Following up on your Liddle post, do we know if the Mountain clans were as personally loyal to Rickard and other Stark rulers? Do we know if Ned did anything to inspire personal loyalty to “the Ned”? Thanks!

goodqueenaly:

Thanks for the question, Anon.

Well, we know that the Wull once came to Winterfell (at least in Bran’s lifetime) to do homage (and possibly other clansmen as well):

“That’s their sigil,” said Bran. “Three brown buckets on a blue field, with a border of white and grey checks. Lord Wull came to Winterfell once, to do his fealty and talk with Father, and he had the buckets on his shield. He’s no true lord, though. Well, he is, but they call him just the Wull, and there’s the Knott and the Norrey and the Liddle too. At Winterfell we called them lords, but their own folk don’t.“ 

I think it likely that similar visits of clan chiefs to Winterfell occurred during the rule of Lord Rickard as well (especially since the Lady of Winterfell, Lyarra Stark, had a Flint of the mountains for a mother), and considered other Stark rulers with that particular brand of loyalty we see expressed in the story. @racefortheironthrone speculated that the mountain clansmen were among the very first bannermen of the Starks while they were trying to consolidate power in the North: though the relationship has been tinged with violence and disputes of judgment, the mountain clans – who hold the laws of hospitality paramount – may well remember the Starks’ munificence in opening up the winter town to protect them against the harshness of winter. 

The Queen Regent (NFriel)

The other thing is that the winter town is a recurring thing in the present day, it’s not like it happened back in the Long Night and never again. So the hill clans more than most Northern houses have regular contact with their liege lords, which breeds a level of familiarity and identification.