The Grampians.
The lesser mountain ridges which proceed on either side of the Mounth, and separate the various streams which flow into the two great rivers from each other, terminate as the waters enter the plains of the Lowlands, and present the appearance of a great barrier stretching obliquely across each of the two eastern districts and separating the mountain region from the plain; but, although this great barrier has an appearance as if it were a continuous mountain range, and is usually so considered, it is not so in reality, but is formed by the termination of these numerous lesser ridges, and is intersected by the great rivers and their tributaries. This great barrier forms what was subsequently termed the Highland line, and that part of it which extends across the south-eastern district from Loch Lomond to the eastern termination of the Mounth was known under the general but loosely applied name of the Grampians.[[6]]
Within is a wild and mountainous region full of the most picturesque beauty which the ever-varied combination of mountain, rock, and stream can afford, but adapted only for pasture and hunting, and for the occupation of a people still in the early stage of pastoral and warlike life; while every stream which forces its way from its recesses through this terminating range forms a pass into the interior capable of being easily defended.
Throughout the early history of Scotland these great mountain chains and rivers have always formed important landmarks of the country. If the Mounth is now known as the range of hills which separate the more southern counties of Kincardine, Forfar, and Perth from those of Aberdeen and Inverness on the north, it was not less known to the Venerable Bede, in the eighth century, as the steep and rugged mountains which separate the provinces of the southern from those of the northern Picts.[[7]] If Drumalban now separates the county of Argyll from that of Perth, it formed equally in the eleventh century the mountain range which separated Arregaithel from Scotia,[[8]] and at an earlier period the boundary between the Picts and the Scots of Dalriada.[[9]]
The river Spey, which now separates the counties of Aberdeen and Banff from those of Moray and Nairn, was for three centuries the boundary between Scotia, or Scotland proper, and Moravia, or the great province of Moray. The Tay, which separates the districts of Stratherne and Gowry, formed for half a century the limit of the Anglic conquests in the territory of the Picts, and at the very dawn of our history interposed as formidable a barrier to the progress of the Roman arms. The Forth, which for three centuries was the southern boundary of Scotia, or Scotland proper, during the previous centuries separated the Pictish from the British population.
The debateable lands.
The tract of country in which the frontiers of several independent kingdoms, or the territories in the occupation of tribes of different race, meet, usually forms a species of debateable land, and the transactions which take place within its limits afford in general a key to much of their relative history. Such were the districts extending from the river Tay to the minor range of the Pentland hills and the river Esk, which flows into the Firth of Forth on the south. These districts fall naturally into three divisions. The region extending from the Tay to the river Forth, and containing part of Perthshire, was included in that part of the country to which the name of Alban, and afterwards that of Scotia, was given. The central district between the rivers Forth and Carron consisted of the whole of Stirlingshire and part of Dumbartonshire, and belonged more properly to Strathclyde. The region extending from the Carron to the Pentlands and the river Esk on the south comprised the counties of West and Mid Lothian, and was attached to Northumbria; but all three may be viewed as outlying districts, having a mixed population contributed by the neighbouring races.
Situated in the heart of Scotland, and having around it tribes of different races, and subsequently the four kingdoms of the Picts, the Scots, the Angles, and the Britons, surpassing the other districts in fertility, and possessing those rich carses which are still distinguished as the finest agricultural districts of Scotland, this region was coveted as the chief prize alike by the invaders and the native tribes. The scene of the principal Roman campaigns, it appears throughout the entire course of Scottish history as the main battlefield of contending races and struggling influences. Roman and Barbarian, Gael and Cymry, Scot and Angle, contended for its occupation, and within its limits is formed the ever-shifting boundary between the petty northern kingdoms, till in the memorable ninth century a monarchy was established, of which the founder was a Scot, the chief seat Scone, and that revolution was accomplished, which it is difficult to say whether it was more civil or ecclesiastical in its character, but which finally established the supremacy of the Scottish people over the different races in the country, and led to their gradual combination and more intimate union in the subsequent kingdom of Scotland. The kingdom of the Scots soon extended itself over these central plains. Its monarchs usually had their residence within its limits, and the capital, which had at first been Scone, on the left bank of the Tay, eventually became established at Edinburgh, within a few miles of its southern boundary.
During the few succeeding centuries of Scottish rule, after the establishment of the Scottish monarchy in the ninth century, it remained limited to the districts bounded by the Forth on the south, the mountain chain called Drumalban on the west, and the Spey on the north. The Scots had rapidly extended their power and influence over the native tribes within these limits; but beyond them (on the north and west) they held an uncertain authority over wild and semi-independent nations, nominally dependencies of the kingdom, but in reality neither owning its authority nor adopting its name.
It was by slow degrees that the peoples beyond these limits were first subjugated and then amalgamated with the original Scottish kingdom; and it was not till the middle of the thirteenth century, when the annexation of the Western Isles by Alexander the Third finally completed the territorial acquisitions of the monarchy, that its name and authority became co-extensive with the utmost limits of the country, and Scotland was consolidated in its utmost extent of territory into one kingdom.