CHANGES IN THE PROPRIETARY. 485 



Meanwhile, a change had taken place in the proprietor- 

 ship of Harris. Norman Macleod, who was chief of the 

 Siol Tormod at the time of the " forty-five," had ruined 

 his estates by his gambling propensities and his general 

 extravagance. He followed the general example set by the 

 Highland landlords in raising the rents of their tenantry, 

 a course of action which, in his case, was necessitated by 

 his debts. The added burdens placed upon their shoulders 

 overweighted his impoverished people, and when the great 

 wave of emigration spread over the Highlands, they felt 

 its irresistible influence. A wholesale denudation of the 

 estates was imminent in 1772, and it was only by the tact- 

 ful influence of the chief's grandson and successor, that the 

 situation was saved. By the death of Norman Macleod, in 

 1772, this grandson, afterwards the distinguished General 

 Norman Macleod, inherited the chiefship and the property, 

 with its debt of 50,000. For some years, the sale of 

 a portion of the estates had been in contemplation, and 

 while the General was abroad, his commissioners sold, in 

 1779, Harris and St. Kilda to Alexander Macleod,* late 

 captain of the East Indiaman Mansfield, for the sum of 

 15,000 ; a good bargain for the buyer. In 1804, Captain 

 Macleod 's son sold St. Kilda and the adjoining islands 

 to Colonel Donald Macleod of Achnagoyle for the sum 

 f l >35> whose son re-sold it, in 1871, to the present 

 Macleod of Macleod for the sum of 3,000. But Harris, 

 which had been in the possession of the chiefs of the Siol 

 Tormod for 500 years, passed permanently out of their 

 hands, and soon afterwards, its connexion with the Mac- 

 leods was finally severed. 



Captain Macleod pursued an enlightened policy in his 

 relations with his Harris tenantry. He determined to do 

 everything in his power to encourage the fishing industry. 

 He effected important improvements in the harbour accom- 

 modation ; built a storehouse for salt, casks, meal, &c. ; 



* Captain Macleod was the brother and successor of Norman Macleod of 

 Bernera, the man who attempted the slave " deal " in 1739, and who lived to be 

 heartily ashamed of his conduct. 



