Perpetual warfare, Fiona had learnt, had by the year 1300 reduced the inhabitants of the Border Lands to a condition of misery, but the Scots were in the ascendant and Edward III of England led a large Army into the North to drive them back. The English went on winning until King David of Scotland was taken prisoner and they invaded Scotland, burning several towns, including Edinburgh, and laying waste to all the country they passed through.
The Scots, led by a Rannock who desired to avenge their miseries, in their turn devastated Northumberland and the warfare on the border continued.
Fiona knew that The Castle had been a place of refuge to all who had lived in the surrounding countryside.
She had heard Mr. McKeith telling Mary-Rose that there were always scouts on duty all along the b
