The History of the Highland Clearances

by Alexander Mackenzie

Excerpt from The History of the Highland Clearances
Mackenzie's History of the Highland Clearances, with its thrilling and almost incredible narratives of oppression and eviction, has been for a long time out of print. In view of the current movement, described by Mr. Asquith as an "organised campaign against the present system of land tenure," it has occurred to the holder of the copyright, Mr. Eneas Mackay, publisher, Stirling, that, at the present juncture, a re-issue might be expediently prepared. He recognised that the story of the great upheaval which, early in the nineteenth century, took place among the Highland crofters would be of undoubted interest and utility to those who follow the efforts now put forth to settle the land question in Scotland. At his request I readily undertook the task of re-editing.
The circumstances, or points of view, having changed in no slight measure since the first appearance of the work, I decided to subject it to a pretty thorough revision - to excise a large mass of irrelevant matter and to introduce several fresh articles. Donald Macleod's "Gloomy Memories" are omitted out of considerations for space, and because it is proposed to reprint them shortly in a separate form.
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Genres: History, Nonfiction, Scotland

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1883

About the author

Alexander Mackenzie (1838 - 1898) was a Scottish writer, historian, politician and magazine editor.

In 1861 Mackenzie became apprenticed in the clothes trade selling Scottish cloth in Colchester. In 1869 he settled in Inverness, where he and his brother set up a clothes shop in Clach na Cudainn House. From his business premises he derived his nickname 'Clach na Cudainn' or simply 'Clach'. He later became an editor and publisher of the Celtic Magazine, and the Scottish Highlander. Mackenzie wrote numerous clan histories. He was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and a founder member of the Gaelic Society of Inverness,

Librarian note: There are more authors with this name. Go to Alexander Mackenzie (1764 - 1820) for the Scottish explorer.

Reviews

[Bettie]

Foreword by John Prebble

The author: Alexander Mackenzie, FSA Scot (1838 - 22 January 1898) was a Scottish historian, author, magazine editor and politician. He was born on a croft, in Gairloch. In 1869 he settled in Inverness, where he later became an editor and publisher of the Celtic Magazine, and the Scottish Highlander. Mackenzie wrote numerous clan histories. He was a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. In 1894, the Gaelic Society of Inverness elected Mackenzie as an 'Honorary Chieftain'.

Opening: Donald Macleod's "Gloomy Memories," originally appeared as a series of letters in the Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle.




"'The clergy also, whose duty it is to denounce the oppressors and aid the oppressed, have all, the whole seventeen parish ministers in Sutherlandshire, with one exception, found their account abetting the wrong-doers, exhorting the people to quiet submission...' Excerpt taken from Letter II"

Infinitely sad.

Excellent additional resource for serious investigation of the subject.

[Monty Milne]

Not long before I read this I visited Dunrobin Castle, still owned by the current head of Clan Sutherland. It is a most magnificent location, high on a lofty eminence with the North Sea crashing at its foot. As the current Earl is the 25th, my natural tendency to fawn on the aristocracy was given even greater impetus when I considered the antiquity of his line. My enthusiasm for the family has now entirely evaporated on reading more closely into their iniquitous role in the clearances. If I was a Sutherland, I would feel the force of the old Israelite proverb, “the fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”

This is a collection of documents which were near contemporary to the events they describe. They are sometimes disjointed, obviously biased, and often show understandably strong emotions. The Victorian prose can sometimes be tiresome for modern eyes. I am told this is “adapted from the writings of Alexander McKenzie”, but I am not sure exactly what this means.

The general story of the clearances is well known, but these accounts bring out the true horror of it and they have an authentic flavour. It is a deeply depressing tale. I was shocked to find a contribution by Harriet Beecher Stowe, who was entirely in favour of the clearances and seems to have had her head turned by the ghastly Sutherlands. They really were utterly odious, and it is no excuse for them to blame everything on their agents. The role of Church of Scotland ministers, who almost to a man failed their vocation in the most despicable way, is very disheartening. No wonder their church suffered multiple schisms and most of them ended up preaching to near empty churches.

At the heart of this is the deliberate misuse of the Highland clan system, whose chiefs had certain rights of land use akin to those of monarchs, but, in custom, very different to those of private landlords. Without any sense of noblesse oblige, the Sutherlands and others betrayed centuries of tradition and privilege in the pursuit of filthy lucre, causing terrible suffering to their blameless tenantry.

