fn the 18th century the British At*y was waging war in various foreign

Trrr ScorrrsH
HrcHraNo
CTSIRANCES
the 18th century the British At*y was waging war in various foreign lands, mainly against
fn
French.Many of the soldiers fighting these foreign wars were in fact Highlanders and all
the
I
Icontemporary lvritings on the Army of the day note that the Highland regiments were the
bravest, toughest and most loyal of the entire British At-y.Th.y had an exemplary discipline
record with no soldier of any of these regiments ever having been disciplined.The complete
opposite of the commonly held view of the lazy, untrustworthy, dishonourabie Highiander.
The very new "lJnited" Kingdom, which had been formed in 1707 under the "Treaty of
Union", was in a fragile state with many Scots being anti-union and wishing to maintain their
independence especiallyin the Highlands rvhere the clan societywas in danger of being lost
forever. There was also a very fierce animosify behveen Protestant and Catholic and this had
a much wider effect on the events of those days than most people realise.Its effects can still
be seen and felt in a very tangible way in Northern Ireland to this day.In L7L5 there had been
an unsuccessfuluprising of Highlanders against the English. In response the government sent
General Wade to the Highlands to regain control and to keep the insurgent Gaels in check.
He built many roads and forts in order to do this and to this day the third verse of the British
National Anthem contains the following rvords,
God grant that General Wade
May by Tlty ruigltty nid
Victory bring
May Irc sedition lruslt
And like a torrent ruslt
RebelliousScotsto cruslt
God saztetlrc Queen.
Many clans looked for a saviour through their own ancient royal blood line to lead them to
victory in a final defeat of the Engiish, Protestant oppressors.This is where Charles Edward
Stuart, the Bonnie Prince Charlie of song and story comes in. His supporters were knortrn as
Jacobites.Th"ytook this name from Ki^gJamesMl & II habit of signing documentsin the Latin
form of his name "Jacobus".When the king-to-be landed at Glenfinna on the 19th, of August
\745 an armed rebellion was started against the English. It was very nearly successfulwith the
Jacobitearmy making in-roads deep into England. They turned back however and eventually a
last stand rvas made on the Field of Culloden on 16thApril 1746.Theywere massacred.In excess
of 1,,200Highlanders died compared to a mere 76 govemment troops.The English forces under
the direction of the Duke of Cumberland were ordered to spare no one. Every last wounded
Highlander was to be slaughtered.Thefield of Culloden has become the Wounded Knee of the
Gael, 1,150 surivors were rounded up and sent to Barbadosto end their days in slavery.
Following Culloden and the massacre of the common Highlanders and the hereditary
chieftains the removal of the old clan way of life was just about complete. Even prior to the
Jacobiteuprising the old Highland way of life had become so disrupted that more Scotsended
up fighting against Bonnie Prince Charlie than for him and during the Battle of Culloden itself
a third of the government army were Scots.All that remained to be done to eliminate the
Highland way of life, which had been such a thorn in the side of the government for so long,
was for the English forces to seize the clan lands.
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But they were not content with just the military defeat and the seizing of the iand of these
Gaelic rebels.Soon after Bonnie Prince Charlie fled the country"The Act of Proscription"was
passed in 1747 which banned the wearing of tartan, the playing of bagpipes (which were
regarded as instruments of war), the right to bear arms, the gathering of Highland people and
the teaching of the Gaelic language.This period became known as"the time of grey"because
the traditional bright colours of the clan tartans were outlawed.The penalty for breaking these
new larvs was seven years transportation"to any of His Majes!/s plantations beyond the sea."
In a very clever move though provision was made in the Act that stated the only legal way to
display the tartan was by joining one the"Scottish"regiments in the British army. They knew
that they would need the discipline of the Highland clansmen at some time in the future and
by allowing them to wear their clan tartan in uniform they knew this wouid appeal to many
young clansmen who otherwise would never legaliy be allorved to wear it.
In the same year the"7747 Heritable JurisdictionsAct"was passedwhich stated that those who
did not accedeto English jurisdiction were to have their lands forfeited and placed in the hands
of government appointed surrogates.The few remaining Highland landlords had no option
but to accedeto English domination. This was the final nail in the coffin of the clan system and
way of life. This approach, coupled with the broken spirit of the people, was so successfulin
Scotland that by the end of the 18th century three fifths of Hebridean landlords were already
absentees,preferring the soft life in London society to looking after their orvn people in the
wild and barren Highland glens and rain swept islands. J Hunter in his book,"The Making of
the Crofting Community"notes, "Many chiefszuerens at homein Edinburgh or Paris as they were
in the Highlands, and French or English rolled off their tongue as easily as - perhapsmore easily
than Gaelic. While awayfrom his clan moreoaerthe typical chief,conscioussince childhoodof his
immenselyaristocraticstatus in the Highland societywhencehecame,feltobligedto emulateor eaen
surpass,the lifestyleof the courtiersand nobleswith whom he mingled.And it was at this point that
the L8th century chiefstwo roles cameinto irreconcilableconflict with one another.As a southern
socialitehe neededmoreand more money.As a tribal patriarch he could do zterylittle to raise it."
The demand for beef was high at this time to feed the large armies still fighting foreign wars.The
absentee clan chieftains made a little income from their still faithful clansmen rearing the great
shaggy Highland cattle in the remote hills and glens of the Highlands and Islands.The market
for meat dropped sharply once the wars ceased and these new noblemen faced imminent
bankruptcy. The small rents they received from their tenant farmers was not sufficient to meet
their nerv lavish lifestyle.Things were starting to look bleak.
In1782 the repressiveAct of Proscriptionwas finally repealed.But the damage had been done.
Becausethe written Gaelic language had not been taught for a generation most of the young
men and women of the clan were illiterate.Many of the new clan chiefs had been born in the
fine houses of London and the south of England and had never seen the land nor the people
they now lorded over. Most could not speak the language of their people and clan, having been
brought up speaking English and being toid that Gaelic was for the inferior classes.A notion
which still existsin Lowland Scotlandto this day.
About the same time that the demand for beef and cattle dropped the demand for sheep and
wool rose dramatically.Theprice of Highland wool in 1801 had been 15 shillings per stone but
by 1818 it had more than doubled to 40 shillings per stone.The landlords sarv their chance
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to renerv their fortunes and immediately started to replace the herds of Highland cattle with
flocks of hill sheep.Thesehighly profitable sheepwere being offered by the BritishWool Society
for ridiculously cheap prices in an attempt to corner the world market for meat and wool. They
did not take as much looking after as cattle and they could be left to roam the bleak hills and
glens with only a small handful of people to tend them. On averageone shepherd took up as
much land as had been worked by12-16 families (roughly B0people).Soon the Highlands and
Islands were echoing to the high-pitched sound of the bleating sheep whereas once they had
been lulled by the soft lowing of the great shaggy Highland cows. It soon became clear that
the small holdings of the remaining clansmen were getting in the way of the highly profitable
sheep so the landlords started to move the people out of their homes, out of their jurisdiction
and out of their conscience.InL800there had been 355,700indigenous Highland sheepfarmed
in all of Argyilshire,Inverness, Caithness and Sutherland. By 1880 the number had risen to over
2 million, neariy a1lof them imported hybrid Cheviots.
As early as 1792 the crofters realised that the in-coming sheep were going to be the source
of much trouble and in that year in Ross-shire400 crofters rounded up all the sheep on the
hillsides and drove them off their lands.The local magistrateswere worried about civil unrest
and called in the troops. \A/hen they eventually found the crofters'camp the men had gone
and the sheep were sleeping safely. David Stewart of Garth, a lieutenant in the 42"d Black
Watch regiment commented, "No act of zsiolence
or outrageoccurred,nor did the sheepsuffer in
the smallestdegree.Thoughpressedwith hunger,theseconscientiouspeasantsdid not takea single
animalfor their own Ltse."
ln 1826 Maclean of Coll, owner of the Isle of Rhum, paid five pounds and fourteen shillings
passagefor each adult to go to Canada.He evicted300 people this way but this apparentlylarge
investment was well rvorth the cost as the income of the island rose from 300 pounds Sterling
per annum in rent to 800 pounds Sterling per annum under sheep.\A/hereasthe chieftain had
once been the father figure, the protector and provider of the clan, and"clan"means family in
the Gaelic, now they rvere the abusersand repressors.
