View Full Version : One man's struggle...
Now crofting is not easy and as some may know i am looking into scottish history..came across this piece of writing and it puts you into the scene...Cofters did not get an easy run..Do they now??????
Donald McLeod, a Sutherland crofter, later wrote about the events he witnessed:
The consternation and confusion were extreme. Little or no time was given for the removal of persons or property; the people striving to remove the sick and the helpless before the fire should reach them; next, struggling to save the most valuable of their effects. The cries of the women and children, the roaring of the affrighted cattle, hunted at the same time by the yelling dogs of the shepherds amid the smoke and fire, altogether presented a scene that completely baffles description -- it required to be seen to be believed.
A dense cloud of smoke enveloped the whole country by day, and even extended far out to sea. At night an awfully grand but terrific scene presented itself -- all the houses in an extensive district in flames at once. I myself ascended a height about eleven o'clock in the evening, and counted two hundred and fifty blazing houses, many of the owners of which I personally knew, but whose present condition -- whether in or out of the flames -- I could not tell. The conflagration lasted six days, till the whole of the dwellings were reduced to ashes or smoking ruins. During one of these days a boat actually lost her way in the dense smoke as she approached the shore, but at night was enabled to reach a landing-place by the lurid light of the flames.
porshiepoo
05-Mar-08, 15:35
I guess it depends. Obviously they aren't going to be torched from their homes now and I believe there are funds available for those 'honest' crofters for things such as fencing etc.
Way back in the times that your 1st post dictates, crofting wasn't easy for anyone. It was a harsh way of life eking out a meager existence on some of the poorest agricultural land in europe. The Highlanders pledged their allegience to the clan chiefs whose responsibility it was to ensure everyone had enough land to maintain himself, in return the chiefs could call upon these people to fight on his behalf.
I suspect that crofting is a hard, harsh way of life. I always used to admire the farmers down south who would be out checking cows and tending sheep in the most awful of weather conditions. I've seen similar sights here with the crofters, they work very hard, ungodly hours and don't know the meaning of a vacation.
Are you looking at crofting in general or specifically the clearances?
I guess it depends. Obviously they aren't going to be torched from their homes now and I believe there are funds available for those 'honest' crofters for things such as fencing etc.
Way back in the times that your 1st post dictates, crofting wasn't easy for anyone. It was a harsh way of life eking out a meager existence on some of the poorest agricultural land in europe. The Highlanders pledged their allegience to the clan chiefs whose responsibility it was to ensure everyone had enough land to maintain himself, in return the chiefs could call upon these people to fight on his behalf.
I suspect that crofting is a hard, harsh way of life. I always used to admire the farmers down south who would be out checking cows and tending sheep in the most awful of weather conditions. I've seen similar sights here with the crofters, they work very hard, ungodly hours and don't know the meaning of a vacation.
Are you looking at crofting in general or specifically the clearances?
I am looking at all aspect of scotlands history....Crofting came as part of the clearences put out in the above script..If that is one mans tale then imagine the info i am gonna get from a nation...
Crofting is something myself and oh would love to do...We have our own veg, garden, seeking persmission for chickens, and are pretty much wanting to be self sufficient, Obviously will have to wait tll litlles one grow a bit..They help, but it can hinder crop growth...
Reading peoples writings on how hard it was, conditions and all puts me in a clear mind of what reality is...
But i can only wish it be a dream come true..One Day...
porshiepoo
05-Mar-08, 16:12
It will be, if that's what you want.
What more incentive could you need than the distance just for the local shops. lol.
I have started my very own veg crop this year. Well chuffed I am. I'm a veg garden virgin so I'm hoping and praying that things work. I've done all my own digging, manuring etc and have started Cucumber, Peppers, Toms etc in the greenhouse. All my outdoor veg are ready to be sown once the ground has warmed up a tad, I've cloched areas to help with this.
Not so sure about animals though. :eek: Chicken poop is like cement so avoiding that, Coos are just to sweet to kill as are piggies. lol. So unless I go into delicacies such as worms, snails, koi and the like, I'm going to have to stick to veg.
