Introduction

Callum MacAllan

"This was a dreadful time for the clan and an end to life in the township. The clan was being evicted by the factor and his men because the chief wanted to use the land for sheep farming. Read on to find out more about these awful times."

John MacAndrew - the factor

"These idle farmers have had three eviction notices but still they choose to ignore them. I used to have respect for them but on my return from the lowlands I saw just how lazy and pointless their existence was. They would be far better off earning their living from fishing or kelping. I have warned them that if they do not have all their possessions removed from their homes then I will do it myself. We've been trying to evict one family all day but foolishly they seem unwilling or unable. So my men must carry the old man out on his bed. I have to set fire to the thatch. You may think this is cruel but it's the only way to make sure this miserable family don't come back."


Mary MacTavish - a cottar

"In the name of God! What have we done to deserve this? How can the factor, MacAndrew, do this to us? His brutal men have thrown all our belongings outside. All the while the bairns were crying and clinging to my skirt. Oh! I wish my husband were here! He would have known what to do. The men were shouting at me in English - something about eviction notices. None of us ever imagined it would come to this. I begged them to give us more time but they pushed me outside. They are pulling every piece of furniture outside and dumping it on the vegetable patch. My wooden chest is smashed and our store of oats destroyed. Oh! What cruelty! What am I to do? Where shall my bairns sleep tonight? What will become of us?"


Callum MacAllan - a crofter

"My hands and arms are aching. This is tough work and we have to be on our way before night fall. I'm not sure where we're heading but if we have to build a new croft house then the timbers which I saved from my burning roof will come in useful. Many of them are too burnt to use but I should be able to save a few of them. My great grandfather built our croft house with his own hands. If I could, I'd take every stone with me. I know that what I leave behind will be taken by others, or worse still, be used by the new tenant to build walls to keep the wretched sheep in. I'll need the cart to carry our possessions. I just pray it will take the weight of the timbers."


William MacAndrew - the clan chief

"It is very expensive to run a castle: the repairs, the staff, and so on, and I am finding it difficult to pay for all the fine clothes, portraits and jewels my family needs. I need to find more money from somewhere. The crofters on my lands have struggled with failing crops and many of them have not been able to pay their rent. The only solution to my money problems was to rent the land once more to my cousin, John MacAndrew. He was my old tacksman but left Glenmorven five years ago to work in the south. On his return, he paid me a visit and told stories of rich landowners in the south who earn thousands of pounds from sheep farming. Now, that got me thinking. The money I would get from wool and mutton will increase my income. So, I gave John the job of factor of my estate and told him he could use the land for sheep farming on the condition that he evicts the people from the townships."


Donald MacDavid - a crofter's son

"I'm gathering up our belongings, just as father asked, but the plates are broken and I can't find the bowls anywhere. Our bedding has landed in the mud and it will take days to dry out. The mattress has ripped right open and the straw is soaking. Goodness knows where we'll sleep tonight; luckily I've managed to save a pile of peats so at least we can have a fire. I have packed our store of oats and potatoes safely in the creel; we don't know when we will be able to grow crops again. I must work quickly so father and I can load all we can carry onto the cart. We daren't leave our belongings unattended as they're bound to be stolen. The people here are so desperate they'll do anything for food and clothes."

Real Life

Patrick Sellar

Patrick Sellar was a factor for the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland. As well as carrying out his job, he had plans to make money for himself in Sutherland. He planned to rent large areas of land where he could graze sheep. This was because there was a lot of money to be made from wool. When the Duke of Sutherland wanted to make more money from his land, he turned to his factor, Patrick Sellar. Sellar was able to put his plan into action, but first he would have to clear away the people because his sheep needed all of the land for grazing.


Patrick Sellar and his men therefore turned the people out of their homes. Often they destroyed their possessions and set fire to their croft houses. Those who were evicted felt that he used unnecessary force and were angry and upset at being forced to leave their homes.

They reported his actions and eventually Patrick Sellar was arrested and put on trial. He did not believe that he was guilty of anything but was simply following the orders of his employers. He wrote a letter to the Duke of Sutherland telling him of the crimes he had been accused of and stating his innocence.

'I see that I am accused of two serious crimes. Firstly, that I caused the death of a woman whose house was burned down, and secondly, that my sheep have eaten the people's corn.'

'I am sure these things did not happen because I was cruel. If my sheep ate the people's corn because my shepherds were careless, the people should have complained to me and I would have done something about it.'


At his trial, Patrick Sellar was found not guilty. The crofters thought that this was because many members of the jury were local landowners. After the trial, Patrick Sellar stopped working as a factor but he continued making money from sheep farming in Sutherland for many years.


Donald MacLeod

Donald MacLeod lived in the Highlands at the time of the Clearances. He lived in Sutherland where hundreds of people were evicted. He wrote letters for a newspaper, the Edinburgh Weekly Chronicle, in 1857 telling of his memories of life in Sutherland. He called them 'Gloomy Memories'.

These are extracts from his fifth letter. They describe what happened and how some people reacted to the evictions. Many crofters couldn't understand why they had been evicted from their homes. They thought the home they lived in rightfully belonged to them.

'The houses had not been built by the landlord but by the tenants or by their ancestors. The people thought that they owned their houses by right.'

In some places, crofters were allowed to take wood from their old homes to use when they built new croft houses. In Sutherland, a far meaner approach was taken. The roofs were set on fire.

'In earlier evictions the people had been allowed to carry away this timber to build houses on their new crofts. Now, to make the people move more quickly, they set fire to the houses!'

The crofters were given eviction notices but many didn't do anything until it was too late. If their furniture was still in the house, it was burned with the croft house.

'After about two months warning, the factor's men started to clear the people by setting fire to the houses over their heads! The old people, women and others, then began to try and save the timber which they believed was their own. The factor's men worked with great speed. They demolished all before them. When they had knocked down all the houses… they finally set fire to the wreckage. In that way timber, furniture and everything else that could not be taken away at once, was utterly destroyed.'

After the croft houses had been destroyed, the families had to find new places to live. This caused great misery to many of the people. Some even lost their lives.

'Some old men took to the woods, wandering about in a state approaching…absolute insanity, and several of them, in this situation, lived only a few days,….and several children did not long survive their sufferings.'

Now travel to 1800 or 1821.