They still wielded considerable power over the ordinary clan members and they had the legal
right lo make these forced evictions.They also had the right to say rvho married rvho or, more
often than not, who didn't marry who. As late as 1,857the records show that in the Parish of
Clyne on the Duke of Sutherland'sestate there were 75 bachelors,ranging in age"from 35 to
75, there had only ever been hvo marriages and one baptism recorded for the rvhole parish.
The landlords called this replacing of people with sheep "The Improvements" because
they saw it as a way of improving the profitability of their land. The people referred to the
improvements as "The Clearances" for they were simply cleared out of the rvay to make way
for the hated sheep.To be "Cleared" usually meant that, often without warning, the factor, or
landlord's agent, would arrive one morning at your home, order you out and burn down the
house rvithout even allowing sufficient time to remove people or properfy. Roof timbers were
destroyedso that housesor even temporary sheltersfrom the cruel Scottishweather could not
be built in an area where trees are scarce.At the height of the Clearancesas many as 2,000
homes were being burned in a day.Many of these small crofts had been occupied by the same
family for as many as 500 years. Becausemany crofters were still loyal to their chieftain they
often placed the blame for the Clearancesand their hardships on the factors. It rvas beyond
their comprehensionthat their chief would treat them in such a manner.
Tnr
ScorrISH
Hrcrrrexo
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his barbaric and unnecessarilycruel method of Clearing the people from the land was
started by Elizabeth Gordon, Countess of Sutherland (1765-1839).Her husband was
George Levenson-Gorver,Marquis of Stafford (1758-1833), who was made 1st Duke
of Sutherland in 7832. Both usually lived in London, rarely visited the Sutherland estate and
neither of them spoke Gaelic.The income from their Staffords'estatesalone brought in the
huge sum of 300,000 pounds Sterling annually but despite this enormous wealth, rvhich
is equivalent to several million pounds Sterling at toda/s values, they rushed through an
Improvement programme for their remote Sutherland estate.
They employed a lawyer called Patrick Sellar and a factor called James Loch to carry out the
actuai Improvements oq,as the tenants would have it, to Clear them. Both of these men hated
the Gaels and they are still remembered in the Highlands to this day due to their cruelty and
barbarify towards the tenant farmers. Sellar had a personal interest in clearing as many farmers
as he could for he onmed one of the largest sheep farms on the Sutherland estateand wished
to expand even further. Loch, Sellar and the Duke of Sutherland Cleared 15,000 people to
make way for 200,000sheep.Theestaterecordsshow that evictionsat the rate of 2,000families
in one day were not uncommon. With no shelter remaining for the Cleared families many
starved and froze to death where their homes had once been.The Duchess of Sutherland, on
seeing the starving tenants on her husband's estate,remarked in a letter to a friend in England,
" Scotchpeopleare of happierconstitution and do not fatten like the larger breedof animals."
The stories rvhich have come down to us from those dreadful times are horrific and beggar
belief. In 1811 sixty new tenants had been brought in as shepherdson the Sutherland estate
and they were all immediately sworn-in as Justices of the Peace,thus giving them a legal
authority over the remaining tenants. It rvas also common, in later years after much adverse
publicily about the mass Clearances,for these imported shepherds to have clausesinserted in
their rental agreements binding them to personally Clear one or two families a year in order to
lessenthe publicily that mass evictions caused.
People were too scared to help their onm friends and family who had been Cleared for they
knew that to do so would mean the same fate being visited on them. The sheep farmers who
were being brought in mainly from the Scottish Lowlands and Borders regions were made
Justicesof the Peaceor, in many cases,Special Constables rvhich meant they were literally a
law unto themselves.The people were totally powerless to do anything about this long drawn
out genocide.
The people turned to the church for help but the Church of Scotland rvas the church of the
landlords with the ministers being appointed by the land owners. It was clearly in their best
interest not to criticise the landlords methods and they told the common people that all the
evictions were God's will and a chance for ignorant sinners to repent. In 1843The Free Church
of Scotland came about as a result of this when some conscientious ministers left The Church
of Scotland in protest at what was happening to their innocent parishioners. In an act of
retaliation the landlords told the people that rvhen they rvere Cleared and re-settled on nerv
land they were expressly forbidden from building Free Churches. They were also forbidden
from $ving a Free Church minister shelter or refreshment.
Today the Free Church of Scotland is more oppressive than anyone.The Christian church as a
whole, Free Church of Scotland, Church of Scotland and Roman Catholic, have played a huge
Trrn ScorrrsH HrcHrexo
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role in this cultural genocide. Some quotes collected from people living in the Highiands and
Islands and written down by Alexander Carmichael at the start of this century show just how
quickly a people can be made to forget their old, traditional ways "Our weddingsare nolt) quiet and becoming,not thefoolish things they were in my young day. ln
my memory weddingsweregreat ersents,and singing and dancing and piping and amusementsaII
many sad things
through the night and generallyfor two or threenights in succession.ThereTDere
done thenfor thosewerethe daysoffoolish doingsandfoolish people.When they cameout of church,
the young men would go to throw the stone,or tossthe caberor play shinty, or to run racesor race
the horseson the strand, the young maidenslooking on the while. lt is long since we abandoned
thosefoolish ways in Lewis. ln my young days there was hardly a house that did not hazseone,
two or three who could play pipe or thefiddle and I haaeheard it said there were thosewho could
A blessedchangecame oaer
play things called harps, but I do not know what those things TDere.
the place and the peoplewhen the good ministers did away with the songsand stories, the music
and the dancing, the sports and the gamesthat utereperaerting the minds and ruining the souls
of the people,Ieadingthem to folly and to stumbling. The good ministers and the good elderswent
amongst the peopleand zuouldbreakand burn their pipesandfiddles. Noru we haztethe blessedBible
preachedand explainedto us earnestly."
" A famous ztiolin player died in the IsIeof Eigg afeut yearsago.He was lcnownfor his old style playing
and his old utorld airs which died utith him. Apreacherdenouncedhim saying, "Thou art doutn there
behind the door (of HelI), thou niserqble nnn with grey hair, playing thine old fiddle with the cold
hand ztsithout,and the deail'sfire within." Hisfamily had pressedthe old mail to burn hisJiddleand
nerer play again. A pedlar hnd offeredten shillings for the ztiolin uthich had beenmadeby a pupil of
Stradiztarius.The z:oiceof the old manfaltered and a tearfell. He was neoeragain seento smile."
"ln lslay I was sent to the parish school to obtain a proper grounding in arithmetic. But the
schoolmaster,nn alien, denouncedGaelic speechand Gaelic songs. On setting out of school one
eaening we resumeda Gaelic song nte had beensinging the preaious eaening. The schoolmaster
heard us and called us back.He punished us until the blood trickledfrom our fingers although we
were big girls zuith the dawn of Womanhoodon us."
Another blow was soon to rock the fabric of Highland culture. First they had been betrayed by
the very people appointed to protect them and their lands, the chiefs,now they discoveredthat
their nerv spiritual representativeswere accepting substantial sums of money from Southern
US slave-owners despite the fact it was knorvn that Cleared Highlanders who were forced to
emigrate to America were being sold into slavery in the southem US states.The lay members
of the church, the Press and the people of Scotland generally rvere abhorred that they should
even contemplate taking money from slave-owners and they rvere regaled with cries of"Send
back the money." Nter due deliberation The Free Church of Scotland's official response was,
"Neither lesus Christ nor His holy apostlesregardedslazteholdinga sin" - and kept the money.
