Hunted and Harried is a novel written by R.M. Ballantyne. It covers a story of a small troop of dragoons crossing the ford of the river Cairn, in Dumfriesshire. They ended their way towards the moors and uplands of Skeoch Hill. Their somewhat worn aspect and mud told of a long ride over rugged ground. Slipping his arm around the waist of the terrified blonde, the trooper rudely attempted to terminate his sentence in a practical manner. But before he could put his lips on her face, one of his teammates struck him, knocking him to the ground. He describes how the people took up arms against a licentious soldiery, who ravaged the land and desecrated helpless women and children. On a brilliant summer morning in the last quarter of the seventeenth century, a small troop of horsemen crossed the ford of the river Cairn, in Dumfriesshire. Not far from the spot where the little church of Irongray was, they went towards the moors and uplands of Skeoch Hill. Dragoons trotting along the road that led into the solitudes of the hills, with all the careless dash of men whose interests are centered chiefly on the excitements of the passing hour.