The clearances signify the end of crofting as it was then.
After Culloden the area became over populated, the clan chiefs et al got greedy and the clearances of Sutherland began in earnest. But the clearances themselves do not give you a good history of crofting at that time, just the end of it.
McLeod's evidence has been contested.
Here are three books which will give you an idea of the evidence behind the prejudices that afflict everyone involved in this debate (and I am as biased as anybody.)
Iain Grimble The Trial of Patrick Sellars is a must-read. He sides with the evicted tenants.
Neil Gunn Butcher's Broom is a novel from the same perspective and a mighty moving read it is too...
Eric Richards The Leviathan of Wealth, the Sutherland Fortune in the Industrial Revolution takes the side of the Duke and Duchess.
It is worth noting that Richards was the first historian allowed access to the Sutherland estate papers. (Make of that what you will!)
It will be, if that's what you want.
What more incentive could you need than the distance just for the local shops. lol.
I have started my very own veg crop this year. Well chuffed I am. I'm a veg garden virgin so I'm hoping and praying that things work. I've done all my own digging, manuring etc and have started Cucumber, Peppers, Toms etc in the greenhouse. All my outdoor veg are ready to be sown once the ground has warmed up a tad, I've cloched areas to help with this.
Not so sure about animals though. :eek: Chicken poop is like cement so avoiding that, Coos are just to sweet to kill as are piggies. lol. So unless I go into delicacies such as worms, snails, koi and the like, I'm going to have to stick to veg.
The clearances signify the end of crofting as it was then.
After Culloden the area became over populated, the clan chiefs et al got greedy and the clearances of Sutherland began in earnest. But the clearances themselves do not give you a good history of crofting at that time, just the end of it.
I was a veg virgin last year. although in my school my headmistress gave me my own wee garden plot..she started me off when i was 6, must have seen something in me i did not..Sowed the seed as to say..
Last year we had, leeks, carrots,potatos,onions, beetroot,garlic,cauliflower, broccoli..All came but the sweetcorn, got to 1 ft and it died..Put that indoors this year...
All our compost is home grown...Turned it into the soil last weekend....ready for the frost to leave...
Would love to go for the meat side of things, but like you cant get over the idea of the killing part, although my oh would do it..I just could not go out and see which little piggy was missing..
I have read up as much as i can about the crofting laws and see why they brought in the laws because of the buring out in the clearences got me thinking..Do alot of that these days....
It has been argued - and I think I agree - that the future of crofting was guaranteed and protected by the state in a series of land acts which reached their apotheosis in 1903.
The land act of 1903 was passed by a Conservative/Unionist government to placate Irish tenant farmers. (The Irish, unlike the Scots had a tradition of shooting unpopular landlords)
What this type of legislation did was to buy out the landowners and give the tenants full ownership while charging them a fair rent. (Of course opinion differed on what was a fair rent and the matter was finally settled in the 1920s when a settlement was reached by the Irish and British states.)
I am by no means an authority on this but I believe that the Scottish Land Acts did not go quite as far as the Irish. This was probably because the Highland landscape is a lot rougher than the flat, fertile, cattle country of Ireland. There is a very close parallel between the Scots Highlanders and the Irish subsistence farmers of County Mayo and Donegal.
I suppose I should recommend another book and that is the Making of the Crofting Community by Hunter.
It has been argued - and I think I agree - that the future of crofting was guaranteed and protected by the state in a series of land acts which reached their apotheosis in 1903.
The land act of 1903 was passed by a Conservative/Unionist government to placate Irish tenant farmers. (The Irish, unlike the Scots had a tradition of shooting unpopular landlords)
What this type of legislation did was to buy out the landowners and give the tenants full ownership while charging them a fair rent. (Of course opinion differed on what was a fair rent and the matter was finally settled in the 1920s when a settlement was reached by the Irish and British states.)
I am by no means an authority on this but I believe that the Scottish Land Acts did not go quite as far as the Irish. This was probably because the Highland landscape is a lot rougher than the flat, fertile, cattle country of Ireland. There is a very close parallel between the Scots Highlanders and the Irish subsistence farmers of County Mayo and Donegal.