Some of the landlords even attempted to resort to the slave trade in an effort to get rid of their
unwanted crofters.The Duke of Athol had to press-gang his own clansmen to go and fight in
America as he had been unsuccessfulin raising a regiment as the men refused to go because
of his earlier Clearings. Once the fighting was over, instead of sending them home to their
families and glens he attempted to sell his own people as slaves to the East India Company.
The men were only saved from slavery by staging a mutiny.
Tur ScorrrsH HrcHrexo
CTgaRANCES
\Mhen they eventually returned home the Duke evicted every single one of them in an act of
vengeance.In 1803the RevJamesHall comment ed, "The stateof our Negroesis paradisecontpared
to that of the poorestHighlanders." Ironic words considering that many of these poor Highlanders
would soon become slavesthemselvesworking beside the enchained Negro slaves.
etween 1,820and 1840 the rate of evictions slowed down but this was when the
T)
became very popular with the English aristocracy and especially Queen
JlHighlands
LJ
Victoria. The tartan, which had virtually disappeared thanks to the Act of Proscription,
was reintroduced in a bastardisedform. Highland gamesand Highland dancing (which did not
actually exist prior to then) became very popular amongst the landowners and wealthy English
merchants and the traditional Highland culture became the "Brigadoon" fype of romantic
rubbish that most non-Scots still believe today.
Deer hunting became popular in the Highlands and islands amongst these Southern cultural
invaders and soon even more people were being Cleared to make way for deer. By the mid
1800s the price of wool had fallen dramatically and the deer were seen as the new source of
income for the landlords. In Ross-shirethe 1851yield for the estatehad been 400 pounds per
annum under sheep - by 1,870,under deer, it had increased 15 times. By 1912 one fifth of the
entire country of Scotland,3,599,744acres,was under deer forest.Ironically now many of the
well-established sheep farmers were being Clearedto make, way for deer.In the 20th century
many sheep and deer in turn were Clearedto make rvay for the new hydro-electric stations.
The crofters and estate rvorkers were not allowed to hunt the deer no matter how starving and
destitute they might be. Some brave people made a stand against this and the most famous
of these incidents took place on the Isle of Lewis in 1887 and is known as"Ruaig an Fheidh"
the Pairc Deer Raid which is commemorated in an eioquent poem composed in the Gaelic by
ReverendDonald MacCallum. It readsin translation,
We roseearly in tlrc nrcnring - compelledby lmrdship to hring dou,n the deerfrom tlrc heights rttith accurateaint.
We set out ort tlrc Tuesdnyruitlt bannersand uteapons;the
day u'as bright andfauourable,as ute'll all proueto you.
Each man witlr his gun londedand ready clinfuedthe high hills,
and when a bellozuingstag u)asseen,it was struck dowtt.
We killed them in tlrcir hundreds,weflnyed them splendidly
and zueate them in an orderly ruay,with generousportions cunningly.
We are no plttnderers,as is stated in lies; Lueare braztepeoplebeing ruined by annt.
We hnrteu,aitedrnatly days and years u,ithout disorder,lnrassedby pouerty,
under tlrc pozuerof clnmberlainsnndfools.
We got no tlnnks utlntezter,Tl,erneretlralls utitlnut proJit,
they were set upott banishing us completelylikefoxes.
Our wiues and our children now suffer hardship;their clothesare tattered,
and tlrcy are ht needat etterAmeal tinrc.
Our country is a uildemess becauseof deerand sheep,and in
spite of high rents, ue'II not get enough to satisfy one of us.
But praisetlrc Lord zuhobestozued
tlwt heroupon us -
THs ScorrrsH Hrcrrraxo
CTTInANCES
Donald MacRae of Alness is the honourablemartyr.
Donald MacRae wtrs the great stalzttartutho utould not yield to the aillains,
although they put hirn painfully to the test eueryzuhere
to the extent of their abilities.
You little old zuife,frill of pride("), who clsim that Leuis is yotrrs, it belongsby property right to the
majority zuholiue in it.
And sincewe haaenou found a chieftain,ruewiII not ceaseby
day or night wrtil zueobtain the estatejoyfully and honourably.
(*Lady Matheson - r,vifeof Sir James Matheson, knoltrn as"MacDrug", who built Stornoway
Castle on the profits he made from selling Chinese opium)
etween 1846and l-880,over 40,000peoplewere clearedfrom the Isle of Skyealone.Many
T)
and mainland rural areaswere completely depopulated to make way for deer
llislands
and sheep.See the lists at the end of this paper for details.The indigenous people soon
LJ
started to become extremely wary of their landlords and their motives and, in response, the
landlords and their agents became very cunning. On the islands of Barra,Benbecula,and South
Uist people were called to meetings in the village halls by their landlord, Gordon Of Cluny, on
the pretext of discussingfair rents. The people were threatened with a two pound Sterling fine
(a huge some of money for subsistencecrofters) if they did not attend the meeting. \Mhen they
got to the meeting places they were tied hand and foot, literally thrown into ships and sent to
America with nothing at all other than the clothes they were wearing at the time. It is difficult
for us today to image such a thing being possiblebut a quote from an eye-witnessBarra woman,
Catriona Ni Phee (Catherine MacPhee) graphically describesthis terrible scene "MAny a thing I haoeseenin my own day and generntion,Many a thing, 0 Mary Mother of the
blacksorrorL).
I haoeseenthe tounships szuept,and the big holdings being madeof them, the people
being driztenout of the countryside to the streetsof Glasgowand to the uilds of Canada,such as
them that did not die of hunger and plague and smallpox while going acrossthe ocean.I haaeseen
the women putting the children in the carts which were being sentfrom Benbeculaand the lochdar
to Loch Boisdale,while their husbandslay bound in the pen and wereweepingbesidethem, without
pou)er to giae them a helping hand, though the zuomenthemselaesu)erecrying aloud and their
little children utailing like to break their hearts.I haaeseenthe big strong men, the championsof
the countryside, the stalzuartsof the world, being bound on Loch Boisdalequay and cast into the
ships as zuouldbe done to a batch of horsesor cattle in the boat. The bailffi and the constableand
the policemengatheredbehind them in pursuit of them. The God of lrfe and He only knows all the
Ioathsomework of men on that doy."
Another eye-witness of this dreadful event said, "The peoplewere seizedand draggedon board.
Men who resisted were felled with truncheons and handcffid; those who escaped,including
some who swam ashorefrom the ship, were chasedby the police and pressgangs." and another
commented, "One morning, during the transportationseason,lneTDere
suddenlyawakenedby the
screamsof a young woman who had beenrecapturedin an adjoining house,shehaaing escapedafter
her first capture. We aII rushed to the door and saw the broken-heartedcreature,with disheaelled
hair and swollenface, draggedaway by two constablesand a ground fficer. Instrumental in these
eaentswas the Rea.H Beatonwho gained a blackname in the memory of the migrants." Another
report, "l saTD
a man who was caught and tied and knockeddown by a kick despitethefact he was
THn ScorrrsH
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CTnIRANCES
trying to bury hisfour deadchildrenbeforebeing sent to America." Another said, "Were you to see
the racing and chasingof policemen,constablesand ground fficers pursuing the outlawed natiaes
you would think, only for their colour, that you had beenby somemiracle transportedto the banks
of the Gambiaon the slaaecoastof Africa."
n 1836 famine srvept the Highlands and Islands and the people were forced to claim Poor
I Relief.Only those with a certificateof destitution obtained from their parish minister were
I
eligrble for relief. The next yea\ rvhen the crofters rvent to pay their rents, they were told
they norv had to pay for the food they had been given the previous year. Despite these cruel
tricks and deceptions by those who were supposed to be looking after them the crofters never
resorted to theft in order to maintain themselves.This rvas partly becauseof their unshakeable
Celtic sense of honour and right but also becausethey knew that being charged with theft
was exactly the sort of excuse the landlords were looking for in order to justify evicting them.
