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Marion Braidfute

Marion Braidfute, the daughter and heiress of Hugh Braidfute of Lamington is known to be the lover of the greatest Scottish patriot Sir William Wallace. She was eighteen years old when Wallace first met her in Lanark, where she chosed to live after her father's death.

Since their first meeting in the Church of St. Kentigern near Lanark, Marion had known to have encouraged Wallace on his verge of liberating his country. As their meetings were discreet, she helped him get in and out of the city unnoticed though secret alleyways. However, it didn't take long for the Sheriff of Clydesdale to hear about the secret visits of the infamous outlaw.

The Sheriff himself was eyeing Marion to wed her to his son. So he plotted against the affair and provoked Wallace by humiliating him in public. Wallace who eventually lost his patience struck the English and began a fight. He took refuge at Marion's house and later escaped to the countryside unnoticed. Knowing Marion's assistance in Wallace's escape, the Sheriff took out his anger by seizing her and putting her to death.

Wallace avenged Marion's death during the same night by breaking into the town and killing the Sheriff and his son at their own residence. It's said that the Scots were on rampage that night in May 1297 which became Wallace's first ever independent assault.

Though there is no certainity that Wallace took Marion's hand in marriage, some manuscripts claim that they married and Marion bore him a daughter who's family eventually succeeded to Lamington. However, many recent historians disregard this claim as they believe Wallace died unmarried. Also recently, an authority on Wallace named Ed Archer came up with the claim that Marion is a fictional character dreamt up by medieval biographers who was created more than 200 years after Wallace's death to heighten the political standing of a noble family. Archer's claim stated,

Dispelling the myth of Marion is important because we should try to get at the truth beyond the romance that surrounds Wallace. What lies at the heart of this is the political aspiration of a local, minor aristocratic family who wanted to gain favour at the court of Mary Queen of Scots by claiming to be descended from William Wallace. There is still mileage in Wallace and there are still things to be discovered about him. People have avoided Blind Harry’s 1508 version of the Wallace story because it is not an easy read.

In the movie Braveheart, Wallace's lover is potrayed by the character Murron MacClannough whose story diverts from that of Marion'.