Many thanks, Im honestly really enjoying this thread ( for a change ! ) educational and informative, will certainly look at references, if I find something then I will post it : one thing that always flumoxed me was the lack of aggression shown in the sutherland clearances, ok people were shell shocked and the landowners were exercising their legal rights, but later in the 19th century more organised agitation and violent clashed between crofters ( largely women ! ) and police / sheriff officers is widely recorded, I wondered why none hit back at the start ie 1809- 1820, then I tracked the formation of the sutherland highlanders, 93rd Sutherland Highlanders, first mustered, in
Strathnaver in August 1800, ( tremendous irony here, mustered in the very place whihc was utterly destroyed, burnt to the ground several years later ) and containing hundreds of men from sutherland and caithness. During the period of the initial brutal clearances these men were deployed in the cape colony, america, Ireland and the West Indies......so many of the men involved couldnt have been abreast I would imagine on the clearances, nor got leave to go home so the bulk of manhood were conviently away from home....just summising... would they have made any difference if they were home in standing up to the landlords ??
Last quick one : during the crimean war a recruiting team came to Golspie to get as Queen Victoria put it "her brave highlanders" to enlist ( she didnt know what had been going on as regards the clearances and de population ) .....they were told stick their red coats on the damn sheep and get them to fight...or words to that effect