The Saxons who dwelt far from the Gaelic provinces could not be well informed.

The Saxons who dwelt near those provinces could not be impartial.

National enmities have always been fiercest among borderers; and the enmity between the Highland borderer and the Lowland borderer along the whole frontier was the growth of ages, and was kept fresh by constant injuries.

One day many square miles of pasture land were swept bare by armed plunderers from the hills.

Another day a score of plaids dangled in a row on the gallows of Crieff or Stirling.