The story of William Wallace, the heroic 14th-century leader of the struggle for Scotland's freedom, has come down to us from many sources, one of the earliest being The Wallas, a poem by the 15th-century writer Blin Hary, or Blind Harry. According to poet Tom Scott, who made The Wallas into the English prose version found in this book, 'The merit of Blin Hary's work, is uniqueness, with passages of excellent poetry here and there, its general standard of versification and the noble tone of most of it, makes it a foundation work of Scottish poetry, and one of the sources of Wallace traditions, however imperfect.Being, as it is, a creative work of literature, Blin Harry's The Wallas cannot be taken as a reliable historical source in every detail. However, as Tom Scott went on to say, 'With Barbour's Brus, it is the epic foundation of Scottish literature and therefore required reading for every born Scot.' |