I suppose I should recommend another book and that is the Making of the Crofting Community by Hunter.
The feudal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudal) system lingered on in Scots law on land ownership, so that a landowner (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landowner) as a vassal (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassal) still had obligations to a feudal superior (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudal_superior) including payment of feu duty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feu_duty). This enabled developers to impose perpetual (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual) conditions dictating how buildings had to be constructed and maintained, but added complications and became abused to demand payments from vassals who wanted to make minor changes. In 1974 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1974) legislation began a process of redeeming feu duties so that most of these payments were ended, but it was only with the attention of the Scottish Parliament (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Parliament) that a series of acts (http://www.ejcl.org/83/art83-5.html) were passed to end the disadvantages while keeping the benefits of the system, the first in 2000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000), the Abolition of Feudal Tenure etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abolition_of_Feudal_Tenure_etc._%28Scotland%29_Act _2000), coming into force on November 28 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/November_28), 2004 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004).
This is as far back as i have found so far...
By the late 11th century (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11th_century)Celtic law (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_law) applied over most of Scotland, with Old Norse law (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Old_Norse_law&action=edit&redlink=1) covering the areas under Viking (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viking) control (resulting in Udal Law (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udal_Law) still in very limited force in Orkney (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkney) and Shetland (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shetland)).
In following centuries as Norman (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normans) influence grew and feudal (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudal) relationships of government (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government) were introduced, Scoto-Norman (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoto-Norman) law developed which was initially similar to Anglo-Norman (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Norman) law but over time differences increased (especially after 1328 (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1328), with the end of the wars of Scottish Independence (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wars_of_Scottish_Independence)). Early in this process David I of Scotland (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_I_of_Scotland) established the office of Sheriff (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheriff) with civil and criminal jurisdictions (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurisdiction) as well as military and administrative functions. At the same time Burgh courts (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burgh_courts) emerged dealing with civil and petty criminal matters, developing law on a continental (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Europe) model, and the Dean of Guild courts (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_of_Guild_courts) were developed to deal with building and public safety (which they continued to do into the mid 20th century (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_century)).
From the end of the 13th century (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13th_century) the Scottish parliament of the Three Estates (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Estates) developed Statute Laws (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_Laws).
Thanks for the info, Justine.
I tend to concentrate on the 19th century sources, largely because the evictions loom so large in Highland history.
Here is an interesting point of view. I hope you can open this file.
http://heritage.scotsman.com/thehighlandclearances/Canadian-tries-to-nail-myths.2554908.jp
No worries..If you are concentrating on any subject in history wether it one subject or many interlinking subjects,you should always go back further than you would normally..The best history is in the 11-12 century.More info...
and not speculation....
I note that you link to Wikipedia in your post #8 above. While much on Wikipedia is accurate it can also be erroneous...
I note that you link to Wikipedia in your post #8 above. While much on Wikipedia is accurate it can also be erroneous...
I know but it is a good place for other links.great starting place for the novice historian like myself.....
Cedric Farthsbottom III
05-Mar-08, 18:30
I note that you link to Wikipedia in your post #8 above. While much on Wikipedia is accurate it can also be erroneous...
Don't diss Wikipedia Mad Pict,cos the subject on it ye require is usually what ye've already known.Agree with ye that it sometimes sprouts rubbish,but then if yer not hiding behind doors ye will no it to be true.
rob murray
05-Mar-08, 18:51
McLeod's evidence has been contested.
Here are three books which will give you an idea of the evidence behind the prejudices that afflict everyone involved in this debate (and I am as biased as anybody.)
Iain Grimble The Trial of Patrick Sellars is a must-read. He sides with the evicted tenants.
Neil Gunn Butcher's Broom is a novel from the same perspective and a mighty moving read it is too...
Eric Richards The Leviathan of Wealth, the Sutherland Fortune in the Industrial Revolution takes the side of the Duke and Duchess.
It is worth noting that Richards was the first historian allowed access to the Sutherland estate papers. (Make of that what you will!)
