Old Photograph Croft Cottage South Uist Scotland

Old photograph of a Crofters cottage on South Uist, Scotland. South Uist was held by the MacDonalds of Clan Ranald who made a good living from kelp harvesting owing to the demand for kelp around the turn of the 19th century. South Uist was sold to Lt. Colonel John Gordon of Cluny in 1837 and the fortunes of the island's tenants went downhill from that point. He initiated Highland Clearances to make way for sheep farming, supplanting the crofters with farmers from the Borders, who brought flocks of Blackface sheep. As a result, there was large scale emigration from the island.



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