lord pitsligo was single-handedly responsible for most of the highland cavalry , bringing in a large number of gentlemen and their servants from the northeastern counties , all well mounted and well armed-at least by comparison with some of the miscellaneous clansmen , who came armed with claymores saved by their grandsires from the rising of the '15 , rusty axes , and pitchforks lately removed from the more homely tasks of cleaning cow-byres .