Quick Book Review: The Lowland Clearances by Aitchison and Cassell
This is a fascinating and, frankly, underappreciated book about a forgotten era of Scottish and British history. It helps to set the Highland Clearances into the wider historical context of the Age of Improvement.
What were The Lowland Clearances?
The main topic of this book is the Lowland Clearances, or Age of Improvement, in Scotland — a period between 1760 and 1830, during which many tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands, of rural tenants lost their homes.
It was a silent revolution in the practices of farming, rural agriculture, economics, and rural society. It was a period that witnessed large landowners turfing out their small tenant farmers and replacing them with larger farm tenants and sheep. Generally speaking, the landowners were looking for increased rents, a reduced burden of poor law, and wanted to improve their estates using modern farming techniques, driven by the desire to fulfil the needs of the growing industrial centres of the British Isles.
Generally, tenants who were removed from their land went from small-scale farming to either rural industry, day labouring, the slums of Glasgow and Edinburgh, or migration. Migration was actively encouraged by the government and landowners, and a large portion of the populations of North America and Australia can trace their lineage and family history back to an eviction notice given during this time.
The haunting thing during this time was that even the Church preached that it was a moral thing for the landed class to do. This was part of the reason the Church of Scotland still suffers from low attendance even today.
However, in Galloway, where it started, the landlords did not provide ships for migration or workers’ cottages. Many were removed from their homes and wandered the land homeless. This eventually led to ‘levellers’ pushing over the walls and organising confrontation with landowners. The lessons of Galloway taught Scottish landowners that their actions needed moderating.
This process was later echoed in the Highlands, in a manner that was a combination of the perfection of the technique of clearance with the racism against the Gaels, except for a little of the moderation that happened in the Lowlands.
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My Thoughts
Both words ‘Clearances’ and ‘Improvement’ are loaded words. Agriculture during this period was vastly improved, and at the same time, a whole way of life and corresponding livelihoods were stolen as well. The vast improvements could have accommodated the local populations with a little thought and a reduction in greed. The implementers of A.I. should take note.
This is an excellent book. It shines a light on a forgotten and ignored part of Scottish history that has been ignored for far too long. It is a simple read, as the authors have focused on readability over academic lexicon and show a keen eye towards seeing the period as a story to be told. They still explain the wider economic, cultural, and societal impacts, and they do so in a manner that is accessible, learned, and empathetic.
The book is available on Amazon and, of course, in all good bookshops.
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