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In the movie Braveheart after the Scots take over the local garrison and execute the sheriff, everyone begins to chant "Maccaulich!" (which them seems to morph into Wallace). Is there a meaning to this word, a purpose to it, or some character in the movie that I missed?

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According to IMDb they're chanting MacAulish, which means "son of Wallace."

Following the death of Murron MacClannough (Catherine McCormack), when the Scots took out the very first garrison of English soldiers, the crowd starts chanting 'MacAulish...MacAulish!' then changes to 'Wallace...Wallace!' Scottish surnames beginning with 'Mac' mean 'son of...'. Thus, MacAulish means 'son of Wallace.' The crowd is, in essence, cheering William as the 'son of Wallace' (referring to his father) and then Wallace himself.

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    Ah my subtitles aren't correct then. Whoops.
    – canadiancreed
    Nov 4, 2012 at 14:57
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In the script of the movie Braveheart (Section 9) the Scots are chanting "MacAulish, MacAulish, WALLACE, WALLACE!" The term "Mac" means "son of", and "Aulish" is intended to be a variation of the Medieval Gaelic name "Uallas" (later translated to the Anglican, "Wallace"). Where the writers got the spelling "Aulish" is anyone's guess. Perhaps they were just trying to simplify the name for literary purposes. At any rate, essentially the Scots are chanting "MacUallas!" or "Son of Wallace" which then morphs into "Wallace!"

I found this on http://www.moviemistakes.com/film207/questions

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  • If the name is Uallas, then ‘son of Uallas’ would be MacUallais, which sounds sort-of-not-too-far-from ‘MacAulish’ (apart from the fact that <ua> is /uə/, not /ɔː/) – definitely as close as lots of other actual Anglicised forms. MacUallas would not be anything in Scottish.
    – Janus Bahs Jacquet
    Nov 5, 2022 at 9:48

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