Old Photograph Skail Hotel Strathnaver Scotland

Old photograph of the Skail hotel in Strathnaver, Scottish Gaelic: Srath Nabhair, on the North coast of Sutherland, Scotland. The term Strathnaver has a broader use as the name of an ancient province also known as the Mackay Country, Scottish Gaelic: Dùthaich MhicAoidh, once controlled by the Clan Mackay and extending over most of northwest Sutherland. Strathnaver, like many places in the Highlands, was involved in the Highland Clearances, with the eviction of tenants to allow the creation of large sheep farms. These generated a higher rental income to the Sutherland Estate than the mixed farms that existed in the inland areas of the strath before clearance. A second objective of clearance was to overcome the recurrent years of famine that afflicted the region. The first clearances in Strathnaver involved only 28 families, an estimated 140 people. Eviction notices were given in December 1813 by Patrick Sellar, the estate factor. A much larger clearance was undertaken in Strathnaver under the factorship of Suther in 1819 involving 236 families, approximately 1,180 people. The result of this clearance activity was the transformation of the strath from traditional semi-subsistence agriculture to sheep farming.



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