Sutherland Reclamation. 
399 
the saving of peat for fuel. In the townships the land was held 
" run rig," like common field-land in England, but in smaller 
plots. The total rent was determined by the factor. A jury of 
elders classed the land according to its quality, and each class 
was then divided into as many lots as there were occupiers. 
Each tenant thus held several little isolated plots, and enjoyed a 
right of pasturage over the common hill-pasture in proportion 
to the extent of his tillage-land. The effect of this system was 
that, at the base of many of the mountains, and in every 
glen, there lived a race of hardy but not industrious crofters. 
Precarious crops of oats, here, and potatoes were raised, chiefly 
by the labour of the women, the men being averse to any regular 
work, and spending much of their time either in pursuit of game 
or in idleness. 
]Mr. James Loch, the commissioner of the estate, writing in 
1820, gives the following description of the cottages commonly 
to be found throughout the county at the beginning of the 
century. " Their huts were of the most miserable descrip- 
tion. They were built of turf dug from the most valuable 
portions of the mountain sides. Their roof consisted of the 
same material, which was supported upon a rude wooden frame 
constructed of crooked timber taken from the natural woods 
belonging to the proprietor, and of moss fir dug from the peat 
bogs. The situation they selected was uniformly on the edge 
of the cultivated land and of the mountain pastures. They 
were placed lengthways, and sloping with the declination of the 
hill. This position was chosen in order that all the filth might 
flow from the habitation without furthur exertion upon the part 
of the owner. Under the same roof, and entering at the same 
door, were kept all the domestic animals belonging to the 
establishment. The upper portion of the hut was appropriated 
to the use of the family. In the centre of this upper division 
was placed the fire, the smoke from which was made to circu- 
late throughout the whole hut, for the purpose of conveying 
heat to its furthest extremities ; the effect being to cover every- 
thing with a black glossy soot, and to produce the most evident 
injury to the appearance and eyesight of those most exposed to 
its influence. The floor was the bare earth, except near the 
fire-place, where it was rudely paved with rough stones. It was 
never levelled with much care, and it soon wore into every sort 
of inequality, according to the hardness of the respective soils 
of which it was composed. Every hollow formed a receptacle 
for whatever fluid happened to fall near it, where it remained 
until absorbed by the earth. It was impossible that it should 
ever be swept ; and, when the accumulation of filth rendered the 
place uninhabitable, another hut was erected in the vicinity of 
2 D 2 