During a period of over 200 years there had only ever been three convictions on the Sutherland
estate - and all of those were for exciseoffences.
f
During the years 1846-47 famine struck again rvhen the potato crop was devastated by the
potato blight (the cause of the infamous"famine" in Ireland) and this brought even further
hardship to the poor crofters.A meeting was held in Edinburgh with Sir CharlesTievelyan, the
government minister in charge of famine relief in Ireland, to see rvhat could be done for the
Highlanders and Islanders who were also on the brink of starvation. Present at the meeting
were most of the large landlords of the day and representativesof the church.The Rev Norman
Macleod suggestedthat nothing should be done by way of relief as the famine was "Gods
pleasure" and had been placed on the Highlanders "becauseof their sin." Fortunately his
remarks were ignored and the landlords surprisingly pledged the huge sum of 300,000pounds
Sterling which was to be given to Trevelyan for famine relief.
He decreed that no relief should be given to anyone who was capable of manual labour and
that one pound of meal should be given for every ten hours labour.Trevelyanthen said that the
landiords should disperse the money themselves as they knew best who was in genuine need
of help and who was not. The statisticswhich then followed beggar belief - Lord MacDonald,
for example, had pledged a mere 1,000 pounds Sterling but rvas paid back in excessof 3,000
pounds Sterling by the Treasury.The Duke of Sutherland had pledged 2,000 pounds Sterling
and he was given back 6,000 pounds Sterling by the Treasury.He used this windfall to build
himself a new hunting lodge in the North West of his estate. Not one penny went to his
starving tenants. He did buy a large quantily of meal but all of it was used to feed his own dogs,
pigs, poultry and cattle.When rvhat rvas ieft became unfit for the animals to eat it was dumped
in the sea while the people starved.
Eventuallythe public demanded an accountof exactlyhow the pledged300,000pounds Sterling
had been spent and it was discovered that 7,000 pounds Sterling rvas totally unaccounted for.
It rvas also discovered that the captain and crew of the Royal Nury ship under Tievelyan's
command had been payng themselvesone pound ten shillings per duy- a huge sum of money
at that time. No records were found to show that any of the money had ever been used for
direct relief to the starving. In Ireland during the famine the situation was exactly the same.
\Mhen the Bishop of Casheldied his personalestatewas worth 400,000pounds Sterling.Eleven
other Catholic bishops left a total of 1,875,000pounds Sterling.Yetthey insisted the starving
Trrr ScorrrsH HrcHrexo
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people would have to leave Ireland on the coffin ships bound for America as there was no
money available for Poor Relief. A charity called the Highland and Island Emigation Sociely
was set up in Scotland which raised enough money to pay for more than 10,000 people to
emigrate to Canada and 4,000to Australia.
The legislation governing slave ships from Africa was far more humane than the legislation
governing the emigration ships because slaves had a commerciai value and were considered
a valuable cargo whereas the Cleared Gaels were no more than fare-payng ballast on the
otherwise empty ships sailing from Britain to North America to pick up timber, tobacco and
cotton. Ships carrying in excessof 700 emigrants would only have been allowed by law to carry
490 slaves.3 out of every 20 emigants died on board the ships.In 1834 more than 700 people
died in shipwrecks.Between 1847-53at least 49 emigrants boats, each carrying between 600
- 1,000 passengers,were lost. Exactly the same fate was befalling the Irish emigrants who were
victims of the Famine and in \848, due to the same potato blight, 17,300Scottish emigrants
died on the coffin ships or in the quarantine stations of Canada and America.
The medical examiner at the Grosse Isle Immigration Station in the St Laurence River, Canada
reported on seeing the cleared Highlanders, "I neoer,during nry long experienceat the station,
saw a body of enigrants so destituteof clothing and bedding.Many children of 9 or 70 yearsold had
not a rag to coaerthem.Mrs. Crisp, the wifu of the masterof the ship " Admiral" arysbusily enryloyed
all the z,oyagein conztertingenryty breadbags,old canaasand blankets,into coaeringsfor them.
Onefull-grolr)n man passed*y inspectiorrzuithno other garnrent than a utoman'spetticoat."
The statisticsare so dreadful they are hard to comprehend. It is too easy to forget we are talking
about fellorv human beings rvhen we read the huge numbers Cleared.In Sutherland 40 sheep
farmers occupied an area once lived and rvorked by 15,000 people; betrveen 1815-38 Nova
Scotia received 22,000 Cleared Highlanders; in 1841 the records of Quebec note that they
could not keep up with the number of destitute Scottish immigrants being given Poor Relief;
on 15th May 1851 the factor at Stornoway,Isle of Lewis complained that the people being
forced to emigrate to the Stateswere entering the ships too slowly. He told the captain that at
his next stop he should push the men, women and children on board without their luggageas
this would speed things up and make room for even more people. 3,200 families were Cleared
from Lewis alone in that year.
In 1840, 30,000 Highlanders were forced to move to Glasgow. None of them could speak
English, none of them had ever seen a ciry before and none of them had ever performed any
kind of work other than tending their orvn patch of land and their few corvsand chickens.They
were forced literally overnight from a life of subsistencefarming to one of working indoors in
mills and factories or working on the railroad, in the coal mines or in the many ship yards on
the River Clyde. In 1780 Glasgords population had been 42,000but by 1871|t had soared to
477,700.The slums in which they were forced to live were dreadful with no running water,
no drainage or sewers and rvith rubbish littering the narrow spaces between the tenement
buildings.In these conditions diseaseslike cholera,typhus and smallpoxwere rife and many of
those who had not died in the rubble of their orvn Highland homes soon died of diseaseand
neglect in the rat-infested Glasgow slums.
Others were Clearedfrom their Highland homes to seasidefishingvillageswhere they too had
to give up the only way of life they knew and learn overnight how to fish in order to survive.
THr ScorrrsH
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The nervspapers from this period are full of stories of drownings and boats going missing.
Many of the fishing villages failed to support this huge influx of people and those who did not
starve to death were eventually forced to join their fellow Gaels on the coffin ships to North
America and Australia.
The "scotsman" newspaper reported on 11th March 1820 a riot which had taken place at
Culrain in Ross-shire, " On notice beinggioen to thesepoor creaturesto remooe,they remonstrated,
and stated unequiztocally,that as they neither hqd money to transport them to America, nor the
prospectof another situation to retire to, they neither could nor would remoL,e,and that if force
was to be used,they zuouldrather die on the spot that gaae them birth than elsewhere."- note that
the Pressonly ever reported instancesof disorder,they did not report the thousands of other
evictions where the people simply gave in to the wishes of the factor or clan chieftain. It seems
odd to us today that anyone should capitulate so easily to a gang of often drunk men who were
about to tear down and destroy their home and possessionsand place them in a state of total
loss and destitution. But so strongwas the tradition of hospitalify amongst these gentle people
that it rvas not unknown for the family about to be turned out and have their house destroyed
to offer the Clearance gangs refreshments before they started their work.
After fwo generations of Clearances the tradition of crofters following their Chieftain into
battle stopped when they finally had to acknowledge that their chieftains no longer cared for
them.The crofters of the Sutherland Estate,for example, had traditionally enlisted in the Army
at a moments notice when'asked to do so by the estate.In 1745,2550 men from Sutherland
fought; in 1760,1100men enlisted in 9 days;in 1777,1100enlisted;in 1794,1800 enlisted.
When the enlisting officers toured the Highlands in 1854 to recruit men to fight in the Crimea
they rvere greeted with the men bleating like sheep and turning away from them.The Duke of
Sutherland was personally told, "We hazteno country to fight for. You robbedus of our country
and gaae it to the sheep.Therefore,sinceyou haztepreferredsheepto nten,Iet sheepdefendyo'u."
