Marion Braidfoot, {fictional}

Medieval legend

Marion Braidfoot, {fictional} did not exist. She was not the wife or lover of Sir William Wallace of Elderslie, Kt.. Since Marion didn’t exist, daughter Wallace was not their child, and we don’t know the identity of the wife of William de Bailleul of Cavers, 1st of Lamington, and mother of William Baliol, of Hoprig, 2nd of Lamington. It appears that Hugh Braidfute of Lamington, {fictional}, his father FNU Braidfort, {fictional}, and wife Wife of Hugh Braidfute of Lamington, {fictional} were invented also, as there were no Braidfute’s living at Lamington in the 13th century.

The Clan Wallace Society accepts that Marion Braidfute was a medieval legend.

https://clanwallace.org/cw/wallaces-wife-marion-braidfute-was-inven...

Marion Braidfute, wife of William Wallace, was a fictional character concocted by medieval biographers, a leading historian has claimed. Braidfute, who was supposedly murdered by the Sheriff of Lanark, triggering Wallace’s rebellion against the English, was created more than 200 years after his death to heighten the political standing of a noble family, according to new research.

[Ed] Archer, an authority on Wallace, has found no mention of her in the earliest accounts of his life Blind Harry’s “The Wallace,” an epic poem written in about 1508, refers to a woman called Innes, who is credited with helping Wallace escape from the clutches of English troops. There is no suggestion that she was his lover or his wife. Braidfute does not appear until 1570, in a revised edition of Blind Harry’s poem, possibly commissioned by the Baillies of Lamington, a wealthy family from Lanark who hoped to ingratiate themselves with Mary, Queen of Scots by claiming to be Wallace’s descendants. In the revised text, Braidfute, from Lamington, Lanarkshire, is described as Wallace’s lover and the mother of his daughter, from whom the Baillies of Lamington claim to be descended.

However, a study by Archer of contemporary historical records found no mention of any Braidfutes living in the area at the end of the 13th century.

Archer presented his findings last year, [2005] at a conference on Wallace’s life hosted by the Lanark Archaeological Trust, part of a series of events commemorating the 700th anniversary of Wallace’s death.

Biography

http://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Braidfute_of_Lamington-1

"William Wallace came to the Clyde Forest after successfully ambushing the English at Loudon Hill, in July 1296. After the skirmish Wallace took refuge near Lanark in order to rest his men.

It is at this time that Wallace may have met Marion Braidfute for the first time. Marion was 18 years of age and the daughter of the laird of Lamington. Marion Braidfute is described by Blind Harry "She suffered all and bore herself right lowly, so amiable she was, so benign and wise, courteous and sweet, full of noblesse, of well ordered speech." Wallace fell in love with Marion, but according to some sources, he decided that it would not be wise to marry till Scotland had been freed from the English. She informed Wallace that the Sheriff, whom Blind Harry describes as “cruel, outrageous and spiteful in his actions.' had put to death her brother who had come along with Marion to stay in his father's town house in Lanark, supposedly to avoid trouble.

"From that time forward, whenever Wallace was in town, he would secretly visit with her. Marion would encourage him and helped him to get into her house through a back entrance in an alley behind the house. The sheriff Heselrig had made plans for Marion to be wed to his son. This made their affair a very difficult one. Soon after William and Marion promised to each other that as soon as he had freed his country he would return and claim her as his wife. It is noted elsewhere though, that William and Marion did in fact get married and Marion bore unto him a daughter Elizabeth.

https://www.clanmcalister.org/n_wallace2.shtml

During the time all this was going on, Sir Hugh Braidfute of Lamington died, leaving his daughter Marion Braidfute the surviving heiress of Lamington. Marion stayed in the Braidfute home in Lanark rather than return to her home in Lamington. It is said that her older brother was put to death by Heselrig and, for this, she disliked the sheriff and made it known in an indirect sort of way. Wallace spotted Marion in the Church of St. Kentigern and, from then on, it was a "love at first sight" type of thing.

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References

• “Wallace’s Wife Marion Braidfute Was Invented?” Posted on 12/08/2017 by Scott Wallace. Clan Wallace Society. < link > (As originally published in the Guardian, Spring 2006) A study by Archer of contemporary historical records found no mention of any Braidfutes living in the area at the end of the 13th century.
• Wikipedia contributors, "Action at Lanark," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, < link > (accessed March 13, 2024). According to the 15th century poem “The Wallace”, < link >, written by Blind Harry, Wallace carried out the attack in revenge for the killing of his beloved wife by Heselrig.[4][5][6] The identity of Wallace's wife is not known for certain, but her name is believed to be Marion Braidfute. Ed Archer published his findings in 2005 that disputed the existence of Marion Braidfute, as there had been no mention of her prior to a revised rendition of Blind Harry's poem in 1570, believed by Archer to have been commissioned by the Baillies of Lamington, to gain favor with Mary, Queen of Scots by claiming relation to Wallace through their Braidfute lineage.[7] Wikipedia cites:
  • 4. "Wallace: Man and Myth". wallace.scran.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 October 2019. < link > accessed 12 March 2024.
  • 5. "The Wallace: Introduction | Robbins Library Digital Projects". d.lib.rochester.edu. Retrieved 19 October 2019. < link >
  • 6. "William Wallace myths busted". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 19 October 2019. (Dead link) .
  • 7. "Wallace's dead wife was fictional". The Times. 9 May 2005. Retrieved 28 July 2022. < link > accessed 12 March 2024 (paywall)
• Paul, James Balfour, Sir, 1846-1931 :The Scots Peerage : Founded On Wood's Ed. Of Sir Robert Douglas's Peerage Of Scotland; Containing An Historical And Genealogical Account Of The Nobility Of That Kingdom : Free Download, Borrow, And Streaming : Internet Archive". 2020. Internet Archive.>Marion Braidfute, wife of Wallace, Vol VII, pg 365 < Archive.Org > SIR NICOL OF RUTHERFURD swore fealty to Edward i. at Montrose 11 July 1296,10 but, according to Blind Harry, joined Sir William Wallace in Ettrick Forest with sixty followers, in consequence of which his lands of Dodington Mill in Northumberland were seized by the English King, he being a rebel, in 1296." He married a lady named Marjorie, who is said to have been a near relative of Marion Braidfute of Lamington, Wallace's wife, and had …
• Chalmers, George. Caledonia : Or, a Historical and Topographical Account of North Britain, from the Most Ancient to the Present Times with a Dictionary of Places Chorographical & Philological. Paisley : Gardner, 1887. vol 6. Pg. 742. < Archive.Org >
• https://www.clanmcalister.org/n_wallace2.shtml
• https://www.geni.com/discussions/258540?msg=1604010
• “William Wallace's special friend”. Post by M.Sjostrom. Mar 25, 2008, 5:51:08 PM. < soc,gen.medieval at GoogleGroups >. Accessed 12 March 2024. “knight William Wallace, Guardian of Scotland … according to non-contemporary tradition, bethrothed with Marion Braidfoot (a historically unattested person), daughter of Hugh de Braidfute - whose family the tradition links with Lamington, Lanarkshire http://genealogics.org/descend.php?personID=I00316385&tree=LEO) and by her had daughter: (anonyma) Wallace (estimate, born c1297) - she is not a historical person, as there is no near-contemporary evidence about her existence ….
• https://genealogics.org/getperson.php?personID=I00528546&tree=LEO