The original goal was Glasgow, a city generally sympathetic to their cause, but the road was blocked by a government army under Tam Dalyell of the Binns. Instead, they marched on Edinburgh, ostensibly to present a petition to the Privy Council of Scotland and hoping for reinforcements. By the time they reached Lanark on 26 November, their numbers had increased to 1,100; here they stopped to publicly subscribe to the Covenant, before moving onto Colinton the next day, just outside the city. However, they were unable to enter Edinburgh, while many of their men were exhausted by two weeks of marching around Scotland in the winter. With their route to the west blocked by Dalyell, Wallace moved east and then south along the line of the Pentland Hills, halting near Rullion Green to wait for stragglers. Here they were intercepted by a troop of cavalry led by Dalyell's deputy, William Drummond.
