 He is then said to have fled to Port Glasgow and evaded English patrols by hiding in the branches of the Wallace Oak.The tree was starting to decay by 1768; William Cunningham, 13th Earl of Glencairn ordered the affected portion cut away and the wound filled with boiling pitch.Cunningham is also said to have added chains to the tree to strengthen its branches, which may well be the origin of the chained Wallace myth.