be?
William: Oui. Parce que chaque jour j'ai pensé à toi. {Yes. Because every single day I thought about you.}
Murron: Do that standing on your head and I'll be impressed.
William: My kilt will fly up but I'll try.
Murron: You certainly didn't learn any manners on your travels.
William: Well, the French and the Romans have far worse manners than I.
Murron: You've been to Rome?
William: Aye, my uncle took me on a pilgrimage.
Murron: What was it like?
William: Rien qui approchait ta beauté. {Nothing that was even close to your beauty.}
Murron: What does that mean?
William: Beautiful. But I belong here.
(Back at Murron's home; night. William drops Murron off. She waits, hoping to be kissed.)
Mother MacClannough: (calling from inside the house) Murron, come in now.
(Murron starts to leave but William stops her, handing her a cloth he has kept in his shirt. She opens it to find the thistle, now dried and pressed, that she had given him when they were children. At first she doesn't understand, but when she remembers, she smiles to think that he has kept it all these years.)
(The next day William is patching his roof when MacClannough and Campbell ride up to him.)
William: Sir, I know it was strange of me to invite Murron to ride last night, but I assure you I--
Campbell: MacClannough's daughter is another matter. I've come to fetch you to our meeting.
William: What kind of meeting?
Campbell: The secret kind.
MacClannough: Your meetings are a waste of time, Campbell.
Campbell: (to William) Your father was a fighter, and a patriot.
William: I know who my father was. I came back home to raise crops, and God willing a family. If I can live in peace, I will.
Campbell: (to another man) Go on.
MacClannough: You say you want to stay out of the troubles?
William: Aye.
MacClannough: If you can prove it, you may court my daughter. Until you prove it, my answer is no.
William: No?
MacClannough: (as he rides off to join the other riders) No Wallace, no.
William: Didn't I just prove it?
MacClannough: No.
William: No?
MacClannough: (calling out) No.
(William calls Murron out by throwing pebbles at Murron's back door. She comes out and they run into a grove to be alone and talk.)
William: Of course, running a farm is a lot of work, but that will all change when my sons arrive.
Murron: So, you've got children?
William: Oh not yet, but I was hoping that you could help me with that.
Murron: So you want me to marry you, then?
William: Well, that's a bit sudden but alright.
Murron: Is that what you call a proposal?
William: I love you. Always have. I want to marry you.
(They kiss)
William: Is that a yes?
Murron: Aye, that's a yes.
William: Is it?
(One day shortly after, in the bottom of a basket of furs Murron is carrying, she finds a pictogram. She looks around and sees William on horseback in the meadow. She waves to him and he waves back. Then her father looks, but William is gone.)
(That evening, William and Murron meet secretly in the woods.)
William: We best hurry. He'll be waiting.
Murron: Wait.
William: Where are you going?
(She runs behind a tree and returns with a small bundle.)
William: What's that?
Murron: You'll see.
(In the woods under cover of night, they stand before a priest. Murron is now wearing a finely embroidered smock and a simple veil.)
William: (to Priest) Father.
William: (to Murron as the priest wraps their hands together with a swath of tartan) I will love you my whole life; you and no other.
Murron: (handing William a cloth embroidered with a thistle pattern) And I you; you and no other forever.
Priest No 2: (speaks Scots Gaelic)
(Privately, William and Murron spend their honeymoon in the woods. Next morning, in the woods, Murron helps William dress. They kiss.)
(Later in the morning, in town William walks up to Murron. Smythe watches them.)
William: When am I gonna see you again? Tonight?
Murron: I can't.
William: Why not?
Murron: My dad's growin' suspicious.
William: Growin' suspicious, is he? Wouldn't have anything to do with that. When? When?
Murron: Tonight.
William: Tonight?
Murron: Aye.
(The two go their separate ways. Murron is carrying a basket of vegetables.)
Smythe: Look lively, sergeant.
(Smythe walks to Murron with two other soldiers in the back.)
Smythe: Where are you going lassie? Ooh, that looks heavy. Let me help you.
Murron: That's fine.
Smythe: I'm not going to steal it. 'O, you remind me of my daughter back home.
(She tries to lose him, but he finds her.)
Smythe: Hello lassie.
(Smythe throws the basket from her. In defense, Murron hits Smythe in the face. He throws her into one of the huts and attempts to rape her. She is making a lot of noise.)
Soldier: Keep it quiet, Smythe.
Smythe: You bitch.
(Murron bites his cheek, drawing blood. Smythe hits her in the face.)
Smythe: Ah, you bitch.
