THE TRIAL. 1 29 



The evidence given for the respondents was to the same effect. The 

 order of the Court was to prevent the people of Milovaig doing on 

 Waterstein what the Waterstein people were doing on Milovaig ; and, 

 considering all the circumstances, that would necessarily create irritation. 

 There was only general evidence that sheep came upon Waterstein, and 

 were driven back on the Milovaig townships. In this evidence Mac- 

 pherson said that the sheep might have been backwards and for- 

 wards over the marches, and as there were no fences, and 

 as the work had to be done by shepherds, that was a thing which 

 could not have been prevented. In reply to a question by the 

 Court, the Dean of Faculty said that the Milovaig people kept 

 a shepherd, but that they stopped herding the sheep when they found 

 the Borodale stock was continually thrust back upon their land. The 

 second point against them was that they trespassed on the lands of Wa- 

 terstein without any valid excuse. Now, if anyone went on Waterstein 

 for an illegal purpose, that would be trespass ; but if they went to speak 

 to the shepherds on business in a friendly way, the element of trespass 

 would not enter. But he took it that this charge of trespassing would be 

 taken in connection with the last charge, that of molesting the petitioners' 

 servants and threatening them. As to that, he thought he had succeeded 

 in showing their Lordships that the Milovaig people had good ground of 

 complaint against the shepherds for their persistence in doing what was 

 wrong viz., in sending Borodale sheep upon their land. There was 

 no doubt from the evidence that this matter of the Borodale sheep was 

 a substantial grievance. This was a most important element in consider- 

 ing the question whether this action of the Milovaig people in regard to 

 the shepherds was a breach of interdict, because this was interference to 

 prevent a thing which the Court had never contemplated or authorised 

 these petitioners to do. It was clearly an illegal act for the Waterstein 

 shepherds to drive Borodale sheep on to Milovaig. It was a remark- 

 able thing that the quarrel of the crofters was against Macdonald, the 

 under shepherd, and not against MacDiarmid, his chief. That clearly 

 showed that the feeling was due to Macdonald persistently driving these 

 Borodale sheep upon their ground. Even MacDiarmid had a quarrel 

 with Macdonald upon the subject, and had gone the length of calling 

 him a liar, because he had deceived him on that very point. At these 

 meetings which had been spoken to there was no doubt a good deal of 

 excitement and ill-feeling, and things were said by individuals in the 

 crowd which the rest of the people would repudiate ; and certainly noth- 

 ing had been brought home to the respondents, as having said anything 

 or done anything that could be called violent at any of these meetings. 



