The Highland Clearances
Brother Tom Messer, Editor, The Scotian

In the early decades of the 19th Century - the 1810's, the 1820's, the 1830's - the "Clearances" was a tragic chapter in the lives of the many thousands of people who lived in the Scottish Highlands. People were evicted from the crofts and cottages their families had lived in for generations. Why? You could point the fingers of blame at the widespread introduction of sheep farming which generated more revenue for greedy landlords than the rents they charged their crofter - fishermen tenants; you could talk about clan chiefs neglecting their ancestral responsibilities. But, as they would say nowadays, there's more to it than that......

At that time in history there were, in reality, TWO SCOTLAND'S - yes, two Scotland's; the heavily-populated Highlands with its land, agricultures and harvest problems, and the more prosperous Lowlands which was facing its economic future with renewed confidence, and more importantly, enjoying a share in England's trading relationship with the New World countries overseas....