Can anyone shed light on the cross border allegiances of the lairds and how that played out. It has always been my understanding one of Scotland's greatest weaknesses was the very thing us descendants seem to hold in high esteem. Namely the clan system and internecine warfare and clan self interest above the national interest. To wit many chiefs and lairds also held lands and titles in England. Not to even mention the difference between the lowland and highland.

I'm not looking for a rehash of old injuries real or imagined but an honest telling of history that many of us have only heard as romanticized versions of a long ago memory.