(One of the soldiers with Smythe gets hit by a rock thrown from behind by William as he runs down the path toward them. William then knocks the sergeant aside and grabs Smythe, throwing him against a wall, dazing him.)
William: (helping Murron stand up and walk) Are you alright? Alright? Come on. Are you alright?
Murron: Aye.
William: (smelling trouble and coming upon a horse, he asks Murron) Can you ride?
Murron: Aye.
(William puts Murron on a horse, and is about to get on.)
Smythe: (screaming at William) Come back here, you bastard. Raise the alarm. Help!
William: (to Murron) Meet me at the grove. Ride.
(He swats the horse and Murron rides away.)
Smythe: (trying to stop Murron) They're getting away. (He falls on his face.)
Soldier 1: Go around back!
Soldier 2: Get him!
Soldier 3: Come on.
(Soldiers run toward William, who kicks Smythe, then climbs over a hut in time to see Murron ride off. He is relieved. Then he grabs a lone soldier and shoves him into a hut.)
(Unknown to William, a soldier clotheslines Murron with his spear, knocking her off the horse. Murron is captured.)
(William comes out of the hut, dressed as an English soldier, and escapes into the woods.)
William: (taking off the soldier's tunic, calls out) Murron? Murron?
(Back in town, Murron is tied to a stake. The magistrate has assembled the townspeople and soldiers around him.)
Magistrate: All of you know full well the great pains I've always taken never to be too strict, too rigid, with the application of our laws. And as a consequence, have we not learned to live together in relative peace and harmony? Huh? And this day's lawlessness is how you repay my leniency. Well you leave me with little choice. An assault on the king's soldiers is the same as an assault on the king himself.
(Magistrate draws his dagger. Smythe shuts his eyes, feeling guilty of the consequences he created. The magistrate slits Murron's throat.)
Magistrate: (looking in the direction William left) Now, let this scrapper come to me.
(Later the English soldiers watch as William slowly rides into Lanark.)
Watchman: Sir!
(The magistrate, from his place in the fort, looks out for William.)
Corporal: There. (Points at William, who is slowly riding toward them, his hands held out, palms up, showing that he is unarmed.)
(As William approaches a couple of soldiers, he slowly raises his hands behind his neck. When one of the soldiers takes the reigns of William's horse, William hits him in the head with a flail pulled from inside his shirt.)
(Fighting starts. Campbell and Hamish show up, and the townspeople join in with rocks and farm implements.)
Magistrate: (in his fort, obviously worried) Corporal, summon archers on the tower, now.
(Arrows are showering down on the towns people. During the fight, Campbell gets hit by an arrow.)
Hamish: (as he tries to pull the arrow out) Hold still, father.
Campbell: (smacks Hamish in the head) Idiot boy! (Pushes Hamish away and breaks the arrow himself.)
(William sneaks to the back, climbing up into the fort, killing both of the archers. The fighting continues and the Scots break open the fort's gate. One soldier is left with the magistrate. He surrenders as the Scots close in, surrounding them.)
Hamish: Father, how are you?
(The Magistrate and William share a silent moment, then William kicks him down some primitive steps, grabs him by the shirt and drags him to the stake Murron had been tied to. William cuts the Magistrates throat without saying a word. He then leans down and picks up the swath of tartan that had, at his wedding, bond his hand to Murron's. He walks away and stands alone on a rise, looking off in the distance.)
Campbell: MacAulish, MacAulish!
Crowd of Scotsmen: MacAulish, MacAulish, WALLACE, WALLACE!
(Over his shoulder William looks at the crowd.)
(Murron's Funeral)
Priest No 2: (Latin) Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum, per misericordiam Dei, requiescant in pace. In nomine Patris, et Fili, et Spiritu Sancti. Amen. {Her soul and the souls of all the faithful dead, by God's mercy, rest in peace. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.}
Mother MacClannough: (crying)
(William leans down to Murron and kisses her for the last time. As Murron's corpse is lowered in the ground, Mother MacClannough wails. William walks over to the MacClannoughs, bowing down to the father, and is forgiven.)
(In town that evening, William, in solitude, contemplate's Murron's thistle embroidery, now bloodstained.)
Campbell: Whatcha waiting for, boy? (Waiting for Hamish to sterilize his wound with a red hot poker.)
Hamish: (handing the poker to Morrison) Here. You can do it. I'll hold him down.
Morrison: (handing it off to Madbaker.) Here. You can do it. I'll hold him down.
Campbell: Pour it straight in the wound, boy. I know it seems like a waste of good whiskey, but indulge me.
(Madbaker pours whiskey on top of the wound. The red hot poker is inserted. Campbell screams with a frightening yell.)