Eventually the people made a stand.They organisedrent strikes,made articulateappealsto the
Press and even rioted on Skye. Gun boats, marines and police officers were called in to fight
unarmed men and women and eventuallyin 1883a commissionrvas set up under Lord Napier
to find out just rvhat was going on in the Highlands and Islands. As a result of his report the
Crofters Act was passedin 1886 which finally gave the Highlanders and Islanders some basic
land rights and rights of tenure.The Crofters Act had been drafted mainly by the landlords
themselves, who were often also Members of Parliament, and it was treated by the crofters
with the same contempt as were the so-called treaties the Native Americans were given when
being Cleared to reseryationsin North America.A speechmade at the Lochcarron School Hall
in 1886 after hearing about the Crofter'sAct being passedarticulatelyexpressesthis The plough is put arl)ay,up on the lrcn-roost,
The land it onceploughedis empty, a uaste Tlrc land of our ancestors,stolenauay from us.
If it caruebackto us again,ue'd complainno more
Of landlords' itrjttstice,of the injury and prejudice
Handedout to the Gaels.
Ah then we uould knozuexactly uthat to do We'd driue out tlrc keepers,and tlrc English tulrocomelrcre
THr ScorrrsH
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To ruin us and our landfor their sport on the hiII.
We'd driae the deer that hauetaken 07)erlur ploughing lnnd
Up, high up on the tops of the mountains And doam utould cotneNimrod.
And the sheep,oh the sheep,has beenthe causeof great suffering
Staraationand sorrou. It hasdriaen many to the shore.
And oaer the sea.My body has known the pain of seeing
White sheepand deernibble at the land they haaeleft,
That wouldfeed marly and many a GaeL
But the time zuill clme uhen plough tuill beout again,
When the garron zuill be harnessedand pulling awa!/,
When the peoplezuill eat zuell,zuithcattle on the hill,
And milk in the dairy, and go n0 mlre to the Caitlmessfishing When we earn cashat honte.
This Bill the gotternnrctrtshozusto trs,uilrat is it?
Thereis itr it no zttordof all this.
No ztord of a patch to plant a crop,
Nozuuord of the right to a placeutherea poor ntan's cow night graze.
We will not submit to it,for it has no utordof what zueneed:
A shareofthe good,llTrt-Iying land, to producefood
For our children- and their children.
hat the government, the landlords and the Press totally failed to understand was
that the crofters did not want ownership of the land - they had never personally
owned it anyway, being clan iand, but what they did want was the imposition of
certain standardsof conduct and responsibilityon the Landlords.They never receivedthis.
It rvas not until 1.976,ninety years later, that the crofters were eventually given the right to buy
the freehold of their croft if they so wished. The price though was fifteen times the holdingls
controlled rent. Incredibly it was not until 1991.,105years after the passing of the Crofter's Act,
that crofters were eventually given the right to plant trees on their land. Up until then trees
planted on crofts were considered the properfy of the landlord.
In 1866 one half of Scotland belonged to 10 people.Today in Scotland 0.08% of the present
day population own B0% of the land; L7 people own 70% of Caithness;38 people, own 84%
of Sutherland; 76 people own 84% Ross-shire;the Countessof Sutherland owns 158,000acres
and another 359,000acresare owned by a mere 6 people. A1976 study showed that 35 families
or companies own one third of the Highland's 7.39 million acresof privately owned land.
In 1993 two farmers on the Isle of Arran were evicted from their family farms to make rvay
for more deer. In the same year managers on the Wester Ross estate of the absentee landlord
Sheik Mohammed bin Rashidal Maktoumm of Dubai bulldozed houseson the estateallegedly
becausethe tenants had been poaching.Twelve family homes were reduced to rubble in an
area where there are already 800 applicants on the local authori!/s housing waiting list.
Despite the legislation the Clearanceshave not stopped.
THn ScorrrsH Hrcrrrexo
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he question has often been asked as to whether the Clearanceswere an act of attempted
genocideagainstthe Gaelicpeople.Certainly the earlierAct of Proscriptionwas a blatant
attempt at cultural genocide. It is interesting with this in mind, to note that the vast
majorify of Clearancesonly occurredin Gaelic speaking areas.As late as 1820 the Highlanders
were commonly regarded as an aboriginal fringe of the British nation, still arvaiting civilisation.
This notion was prevalent in English-speakingLowland Scotland too. The main Sutherland
Clearancesbetrveen 1811 - 1821 were definitely seen as racial as the in-coming landlord, the
Duke of Stafford, was English and many of his agents were English or Southern Scots who
had no Gaelic and rvho hated the Highlanders.One of his more infamous factors,JamesLoch,
commented in 7820, "Th"y (the hills) are getting so ntuch greener,especiallythoseunder sheep,in
fifty years heathing hills and the Gaelictongue u,ill be rarities in Sutherland."
Just as the truth behind the Irish famine is still not fully explained in Irish schools today so too
is the history of the Scottish Ciearancesglossedover in Scottish schools - if it is taught at all.
I was certainly never told anything about the Clearances during my whole time at school in
Scotland.The brothers Calum & Rory MacDonald of the tremendously popular Gaelic rock
group "Runrig" wrote a song called "Fichead Bliadhna" which is Gaelic for "TWentyYears".
Calum & Rory were born and raised on the isle of Skye where the worst of the Clearances
took place,where the people rioted and had the troops turned out against them and where a
stand was finally made against the injustices of the Clearances. Yet Calum was twenty years
old before he ever heard of these events.
In 1995 a proposal was made to have the statue of the Duke of Sutherland, which still stands
in Sutherland today, removed.The'subscriptions'which paid for this statue were forced out of
the destitute crofters on pain of further eviction if they did not comply. The present day local
people were totally opposed to the suggestionwhich had come from "outsiders" not living
in Sutherland to remove the statue. These outsiders are in fact the survivors of the families
Cleared by the Duke and now settled in America and Canada.The local people have already
forgotten what a monster this old Duke was whereas the people who are now considered to
be outsidersremember and acted upon that memory.That is how quickly the truth can be lost
if we are not taught and made aware of our history and culture.
Some ContemporaryEye-witnessAccountsof Clearances
he actions of Patrick Sellar and JamesLoch would in themselvesfill a book. Sellarwas not
only the Sutherland estatefactor but was also a sheep farmer rvho had a personal interest
I
I
in Clearing as many of the people on the estateas he couid in order to increasethe size of
his own flock. His methods were the most brutal of a1lrecorded.We will never knorv about the
hundreds of thousands which were never recorded.A few recorded instancesfollow:
fF
A pregnant woman, Rayigill MacKay, climbed on to her roof in an attempt to save some of the
timbers which Sellarhad torched in order to make a shelter for her baby to be. She fell through
the burning heather thatch, went into premature labour and lost the child. Sellar turned and
left her there in that pitiful condition.
Donald MacBeath rvas lying incapacitated due to a high fever when Sellar and his squad
arrived. They could not get him to rise and leave his home while they burned the timbers so
instead they tore the roof off the little croft and left the ailing MacBeathto lie unprotected from
the wind and rain. He died five days later.
Trrn ScorrrsH HrcHraxo
CTUIRANCEs
Wiliiam Chisholm appealed to Sellar not to burn his house down as his one hundred year old
mother was lying inside. Sellar'sreply was, "Damn her,the old witch, shehas liaed too long,let
her burn." arrdPersonallytorched the dry heather thatch.The very blankets upon which she lay
were aflame by the time William managed to pull her from the burning cottage. She was laid
in an uncovered corv shed where she later died.
In 1816 Sellar was eventually brought to trial on charges of culpable homicide and wilful fire
raising. The whole trial was a farce as the judges and court officials were all the landed gentry
and despite the volume of evidence against him he was acquitted of all charges.In an act
of vengeancehe returned to Sutherlandshireand burned down another for\t houses.These
houses were all on land which had been given to one of the in-coming sheep farmers, 7,000
acresof it, and this new tenant had made it clear to Sellarthat the existing farmers were not in
the way of his sheep and they did not need to be moved at all. Sellarburned their homes and
possessionsanf/vay and left them to freeze, starve to death or board one of the coffin ships
leaving for Canada or America.
A Few Eye-witness Accounts of Other Clearancesare:
journey back to where her home used
Jn L819 an old lady who had, been Clearedmade the
to
return,
neighbour
asked
her
what
she
She replied after a long silence, "1
be.
On
a
saw.
