ON THE AGRICULTURE OF THE COUNTY OF SUTHERLAND. 9 



It is not the writer's intenti(jii to discuss what are known as 

 the " Sutherland clearances." Fitly termed a "vexed question," 

 it is outside the legitimate scope (ff lliis report, inasnnich as the 

 operations so named occurred about sixty years ago. It may 

 just l)e explained, in a word, what these clearances really were, 

 rrevious to 1811, the various straths that intersect the county 

 were peopled more or less densely by a class of small tenants, 

 who were dependent for their sustenance mainly on potatoes 

 and inferior and ill-fed cattle and sheep. Tiirougli severe 

 winters, which sadly thinned the ranks of their cattle and 

 siiee]), these tenants and their families were frequently reduced 

 to absolute dependence on their landlords and other superiors 

 for food sufficient to sustain life. It was thought desirable that 

 some change should be made in the condition of tlie people, 

 both for their own interests and with the view of properly 

 developing the resources of the county. The subject was re- 

 mitted by Lord Stafford, the first Duke of Sutherland, tf) eminent 

 agriculturists, who reported in effect " that the mountainous 

 parts of the estate, and indeed of the county of Sutherland, 

 were as much calculated for the maintenance of stock as they 

 were unfit for the hal Station of man;" and that it seemed " as 

 if it had been pointed out by nature that the system ftjr this 

 remote district, in order that it might bear its suitable import- 

 ance in contributing its share to the general stock of the country, 

 was to convert the mountainous districts into sheep-walks, and 

 to remove the inhabitants to the coast, or to the valleys near 

 the sea." The movements thus indicated were carried into effect 

 about the time already mentioned, — between 1810 and 1820, — the 

 great l)ulk of the small tenants and their families having been 

 settled near the coast, where a limited piece of land was allotted 

 to each at a merely nominal rent. It is stated also that a few, 

 who preferred that step, were conveyed to Canada at Lord Staf- 

 ford's expense ; but it is denied that the population of the 

 county was reduced to any appreciable extent by emigi-ation 

 due to these " clearances." As to what extent the removing of 

 tliese small tenants from the interior to the coast has affected 

 the population of Sutherland, i shall not hazard an opinion ; 

 but it may be observed, in treating of this portion of the sub- 

 ject, that the manner in which the county is mainly occupied, 

 as sheep-walks and deer forests — chiefly the former — naturally 

 implies a " maximum of territory, with a minimum of industry 

 and population." Captain John Henderson, in his admirable 

 work on the " Agriculture of Sutherland," published in 1812, 

 calls the county " a nursery of brave, hardy Highlanders," but 

 they have now become scarce ; and in bringing about the change 

 there have no doubt been more agencies at work than emigra- 

 tion and the introduction and extension of sheep-farming, — 