Hamish: Hold him! Hold him!
Madbaker/Flagman: Now let him go. Sorry.
(Campbell jumps to his feet and punches Madbaker, knocking him out.)
Campbell: It'll wake you up in the morning, boy.
(Everyone laughs.)
Watch guard: There's somebody coming.
Morrison: Arm yourselves.
Hamish: (to William) There's somebody coming.
Campbell: MacGregors, from the next glen.
MacGregor: We heard about what was happening, and we don't want you amadans thinking you can have your fun without us. (amadan is Gaelic for "fool")
William: Go home. Some of us are in this. We can't help that now. But you can help yourselves. Go home.
MacGregor: We'll have no homes left when the English garrison from the castle comes through and burns us out. And they will.
Campbell: (patting MacGregor on the back) Welcome!
(William welcomes MacGregor in the same manner.)
(William and his men ford a river, cross mountains, running.)
(At the fort of Lord Bottoms, who previously took the bride from the wedding, a group of soldiers are seen approaching.)
English soldier: (on the battlement, calls out) Patrol returning, my Lord.
(Bottoms walks the battlement, looking up at the patrol, then takes the stairs down. The patrol arrives and its leader approaches the Lord.)
Lord Bottoms: So, what news?
(William pulls off his helmet and hits him. Dressed as English, the Scots catch the soldiers off guard and pin them.)
Lord Bottoms: (shouting so all his men can hear and have confidence) I have dispatched 100 soldiers to Lanark. They will be returning now.
William: Were they dressed like this? Actually, it was more like 50. (Turns to Morrison now coming up behind him) Make it quick.
Morrison: (to Bottoms) Do you remember me?
Lord Bottoms: I never did her any harm. It was my right.
Morrison: Your right? Well I'm here to claim the right of a husband.
(Morrison kills the Lord with a ball and chain, then spits on him.)
William: (shouting so all the fort can hear) I am William Wallace, and the rest of you will be spared. Go back to England, and tell them there that Scotland's daughters and her sons are yours no more. Tell them Scotland is free. (turning around to leave, to his men) Burn it.
(The Scots leave with the fort in flames.)
(In Longshank's castle, the king walks into his throne room to find the Prince and his followers shooting arrows at a straw target resting on the throne. Isabella is there, too. The Prince shoots and is applauded by the courtiers. Phillip approaches to say something but, seeing the king, backs away. Clearly Longshanks is not pleased.)
Longshanks: Scottish rebels have routed one of my garrisons and murdered the noble lord.
Prince: I heard. This Wallace is a brigand, nothing more.
Longshanks: And how would you deal with this brigand?
Prince: Like any common thief. Have the local magistrate arrest him and punish him accordingly.
Longshanks: Leave us.
(Everyone leaves except Isabella and Phillip. The latter hides himself in a place to watch. Prince Edward is confused, not knowing what to expect. Longshanks suddenly strikes the Prince, knocking him to the floor.)
Longshanks: Wallace has already killed the magistrate and taken control of the town. Stand up. Stand up. (He reaches down to get the frightened Prince to his feet. He grabs him by the throat.) In the morning, I depart for France to press our rights there, and I leave you here to quell this little rebellion, understood? Is it? One day you will be a king. At least try to act like one.
(The King leaves and Isabella hurries over to comfort the Prince.)
Prince: Get away from me. (to Phillip) Convene my military council.
(The distressed Isabella is approached by her maid and closest companion, Nicolette.)
Nicolette: (trying to comfort Isabella but only making her cry) J'espère que votre mari ira en Ecosse et rencontrera Wallace, comme ca vous serez veuve. {I hope your husband goes to Scotland and meets Wallace, and then you'll be a widow.}
(English light calvary burn a small village. Then on the misty countryside, they spot a small band of Scots.)
Lord Dolecroft: (to his men) After them.
(The light cavalry chases the Scots, who are on foot, into a box canyon.)
Lord Dolecroft: (to the Scots) No point resisting. You're outnumbered and trapped. Now where are the rest of you? Where's Wallace?
(A rock hits his helmet. He looks to the rim above. Wallace and the others are there. Hamish waves.)
(At the Bruce's castle, Robert is led up some tower stairs to his father's room by the leper's caretaker, who immediately leaves. Behind a curtain, the leper is sitting at a desk, writing.)
Robert: Father?
Leper: Ah, come in, come in.
Robert: A rebellion has begun.
Leper: Under whom?
Robert: A commoner named William Wallace.
(The leper stands and walks out from behind the curtain, thinking.)
