"Ah! little did my dear lady think," exclaimed he, "that one of these loved locks would ever be suspended on a staff to lead men to battle! What changes have a few days made! She, the gentlest of women, laid in a bloody grave; and he, the most benevolent of human beings, wielding an exterminating sword! "You speak of her grave, venerable man," inquired Helen; "had you, then, an opportunity of performing the rites of sepulture to her remains ?" "No, madam," replied he; "after the worthy English soldier now in this castle, assisted me to place her precious body in my lord's oratory, I had no opportunity of returning to give her a more holy grave." "Alas!" cried Helen; "then her sacred relics have been consumed in the burning house!" "I hope not," rejoined Halbert; "the chapel I speak of is at some distance from the main building.

It was excavated in the rock by Sir Ronald Crawford, who gave the name of Ellerslie to this estate, in compliment to Sir William's place of birth in Renfrewshire, and bestowed it on the bridal pair.

Since then, the Ellerslie of Clydesdale has been as dear to my master as that of the Carth; and well it might be, for it was not only the home of all his wedded joys, but under its roof his mother, the Lady Margaret Crawford, drew her first breath.

Ah! woe is me! that happy house is now, like herself, reduced to cold, cold ashes! She married Sir Malcolm Wallace, and he is gone too! Both the parents of my honored master died in the bloom of their lives; and a grievous task will it be to whoever is to tell the good Sir Ronald that the last sweet flower of Ellerslie is now cut down! that the noblest branch of his own stem is torn from the soil to which he had transplanted it, and cast far away into the waste wilderness!"** **The Ellerslie in Renfrewshire here referred to, and which was the birthplace of William Wallace, and the hereditary property of his father, Sir Malcolm Wallace, was situated in the abbey parish of Paisley, three miles west of the won of Paisley, and nine from Glasgow.
A large old oak, still called Wallace's Oak, stands close to the road from Paisley to Leith, and within a short distance from it once stood the manor of Ellerslie.

The venerable name is now corrupted into Elderslie, and the estate has become the property of Archibald Spiers, Esq., M.P.for Renfrewshire.