I
I-sazu a rluen's nest in the Chimney of your own ruined houseand I saw the minister's turned
into a kennelfor dogs."
1821 Sutherland commented, " Strathboranout effsgluallyClearedof aII its turbulent people.The
remoaings were completedon Friday night and the housings demolishedwithout a single word.
Someare offfor Caithnessbut the bulk of thent seentto haaea utish to go to America. We are now I
think settledfor afew years." Later a visitor to the 'same area immediately after this Clearance
commented, "AII utassilenceand desolation.Blackenedand rooflesshuts stiU enzteloped
in smoke
- articles of
furniture cast away as of no ztalueto the houseless and a feut domesticfozalsscraping
for food among hills of ashes,were the only objectsthat told us of man. A few days had sufficedto
changea Countryside,teentingwith the cheeriestsoundsof rural life, into a desert."
1829Beriah Botfield wrote, "Returning to Golspiewe witnessedthe melancholyspectacle
of aflock
of men, rDonwnand children of aII ages,hasting in their holiday attire, to embarkonboard a brig
from Brora, to Upper Canada,aII more or lessdissatisJieduith the new order of things, which the
presidinggenius of the Marchionessof Stffird has causedto spring in an incredibly short period of
time, out of the relics of the barbaricfeudal system."
1853 evictions in Knoydart. "Sezteralrefusedto enigrate and took refusein caaes,grnzselpits or
hoaelsmade in the ruins of their former dwellings. They were ntisernblyclad, haaing no changeof
raintent, and theirfood utaslimited to potatoes."Later reports stated that most ended up "packed
off like so many African slsTtesto the Cuban ntarket."
L853 at Suishnish in Skye 32 families, 150 people, were Cleared three times -1849,1852 and
1853.One account told of how the buildings were destroyedand, "lt rDasa time of snowand one
man who had returned to his homein Suishnishuas found deadthefollowing morning at the door
of his ruined house,haaing perishedin the night from exposureand cold." Many of those Cleared
were in their 80s and 90s. One lady of 96 rvas turned out into the snow, her home burned
down, and left homeless for severalweeks. Incredibly the officer performing the evictions and
THs ScorrrsH HrcnreNo
CTneRANcES
burnings was also the local Poor Law Inspector. Another eye-rvitness account states that one
of the Cleared families had moved into "A wretchedhoael,unfit for sheepor piss. Here 6 hunun
beingshad to takeshelter.Therewas no roomfor a bedso they nII lay down to rest on a barefloor. On
Wednesdaylast the headof the zuretched
family, William Matheson,a utidouter,took ill and expired
on thefollowing Sunday. His family consistedof an aged mother,96, and his ou,nfour children lohn 17, AIex 14, WiIIiam 11 and Prggy 9 the old utomantaaslying-in and when a brother-in-Iaus
of Mathesoncalledto seehow he utAs,he utashorror struck tofind Mathesonlying deadon the same
pallet of strazuon which the old woman rested;nnd there lay also his two children, Alexander and
Prggy, sick! Thosewho witnessedthis scenedeclaredthat a more heart-rending scenethey neaer
witnessed.Matheson'scorpsea,asrentouedas soonas possible;but the sceneis still nlore deplorable.
Here, in this zuretchedabode,an abodenot fit at aII for human beings, is an old woman of 96,
stretchedon the cold around zpith tzaoof her grandchildren lying sick,one on eachside of her."
Archibald Geikie, "Scottish Reminiscences"(Glasgozu1906),describinga Clearancein 1854 on
Skye "..nne afternoon, as I was returning from my ramble, a strange wailing sound reachedmy
earsat interaals on the breezefrom the uest. On gaining the top of one of the hills on the south side
of the aallry,l could seea long and motlry processionwinding along the road that leadnorth from
Suishnish. lt halted at the point of the road oppositeKilbride, and there the lamentation became
Iong and loud. As I dreu nearer,I could seethat the minister with his urifeand daughtershad come
out to meet the peopleand bid them aII farewell. It was a miscellaneousgathering of at least three
generationsof crofters.Therewereold men and Tlomen,toofeebleto walk, zuhowereplacedin carts;
the younger membersof the community onfoot werecarrying their bundlesof clothesand household
in the notes of
ffiits, while the children, with looksof alarm, walkedalongside.Therewas a pause
ioe ot a last word was exchangedwith thefamily of Kilbride. Eaeryonewas in tears;eachuished to
claspthe hands that had so often be-friendedthem,and it seemedas if they could not tear themselaes
the long plaintiae zuail,Iike
away. When they setforth oncemore,a cry of grief zuentup to heazsen,
a funeral coronach,was resumed,and after the last of the emigrants had disappearedbehind the hiII,
the sound seemedto re-echothrough the whole oalley of strath in one prolongednote of desolation.
The peoplewere on their way to be shippedto Canada-"
1857,Donald Macieod, "From a hill I counted two hundred and fifty blazing houses.Many of
the owners were my relatiztesnnd all of whom I personallyknew; but whosepresent condition,
whether in or out of the flarues, I could not tell. Thefire lasted six days, tiII the uhole of the
dwellings were reducedto ashesor smoking ruins. During one of thosedays a boat lost her way
in the densesmokeas sheapproachedthe shore;but nt night she was enabledto reacha landing
placeby the light of theflantes."
1,862eye-witness account, "The factor, that dreadedmiddleman of the people, came with the
underlings of the law, utith spadeand raith pick-axe,and left literally not one stone upon another of
crowded,who
into which seueralfamilieshaae
standing.I can seea miserablehoael
thepoor cottages
had not long beforeseparateholdings of their orzn."
Grace Macdonald in evidence to the Napier Commission of Inquiry in 1BB3said, "There was no
and thosewho could not get their effects
mercy or pity shown to young or old. AII had to clearazDayr
remoaedin time to a safedistancehad themburnt beforetheir eyes.They uterehaPPyin Strathnaaer
poor noTu-"
with plenty to takeand gizte,but all are 71ery
THn ScorrrsH
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8.20.1883- Robert Mackay, "I zLtas
about se?)en
yearsof agewhen the "toutnship was burnt. When
Sellar'smen arriaed,my father and motherhappenedto bein Caithness-shire,Iayingdown the crops
in L,atheran,which was to be theirfuture honte.An old Tt)oman,
my nunt, remqinedwith me and my
sister at Strathnazser.
We beganearly in the day to rentoz)e
our effectsto the hillside in anticipation
of their aisit, but, beforewe hadfinished, they were upon us and setfire first to the byre uthich utas
qttachedto the dwelling-house.This made us redoubleour ffirts as theflames uere nuking rapid
progress.I rementberwe encounteredseriousdfficulty when we canrcto rentoztethe meal-chest.To
ask the assistanceof Sellar'smen would haaebeenabsurd,but utesucceeded
at last by remoztingthe
meal in snull quantitiesto the hillside on blankets.We then madea ring of thefurniture and tookour
station inside,from which we uiewedtheflantes.Herewe sleptall night , wrappedin woollenblankets,
of which utehad plenty, and I rememberzteryztiztidlythe aolumesofflames issuingfrom our dwelling
house,and the crackling soundszCIhen
theflames seizedupon thefir couplesand timber supporting
the roof of turf. At the santetinte, also the rennining housesin the township werefired."
8.29.1883Betsy Mackay, "I am a natiae of Strathnazterand sau)someof the burnings that took
placethere.I was born at Sgall, a township with six houses,whereI liaed till I was sixteenyears of
age,tahenthe peoplein the township weredrioen qway and their housesburnt. Our family was Ltery
reluctant to leaaethis place,and stayedfor sometime after the summonsfor eaicting was deliaered.
But SeIIar'sparty came round and setfire to our houseat both ends, reducing to asheswhateoer
remainedwithin the walls. Theoccupantshad of course,to escape
for their liztes,someof them losing
all their clothesexceptwhat they on their backs.Thepeoplethenhad plenty clotheswhich they made
from the wool of sheep.The peoplewere told they could go where they liked, proaided they did not
encumberSeIIar'sdomain, the land that was by rights their own. The peopleuteredriaen away like
dogs who deseraedno betterfate, and that too, without any reasonin the world, but to satisfy the
cruel auariceof Sellar.Here is an incident that I rememberin connectiottwith the burning of SgaII.