Leper: You will embrace this rebellion. Support it from our lands in the north. I will gain English favor by condemning it, and ordering it opposed from our lands in the south. Sit down. Stay a while.
Robert: (slumping into a chair) This Wallace, he doesn't even have a knighthood, but he fights with passion and he inspires.
Leper: (laughs) And you wish to charge off and fight as he did. So would I.
Robert: Well, maybe it's time.
Leper: (sitting, getting serious) It is time to survive. You're the 17th Robert Bruce. The 16 before you passed you land and title because they didn't charge in. Call a meeting of the nobles.
Robert: But they do nothing but talk.
Leper: Rightly so. They're as rich in English titles and lands as they are in Scottish, just as we are. You admire this man, this William Wallace. Uncompromising men are easy to admire. He has courage, so does a dog. But it is exactly the ability to compromise that makes a man noble. And understand this: Edward Longshanks is the most ruthless king ever to sit on the throne of England. And none of us, and nothing of Scotland will remain, unless we are as ruthless. Give ear to our nobles. Knowing their minds is the key to the throne.
(William and his men are fighting against the English troops at a small village)
(In a passage of Longshanks' castle, the Prince, Phillip and other young courtiers are walking. Two are carrying a full-length mirror, in which the Prince and Phillip are admiring themselves. The Prince stops them to adjust the belt of Phillip's gaily colored tunic.)
Prince: Wait. Wait. Look. This is out and this is left. (to the people holding the mirror) Carry on. Carry on.
(Isabella and Nicolette follow, strolling, not in any hurry to keep up with the men, who turn a corner and walk away.)
Nicolette: Lorsque le roi sera de retour, il les enterrera dans leurs beaux nouveaux vêtements. L'Ecosse est à feu et à sang. Votre mari se prépare en cachette à envoyer une armée dans le Nord. {When the king returns, he will bury them in those new clothes. Scotland is in fire and blood. Your husband is secretly sending an army north.}
Isabella: Comment tu le sais? {How do you know this?}
Nicolette: La nuit dernière j'ai couché avec quelqu'un du conseil de guerre. {Last night I slept with a member of the War Council.}
Isabella: Mais il n'était pas sensé te faire de confidences sur l'oreiller. {But he wasn't supposed to be tellings secrets in bed.}
Nicolette: Et oui. Les anglais ne savent pas à quoi sert une langue. {Ah yes. Englishmen don't know what a tongue is for.}
Isabella: (pauses for a moment, shocked) Ah. (She then hurries around the corner to catch up to Nicolette.) Cet Ecossais révolté, ce Wallace. Il se bat pour venger une femme? {This Scottish rebel, Wallace. He fights to avenge a woman?}
Nicolette: (taking Isabella's hand.) Ah j'oubliais. Un magistrat qui voulais le capturer découvrit qu'il avait un amour secret. {I nearly forgot. A magistrate wished to capture him and found he had a secret lover.}
(Some soldiers appear and Isabella motions to Nicolette to be quiet until they turn the corner. Nicolette continues in a more conspiratorial voice. Isabella listens attentively.)
Nicolette: Il égorgea la fille afin de pousser Wallace à la révolte. Wallace se révolta. Ses ennemis reconnurent sa passion pour son amour perdu. Ils organiserent de saisir Wallace en profanant les sépultures et de son père et de son frère, et ensuite en s'embusquant à la tombe de sa femme. Mais il s'en ai sorti en guerroyant l'arme au poing. Et cacha le cadavre de sa bien-aimée dans un endroit secret. Ça c'est l'amour non? {So he cut the girl's throat to force Wallace to revolt. And Wallace did revolt. Knowing his passion for his lost love, they next plotted to take him by desecrating the graves of his father and brother, and setting an ambush at the grave of his love. But he got out of the trap fighting weapon in hand. And carried her body to a secret place. Now that's love, no?}
(Isabella leans back against the wall, closing her eyes, wrapped in emotion.)
Isabella: (opens her eyes) De l'amour? J'en sais rien. {Love? I wouldn't know.}
(Nicolette comforts her.)
(William's camp. William, Campbell, Hamish, Morrison and MacGregor are eating, while the others around go about their work.)
William: You know, eventually Longshanks will send his whole Northern Army against us.
Campbell: Heavy cavalry, armored horse; shake the very ground.
Hamish: They'll ride right over us.
William: Uncle Argyle used to talk about it; how no army had ever stood up to a charge of heavy horse.
Hamish: So what'll we do?
Campbell: Hit, run, hide, the Highland way.
William: (looking up to the tall trees) We'll make spears. Hundreds of them. Long spears, twice as long as a man.
