SCOTLAND 589 



problem of the Highland crofter is at least in process of settlement, and the operations 

 of the Congested Districts Board have certainly had beneficial effect. The number of 

 new holdings formed since the establishment of the Board (1898) is 6n, while 1068 croft- 

 ers have obtained enlargement of holdings. The last notable intervention of the Board 

 followed on the dispute between Lady Cathcart and her tenants at Castlebay, part of 

 her Hebridean possessions, which resulted in what was known as the Vatersay Raid 

 (1908). This, the latest crofter rising in the Islands, was at the time somewhat exag^ 

 gerated, although events proved that the tenants had reason for their action. The 

 inhabitants of Castlebay eke out a slender livelihood, partly by their labour on a 

 peculiarly sullen soil, and partly by fishing. The land is barren and scarcely adequate 

 to maintain one family on each holding. The difficulty arose from " squatters," members 

 of the crofter families, who set up huts on the family crofts. The inevitable congestion 

 followed. Opposite Castlebay is the Island of Vatersay, then occupied by grazing farms. 

 Some of the bolder spirits among the " squatters,' the pioneers being three lobster fisher- 

 men, descended on Vatersay, erected huts, and proceeded to agricultural activity. There 

 were some exciting encounters between the forces of law and the Vatersay " raiders," 

 culminating in the imprisonment of half a dozen of the latter, who were however released 

 before the expiry of their term of sentence. The Congested Districts Board intervened, 

 purchased the Island of Vatersay, where now is a contented crofter population, and 

 thus the trouble ended. But, while the exertions of the Congested Districts Board and 

 the Crofter Commissioners who fix fair rents have made for crofter contentment, the 

 Highland land problem has not yet reached solution. 



There is still considerable heart-burning over the question of deer forests. The 

 latest returns show that of those there are 198 with a total acreage of 3,369,936. The 

 Sutherland " clearances " which resulted in the compulsory emigration of fifteen thou- 

 sand people within a period of nine years, still rankle in the Highland memory. Doc- 

 trinaire land reformers are perhaps inclined to exaggerate the agricultural potentialities 

 of the deer forest. However, the passing of the Smallholders' Act of 1911 will enable 

 the fertility of those sporting estates to be put to the test. This Act, the most impor- 

 tant piece of land legislation in Scotland for many years, is a modification of the Pent- 

 land Bill, which aroused much controversy. It by no means goes the length of that, 

 drastic measure, although it retains its cardinal principle, enabling an agriculturist with 

 small capital to obtain compulsorily a holding of 50 acres, the landlord being compelled 

 to provide house and steading. But although now on the statute book it will be some 

 time before the Act can be operated to any great extent. The leases of large farms will 

 have to run out before the division of acres can be made. When, however, the Act 

 does become operative, it cannot fail to break up the historic land system of the country. 

 Among the smaller cultivators, whose position in Scotland has been peculiarly hard, their 

 few and scattered acres being rented considerably in excess of the acreage of the great 

 farms, the Act has naturally been hailed with satisfaction, nor has much opposition 

 been displayed towards it by the large farmers. 



The truth is that farming on an extensive scale is no longer the profitable business it 

 was, either for landlord or tenant. Agricultural rent in Scotland has fallen enormously, 

 the rental of large farms being on an average only half what it was twenty years ago. 

 And this drop, while seriously affecting the land owner, has not benefited the tenant. 

 The development of agricultural science and the growth of foreign competition have 

 rendered farming on an extensive scale a costly, and even a hazardous undertaking, 

 added to which the cost of agricultural labour has greatly advanced. The wages of 

 ploughmen have doubled, and in some cases trebled, and with the flow of emigration 

 and the scarcity of labour in the rural districts, they tend to increase. An important 

 factor in the case is the altered standard of living among the rural population. The 

 cheap and sustaining brose is now a rarity in cottar's house and bothy, and even porridge 

 has ceased to be the staple of the morning meal. On the other hand, much tea is drunk 

 and there is a large consumption of butcher meat, a commodity almost entirely unknown 

 among the Scottish peasantry of the past. Moreover, the Scottish hind has recently 



