Search just our sites by using our customised search engine

Unique Cottages | Electric Scotland's Classified Directory

Click here to get a Printer Friendly PageSmiley

The Anecdotage of Glasgow
Wallace Giving Name to Stockwell Street


Every reader of Blind Harry’s "Wallace," and most Glasgow folks, although they may not know that romantic national epic as a whole, are at least aware of’ "The Battle of the High Street," in which the Scottish hero defeated the warlike Bishop Beck and the valiant Percy.

They may also know the story of the hero’s encounter with and slaying of Lord Percy’s convoy at Cathcart, in retaliation for their violent outrage in seizing, during a time of truce, the sumpter horse of the good old Sir Ranald Crawford, Sheriff of Ayr, and uncle to Wallace, while he was on his way to Glasgow to attend a council there with the English lords. This is one of the early feats of Wallace as recorded by the Scottish minstrel, who fbrther tells that Wallace, with his two companions Kerly and Grey, crossed the bridge of tree over the Clyde at Stockwell by night, and made their way to Dumbarton or Lennox, where Wallace was well received and aided by the Earl of Lennox.

Everyone born or living in Glasgow from the olden time until now must have known StoekwelI Street, where, until very recent times, stood the Ratten Well, with its impure waters.

The tradition, however, at least in these modern days, is not so well known that this name arises out of the following incident, namely, that after a skirmish at that place between Wallace with a small party of Scots and the Southerns or English, the latter being defeated, the bodies of the slain were cast into this well by the victorious Scots, during which consignment Wallace is reported to have exclaimed: "Stock it well! stock it well !" from which expression tlie street received its name. So says tradition, at all events; and it was all along alleged and believed that the bad quality of the water arose from the putrefaction of the Englishmen’s dead bodies.


Return to Book Index


 


This comment system requires you to be logged in through either a Disqus account or an account you already have with Google, Twitter, Facebook or Yahoo. In the event you don't have an account with any of these companies then you can create an account with Disqus. All comments are moderated so they won't display until the moderator has approved your comment.

comments powered by Disqus

Quantcast