It wasn’t all bad. Some great landlords such as the Marquis of Breadalbane or “good” Sir John Macdonald were motivated by traditions of Tory paternalism and looked after their tenants instead of replacing them with sheep like the corrupt Whigs which the Sutherlands were. (Unfortunately “good” Sir John was succeeded by a “bad” Sir John). And many of the unjustly expelled, despite terrible suffering and cynical exploitation, were able to make new lives for themselves in Canada and elsewhere, where they became highly successful. Many thrived, while those who had expelled them often failed. This is pleasing to read. The Sutherlands, alas, still live high on the hog. Reading this made me wonder, for the first time in my life, that it might have been a good thing if the 19th Countess of Sutherland and Madame Guillotine had made one another’s acquaintance.

[Emma]

This is one of very few written accounts of the Highland Clearances. It's out of copyright and can be downloaded free and legally here: https://archive.org/details/historyof...

For further reading, another great book about the Clearances is "The Highland Clearances" by John Prebble. It's available at Amazon, the Book Depository and others.

[Linda]

Keep in mind this was written in the late 19th century. It is a sad commentary on an untold story of how many came to the new world from Scotland.

[J.C.]

“A Black Page in Highland History” prefaces the book’s title, on the front cover of this old hardback copy I have had for years. I’ve delved into it from time to time and have picked it up again before passing it on to my granddaughter who has chosen to do her undergraduate thesis on this subject.
For me Alexander MacKenzie’s work is the definitive volume on The Highland Clearances, which occurred over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; a shameful and horrific period in our history that has left us still with large swathes of the Highlands destitute of populace – now the “fairy ground for romance and poetry” as Sir Walter Scott called it. The introduction to this book gives the full quotation:
“In too many instances the Highlands have been drained, not of their superfluity of population, but of the whole mass of the inhabitants, dispossessed by an unrelenting avarice, which will one day be found to have been as short-sighted as it is selfish and unjust. Meantime, the Highlands may become the fairy ground for romance and poetry, or the subject of experiment for the professors of speculation, historical and economical. But, if the hour of need should come, the pibroch may sound through the deserted region, but the summons will remain unanswered.”
This last comment is a reference to the loyalty and willingness of the Highland clans over centuries to fight for their clan chief, or for the British Army (cf Alasdair MacLeod’s novel, No Great Mischief - meaning if should they be sacrificed in battle):
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
This recognition of the willing obedience and loyalty of the Highland people lends bitter weight to the abominable cruelty with which they were treated with contempt by the overlords who found that the land was more profitable for sheep than for rents from tenants. The book is indeed a volume of weighty evidence for the disgraceful way in which an entire people was forced into homelessness, starvation and emigration. That Canada, in particular, is now enriched by their descendants (those that survived) is tribute to both peoples, Canadian and Highlanders – the shame that lies upon their oppressors in Scotland is still testified to in Canada. Much of the material in Alexander MacKenzie’s volume comes from one Donald MacLeod, himself a victim of eviction, who from Canada wrote “Gloomy Memories”, digitalised here:
https://dn790009.ca.archive.org/0/ite...
The section on Barra, where I live, is from pages 162 to 169. Donald MacLeod, a journalist wrote letter after letter, including to Harriet Beecher Stowe, who had exonerated the Duchess of Sutherland from blame – the Sutherland evictions and forced emigrations are acknowledged to have been the worst, the name of Patrick Sellars, the main executor of this, still reviled in the Highlands – although he was also exonerated, by judge and jury. I also recommend Consider the Lilies by Iain Crichton Smith, a short novel:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...
The individual stories set out by Alexander MacKenzie and Donald MacLeod are harrowing, and undeniable. However, Alexander MacKenzie’s book also contains appendices giving other evidence of mistreatment, in the form of “Notable Dicta” and the population statistics as well as the final appendix giving notes. The poverty of the Highlanders following the demise of the kelp industry after the Napoleonic Wars and the failure over several years of the potato crop, gave rise to national concern, but funds raised from this source were misused by the overlords, not to improve conditions but to organise forced emigration. Some of the worst offences against families were perpetrated by ministers of the Church of Scotland, and Donald MacLeod makes a loud outcry against the behaviour of these so-called Christians across the land, in whatever capacity they were acting.
By contrast, there was huge concern across Canada for these ragged, pitiful people who had been promised help, money and land, and found that there was none. They couldn’t even explain their situation – they spoke only Gaelic. Canadian newspapers highlighted their plight; but still the Highlanders died by the roadside, stretching themselves across a shallow grave that had been dug for them by their families. Like the sheep I used to see when I first moved to Barra in the late seventies, dying by the roadside because crofts were overstocked, due to a £5 payment for each sheep owned. The grants were stopped, or limits placed on the number of sheep per acre of land, I don’t know which. That issue was addressed, rightly so. Nothing was done to alleviate the suffering of the people who died of shock, cold, starvation and homelessness during the Clearances. Nothing was done about the malefactors, either.
So it goes.

[Janneke]

Note: most of the material in this book was written by Alexander Mackenzie and first published in 1883.