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ELIZABETH,
COUNTESS OF SUTHERLAND
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In the wake of two rebellions (1715
& 1745, and all that) emanating from her troublesome
northern outpost, the British Government set about the task
of systematically dismantling (destroying) the Clan system once
and for all.
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| Last of the Clan- by Thomas
Faed - One of the most heartbreaking paintings any
Scotsman can view - the original hangs in the Kelvingrove
Gallery in Glasgow |
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The clan chiefs and great landowners
were lured by the high profits and low overheads involved
in sheep farming, and the national disgrace that became known
as the Highland Clearances began.
The
tenants, whose previous loyalty and kinsmanship to the Chief
and the Clan had formed the backbone of his feudal power,
received no such reciprocal loyalty in the face of such vast
wealth as was now being promised. There was simply no need,
and no room, for hungry humans to feed.
Not
economically expedient in the slightest, old chap, oh dear
no.
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| The very unlovable Patrick Sellar |
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Between
1780 and 1850 they were removed en-masse to the coasts and
the islands, or to the industrialising lowlands or overseas.
Displaced and disillusioned, many starved to death or died
on overcrowded emigrant ships to the colonies.
Nobody
pursued the clearance policy with more vigour and cruel thoroughness
than Elizabeth, Countess of
Sutherland, and her name is still reviled in many homes with
Highland connections across the world to this day.
She and her estate factor, a thoroughly
nasty piece of work called Patrick Sellar, expelled families
for fun, often burning their homes to ensure they would not
return.
Patrick
Sellar wrote:
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"Lord
and Lady Stafford were pleased humanely to order the
new arrangement of this country. That the interior should
be possessed by Cheviot shepherds, and the people brought
down to the coast and placed in lots of less than three
acres, sufficient for the maintenance of an industrious
family, pinched enough to cause them to turn their attention
to the fishing. [of herring]
A
most benevolent action, to put these barbarous Highlanders
into a position where they could better associate together,
apply themselves to industry, educate their children,
and advance in civilisation."
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In
the Strath of Kildonan alone, just one small part of this
vast county, between 1811 and 1831 the population was decimated,
from 1574 people to just 257.
Such
betrayal of an ancient trust is unpardonable to many Highlanders,
and the depopulation of these glorious glens inorder to turn
them into enormous sheep runs was the final destruction of
a communal way of life that could be traced back to the Picts.
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| Inherited wealth is a fine thing
- Dunrobin Castle |
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Elizabeth's descendant, the current
Duke of Sutherland is still doing very nicely thankyou, and
if proof be needed of what vast wealth gained at the expense
of human suffering can bring you, just take a look at Dunrobin
Castle, the family cottage, next time you're passing. Also,
take a wee peek at the map on this Web site (Sutherland is the
second most northerly county).
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