I take it you are refering to Donald Macleod ( Strathnaver ) who wrote Gloomy Memories ( a reply to harriet beecher Stowes, Happy Memories, the uncle Toms cabin white wash written about County of Sutherland, as commisioned by the house of Sutherland ) For those of you who dont know, the book was written by an eye witness into the Strathnaver clearances..one of the few people at the time who was literate enough to challenge the house of sutherland and who collected evidence on the sutherland clearances as written up into a book printed around mid 1850's.
Now it depends on who has contested what macleod had said !!. If you go to Wick Library you can access ( or at least you could ) a full set of volumes which cover the parliamentary enquiry which led to the Crofters Act 1886. Major issues covered in Macleods book actually form part of the enquirys evidence findings, as accepted as a veriable truth by the parliamentary commission, these enquiries resulted in the Crofters Holding Act 1886 ( see this link http://www.england-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1886/cukpga_18860029_en_2 (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://www.england-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1886/cukpga_18860029_en_2)
Now read this and all is clear, landowners are legally barred from exercising a clearance / eviction on grounds used prior to the act..ie economic grounds. This act is one of the greatest pieces of legislation ever passed, think about it..it acknowledges that landowners had too much power and that the power was used to the detriment of the tenancy. Thats it in a nutshell, a recogntition that a great wrong and injustice had been allowed to occur. ( or why pass this law !! )
By the way, if you are really into this stuff, women, ordinary crofting women played a great part in resisting evictions. The Skye clearances ( or attempted clearances ) 1860ish, featured women who led fights against the police and military called to enforce evictions. You see if no law is in place to stop tenancy evictions you can call up the army, police ( and as was the case in Skye, a gun boat ) to throw people off "your" land.
Donald Macleod is a Gael legend, told it as it was. Contestors...well are we taling about academics splitting hairs here ?? One thing is for sure, the census of 1800 indicates the population of Strathnaver and surrounding areas
fast forward 30 years and barely a sole, go there now and there is nothing, absolutely nothing.
I take it you are refering to Donald Macleod ( Strathnaver ) who wrote Gloomy Memories ( a reply to harriet beecher Stowes, Happy Memories, the uncle Toms cabin white wash written about County of Sutherland, as commisioned by the house of Sutherland ) For those of you who dont know, the book was written by an eye witness into the Strathnaver clearances..one of the few people at the time who was literate enough to challenge the house of sutherland and who collected evidence on the sutherland clearances as written up into a book printed around mid 1850's.
Now it depends on who has contested what macleod had said !!. If you go to Wick Library you can access ( or at least you could ) a full set of volumes which cover the parliamentary enquiry which led to the Crofters Act 1886. Major issues covered in Macleods book actually form part of the enquirys evidence findings, as accepted as a veriable truth by the parliamentary commission, these enquiries resulted in the Crofters Holding Act 1886 ( see this link http://www.england-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1886/cukpga_18860029_en_2 (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://www.england-legislation.hmso.gov.uk/RevisedStatutes/Acts/ukpga/1886/cukpga_18860029_en_2)
Now read this and all is clear, landowners are legally barred from exercising a clearance / eviction on grounds used prior to the act..ie economic grounds. This act is one of the greatest pieces of legislation ever passed, think about it..it acknowledges that landowners had too much power and that the power was used to the detriment of the tenancy. Thats it in a nutshell, a recogntition that a great wrong and injustice had been allowed to occur. ( or why pass this law !! )
By the way, if you are really into this stuff, women, ordinary crofting women played a great part in resisting evictions. The Skye clearances ( or attempted clearances ) 1860ish, featured women who led fights against the police and military called to enforce evictions. You see if no law is in place to stop tenancy evictions you can call up the army, police ( and as was the case in Skye, a gun boat ) to throw people off "your" land.
Donald Macleod is a Gael legend, told it as it was. Contestors...well are we taling about academics splitting hairs here ?? One thing is for sure, the census of 1800 indicates the population of Strathnaver and surrounding areas
fast forward 30 years and barely a sole, go there now and there is nothing, absolutely nothing.
