Blind Harry's Wallace

by William Hamilton (Author), Elspeth King (Author)

11 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0946487332

ISBN-10: 0946487332

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The epic verse of "Blind Harry" (or "Henry the Minstrel") is the main source on the life of Sir William Wallace. It was written around 1477 and based on the now lost Latin book of John Blair, commisioned by 'the fetching bishop' William Sinclair, Bishop of Dunkeld, to send to the Pope. Blind Harry gathered stories and traditions of Wallace from all over Scotland and sang or recited his verse. He was well recieved at the Renaissance court of King James IV. Blind Harry's "Acts and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace" was one of the first Scottish books printed in Scotland. Hamilton's edition, "wherein the old obsolete words are rendered more intelligible", first published in 1722, had a great influence on Burns (whom it inspired to visit many of the sites mentioned and to write a number of poems including "Scots Wha Hae") and many others, including Wordsworth and Byron. Elspeth King, has long campaigned to bring Blind Harry's work back into print in an accessible form, and argues for its significance amd relevance today.

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Product Details

Paperback: 264 pages
Publisher: Luath Press Ltd (July 1, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0946487332
ISBN-13: 978-0946487332
Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 1 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #432,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #609 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > Literature > English Literature
- #633 in Books > Literature & Fiction > British & Irish > Poetry
- #993 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical > Europe > Great Britain

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Customer Reviews

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17 of 18 people found the following review helpful

Better and Worse than Braveheart

By Bill Maudlin on August 17, 2001

Format: Paperback

One of my first reactions was to value this volume as a corrective to "Braveheart" - to which it is certainly rather weakly linked. Harry's Wallace was not stupid; he did not use a wild Highland charge against thousands of Edward's men as did the celluloid creation - without armor. Thus I appreciated the poet's description of Wallace's defensive gear - not just an occasionally-worn helmet that falls off at the onset of battle (as in Hollywood's offering ) but a helmet, steel collar, coat of mail, and even steel-plated gauntlets. Viewers of "Braveheart" also tend to come away with the impression that Wallace was (essentially) a Highlander leading clansmen to battle - which certainly cannot be concluded from Harry's account (and naming of Wallace supporters). This Luath edition of the historic epic, moreover, contains a very interesting map of "Wallace Place names" (page 225) which suggests that Wallace's support was in the South (some in the North-East) of Scotland, and not the North and West where the great Highland clans were situated. There are numerous such (major) discrepancies in the popular movie but each reader may easily and instructively discover these for himself as comparisons are made. It is only fair to add, however, that the movie might also serve as 'corrective' to the poem since the film-script does warn us, on at least two occasions, of the hyperbole that results in passing on verbal anecdotes of legendary figures and the Harry version relies, at least in part, upon such anecdotes. Randall Wallace's script (understandably, since his is an audience of different sensibilities to Harry's ) is not so obviously 'racial' in its prejudices.Read more ›

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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

a must for those Studying William Wallace

By Deborah MacGillivray HALL OF FAMEVINE VOICE on November 2, 2002

Format: Paperback

For the person wanting to have a balanced view of Wallace, they need to include this text. Blind Harry or Blin Hary the Minstrel is believed to live from 1440-1493. Very little is really known about him. However, he is recalled for this major achievement of gathering and recording stories of Wallace. Supposedly the first written work about Wallace. He sang or recited these stories in verse form, and it is noted that he was well received at the Renaissance Court of James IV. One must recall these tales were collected well over 100 years after Wallace's death, giving plenty of time for the legend to already take root. Many of the details of Harry's epic are very accurate, some are not (but then he certainly is a lot closer than Randall Wallace!!).
William Hamilton(c1665-1751) brought Wallace back into the minds of everyone with the translation of Blind Harry's original poem.
One needs to understand this is written from a very pro Scots point of view, and tends to see Scots as the good guys and English as the bad ones, with few areas of grey. But taken on a whole, with most of the works on Wallace stemming from English records, it gives a balanced picture in studying Wallace.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

Better and Worse than Braveheart

By William Maudlin on August 18, 2001

Format: Paperback

One of my first reactions was to value this volume as a corrective to "Braveheart" on which it is certainly only very loosely based. For example, Harry's Wallace (unlike his celluloid counterpart) was clearly not stupid enough to lead a wild 'Highland' charge against Edward's men - at least without wearing armor. Thus I appreciated the poet's description of Wallace's defensive gear (see page 25 etc.) consisting of a helmet, coat of mail, steel collar, and even steel-plated gauntlets. In the movie Wallace, at his most prudent, wore an ill-fitting helmet that fell off in action.
Viewers of "Braveheart" also tend to come away with the impression that Wallace was a Highlander leading clansmen into battle - which certainly cannot be supported by Harry's references to Wallace's supporters. In fact in this edition of "Wallace" (on page 225) a very interesting map of 'Wallace place names' suggests that the hero's support was in the South and North-East (of Scotland)- not in the North and West where the great clans were located. There are often such (major) problems when books (like this) are 'adapted' to be popular movies, and these each reader may enjoyably discover for himself.
It is only fair to add, however, that the movie could also be seen as a corrective to the book. Randall Wallace's script does warn us (at least twice) of the hyperbole that results when verbal anecdotes of historical and legendary figures are passed on, and there is clearly a great deal of this reflected in Harry's epic (since he relied partly on just such anecdotal evidence). Moreover the film-script (understandably because of the sensibilities of a modern audience)is not so shockingly racially-prejudiced as "Wallace".Read more ›

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

A Good and Trusty Friend

By Ross Bills on July 17, 2007

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

Blind Harry wrote over a hundred years after Wallace was executed, but to this day his history is the most complete life of Wallace. Some dispute the extent of the recorded adventures and argue it is folk lore or fable, but fact is often stranger than fiction. I first encountered the 1800's reprint of the manuscript in the rare books section at Sydney University Library some twenty years ago, and having my own personal copy now is a rare treat indeed. Forget Braveheart. The movie could never encompass a fraction of Blind Harry's description of the deeds of Wallace. A word of caution to those who claim descent from Wallace. It is recorded that he died without issue. So I am of his family, but none are of his lineage.

Read it for the drama, and the poetry of the legend. Or read it out of respect for the world's first, and best, guerrilla fighter.

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Five Stars

Amazing yet fictional insight into William Wallace by a 15th Century poet.

Published 7 months ago by Amy Jarecki

3 star

Use it for research I was not aware that it was written as poetry, which makes it harder to follow

Published 21 months ago by Mr W.G. Duff

Great Wallace Information

I am glad I bought this book. I now know the finner details about Sir William Wallaces and his life, the details that the movie BraveHeart would not have been able to include,... Read more

Published on June 23, 2012 by Lord Michael

Epic poem of the service of William Wallace

I learned about this written account of Wallace's Scottish patriotism when I visited the Smith Museum in Stirling over the summer. This is a fascinating read!

Published on September 14, 2011 by Julie A. Potter-Dunlop

Wallace is great but overkilling by far

This heroic ballad, some will say epic, concerns a Scot who left behind him a trail of courage, fame and blood all wrapped up in Scottish nationalism defeated mind you by the... Read more

Published on July 14, 2010 by Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

Turbo swords!

William Hamilton of Gilbertsfield's retelling of Blind Harry's Wallace, which he rewrote into rhyming couplets in the eighteenth century, starts with two strikes against it. Read more

Published on June 21, 2006 by S. Gustafson

The only true Braveheart

Are you a fan of Braveheart? Well this is the book for you. This is not only the one true written history of William Wallace, but it describes him to a T. Read more

Published on June 21, 2000 by J Powers