William Oliphant

Sir William Oliphant (died aft. 1313), was a Scottish knight and Governor of Stirling Castle during the Wars of Scottish Independence. He switched loyalties to the English and died in a Scottish prison.

Life Sir William Oliphant fought at the Battle of Dunbar in 1296, where the Scots, under their king John Balliol, were defeated by the invading English. Following the battle he was captured and taken to Devizes Castle in England where he was imprisoned. He was freed on 8 September 1297 and with his fellow prisoner John of Strathbogie, Earl of Atholl returned to Scotland to serve in King Edward I's army. His small garrison held out against the full might of Edward's army until 20 July 1304 when they were forced to surrender. While Edward agreed to favorable terms in writing, immediately after the surrender he broke the terms and imprisoned Oliphant in the Tower of London. In this same year all of Scotland with the exception of William Wallace swore fealty to Edward I. A six-week siege by Robert the Bruce had little effect so the Scots withdrew in open sight of the English garrison. Little more than a week later after nightfall, the Scots crossed the Lade, Perth's moat at the time, and climbed the wall. They took the town with little bloodshed. However, John Barbour said that King Robert "commanded on great pains" that only those who could not be captured were to be killed. Since Oliphant was not executed but was sent in chains to the western Isles,