47. Adventurers they, etc. Scott says: "The Scottish armies consisted
chiefly of the nobility and barons, with their vassals, who held lands
under them for military service by themselves and their tenants. The
patriarchal influence exercised by the heads of clans in the Highlands
and Borders was of a different nature, and sometimes at variance with
feudal principles. It flowed from the Patria Potestas, exercised by the
chieftain as representing the original father of the whole name, and
was often obeyed in contradiction to the feudal superior. James V. seems
first to have introduced, in addition to the militia furnished from
these sources, the service of a small number of mercenaries, who formed
a body-guard, called the Foot-Band. The satirical poet, Sir David
Lindsay (or the person who wrote the prologue to his play of the Three
Estaites), has introduced Finlay of the Foot-Band, who after much
swaggering upon the stage is at length put to flight by the Fool, who
terrifies him by means of a sheep's skull upon a pole. I have rather
chosen to give them the harsh features of the mercenary soldiers of the
period, than of this Scottish Thraso. These partook of the character of
the Adventurous Companions of Froissart, or the Condottieri of Italy."
53. The Fleming, etc. The soil of Flanders is very fertile and
productive, in marked contrast to the greater part of Scotland.