deration. No doubt among the "broken
men" of the Debateable land, and in some parts of Liddesdale, you will
find a considerable number of disreputable characters whose only law was
the length of their own swords. But it is a mistake to suppose that such
individuals represent the general type of the inhabitants of the
Borderland. The very fact that these men had no Chief to represent them
shows that they had, so to speak, fallen out of the ranks.

The solution of this problem must be sought in another direction. It will
be found by a careful study of the history of the country that Border
reiving was, to a considerable extent, the result of a concatenation of
circumstances over which the inhabitants of these districts had little or
no control. They were the victims of an evil fate. It was not merely their
proximity to the English Border which occasioned their misdeeds. It is an
interesting and significant fact that, till near the close of the 13th
century, the Border Counties were as law-abiding as any other part of the
realm. Petty skirmishes were, no doubt, of frequent occurrence, as might
be expected; but the deep rooted aversion to the English which
characterises the subsequent period of Scottish history had hardly at that
time any real existence. How the change was brought about will become
apparent as we bring under review some salient facts in Scottish history
which have a direct and immediate bearing on the question before us.

It must be borne in mind that for a period of more than three hundred
years Scotland was kept in a condition of political distraction by the
insane desire on the part of the English Government to reduce it to a
state of vassalage. When this policy was first determined on everything
seemed favourable to its speedy realisation. When Alexander III., a wise
and gracious King, under whose reign the country had greatly prospered,
was accidentally killed when hunting in the neighbourhood of Kinghorn, the
Crown reverted to his grand-daughter, the Maid of Norway, who was then a
child of tender years. At this unfortunate juncture Edward I. of England
resolved that the two countries should be united under one Sovereign; at
least this was the object of his ambition. He was fully convinced that so
long as Scotland maintained her political independence, England would have
to reckon with a powerful adversary. If he could only succeed, by fair
means or foul, in gaining Scotland over as a fief of England, t