Just to thank you for the link been very helpful in my studies.....i am sure to learn alot about scotland and then atleast i might be able to understand them,well some....some are just to incomprehendable...
Strathnaver is a howling wilderness, no doubt about that. But I gather from Eric Richards that the overall population of Caithness and Sutherland actually increased steadily until 1918. Thereafter it began to plummet.
One aspect of the Sutherland clearances was of course to get people down to the coast where they could fish for herring which were astonishingly prevalent in the 19th century. So on one hand the case could be made that the Sutherland Clearances were a success benefiting not only the sheep farmers but also those who were cleared.
It is not an argument I would care to make but it does point to the somewhat Utopian ambitions of the Duke and his factor, Loch! Was it not the Duke who had built all the wee harbours along the coast. (I genuinely do't know- I am asking!)
And then talkinig of Utopian projects what about Lord Selkirk's exploits transplanting Highlanders to Cape Breton and then to the Red River where Sutherland Highlanders played a pivotal role in the creation of the great city of Winnipeg?
Motivation is the key here and perhaps we are too quick to ascribe base motives to generations long gone.
Before I go and get on with my work what about the role of Malthusianism in all this? It could be argued - and I believe has been - that the clearances in Sutherlandshire prevented a potato-induced famine like that endured by the Irish....
One great source for the history of Caithness and Sutherland is the Memorabilia Domestica by the Rev. Donald Sage. He was a great gossip but had his serious side too. The Memorabilia in its entirety is on the Caithness. org though a tad hard to find.
Here is Donald Sage on the 1819 Kildonan clearances. Years later he recived a request from the Red River settlers to come over to the forks of the Red River and the Assiniboine to be their minister. He declined!
This is his account of Sellars and Co in action
Bean Raomasdail, or the good wife of Rhimisdale, as she was called, was much revered. In her house I have held diets of catechising and meetings for prayer, and been signally refreshed by her Christian converse. When the evicting party commenced their operations in her township, the aged widow's house was among the very first that was to be consigned to the flumes.
Her family and neighbours represented the widow's strong claims on their compassion, and the imminent danger to her life of removing her to such a distance as the lower end of the Strath, at least ten miles off, without suitable means of conveyance.
They implored that she might be allowed to remain for only two days till a conveyance could be provided for her. They were told that they should have thought on that before, and that she must immediately be removed by her friends, or the constables would be ordered to do it.
The good wife of Rhimisdale was, therefore, raised by her weeping family from her chair and laid on a blanket, the corners of which were held up by four of the strongest youths in the place.
All this she bore with meekness, and while the eyes of her attendants were streaming with tears, her pale and gentle countenance was suffused with a smile. The change of posture and the rapid motion of the bearers, however, awakened the most intense pain, and her cries never ceased till within a few miles of her destination, when she fell asleep. A burning fever supervened, of which she died a few months later.
During these proceedings, I was resident at my father's house; but I had occasion on the week immediately ensuing to visit the manse of Tongue. On my way thither, I passed through the scene of the campaign of burning. The spectacle presented was hideous and ghastly!
The banks of the lake and the river, formerly studded with cottages, now met the eye as a scene of desolation. Of all the houses, the thatched roofs were gone; but the walls, built of alternate layers of turf and stone, remained.
The flames of the preceding week still slumbered in their ruins, and sent up into the air spiral columns of smoke; whilst here a gable and there a long side-wall, undermined by the fire burning within them, might be seen tumbling to the ground, from which a cloud of smoke, and then a dusky flame, slowly sprang up.
The sooty rafters of the cottages, as they were being consumed, filled the air with a heavy and most offensive odour. In short, nothing could more vividly represent the horrors of grinding oppression, and the extent to which one man, dressed up in a little brief authority, will exercise that power, without feeling or restraint, to the injury of his fellow-creatures.
What generally goes unsaid is that much of the Clearances were at the behest of the Clan Chiefs many of whom had headed for the high life in flesh-pots of London. For that they needed money and, as their only source of income was from the Clan they suddenly decided that rent should be paid in cash. The problem with that was the Clan System was never run on cash terms but by payment is kind. Being paid a cow and a couple of sheep wasn't much use for them in London so on cash they insisted. No cash means no rent paid, no rent paid means eviction, eviction means there is unoccupied land to sell for cash. Bye, bye Clansmen, wave as you leave.
