Highland Clearances Cottages On Visit To The Isle Of Mull Inner Hebrides Scotland

Tour Scotland travel video clip, with Scottish music, of Highland Clearances cottages on ancestry visit to the Isle Of Mull. Mull suffered massively during the Highland Clearances. Over the centuries Mull’s population increased to 10,638 in 1831 but first the Potato Famine and then the Clearances rapidly reduced this number. By the 20th Century much of the population had emigrated and there were more sheep on Mull than people. In the history of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland many crofts, villages and churches fell into ruin in the late 18th or more usually the early 19th century. These times were a dark chapter in Scotland’s history, as the highland social structure was destroyed in the process. This is what is known as the Highland clearances, when the population of small farmers, known as Crofters, who used to raise black cattle and drive them in herds to the lowlands to sell were unable to produce enough rent to keep the estate owners satisfied. They were evicted from their homes, often with little regard for their well being, as their goods were thrown out of their small cottages which were then demolished. The people had to go to the cities, or emigrate to America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. The clans such as Macintosh, Campbell and Grant had ruled their lands in the highlands for hundreds of years. The Highland Clearances changed all that however, and altered a distinct and autonomous way of life. Between 1811 and 1821, around 15,000 people were removed from land owned by the Duchess of Sutherland and her husband the Marquis of Stafford to make room for 200,000 sheep. Some of those turned out had literally nowhere else to go; many were old and infirm and so starved or froze to death, left to the mercy of the elements. In 1814 two elderly people who did not get out of their cottage in time were burned alive in Strathnaver. In 1826, the Isle of Rum was cleared of its tenants who were paid to go to Canada, travelling on the ship James to dock at Halifax. In 1851, 1500 tenants on the Island of Barra, Outer Hebrides, were tricked to a meeting about land rents; they were then overpowered, tied up and forced onto a ship to America. This clearing of the population is a main contributor to the massive world-wide Scottish diaspora and why so many Americans and Canadians can trace their ancestry to the proud, ancient clans of Scotland All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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