le foray,
Whan Willie o' Harden was catched wi' the kye?"

Of all the towers and castles which belonged to the old Border reivers,
there was none which was better suited to its purpose than the ancient
house of Harden. It stood, as the house which succeeded it stands to
this day, at the head of a deep and narrow glen, looking down on the
Borthwick Water, not far from where it joins the Teviot.

It belonged to Walter Scott, "Wat o' Harden," as he was called, a near
kinsman and faithful ally of the "Bold Buccleuch," who lived just over
the hill, at Branksome.

Wat was a noted freebooter. Never was raid or foray but he was well to
the front, and when, as generally happened, the raid or foray resulted
in a drove of English cattle finding their way over the Liddesdale
hills, and down into Teviotdale, the Master of Harden had no difficulty
in guarding his share of the spoil. The entrance to his glen was so
narrow, and its sides so steep and rocky, that he had only to drive the
tired beasts into it, and set a strong guard at the lower end, and then
he and his retainers could take things easily for a time, and live in
plenty, till some fine day the beef would be done, and his wife, Dame
Mary, whom folk named the "Flower of Yarrow" in her youth, would serve
him up a pair of spurs underneath the great silver cover, as a hint that
the larder was empty, and that it was full time that he should mount and
ride for more.

'Twas little wonder that his five sons grew up to love this free roving
life, to which they had always been accustomed, and that they took ill
with the change when, in 1603, at the Union of the Crowns, Scotland and
England became one country, and King James determined to put down
raiding and reiving with a high hand.

It was difficult at first, but gradually a change came about. Courts of
justice were established in the Border towns, where law-breakers were
tried, and promptly punished, and the heads of the most powerful clans
banded themselves together to put down bloodshed and robbery, and a time
of quietness bade fair to settle down on the distressed district.

To the old folk, tired of incessant fighting, this change was welcome;
but the younger men found their occupation gone, while as yet they had
no thought of turning to some more peaceable pursuit. The young Scotts
of Harden were no exceptions to this rule, and William, the eldest,
found matters, after a time, quite unbearable. Moreover, his fat