They are half-wild
men, short in stature, and no match for us when it comes to
hand-to-hand fighting; but broad in the shoulder, tireless, and active
as our shaggy ponies, and well-nigh as untamable. 'Tis fighting in
which there is little glory, and many hard knocks to be obtained; but
it is a good school for war. It teaches a man to be ever watchful and
on his guard, prepared to meet sudden attacks, patient under
difficulties; and, what is harder, to be able to go without eating or
drinking for a long time, for they say that you might as well expect to
find corn and ale on the crest of the Grampians, as you would on the
Welsh hills."
"The prospect doesn't look very pleasant, Uncle," Oswald laughed.
"However, their hills can scarcely be more barren than ours, nor can
they be quicker on the stroke than the border raiders; and for such
work, we of the northern marches have proved far more useful than the
beefy men of the south."
"No doubt, no doubt; and maybe that, for that reason, Sir Edmund prayed
Hotspur to send a detachment to his aid; for he would know that we are
accustomed to a country as rough, and to a foe as active as he has now
to meet.
"I wonder what has stirred up the Welsh now, knowing as they do that,
although they may gain successes at first, it always ends in the
harrying of their lands, and the burning of their castles and villages.
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