My sister,whosehusbandruasfrom home,was deliaeredof a child at Grumb-mhor at this time. Her
friends in Sgall,fearing lest her houseshould be burned, and sheperish in her helplessconditiott,
went to Grumb-mhor and took her then in aery cold weather,weak and feeble as she was. This
suddenremozsal
occasionedto her a feaer which left its fficts upon her tiil her dying doy."
8.29.1883,Angus Mackay, "I spent twenty-threeyears on Strathnazser,
in my birth place Ceannna-coille, and I am confident thry were the happiestdays I ezterspent. We were aery happy and
comfortableon the Strath. ThereTt)ere
sez)enhousesin Ceann-na-coille,which I, with a sad heart,
sazuburnt to the ground. I saw Rossal,with upwardsof twenty houses,alsoburnt. Sellar'sordersto
the peoplezuereto haaetheirfurniture, and uthatezser
elsethey aished to bring utith them, remoaed
before
these
townships
certain
My
a
day.
from
friends, and sezteralof the townspeopleendeaztoured
to obey this cruel summons,and carried their effectsdown to the rizter'sside. Here they formed a
kind of raft, whereonwns placedaII their furniture, farm implements,clothes,etc., in fact aII their
excepttheir cnttle. Then they took shelter,nnd anxiously awaited the rising of
Tltorldlypossessions,
the rizter to enablethem to float the raft doam the stream towards their neut home.Soon,howeuer,
the furious burners canre,and in spite of the poor people'sentreatiesand prontises,the raft utns
easily set onfire, and beforethe party left the ground it was all in ashesalong the banksof the rizter.
Nor did the ruthless utork of Sellar'sparty end here.Th"y nozaturned their courseto the toutnsllip
of Bacilleathaid,and there contmencedthe burning again. In a certain hut there, there utasan old
woman utho,perhaps,had none of herfriends alizse,or at leastat hand, to beof any help to her in the
hour of need.The party cameto the hut of thisfriendless Tr)oman,
setfire to the house,and instantly
THr ScorrrsH
HrcHrexo
CTTaRANCES
msrched off, leaaing the poor decrepit woman, who was within the house to burn. It is true the
utoman'sbody was taken out by someneighboursrnho, too late, knew what was taking place, but
death relieztedher from pain ere they carried her acrossthe thresholdof her burning house.I was
weII acquaintedwith Donald Macleod, who usrote,"The Gloomy Memoirs of Sutherland"*, and
alwaysfound him to be a truthful man. I heard someparts of his book read and can emphatically
sayfrom my own experience,which now extendsoaer a period of eighty-nine years, that it states
the truth. Macleod only utrote what hundredscould testifu to ten years ago, but now almost aII the
peoplewho knew much about the Strathnat)ercrueltiesare dead,and the young generation,though
they haaeheard of thesethings from the lips of their fathers, cannot testifu as eye-witnessescould.
Peoplenowadayscannot imagine the awful cruelties perpetratedon Strathnaaer by Sellar and his
minions."
8.30.1883,William Mackay, "l am a natizteof Rossalin Strathnaaer,and now liztingat Achina. One
morning in May, zuhenI uas about tzoelzte
yearsof age,l uent up to Achaoilnaborginto seeSellar's
party putting the housesin that torunshipon fire, as I,Iike a child, thought it grand fun to seethe
housesburning. The burning party zuasunder the leadershipof one Branders.When I reachedthe
place the hottseswere ablaze,and I zuaiteduntil they ruereall burnt to the ground, six in number.
Then I accompaniedthe burnersto Achinlochy,zuheresix morehousesuterereducedto ashes.In oneof
thesehousesI saw an old tnan, Donald Mackny,who was oaeronehundredyearsof age,Iying in bed.
Brandersand his men, on coming to this house,glancedat the old man in bed,and then setfire to the
housein two or threeplaces,and the poor man, who could not escape,zt)aslrft by them to the tender
merciesof theflames. The criesof the sffirer attractedthe attention of hisfriends, who, at their own
peril, ran in and rescuedhim from a painful death.It can be said with certainty that the terror and
the effectof thefire on his persontendedto hastenthe man's death.I may statethat I haoetraaelleda
Iargeportion of thefour quartersof theglobe,Iiaedamongheathensand barbarianswhereI saw many
cruel scenes,but nezser
uitnessedsuchreaolting cruelty as I did on Strathnaoer,exceptonecasein the
'The
rebellionof Canada.I knew Donald Macleod,the author of
Gloomy Memoirs of Sutherland" to
behonestand truthful, and uhat I readin this bookzuasnothing but the simple truth."
8.30.1883,George Mackay. "I u)osborn at Ridsary on Strathnaoer,and was about ten years of age
when that part of the Strath utheremy father liaed uas depoytulated
and our habitations burnt to
the ground. I sazuthesefour townshipsaII in flames on the sameday: - Ceann-na-coillewith sez;en
houses;Syre with thirteen houses;Kidsary with two house;I-angall with eight houses.I sazain all
thirty housesburning at the sametime. When this was taking place,l was leading two horsesup
the Strath to carry from Kidsary someof our furniture, which was left by my father near the place,
when we were eoictedfrom our home a few days preoious to this. As the houseswere all cooered
with dry thatch du,elling placesand steadings,the crackling noise as usellas thefire and smoke
wereawful. I noticedone houseat I-angaII,haaing a good stackof peatsbesideit, which the burning
party on coming round, put to the samefate as the houses,and if any other thing remainedin or
near the premisesit was at onceconsignedto theflames. It may be mentioned that the inhabitants
left thesehousesa day or two beforethey were set on fire, being ordered off the ground by Sellar. lt
was heartrmding to hear the cries of the women and children when leaaing their happy homesand
turning theirfaces they knew not uthither.The most of our cattle died thefirst winter, as lr)ehad no
proaisionfor them. We got no compensatiott
for our burnt houses,not any aid to build neu)ones,
or trench land."
THE ScorrrsH
HrcnraNu
CTTInANCES
In 1900 P.ggy MacCormack recounted. "The tesrs conrccloseto my eyeswhen I think of all zae
suffered,and of all the sorrows,hardshipsand oppressionwe canrcthrough. I pray that our present
struggles zLtillsoon be ozser,that our children wiII haueplenty of the land thnt is in the big farms
for their hontesand enjoy thefruits of the land as zaedid in thosefaraway days, utithout fear and
aithout oppression.The Earth is the Lord's and thefullness thereof.The Earth He hasgiztento the
childrenof men."
(*this reference is to Donald Macieod's GLOOMY MEMORIES IN THE HIGHLANDS
OF SCOTLAND: VERSUS MRS FIARRIET BEECHER STOWE,S SUNNY MEMORIES OF
FOREIGN LANDS, Toronto 1.857,which he wrote in response to Harriet Beecher Stowe
(author of 'Uncle Tom's cabin') who had visited the Sutherlandt in London and who later
wrote about them in terms of lavish praise.Macleod, a native of Sutherland,made the point
that she had not been to Sutherland,had not spoken to the Cleared families and had clearly
been given a very one-sided account of the"Improvements".)
