Unintentional Monuments continued...
At the time of the evictions, many of the cleared families left Sutherland and went to Caithness in search of employment: the majority moved to the coasts or to towns such as Wick, but others settled inland. Morrison notes that the population of Latheron Parish, Caithness rose by some 67% between the years 1811 and 1821, and suggests this can be partly attributed to the Clearances (1996: 141). In the New Statistical Account of 1845, Davidson describes how “The old hovels are disappearing and neat substantial houses, having vents and chimney tops in one or both ends, are occupying their places” (quoted in Morrison 1996: 146). The ‘improved’ crofts the incomers built were, however, often only occupied for a short time—perhaps one or two generations—before the process of eviction was repeated and their new landlords followed the trend in turning their estates into sheepfarms. The Caithness Clearances were a much more piece-meal affair, however, and many crofts remained occupied until relatively recently: some, indeed, still are.
It is likely that the Crofts of Benachielt were built around this time. Although the family names of the residents of these crofts listed on the 1841 census—McKays, Sutherlands, Munros, McKenzies, Hendersons, Gunns, Campbells—were known in Caithness before the evictions (George Watson pers. comm.), it is likely that at least some of them had arrived from Sutherland during the Clearances. Nestled in a landscape of stone circles, brochs and legends, the crofts occupy a prominent position along the ‘Causeymire Road’ looking south-west towards Morven, the Scarabens and the ‘homelands’ of Sutherland beyond.
The extensive ruins at Leathad Breac in Dunbeath Strath and the planned village square of Broubster near Loch Calder are other good examples of ‘improved’ settlements. While I was wandering around the ruins of Broubster Village, a man called to me in a Yorkshire accent, “You’re not moving the stones or anything are you…destroying history like?” The ruins lie in part of his croft’s common grazing land. This man had come to Caithness from Bradford to escape city life. The other (native) share-holders now lived in Australia. It is a familiar pattern in the region. He told me that he sometimes has trouble with local kids who push over the crumbling walls and take the stones. The last inhabitant of the village did not leave until 1952.
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Our homes are eaten out by time... |
Such sites might lack the symbolic resonance of the Clearance townships themselves, but their often extensive and well-preserved remains make them some of the most visible monuments to the evictions. They are also poignant reminders of the continued economic depression of the region with its consequent depopulation: difficulties that some would trace to the Clearances and to the archaic property rights that made them possible. Examples of such places can be seen from the main through roads and therefore catch the attention of tourists who might be inclined to ask about them or look deeper into the local history of the area.
Unlike the highly visible ruins of the ‘improved’ crofts, the remains of the Clearance settlements are not so easy to spot. The most prominent feature is often the massive stone head- or ring-dyke which separated the agricultural land from the rough grazing. The buildings themselves are sometimes little more than long rectangles of stones and small boulders breaking through the turf. This is not necessarily the result of later stone robbing, but reflects the volatile nature of the other materials used in their construction as a contemporary description makes clear:
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long-house remains, Dailmallart |
Fairhurst lists about sixty separate townships or clachans in Strathnaver prior to the Clearances, some housing only two or three families others in excess of fifteen (1969: 137). As far as I am aware only two of these settlements have ‘on site’ interpretations (Rosal and Achinlochy) and, unlike the upstanding ruins of the later crofts which may be said to ‘speak for themselves’, the vast majority of them are incomprehensible to those that do not have ‘expert’ or ‘local’ knowledges. There are various plans to make the Clearance landscapes more accessible. For instance the Highland Council have proposed a “Gloomy Memories” trail of Strathnaver using a combination of waterproof route cards, interpretive panels at the sites and ‘in car’ tape cassettes, “providing an audio guide to the strath, with local stories, voices and music” (Highland Council n.d.). It should be noted, however, that enthusiasm for this ‘opening up’ of the landscape for ‘heritage tourism’ is not unanimous, as was revealed in the public meetings organised as part of the Highland Interpretive Strategy Project. One comment arising out of a meeting in Bettyhill seems especially significant: “We do not like to think of our future as tied to [a] heritable past—as some kind of Walt Disney Experience” (MacLeod & Rudie 1997: 101).
An alternative initiative is the Highland Clearances Trail compiled by Rob Gibson, this is a gazetteer of ‘Clearance sites’ throughout the Highlands, including National Grid References and brief descriptions of places of interest such as Clearance villages, museums, (intentional) monuments and so on. I asked Gibson what kinds of people purchase the book?
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