- "I will love you my whole life, you and no other"
- — Murron at the wedding
| Murron MacClannounb | |
 | |
| Significant Battle(s): | |
| Real name: | Marion Braidfute |
|---|---|
| Born: | c. 1275 |
| Died: | 1296 |
| Actor: | Catherine McCormack Mhairi Calvey |
Biography[]
Murron gives William flowers.
Murron was the daughter of Mother MacClannough and MacClannough, and was from a poor family and did not know how to read. In 1280, when she was just a little girl, she met William Wallace, a fellow townsperson. His father, Malcolm Wallace, and his brother, John Wallace, had just been killed by English soldiers occupying Scotland, and breaking free of her mother's hand, she picked a flowering thistle and gave it to him out of sympathy. It made him cry, that she cared about him, and this was the start of their relationship. By 1296, she had forgotten about William and when they were at a marriage festival for Morrison and Morrison's Wife, she thought he was just a random person staring at her. She was apparently a friend of Hamish Campbell because she laughed and coached him on to throw a rock at William when they were having a rock-throwing contest. But during the wedding, Lord Bottoms claimed sexual rights over the newlywed wife for the night as a result of Prima Noctae, a new law enforced by the King of England, Edward.
Murron, her friend, and her mother at the festival.
Some days after the party, William rode by the residence of the MacClannoughs and took Murron for a ride, despite the heavy rain. He told her that he spoke Latin, and when she said that if he said that standing on his head she would be impressed, to which he replied jokingly that his kilt would fall down. She asked about how Rome was, and in French, he said "not nearly as beautiful as you", but he claimed he said it meant "Beautiful". This was the start of their dating, and even when her father told Wallace that he could not, they had a tryst and arranged for a marriage in secret so that William would not have to share her with an English noble. The Priest declared them husband and wife, and they made love by the stream shortly afterwards.
Murron's death.
The next morning, she came across William while she was shopping at the market square, and told him that her father was growing suspicious. However, William arranged to see her that night, in secret.
But an English officer named Smythe caught a glimpse of her and was attracted. He tried to help her carry her stuff, but she refused and walked away. Smythe followed and then shoved her into a hut and tried to rape her, but she fought with him and before he could go further, William knocked him out. Before William and Murron could make their escape, the English guards took notice of their commanding officer being imperaled, so they set out to stop Murron from completing her escape on horseback. William disguised himself and escaped, awaiting for Murron near a lake, but an English soldier hit her off her horse with a pike and brought her to the Magistrate. The magistrate, upset by the "repayment of his leniency", slit her throat with a knife in front of most of the townspeople. After William rebelled and slaughtered the garrison at Lanark, Murron was buried and her mother bawled her eyes out. William then rebelled again to get vengeance, and she appeared in a dream of his when he was in a dark forest. She later appeared as a vision before William was executed in 1305, in the crowd and smiling.
Trivia[]
- Murron MacClannough's real name was Marion Braidfute, but director and actor Mel Gibson changed her name to avoid similarities to Robin Hood.
- Wallace is not known to have ever had a wife or children.