Sutherland was only a small part of it, but as he was not a Scot why not blame him? The Sutherland Estates actually belonged to his wife and, as far as the Duke's income was concerned hardly counted as Pocket Money when compared with his incomes from South of the Border. When putting sheep in the Glens became the thing to do it was left to the Duchess’ Factor, Sellars, to clear the Glens. He, if I remember correctly, was an Edinburgh Advocate. He and his side kick (I can't just recall his name), another Lowland Scot, engaged thugs from Inverness to carry out the actual Clearances under their supervision. I don't suppose any of them wanted to spend any longer than necessary wandering round the wilds of Sutherland so the sooner they emptied the Glens the sooner they could get home. Get them out, destroy the croft to prevent return and get home. Blunt, but no doubt true.
Sellars then put the land up for auction locally, made clear that it was not healthy for any locals to bid, and bought the land himself at knock down prices. That being the case is it any wonder he was a little over enthusiastic in getting it over with.
When it came to trying Sellars in Inverness, seeing some of the people involved were from there, is it any wonder they decided nothing wrong had occurred?
Oh yes, and the local Ministers preached Hell Fire and Brimstone as the punishment or those who were reluctant to accept what had happened.
John Prebble has written a fairly good account of the Clearances, well worth a read and seems fairly impartial. (Well, compared with my version it is)
If anybody wants to know how difficult life was in the Highlands then “A Journey to the Hebrides” written by Samuel Johnson gives a very good impression of it. It is hard reading though because in it’s original wording you sometimes have to study what is said to get to the meaning because of the out-dated way things are said.
What generally goes unsaid is that much of the Clearances were at the behest of the Clan Chiefs many of whom had headed for the high life in flesh-pots of London. For that they needed money and, as their only source of income was from the Clan they suddenly decided that rent should be paid in cash. The problem with that was the Clan System was never run on cash terms but by payment is kind. Being paid a cow and a couple of sheep wasn't much use for them in London so on cash they insisted. No cash means no rent paid, no rent paid means eviction, eviction means there is unoccupied land to sell for cash. Bye, bye Clansmen, wave as you leave.
Sutherland was only a small part of it, but as he was not a Scot why not blame him? The Sutherland Estates actually belonged to his wife and, as far as the Duke's income was concerned hardly counted as Pocket Money when compared with his incomes from South of the Border. When putting sheep in the Glens became the thing to do it was left to the Duchess’ Factor, Sellars, to clear the Glens. He, if I remember correctly, was an Edinburgh Advocate. He and his side kick (I can't just recall his name), another Lowland Scot, engaged thugs from Inverness to carry out the actual Clearances under their supervision. I don't suppose any of them wanted to spend any longer than necessary wandering round the wilds of Sutherland so the sooner they emptied the Glens the sooner they could get home. Get them out, destroy the croft to prevent return and get home. Blunt, but no doubt true.
Sellars then put the land up for auction locally, made clear that it was not healthy for any locals to bid, and bought the land himself at knock down prices. That being the case is it any wonder he was a little over enthusiastic in getting it over with.
When it came to trying Sellars in Inverness, seeing some of the people involved were from there, is it any wonder they decided nothing wrong had occurred?
Oh yes, and the local Ministers preached Hell Fire and Brimstone as the punishment or those who were reluctant to accept what had happened.
John Prebble has written a fairly good account of the Clearances, well worth a read and seems fairly impartial. (Well, compared with my version it is)
If anybody wants to know how difficult life was in the Highlands then “A Journey to the Hebrides” written by Samuel Johnson gives a very good impression of it. It is hard reading though because in it’s original wording you sometimes have to study what is said to get to the meaning because of the out-dated way things are said.
Theres nothing wrong with this version..Its honest and holds alot of bearing....But i will certainly be looking up some of the info...