Hamish: That long?
William: Aye.
Hamish: Some men are longer than others.
Campbell: Your mother's been telling stories about me again, ah?
(They laugh.)
Guard: Volunteers coming in.
(Two commoners approach Wallace)
Faudron: William Wallace, we've come to fight and to die for ya. (He kneels.)
William: Stand up, man. I'm not the pope.
Faudron: (getting up) My name is Faudron, and my sword is yours. (reaches into his shirt) I brought you this.
(William's men stop him.)
Guard: We checked them for arms.
Faudron: (looking at Hamish, he pulls out an embroidered cloth) I brought you this. My wife made it for ya.
William: Thank you.
Stephen: (walking passed William, stepping up to the pot.) Him? That can't be William Wallace. I'm prettier than this man.
(Stephen takes a mouthful of stew without even being invited. William is amused.)
Stephen: (looking skyward) Alright Father, I'll ask him. (still chewing on the food, he approaches William) If I risk my neck for you, will I get a chance to kill Englishmen?
Hamish: Is your father a ghost or do you converse with the Almighty?
Stephen: In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God. (looking heavenward again) Yes, Father. (to William and his men) The Almighty says don't change the subject; just answer the fucking question.
Hamish: Mind your tongue.
Campbell: Insane Irish.
(Stephen pulls a dagger from his sleeve and presses it to Campbell's throat. William's men counter with swords to Stephen's throat.)
Stephen: (to Campbell) Smart enough to get a dagger past your guards, old man.
William: That's my friend, Irishman. And the answer to your question is yes; if you fight for me you get to kill the English.
Stephen: Excellent. (putting away his dagger) Stephen is my name. I'm the most wanted man on my island, except I'm not on my island, of course. More's the pity.
Hamish: Your island? You mean Ireland.
Stephen: Yeah. It's mine. (grinning broadly)
Hamish: You're a madman.
Stephen: I've come to the right place, then.
(Stephen laughs, and everyone joins in.)
(Cut to the woods. With bow and arrows, William silently stalks a deer that's grazing unsuspectingly. Stephen stalks William, and startles the deer. Alerted, William turns to see Stephen running toward him with his knife raised above his head as Faudron stealthily approaches William from behind. As William turns his bow on Stephen, Faudron raises his sword to attack William. Before he can land the blow, however, Stephen throws his dagger past William's shoulder and into Faudron's chest.)
Stephen: Sure didn't the Almighty send me to watch your back? I didn't like him anyway. He wasn't right in the head.
(William, dumbfounded, looks heavenward, wondering if he's being watched.)
(Morrison and Stewart come running in the sunset)
Hamish: William, it's our runners.
Morrison: (to William and the other men) The English are advancing an army toward Stirling.
William: Will the nobles rally?
Stewart: Robert the Bruce and most of the others will not commit to battle. But word is spread, and highlanders are coming down on their own.
Morrison: Aye, in droves of hundreds and thousands.
William: (shouting to all) Are you ready for a war?
(The Scots cheer.)
(Battlefield at Stirling. A horseman approaches full-speed as Mornay, Lochlan, and Craig wait with their armies.)
Mornay: (to the horseman) Well, what news?
Horseman: We're outnumbered, at least 3 to 1.
Mornay: How many horse, then?
Horseman: 300, maybe more.
Mornay: 300 heavy horse?
Lochlan: We must try to negotiate.
Mornay: Who's in command? Did he have a scarlet chevron?
Horseman: Aye, he did.
Craig: We can still negotiate.
(As the nobles are talking, two Scottish soldiers are waiting and listening in the front line.)
Young soldier: (to the veteran beside him) What are they talking about?
Veteran: I can't hear, but it doesn't look good. The nobles will negotiate. If they do a deal, then we go home. And if not, we charge.
Mornay: 300 heavy horse; we have no chance.
(The English infantry, archers and cavalry appear over the hill.)
Young soldier: (to no one in particular) So many! (swallows hard, then turns to the veteran) I didn't come here to fight so they can own more lands; then I have to work for them.
Veteran: Nor me. (shouting to all) Alright lads. I'm not dying for these bastards! Lets go home.
(The two Scots start to leave the field and others join them.)
Lochlan: (seeing the departing men, rides over the them, shouting in desperation) Stop men. Do not flee. Wait until we've negotiated.
(William and his men, with faces painted for battle, arrive on the scene in time to see the exodus. The fleeing men stop and curiously watch William's entrance.)
Young soldier: (to the veteran as Wallace rides past) William Wallace?
Veteran: Can't be. Not tall enough.