PlacesAffectedby Clearances
Verified Clearancedates,numbers of people and placesare very difficult to obtain as the vast
majority went unrecorded.A fer,vthat have been verified are:
Year
1783
7793
1794
7796
1780-1.832
1790
1801
1B01
1801
1801-06
1802
1802
1803
1803
L807
1814
1819
7820
1820
I82l
7825
1,826
7826
r827
Number of People
300
500
25A
358
2,300
2,500
799
700
100
10,000
1,151
250
800
500
300
2,150
3,331
3,790
600
81
1,500
1,000
400
1,000
District
Knoydart
Isle of South Uist
Eddrachillis
uig
uig
Isle of Skye
Strathglass
West Invemesshire
Isle Martin
West Highlands
Strathgiass
Isle of South Uist
Isle of South Uist
Strathglass
Lairg
Strathnaver
Sutherland
Sutherland
Culrain
4,988
Isle of Skye
Isle of Mull
Isle of Rhum
Isle of Lewis
Trrn ScorrrsH Hrcnrexp
Year
1828
L82B
1B2B
r828
1831-41
1831-41
1831-81
1831-81
1831-81
1834-53
1838
1838
1839
1840
1840
1840
1840
L840-48
1840-83
784r
1841
1841
184r
7Ur-45
1841-81
1841-81
1B45
1848
7849
ru9
LB49
1849
L849
1851
1851-81
1853
1853
1853
1853
r874
1881
Number of People
135
130
400
300
2,500
974
600
r,423
39,892
2,500
1,300
360
2,300
500
600
substantial
substantial
500
34,700
750
353
BO
229
1,500
L,954
766
80
26
603
750
247
500
603
L,700
populationhalved
150
400
r25
76
135
257
CrrenANCEs
District
Isle of Arran
Ardnamurchan
Isle of Rhum
Isle of Coli
Breadalbane
Glenorchy
Rannoch
Morvern
rural Argyllshire
Breadalbane
Isle of North Uist
Coigach
Isle of Harris
Strathconan
Isle of UIva
Isle of N1ull
Isle of Tiree
Strathconon
Isle of Skye
Isle of Coli
Durness
Easter Ross
Isle of Lewis
Strathcarron
Isle of Tiree
Isle of Coil
Tain
Kilfinichin
Sollas
Isle of South Uist
lsle of Tiree
Glenelg
Isle of North Uist
Isle of Barra under "conditions of extreme cruelty"
Rannoch
Suishnish (3'dtime these people had been cleared)
Knoydart
Isle of Li^g
Strathglass
Queendale
Isle of Iona
THs ScorrrsH
HrcHraNo
CTnIRANCES
Areas and Islands verified as having, at some time, been totally Cleared:
1804
1.806-25
L8L0-1,5
1.81.9-25
1820
1824-30
1826
1840
1840
L840
1840
1840
r842
1853
7857
1860
1862
Strathglass
Glenorchy
Reay
Morven
Mull of Kintyre
North Ballachulish
Isle of Muck
Isle of Rhum
Isle of Canna
Black Isle
Isle of Ulva
Isle of Iona
Mishnish
Isle of Ling
Dervaig
Isle of Isay
Tieshnish
Main Encyclopaedia and What They Say About
The Clearances
Severalof the main reference enryclopedia to be found in US libraries today and rvhat they say
about The Clearancesand The Irish Famine
"AcademicAmerican Encyclopedia"Mentions The Famine but all it says about The Clearances
is one sentence,"Much of the Highlands were forcibly depopulated by the landlords during the
late l8th and early L9th centuries when large scale sheep grazingwas introduced."
"EncyclopediaBrittanica" 15th Edition mentions The Famine but has only one sentenceon The
Clearancesrvhich implies they only took place in Strathnaverbefween 1810 and 1820.
Hutchison Dictionary of World History" 1993 mentions both very briefly
"NerDBookof Knowledge" I00th Edition mentions The Famine but not The Clearances
"The Reader'sAdoiser" 1,41hEdition mentionsThe Famine but notThe Clearances
"The World BookEncyclopedia"1993mentionsThe Famine but notThe Clearances
"ConciseColumbia Encyclopedia"3'dedition mentions The Famine but not The Clearances
"CambridgeEncyclopedia"2nd edition mentionsThe Famine but notThe Clearances
"Collier's Encyclopedia"1.989mentionsThe Famine but notThe Clearances
"Bruce WetterauWorld History" 1993 mentions The Famine but not The Clearances
"Timetableof World History" 3rd edition mentions The Famine but not The Clearances
" Barron's St udent' s Encyclopedia" 1,9BBmentions neither
THE ScorrrsH Hrcnrewu
CTnaRANCES
Bibliography
Blackie,JohnTHESCOTTISHHIGHLANDSAND THE LAND LAWS 1885
London 1990
Craig,DavidONTHE CROFTERS'TRAIL,
Devine,T MTHE GREATHIGHLAND FAMINE,Edinburgh1988
Devine,T M CLANSHIPTO CROFIERS'WARManchester1994
Forbes,DavidTHE SUTHERLANDCLEARANCES,7806-1.820,
A1,'r1976
Geikie,A SCOTTISHREMINISCENCES
Glasgow,1906
Grimble,Ian THE TRTALOf PATzuCKSELLAR1962
Gunn, Donald & Spankie,MariTHE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES
Wayland,England1993
Hunter,JTHE MAKING OFTHE CROF|ING COMMUNITY Edinburghl976
Mcintosh,A, Wightman,A and Morgan,D RECLAIMINGTHE SCOTTISHHIGHLANDS in
"The Ecologist"magazineVol2|No 2 pps64-70
MacKenzie,
AlexanderA HISTORYOf THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES
1883
Maclean, M & Carrell,C AS an FHEARANN,FROMTHE LAND, Edinburgh1986
Macleod, Donald GLOOMY MEMORIES IN THE HIGHLANDS Of SCOTLAND:
VERSUSMRS HARRIETBEECHERSTOWE'SSUNNY MEMORIESOf FOREIGNLANDS,
Toronto7857
Prebble,JohnTHEHIGHLANDCLEARANCES.
Penguin1963
Richards,EricA HISTORYOf THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES,
London 1982
Robertson,
AlexanderWHEREARETHE HIGHLANDERSOFTHE HIGHLAND REGIMENTS
AND HIGHLAND CLEARANCES
1856
Ross,DonaldTHECLEARINGOFTHE GLENS1854
Youngson,A J AFIER THE FORry-FME;THE ECONOMIC IMPACT ON THE SCOTTISH
HIGHLANDS Edinburgh1,97
3
Societies
THE AMERICAN FOUNDATION, INC. 575 MadisonAvenue. Suite 1006.NervYork,NY L0022,
USA. An, organization based in the USA but r,vith strong links to contemporary Scotland.They
issue a regular and informative nervsletter as well as arranging frequent cultural events. One of
the better such organizations.
THE SCOTCH-IRISH SOCIETY of the: United Statesof America,261.6Edna DriveMneland,
NI 08360,USA rvas founded in 1889 as a sociely set up for, ,,The preservationof Scotch-lrish
history the keeping alive the esprit de corps of the race,and promotion of social intercourse
and fraternal feeling among its members now and hereafter.
THs ScorrrsH HrcHraxo
CTnenANCES
Many, many,Scottish Clan Societiesexist in America and Canada and are good sourcesfor
genealogical information and information relating to their ovrn specific clan. Not many will
have much information aboutThe Clearancesthough becausemost have never heard of The
Clearances.Those of you with accessto the Internet and the World Wide Web lvill find Clan
Society details by searching these resources.Also, check The Highlander magazine and The
ScottishBannerfor printed information. Seebelow.
Useful Publications
Am BRAIGHE, P.O.Box 779,Mabou, Nova Scotia"Canada,BOE 1X0. Quarterly newspaperon
the Gaelic culture of Nova Scotiabut also containing featureson Scottish culture.
CELTIC HERITAGE, P.O. Box 8805, Station A. Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 5M4, Canada
published six times a year.Good, informative articlesand news reports.
THE HIGHIANDER, The Magazine of Scottish Heritage, P.O.Box 44086,Chicago, IL 60644,
USA is published six times a year.
An SCATHAN, P.O.Box24,Ashland, PA17921,,USA. Monthly Celtic nervspaperwith
interesting articlesand features.Mainly Irish but does cover all the Celtic countries.
THE SCOTTISH BANNER, P.O.Box 34, Lewiston, NIY 1.4092,USA. Monthly newspaper on
Scottishmatters in the USA and Scotland.Worth subscribingto.