Such racial antagonism as existed would, in this case, be owing to the
large admixture of Scandinavian blood in Caithness and in the Isles,
rather than to any difference between the true Scots and "the English
of the Lowlands". Do we, then, find any racial antagonism between the
Highlands and the Lowlands? If Mr. Freeman is right in laying down the
general rule that "the true Scots, out of hatred to the 'Saxons' nearest
to them, leagued with the 'Saxons' farther off", if Mr. Hill Burton is
correct in describing the red Harlaw as a battle between foes who could
have no feeling of common nationality, there is nothing to be said in
support of the theory we have ventured to suggest. We may fairly expect
some signs of ill-will between those who maintained the Celtic
civilization and their brethren who had abandoned the ancient customs
and the ancient tongue; we may naturally look for attempts to produce a
conservative or Celtic reaction, but anything more than this will be
fatal to our case. The facts do not seem to us to bear out Mr. Freeman's
generalization. When the independence of Scotland is really at stake, we
shall find the "true Scots" on the patriotic side. Highlanders and
Islesmen fought under the banner of David I at Northallerton; they took
their place along with the men of Carrick in the Bruce's own division at
Bannockburn, and they bore their part in the stubborn ring that
encircled James IV at Flodden.
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