Thanks...
rob murray
06-Mar-08, 09:57
"The large extent of seignorial domains is not a circumstance peculiar to Britain. In the whole Empire of Charlemagne, in the whole Occident, entire provinces were usurped by the warlike chiefs, who had them cultivated for their own account by the vanquished, and sometimes by their own companions-in-arms.
During the 9th and 10th centuries the Counties of Maine, Anjou, Poitou were for the Counts of these provinces rather three large estates than principalities. Switzerland, which in so many respects resembles Scotland, was at that time divided among a small number of Seigneurs. [/font]
If the Counts of Kyburg, of Lenzburg, of Habsburg, of Gruyeres had been protected by British laws, they would have been in the same position as the Earls of Sutherland; some of them would perhaps have had the same taste for improvement as the Marchioness of Stafford, and more than one republic might have disappeared from the Alps in order to make room for flocks of sheep. Not the most despotic monarch in Germany would be allowed to attempt anything of the sort."
You take the point here, the clearances occurred in the manner they did because the landlords were legally entitled to do what they wished with their land, with no regard for any concequences..they had the power. In regard to the House of Sutherland and their intentions ie their motivations consider this
[Mr Loch, in his defense of the Countess of Sutherland (1820) Why should the absolute authority of the landlord ( The Duke of Sutherland ) over his land be sacrificed to the public interest and to motives which concern the public only?"
There you have it in a oner, so forget all the nonsense of failed utopian socio economic projects etc etc, they did what they wanted to, damn the concequences because they could !!!!!!!!
Thanks for the info, Justine.
I tend to concentrate on the 19th century sources, largely because the evictions loom so large in Highland history.
Here is an interesting point of view. I hope you can open this file.
http://heritage.scotsman.com/thehighlandclearances/Canadian-tries-to-nail-myths.2554908.jp (http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://forum.caithness.org/go.php?url=http://heritage.scotsman.com/thehighlandclearances/Canadian-tries-to-nail-myths.2554908.jp)
I have traced some of my ancestry via Caithness to the southern part of Scotland.
I was puzzled as to why such a journey north would have been undertaken and I was informed that as sheep were put onto the cleared land in the north, shepherds and folk with knowledge of sheep husbandry had to be "imported" from down south as there were no local skills in place at that time.
So the loss of workforce and encouragement to stay scenario might be partially called into question I suppose.
Well, Rob, of course they did what they did because they had the power to do it. And as a result of their doing it, widespread changes in land tenure in Great Britain and Ireland were introduced.
But just saying they did it because they could leaves the question of motivation up for grabs. What was their motivation?
I take it that we are both appalled by the genocidal proclivities of the Third Reich. And I am sure you are interested, as any civilized person must be, in probing the motivation of the Nazi movement if ony to prevent anything like the Holocaust happening again. (Although it does all the time)
Probing the motivation of Highland landlords is a vital historical project for anyone interested in the region.
On a final point. Often in history what didn't happen is as important as what did. Case in point - why was there no physical resistance to the Sutherland clearances? Why did not the evangelical church which was a real power in the region not produce a Martin Luther King figure?
Good grief, I have just realised we did this topic well nigh to death a year or so ago. It's all preserved in the Org archives!!!!
Is it possible that Caithness natives have this permanent ding -dong ,call and response thing to the Highland Clearances. Is it hard wired into our brains?
Well, into my brain anyway...
rob murray
06-Mar-08, 18:01
Well, Rob, of course they did what they did because they had the power to do it. And as a result of their doing it, widespread changes in land tenure in Great Britain and Ireland were introduced.
But just saying they did it because they could leaves the question of motivation up for grabs. What was their motivation?
I take it that we are both appalled by the genocidal proclivities of the Third Reich. And I am sure you are interested, as any civilized person must be, in probing the motivation of the Nazi movement if ony to prevent anything like the Holocaust happening again. (Although it does all the time)
Probing the motivation of Highland landlords is a vital historical project for anyone interested in the region.
On a final point. Often in history what didn't happen is as important as what did. Case in point - why was there no physical resistance to the Sutherland clearances? Why did not the evangelical church which was a real power in the region not produce a Martin Luther King figure?
