Wallace betrayed by Sir John Menteith
The only man in Scotland who had steadily refused submission was Wallace; and the king, with that inveterate enmity and unshaken perseverance which marked his conduct to his enemies, now used every possible means to hunt him down, and become master of his person. He had already set a large sum upon his head; he gave strict orders to his captains and governors in Scotland to be constantly on the alert; and he now carefully sought out those Scotsmen who were enemies to Wallace, and bribed them to discover and betray him.ยง For this purpose he commanded Sir John de Mowbray, a Scottish knight then at his court, and who seems at this time to have risen into great trust and favour with Edward, to carry with him into Scotland Ralph de Haliburton,one of the prisoners lately taken at Stirling. Haliburton was ordered to co-operate with the other Scotsmen who were then engaged in the attempt to seize Wallace, and Mowbray was to watch how this base person conducted himself.
What were the particular measures adopted by Haliburton, or with whom he co-operated, it is now impossible to determine; but it is certain that, soon after this, Wallace was bretrayed and taken by Sir John Menteith, a Scottish baron of high rank. Perhaps we are to trace this infamous transaction to a family feud. At the battle of Falkirk, Wallace, who, on account of his overbearing conduct, had never been popular with the Scottish nobility, opposed the pretensions of Sir John Stewart of Bonkill, when this baron contended for the chief command. In that disastrous defeat, Sir John Stewart, with the flower of his followers, was surrounded and slain; and it is said that Sir John Menteith, his uncle, never forgave Wallace for making good his own retreat, without attempting a rescue.By whatever motive he was actuated, Menteith succeeded in discovering his retreat, through the treacherous information of a servant who waited on him; and having invaded the house by night, seized him in bed, and instantly delivered him to Edward.