(William and his men ride up to the nobles.)
Stephen: The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It's drawn the finest people.
Lochlan: (to William) Where is thy salute?
William: For presenting yourselves on this battlefield, I give you thanks.
Lochlan: This is our army. To join it you give homage.
William: I give homage to Scotland. (shouting so that all can hear) And if this is your army, why does it go?
Veteran: (shouting out the answer) We didn't come here to fight for them.
(His companions shout their agreement.)
Young soldier: Home. The English are too many.
William: (shouting to them all) Sons of Scotland, I am William Wallace.
Young soldier: (to William) William Wallace is 7 feet tall.
William: (to the young soldier) Yes, I've heard. He kills men by the hundreds, and if he were here he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse. (All laugh. He addressed the crowd.) I am William Wallace, and I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?
Veteran: (to William) Fight against that? No, we will run, and we will live.
William: (in reply) Aye, fight and you may die, run and you'll live. At least a while. (shouting to all) And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom?! Alba gu brath! (Scotland forever!)
(The Scots cheer "Alba gu brath" repeatedly. Across the field, the English watch the shouting Scots.)
Lord Talmadge: They seem quite optimistic to me. Maybe they do want to fight.
Cheltham: Confrontation might be a foregone conclusion, my lord. But none the less, I think we should deliver the king's terms.
Lord Talmadge: The king's terms; He'll never live up to them.
Cheltham: My lord, I think--.
Lord Talmadge: Alright, offer them the terms.
(The Scottish nobles notice Cheltham approaching on horseback.)
Craig: They're coming out. Shall we go and meet them?
Mornay: Let me do the talking. Agreed?
Lochlan: Agreed.
Craig: Aye.
(William's men watch Mornay, Lochlan, and Craig go out to meet Cheltham.)
Stephen: (to William) Fine speech. Now what do we do?
William: Just be yourselves. (Turns his horse to the field.)
Hamish: Where are you going?
William: I'm going to pick a fight.
(His men watch as he rides out toward Cheltham and the Scottish nobles.)
Hamish: (to Stephen) Well, we didn't get dressed up for nothing.
(Cheltham and the Scottish nobles converge in the middle of the field.)
Cheltham: Mornay, Lochlan, Craig. Here are the king's terms. Lead this army off field and he will give you each estates in Yorkshire, including hereditary title, from which you will pay--,
(William rides up, intimidating Cheltham by circling him and disturbing his horse. Cheltham ignores William.)
Cheltham: From which you will pay him an annual duty--.
William: (rudely interrupting) I have an offer for you.
Mornay: Cheltham, this is William Wallace.
Cheltham: (ignoring William) From which you will pay the king an annual duty--.
William: (interrupting Cheltham again) I said I have an offer for you.
Lochlan: (to William) You disrespect a banner of truce?
William: (to Lochlan) From his king? Absolutely. (to Cheltham) Here are Scotland's terms. Lower your flags, and march straight back to England, stopping at every home to beg forgiveness for 100 years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today.
Cheltham: (laughs) You are outmatched. You have no heavy cavalry. In two centuries no army has won without--
William: (shouting in anger) I'm not finished. Before we let you leave, your commander must cross that field, present himself before this army, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own arse.
(All are shocked. Cheltham and his escorts head back to their own side of the field in disgust. William makes a face at them as they depart.)
Mornay: (to William) I'd say that was rather less cordial that he was used to.
William: You be ready and do exactly as I say. On my signal, ride round behind our position and flank them.
Mornay: We must not divide our forces.
William: Do it, and let the English see you do it.
Mornay: They'll think we've run away.
William: Take out their archers, and I'll meet you in the middle.
Mornay: Alright.
(William and the nobles return to their own side. William dismounts.)
Priest: (Latin) Ego vos absolvo ab omnibus peccatis vestris, in nomine Patris, et Fili, et Spiritu Sancti. {I absolve you from all your sins, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.}
(The Scots kneel in prayer. Across the field, Cheltham returns to Lord Talmadge.)
Lord Talmadge: (to Cheltham) Insolent bastard. I want this Wallace's heart on a plate. Archers.
(Cheltham give the signal and the archers step forward. Talmadge looks across the field for a reaction. There is a moment of silence, and them the Scots scream.)
Stewart: (shouts out to the English) You bastards!
(One Scot comes forward and raises his kilt to insult the English. Many others, dropping their weapons, join him.)
(The English archers draw their bows. Cheltham signals.)
Cheltham: Loose!
(As the arrows fly from the English bows, the Scots crouch behind their shields. Many Scots are hit.)
