A hero of the Peninsular War, Lieutenant Alastair MacRory of Gleneidart returns home to Wester Ross to recuperate from his wound and is shocked to find his clansfold being dispossessed of their lands.
While the Highland regiments are fighting and dying in the Peninsular their families are sent to Canada by the Flockmasters, shrewd businessmen who want room for their thousands of sheep. Alastair angrily throws in his lot with the unfortunate victims and thereby becomes a deserter.
A dramatic and vigorous story of a shameful period in Scots history.