Falkirk

FALKIRK, municipal and police burgh and parish, Stirling shire, Scotland. Pop. (1931) 36,565. It is on high ground over looking the fertile Carse of Falkirk, II m. S.E. of Stirling, and about midway between Edinburgh and Glasgow. Grange mouth, its port, lies 3 m. to the N.E., and the Forth and Clyde canal passes to the north, and the Union canal to the south of the town. The town is under the control of a council with provost and bailies, and combines with Stirling and Grangemouth (the Stirling group of burghs) to return a member to parliament. The district is rich in coal and iron, which supply the predominant industries, Falkirk being the chief seat of the light-casting trade in Scotland; but tanning, flour-milling, brewing, distilling and the manufacture of explosives and chemicals are also carried on. The long important trysts or sales of cattle, sheep and horses were transferred hither from Crieff in 177o, and have been replaced by local weekly auction marts. Carron, 2 M. N.N.W., is famous for iron-works established in 176o by Dr. John Roebuck (1718-1794) whose advising engineers were successively John Smeaton and James Watt. The original name of Falkirk was the Gaelic Eaglais breac, "church of speckled or mottled stone," which Simeon of Durham (fl. 113o) transliterated as Egglesbreth. By the end of the 13th century appears the form Faukirke (the present local pronunciation), a translation of the Gaelic fau or faw, meaning "dun," "pale red." The first church was built by Malcolm Can more (d. 1o93) . Falkirk was made a burgh of barony in 1600 and a burgh of regality in 1646, but on the forfeiture of the earl of Linlithgow in 1715, its superiority was vested in the crown. Callender House, immediately to the south, was the seat of the earl and his ancestors. The wall of Antoninus ran through the grounds, and the district is rich in Roman remains, Camelon, about 2 M. W., being the site of a Roman settlement. The eastern suburb of Laurieston was first called Langtoune, then Merchis town, and received its present name after Sir Lawrence Dundas of Kerse, who had promoted its welfare.

Battles of Falkirk.

The battle of July 22, 1298, was fought between the forces of King Edward I. of England and those of the Scottish national party under Sir William Wallace. The latter after long baffling the king's attempts to bring him to battle, had taken up a strong position south of the town behind a morass. The Scots formed in four deep and close masses ("schiltrons") of pikemen, the light troops screening the front and flanks and a small body of mounted men-at-arms in reserve. It was probably hoped that the English cavalry—overwhelmingly superior in strength—would plunge into the morass, for no serious precau tions were taken as to the flanks, but in any case Wallace desired no more than to receive an attack at the halt, trusting wholly to his massed pikes. The English "vaward" or right wing first ap peared, tried the morass in vain, and then set out to turn it by a long detour ; the main battle under the king halted in front of while the "rereward" or left wing, under Antony Bec, bishop of Durham, wheeled off and rode round the flank of the marsh. Once on the enemy's side of the obstacle, the bishop halted to wait for Edward, who was now following him, but his undisciplined barons, shouting " 'Tis not for thee, bishop, to teach us war. Go say mass!" drove off the Scottish archers and men-at-arms and charged the nearest square of pikes, which repulsed them with heavy losses. On the other flank the right wing, its flank march completed, charged with the same result. But Edward, who had now joined the bishop with the centre or "main battle," peremp torily ordered the cavalry to stand fast, and, taught by his ex perience in the Welsh wars, brought up his archers. The long bow here scored its first victory in a pitched battle. Before long, gaps appeared in the close ranks of pike heads, and after sufficient preparation Edward again launched his men-at-arms to the charge. The shaken masses then gave way one after the other, and the Scots fled in all directions. The English cavalry as a whole forgot the lesson and remembered only the effect of the final charge. But Robert Bruce, who here served in the English left wing, turned Wallace's experience to profit and at Bannockburn (q.v.), 16 years later, not only took care to secure his flanks but used his cavalry promptly to disperse the English archers.

The second battle of Falkirk, fought on January 17, 1746, be tween the Highlanders under Prince Charles and the British forces under General Hawley, resulted in the defeat of the latter. It is remarkable only for the bad conduct of the British dragoons and the steadiness of the infantry. Hawley, with whom served James Wolfe (q.v.), retreated to Linlithgow, leaving all his baggage, 700 prisoners, and seven guns in the enemy's hands.