Stephen: (to Wallace) The Lord says He can get me out of this mess, but He's pretty sure you're fucked. (laughs wildly)
(The Scots rise again after the arrows stop raining down. They scream and moon the English.)
Cheltham: Ready, loose! (signals)
(The English archers launch another volley and again the Scots take cover under their shields taking only light casualties.)
William: (signaling to the mounted Scottish nobles) Ride!
(Across the field, Lord Talmadge watches with a grin.)
Lord Talmadge: (to Cheltham) See, every Scot with a horse is fleeing. Our cavalry will ride them down like grass. Send the horse; full attack.
(Cheltham signals and the cavalry moves out. The English knights charge across the field while the Scots stand motionless.)
William: (shouting to his men) Steady! Hold! Hold! Hold! Now!
(As the English close in, the Scots suddenly raise hundreds of long heavy spears from the ground. The horses crash into the spears throwing their riders. The Scots battle the English hand to hand.)
Lord Talmadge: (to Cheltham) Send the infantry.
Cheltham: My Lord?
Lord Talmadge: (frightened) You lead them.
(Cheltham moves forward, signals, and the rest of the army follows him onto the field. Then they start to run. Seeing this, William and his men run to confront them. The battle rages. Swords sever limbs completely, while axes and picks cut through helmets. The Scots fight savagely and slaughter the English.)
(Talmadge grows concerned then confused as Mornay and Lochlan arrive with their cavalry and attack the English archers. William spots Cheltham in the battlefield.)
William: (yelling to Cheltham) Bastard!
(William and Cheltham go head to head. William knocks Cheltham off his horse and beheads him with rage.)
Lord Talmadge: (now utterly frightened, shouts to his men) Retreat!
(As the battle progresses Campbell loses his left hand. Other soldiers come riding in - Mornay and Lochlan's men, attacking the English from the rear. One of them rides up to William, who starts to swing at him with his sword, but discovers it's Mornay. William stops and looks around.)
William: (to Mornay) Alright.
(Mornay is pleased with the victory. William goes in front of his troops, and raising his sword, cheers.)
Scottish army: (screaming) WALLACE! WALLACE! WALLACE!
(Smiling, William stabs his sword in the ground.)
(Castle in Edinburgh. William is kneeling before Craig.)
Craig: I knight thee Sir William Wallace. Sir William, in the name of God we declare and appoint thee guardian and high protector of Scotland and thy Captains as aides-de-camp. Stand and be recognized.
(William presents necklaces to his men.)
Robert: (to Craig) Does anyone know his politics?
Craig: No, but his weight with the commoners can unbalance everything. The Balliols will kiss his arse so we must.
Balliol: (after William had congratulated his men) Sir William, Sir William. Inasmuch as you and your captains hail from a region long known to support the Balliol clan, may we invite you to continue your support and uphold our rightful claim.
(William starts to reply, but is interrupted.)
Mornay: (shouting) Damn the Balliol clan! They're all Longshanks' men!
William: (shouting over the din) Gentlemen!, Gentlemen!
Balliol: Now is the time to declare a king.
Mornay: (to Balliol) Wait! Then you are prepared to recognize our legitimate succession.
Balliol: You're the ones who won't support the rightful claim.
Mornay: Those were lies when you first wrote them.
(shouting amongst the crowd)
Balliol: Oh, no. That's not true. I demand recognition of these documents.
Mornay: These documents were lies when you wrote them.
(Disgusted, Wallace starts to walk out.)
Craig: Gentlemen! Please, Gentlemen! Wait! Sir William, where are you going?
William: (turns around to address the crowd) We have beaten the English, but they'll come back because you won't stand together.
Craig: Well what will you do?
William: I will invade England and defeat the English on their own ground.
Craig: (laughs) Invade? That's impossible.
William: Why? Why is that impossible? You're so concerned with squabbling for the scraps from Longshank's table that you've missed your God-given right to something better. There is a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with freedom. And I go to make sure that they have it.
(William and his men leave and the debate starts again.)
(Outside, William and his men descend into the courtyard.)
Robert: (calling out to them) Wait!
(They stop so that Robert can catch up.)
Robert: (to William) I respect what you said, but remember that these men have lands and castles. It's much to risk.
William: And the common man who bleeds on the battlefield, does he risk less?
Robert: (to William as the two of them walk together.) No, but from top to bottom this country has no sense of itself. Its nobles share allegiance with England. Its clans war with each other. If you make enemies on both sides of the border, you'll end up dead.
William: We all end up dead; it's just a question of how and why.
(They stop and talk face to face.)
