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The Clearances  (page 2)

Not all landlords were as heartless or avaricious as Sutherland. Times were changing in the Highlands: the clan system had been destroyed and old loyalties were fading from memory. There was a population explosion and the land could no longer feed the people. Landlords took to clearing the land of people when they found it was more profitable to raise sheep. It really wasn't until the second Clearances (the second half of the 19th century) that the islands were affected. They had a profitable business in collecting and processing seaweed for potash used in glass manufacturing. This was a labor intensive work, which created a need for working people in the islands. The market fell out of seaweed following the end of the Napoleonic wars when European sources of potash again became available.
Then the islands began to be affected. I believe, various MacLean chiefs were no longer landlords and could neither evict or help their people. An act of history which saved them from being vilified by later generations the way chiefs like MacDonald of Skye were? Possibly. We can only guess at what might have happened had MacLeans been landlords. Their own financial situations might have dictated that they do likewise. The MacLeans of Duart remained landless until this century when Duart was reacquired and restored. Lochbuie is still landless.
Some landlords did try to find/create work for their tenants. Money was invested in the village of Tobermory on Mull in an attempt to create a fishing economy, but as in other areas, farmers and herdsmen were reluctant to go to sea. I have never read details, but have seen several comments that during the second Clearances, things were particular desperate on Mull. Many became ill and starved. Sorley MacLean has said he knew very little about the Clearances until he went to Mull as a school teacher in the 1930's and what he saw left in the aftermath, greatly affected him. This is a theme that runs throughout much of his poetry.
And that, my cousins, is why we live on 6 continents instead of 1 island.
Feumaidh mi falbh.
Mary McLean Hoff. Previous Page