In course of time, when the Marches grew peaceful and morals
improved, when cattle-lifting, no longer profitable, ceased to be an
honourable occupation, such humbler marauders drifted away into the
wide world, leaving no trace behind, save the grey ruins of their
grim fortalices, and the incidental mention of some probably
disreputable scion in a chapman's ballad. Neither mark nor memory of
the Jacksons remains in Scotland. We only know that some members of
the clan, impelled probably by religious persecution, made their way
to Ulster, where a strong colony of Lowlanders had already been
established.
Under a milder sky and a less drastic government the expatriated
Scots lost nothing of their individuality. Masterful and independent
from the beginning, masterful and independent they remained,
inflexible of purpose, impatient of justice, and staunch to their
ideals. Something, perhaps, they owed to contact with the Celt.
Wherever the Ulster folk have made their home, the breath of the
wholesome North has followed them, preserving untainted their
hereditary virtues. Shrewd, practical, and thrifty, prosperity has
consistently rewarded them; and yet, in common with the Irishmen of
English stock, they have found in the trade of arms the most
congenial outlet for their energies.
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