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After the rebellion was crushed, the government of the
day decided to abolish every trace of feudalism. It confiscated the lands
of the rebels, and mercilessly slaughtered many chiefs and clansmen
engaged in the war. What was termed "
Sheepskin Titles" were given to all loyal chiefs and
landholders. These men had no right to the lands thus acquired further
than royal favour. The land was the common property of the tribe or clan
from time immemorial, so that no process of law could dispossess them. The
clansmen, however, were helpless. They had no money, they had lost favour,
they were rebels, and so had perforce to submit to the loss of their
ancestral patrimonies. The loyal chiefs and landlords saw they had
acquired unwonted wealth and importance. They had the government and
government forces behind them, and so could dictate their own terms to
their tenants. The Stewarts found the great chiefs and barons of their day
very troublesome men to manage. They nominally owed allegiance to the
King, but they exercised the power of life and death at their own sweet
wills within their own territories, and settled their own quarrels upon
the battlefield without reference to the government. As a rule their
quarrels with their neighbours were mostly minor affairs; but the loser
frequently made appeals to the King for redress, so
that if the King or some influential noble had any bones to pick with the
winner this exerciser of the feudal right was frequently punished. It is
said that James V found Macdonald of the Isles a troublesome man to
manage. James was advised to offer Macdonald a "Sheepskin Title" to his
lands as a possible means of curbing this turbulent and powerful chief. He
accordingly despatched an invitation to the chief to come and pay his
usual homage at Court. Macdonald selected 100 of his best men and
proceeded to Edinburgh. Every chief and feudal lord in those days
appeared at Court with his tail (followers). They were royally
entertained, and at a suitable moment James presented Macdonald with a
fine parchment roll. "What is this ?"
queried Macdonald. "A Royal Charter," said the King, "which
gives you the sole right to all the lands now held by your clan." "What
!" cried the indignant
chief, "a Macdonald hold his lands by a ‘Sheepskin!’; no, no, Your
Majesty; Macdonald will hold his lands by the might of his right hand,"
and immediately returned to his Keep in the Western Isles. This incident
was the very essence of feudalism, but 1745 saw its downfall in the
British Isles.
CROFTS AND CROFTERS.
These words are Anglican modifications of the Gaelic
words "croit" and "croiter." A croit signified a small area of land
sufficient for the clansman to cultivate—anything up to five or ten
acres—while the croiter was the occupier of the croit. The croit was
solely arable land; while in addition the people had hundreds or thousands
of acres of commonages whereon to pasture any stock they possessed or to
cut peat or turf for the purposes of fuel. The croiter built his own house
according to his requirements. Sometimes it was a good stone building
roofed with turf and thatch, and sometimes it was a plain turf cabin.
These lands and homes descended by right in the family while any member of
it lived. They could not be dispossessed, and they could not sell it. This
was a tribal law or custom from time immemorial. Their rights were the
rights of conquest, and hence they saw no sense in the so-called Sheepskin
titles. The owners at some stage in the life of the community rendered
military or other service, and this gave their descendants a perpetual
right to the croit and its appurtenances. After 1745 all land in the
Highlands was held by the odious Sheepskin. The Crofters were compelled to
pay a yearly rent for their crofts, and were merely tenants at will, so
could be evicted at a moment’s notice; while they were completely
dispossessed of all commonages. The people had little or no money, and the
crofts were not large enough to carry stock whereby payment could be made.
There were no public works and no towns or cities in their neighbourhood,
hence no means of earning money. In this dilemma a terrible wail went up
from a helpless people; but no one offered succour, so they were permitted
to die or enter into slavery in other spheres and lands. Many of the new
landlords were strangers who had no sympathies with the people and,
indeed, were glad of the opportunity to be rid of them. In some instances
the landlords and the governments combined and offered free passages to
all who chose to go to America. In other instances the people were
permitted to build new villages along useless areas of land on the coast
and find a living as fishermen. Many of them removed into the towns in the
south of Scotland to find a living as beggars or labourers. Few of them
were tradesmen, and as few adapted for the constant toil of the general
labourer. Most of them were not English speakers, so that their lot on
being driven out of their ancestral homes was indeed desperate. At length
the great Pitt heard their groans. England at this time had troubles to
contend with in Ireland, Canada, and the Continent. Soldiers were in
demand, and Pitt saw in this an opportunity of gaining the goodwill of
numbers of the struggling and discontented clansmen. He sent Duchesses and
other ladies of standing into the Highlands, and by means of a kiss and a
yellow Geordie (sovereign) they induced thousands of the clansmen to
accept the King’s shilling. These men formed their own territorial
regiments, were officered by the scions of their own clans, and greatly
distinguished themselves in Ireland, Canada, and the Continent. Many of
those sent to Ireland remained there, and their descendants form a
considerable part of the Scottish settlement in the North of Ireland. The
whirligig of time is a strange thing. In the fifth century (Dalreadic
rebellion) numbers of the Irish clans were forced to migrate into
Caledonia. Now, about 1800, numbers of the descendants of these migrants
returned to Ireland. What strange tricks does not Father Time play with
the sons of men!
SHEEP AND WOOL
About this time Cheviot sheep were being introduced
into the depopulated parts of the Highlands. Sheep of a poor quality were
common to the country for centuries, so also were goats, and in many
districts the latter were the principal source of the animal food among
the inhabitants. Owing to the demand for wool and the rise of the woollen
industries and capitalism, wool growing became a profitable industry. In
those circumstances goats were abolished, and the heavy-fleeced Cheviot
took their place everywhere. Sheep required extensive areas of open
country to roam over, and what better use could the hills and crofts of
Scotland be put to than the growing of wool? Many of the landlords thought
that sheep would pay them much better than crofters, and so Cheviot sheep
were gradually introduced. The poverty-stricken clansmen now ekeing out an
existence upon a ledge of rock at the seaside were sorely tempted to
relieve their hunger from amongst these new-corners. There was also
something of the old Roman lex taliones (retaliation) in the
matter, for had not they and their owners driven the people from their
ancestral homes? The clansmen never acknowledged nor saw any moral guilt
in the part they took in the rebellion. They were merely following the
custom of ages. The chiefs asked them to follow, and it was not for them
(as clansmen) to question the decision of their chiefs. Whatever guilt
might be attached to the actions of the chiefs, the clansmen acknowledged
none. There were no police in the country districts, so that "slaodadh
" (dragging), or seizing of a sheep, was
considered no theft. Gradually, however, men were appointed as watchers,
the "slaodhers" (marauders) were caught, and on conviction were sent to
Australia to raise new flocks. The caora-glas" (grey sheep) became an
object of hatred, so that shepherds and sheep-owners were ridiculed as "boddich
nan buth" (old men of the shops) or, in other words, industries and
capitalism, indicating that shops and money were now to replace men. It is
curious how time brings its revenge. To-day the sons and daughters of
these sheep-lifters are amongst the best and most enterprising
sheep-farmers in the world. The conduct of the lairds and the results to
the people may be likened to Samson’s riddle to the Philistines:
" Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of
the strong came forth sweetness." How strange are the ways of Providence,
and how we misread the signs of the times! These Alpine people make the
best of settlers in all new lands, as they love the solitude and communing
with Nature; while the turmoil of towns and industries have little charm
for them. |