Robert: I'm not a coward. I want what you want, but we need the nobles.
William: We need them?
Robert: Aye.
William: Nobles. Now tell me, what does that mean to be noble? Your title gives you claim to the throne of our country, but men don't follow titles, they follow courage. Now our people know you. Noble, and common, they respect you. And if you would just lead them to freedom, they'd follow you. And so would I.
(He walks away, leaving Robert to think about what was just said.)
(William and his army ride over the English countryside.)
(The York Captain rides full-speed into York.)
Governor of York: (in the fortress yard, talking to his aide) Damn it! My sodomite cousin the prince tells me he has no troops to lend and every town in Northern England is begging for help.
York Captain: (rides up to the Governor) He advances!
Governor of York: To which town?
York Captain: To here my Lord.
Governor of York: Bring the food and provisions inside, double the wall guards, seal the gate, now!
York Captain: Quickly, bring in the provisions, seal off the gate, NOW!
(Daytime. Wallace's men approach York. The peasants, seeing them, scream and run. By nightfall, William's men have created a battering ram of logs ties together and set on a cart. They wheel it across a bridge to the city wall. The Governor of York is watching the Scots from a tower overlooking the gate.)
York Captain: (approaching his lord, who is preoccupied with Wallace) Sir, we can get you out if you leave now.
Governor of York: I am not about to tell my uncle I've lost him the greatest city in Northern England.
(The Scots continue battering the gate. From the fortress battlements the English drop heavy rocks and pour vats of oil on them. Archers shoot flaming arrows, igniting oil and burning the men pushing the ram.)
William: Come on!
(The Scots scream as Wallace leads more men to drive the ram into the gate. This time the now burning gate caves in and the Scots cheer.)
(Back in London, Longshanks and his men ride into the castle.)
Soldier: Make way for the king.
(Prince Edward, standing at a tower window overlooking the courtyard, watches his father's arrival. Then he nervously ducks back into the room. Phillip is there and goes to the window to have a look.)
Phillip: (turning back into the room) It's not your fault. Stand up to him.
Prince: I will stand up to him and more. (He practically falls into a chair. His fear is causing him to sweat. Longshank's footsteps are heard climbing the tower stairway. He enters the room, handing his crown to his escort, who leaves, closing the door behind him.)
Longshanks: (to the Prince) What news of the North?
Prince: (standing) Nothing new, Your Majesty. We've sent riders to speed any word.
Longshanks: I heard the word in France, where I was fighting to expand your future kingdom. The word, my son, is that our entire Northern Army has been annihilated. And you have done nothing.
Prince: I have ordered conscriptions. They are assembled and ready to depart.
(Chamberlain and a soldier enter.)
Chamberlain: Excuse me, sire, but there is a very urgent message from York.
Longshanks: Come. (The soldier hands over a covered basket and a note.) Leave us.
Soldier: Thank you, sire. (He is happy to leave the room)
Prince: (reading the note) Wallace has sacked York.
Longshanks: What?
Prince: Wallace has sacked York.
(Longshanks grabs the note out of the Prince's hands and reads it to himself while Prince Edward lifts the cover of the basket and, shocked by what he sees, falls back into his chair. Longshanks looks into the basket and pulls its contents out--the Governor of York's head.)
Phillip: Sire, thy own nephew. What beast could do such a thing?
Longshanks: (putting the head back in the basket, thinking out loud) If he can sack York, he can invade lower England.
Phillip: (advancing) We would stop him!
Longshanks: Who is this person who speaks to me as though I needed his advice?
Prince: (standing, stating with some self-assertion) I have declared Phillip my High Counselor.
Longshanks: Is he qualified?
(The Prince starts to answer but is interrupted.)
Phillip: (confidently) I am skilled in the arts of war and military tactics, sire.
Longshanks: Are you?
(Longshanks assumes a kindly manner, laying an arm across Phillip's shoulder. They walk slowly toward the window.)
Longshanks: Then tell me, what advice would you offer on the present situation?
(As Phillip begins his reply, Longshanks throws him out the window to his death. Phillip screams on his way down. The Prince runs to the window and looks down at Phillip, dead on the pavement, his head surrounded by a pool of blood. In anger, Prince Edward draws his dagger and tries to attack his father, but is easily disarmed and beaten to the floor, whimpering and coughing.)
Longshanks: (sits, again talking to himself) I shall offer a truce and buy him off. But who will go to him? Not I, huh, if I fell under the sword of that murderer that might be my head in a basket. And not my gentle son. The mere sight of him would only encourage an enemy to take over the whole country. So whom do I send? Whom do I send?
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