We can talk of war with England,
that is too common a thing for there to be harm in it; and as no one
knows aught, one man's opinion is as good as another's; but the talk is
general, and assuredly no man asks his neighbour what this great lord
will do, or how matters will go. There is no harm in two gossips
wondering whether, if the English come, the town will hold out till
help comes, or whether they will batter down the walls first.
"It is a kind of riddle, you see, and all the more that no one knows
who may be by the king's side, when the storm breaks. A generation
back, men might make a fair guess; but now it were beyond the wisest
head to say and, for my part, I leave the thinking to those whom it
concerns. You from Edinburgh ought to know more than we do, for in
great cities men can talk more freely, seeing that no one lord has the
place in his hands, and that the citizens have rights, and hold to
them.
"The general thought is that we shall have war, directly the truce is
over. Among us who live by peaceful trade, we still hope for peace; for
we see not what good comes of war, save to those who make raids in
England, and as often as not these get more hard knocks than plunder;
but to the quiet trader it means loss, and may well mean ruin, if the
English army again marches through Scotland.
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