WILLIAM WALLACE By James Fergusson
Every Scottish school child could tell you the story of Wallace, but most of it would be wrong. Blind Harry, in his Life and Acts of Sir William Wallace, supplied the Lowlander with a Congenial hero, and half the parishes of Scotland with local legends about him, many of which- have been perpetuated in school text books. But, as Mr. Fergusson points out, Blind Harry was more novelist than historian. Mr. Fergusson's more Sober work has been to disentangle the facts of Wallace's life and campaigns, as recorded by contemporary chroniclers, from the legend. In his book (MacLe- hose, 5s.) Wallace appears as noble a patriot as he does in fiction, if slightly -less romantic ; and the true story is as stirring as the legend, even if many 01 the best-known episodes, such as the burning of the Barns of Ayr, have to go by the board. -Mr. Fergusson - writes straightforwardly, with no speculative ''excursions-into-what-Wallace thought.
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