England vs western scotland

[Kjertesvein]

Did the men of western Scottland ever fight the english, either as merc. Regiment class' in petty clashes or larger scottish england battles, conisting of a force primarily of these scottish warriors of the west vs. English military.

What I seem to find between these two powerhouses is exclusivly diplomatic relation ala comparable model to the scottish crown with french crown.

I'm also looking for what happend to Isle of Man after the battle of Larges? I know they swapped between the hands of the English and Scottish many times, but did they ever fight the english?

~Wille

[Ciabhán]

Scots from the Isles in particular were closely related to the Irish and heavily intermixed with Norse Vikings and often were employed by Irish rulers as mercenaries from the 1200's on. We called them gall Gaedhel(foreign Gaels) and the hired mercs were called gallóglaigh usually Anglicised as gallowglass. They wore heavy mail and fought with a mix of Irish/Scots/Norse weapons. Generally considered to be quite effective and professional. They were generally long term hires and often paid in land grants. They served in an almost feudal knighthood/huscarl role.

Later(around the time of the Tudors) Highlanders from western regions were also commonly seen fighting in Irish armies. They were sometimes called redshanks.

[Father Jack]

Galwegian mercenaries were used by Henry II and King John (and possibly a few other English kings)- they were considered to be effective light infantry and were used to match the light infantry of the Welsh. Richard of Hexham noted their effectiveness as light infantry in King David I of Scotland's campaign into Northern England in 1138. Walter of Guisborough in the late 13th century wrote that they were used by William Wallace to great effect in pillaging Hexham and other settlements in Northern England. Galloway itself is quite interesting in that they speak their own unique dialect of Gaelic and were ruled by semi-independent kings/lords, much like the Western Isles.