Rich I am really enjoying this !! Motivation...landowners were predominatley Whig ( politically ) and whig politics is based on socail darwinsim, the strong rule. The legislative framework at the time reflected whig values, accpeting a pure free market economy with private property ownership at the centre. In tis framework ethics ( relative rights or wrongs ) dont apply, therefore they did what the did becasue that was the justifyable way to approach situations in those days. By the ploitical code of the times arguably they were right. of course Whigism died and rightly so. Whig politicians were behind the subjacation oif teh Highlands post 1745 as well. As for churches...why do you think the free church was formed...the people involved left he established church c 1845..why...because the established church was subjected to teh aptronage of the landowners. That is why the free kirk was and is so dominat in the heart of the highlands..the true voice of the disposed. At the time of the strathnaver clearances ( 1811- 1820 ) their was no free kirk only the established church...why would they rock the boat of their paymasters.
I think you are being a tad harsh on the clergy. It seems to have been the general practice for ministers in the North of Scotland to preach both in Gaelic and English. I would speculate that the use of Gaelic would have formed a bond between crofters and ministers I cant imagine any minister today setting off to hike across the bogs of Strathnaver in order to deliver a sermon!
I wonder too if there is an association between wilderness and religion. The 19th century made much of the connection between wilderness and poetry. Could there have been a similar link to theology.
Have you read Hugh Miller: My schools and schoolmasters.?
There is a wonderful account of the author as a wee laddie from Cromarty walking with his mother to visit relatives in the depths of Sutherlandshire. He was bowled over by how different everything was.
rob murray
07-Mar-08, 09:26
I think you are being a tad harsh on the clergy. It seems to have been the general practice for ministers in the North of Scotland to preach both in Gaelic and English. I would speculate that the use of Gaelic would have formed a bond between crofters and ministers I cant imagine any minister today setting off to hike across the bogs of Strathnaver in order to deliver a sermon!
I wonder too if there is an association between wilderness and religion. The 19th century made much of the connection between wilderness and poetry. Could there have been a similar link to theology.
Have you read Hugh Miller: My schools and schoolmasters.?
There is a wonderful account of the author as a wee laddie from Cromarty walking with his mother to visit relatives in the depths of Sutherlandshire. He was bowled over by how different everything was.
I dont think I agree with you here, below is a quote from a pamphlet written in the 1880's about the time of the crofters enquiry, explains why no armed / violent resistance was displayed during the Sutherland clearances ( in later years, in other clearances in the Highlands, organised agitation including cooperation with Irish "agitators", attacks on police / troops / sheriffs officers and the displaying of the red flag was noticeable.
"The mild nature and religious training of the Highlanders prevented a resort to that determined resistance and revenge which has repeatedly set bounds to the rapacity of landlords in Ireland. Their ignorance of the English language, and the want of natural leaders, made it impossible for them to make their grievances known to the outside world. They were, therefore, maltreated with impunity. The ministers generally sided with the oppressing lairds, who had the Church patronage at their disposal for themselves and their sons. The professed ministers of religion sanctioned the iniquity, "the foulest deeds were glossed over, and all the evil which could not be attributed to the natives themselves, such as severe seasons, famines, and consequent disease, was by these pious gentlemen ascribed to Providence, as a punishment for sin."
There are several recent books written on the role of the clergy in the clearances, so Im off to get one !
It comes as a surprise to me to hear that Highlanders are mild by nature. I dont think the French at Waterloo or in the Spanish Peninsula would have agreed with that statement.
As for monoglot Gaelic speakers in Caithness and Sutherland surely the picture is more complex than that! Nobody disputes that English or Scots or Norn was spoken along the east and northern coasts from time immemorial (well at least since Viking times. Were the inhabitants of Strathnaver too conservative to become bilingual?
And then talkinig of Utopian projects what about Lord Selkirk's exploits transplanting Highlanders to Cape Breton and then to the Red River where Sutherland Highlanders played a pivotal role in the creation of the great city of Winnipeg?
Ah, Winnipeg - the town where I was born, the playground of my youth. :)
aka - Caithness West!
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