THE CAUSES THAT LED TO EMIGRATION.
The social system of the Highlanders that bound the members of the clan
together was conducive to the pride of ancestry and the love of home.
This pride was so directed as to lead to the most beneficial results on
their character and conduct: forming strong attachments, leading to the
performance of laudable and heroic actions, and enabling the poorest to
endure the severest hardships without a murmur, and never complaining of
what they received to eat, or where they lodged, or of any other
privation. Instead of complaining of the difference in station or
fortune, or considering a ready obedience to the call of the chief as a
slavish oppression, they felt convinced that they were supporting their
own honor in showing their gratitude and duty to the generous head of
the family. In them it was a singular and characteristic feature to
contemplate with early familiarity the prospect of death, which was
considered as merely a passage from this to another state of existence,
enlivened by the assured hope that they should meet their friends and
kindred in a fairer and brighter world than this. This statement may be
perceived in the anxious care with which they provided the necessary
articles for a proper and becoming funeral. Even the poorest and most
destitute endeavored to save something for this last solemnity. It was
considered to be a sad calamity to be consigned to the grave among
strangers, without the attendance and sympathy of friends, and at a
distance from the family. If a relative died away from home, the
greatest exertions were made to carry the body back for interment among
the ashes of the forefathers. A people so nurtured could only
contemplate with despair the idea of being forced from the land of their
nativity, or emigrating from that beloved country, hallowed by the
remains of their kindred.
The Highlander, by nature, was opposed to emigration. All his instincts,
as well as training, led him to view with delight the permanency of home
and the constant companionship of those to whom he was related by ties
of consanguinity. Neither was he a creature of conquest, and looked not
with a covetous eye upon the lands of other nations. He would do battle
in a foreign land, but the Highlands of Scotland was his abiding place.
If he left his native glen in order to become a resident elsewhere,
there must have been a special or overpowering reason. He never
emigrated through choice. Unfortunately the simplicity of his nature,
his confiding trust, and love of chief and country, were doomed to
receive such a jolt as would shake the very fibres of his being, and
that from those to whom he looked for support and protection. Reference
here is not made to evictions awful crimes that commenced in 1784, but
to the change, desolation and misery growing out of the calamity at
Culloden.
Notwithstanding the peculiar characteristics of the Highlander, there
would of necessity arise certain circumstances which would lead some,
and even many, to change their habitation. From the days of the Crusader
downwards he was more or less active in foreign wars; and coming in
contact with different nationalities his mind would broaden and his
sentiment change, so that other lands and other people would be viewed
in a more favorable light. While this would not become general, yet it
would follow in many instances. Intercourse with another people,
racially and linguistically related, would have a tendency to invite a
closer affiliation. Hence, the inhabitants of the Western Isles had
almost constant communication, sometimes at war, it is true, but
generally in terms of amity, with the natives of North Ireland. It is
not surprising then that as early as 1584, Sorley Buy MacDonald should
lead a thousand Highlanders, called Redshanks, of the clans or families
of the MacDonalds, Campbells, and Magalanes, into Ulster, and in time
intermarry with the Irish, and finally become the most formidable
enemies of England in her designs of settling that country. Some of the
leading men were forced to flee on account of being attainted for
treason, having fought under Dundee in 1689, or under Mar in 1715, and
after Culloden in 1745 quite a hegira took place, many of whom found
service in the army of France. Individuals, seeking employment, found
their way into England before 1724. Although there was a strong movement
for England from the Lowlands, yet many were from the Highlands, to whom
was partly due the old proverb, "There never came a fool from Scotland."
These emigrants, from the Highlands, were principally those having
trades, who sought to better their condition.
Seven hundred prisoners taken at Preston were sold as slaves to some
West Indian merchants, which was a cruel proceeding, when it is
considered that the greater part of these men were Highlanders, who had
joined the army in obedience to the commands of their chiefs. Wholly
unfitted for such labor as would be required in the West Indies and
unacclimated, their fate may be readily assumed. But this was no more
heartless than the execution in Lancashire of twenty-two of their
companions.
The specifications above enumerated have no bearing on the emigration
which took place on a large scale, the consequences of which, at the
time, arrested the attention of the nation. The causes now to be
enumerated grew out of the change of policy following the battle of
Culloden. The atrocities following that battle were both for vengeance
and to break the military spirit of the Highlanders. The legislative
enactments broke the nobler spirit of the people. The rights and welfare
of the people at large were totally ignored, and no provisions made for
their future welfare. The country was left in a state of commotion and
confusion resulting from the changes consequent to the overthrow of the
old system, the breaking up of old relationship, and the gradual
encroachment of Lowland civilization, and methods of agriculture. While
these changes at first were neither great nor extensive, yet they were
sufficient to keep the country in a ferment or uproar. The change was
largely in the manner of an experiment in order to find out the most
profitable way of adaptation to the new regime. These experiments
resulted in the unsettling of old manners, customs, and ideas, which
caused discontent and misery among the people. The actual change was
slow; the innovations, as a rule, began in those districts bordering on
the Lowlands, and thence proceeded in a northwesterly direction.
In all probability the first shock felt by the clansmen, under the new
order of things, was the abolishing the ancient clan system, and the
reduction of the chiefs to the condition of landlords. For awhile the
people failed to realize this new order of affairs, for the gentlemen
and common people still continued to regard their chief in the same
light as formerly, not questioning but their obedience to the head of
their clan was independent of legislative enactment. They were still
ready to make any sacrifice for his sake, and felt it to be their duty
to do what they could for his support. They still believed that the
chief's duty to his people remained unaltered, and he was bound to see
that they did not want, and to succor them in distress.
The first effects in the change in tribal relations were felt on those
estates that had been forfeited on account of the chiefs and gentlemen
having been compelled to leave the country in order to save their lives.
These estates were entrusted to the management of commissioners who
rudely applied their powers under the new arrangement of affairs. When
the chiefs, now reduced to the position of lairds, began to realize
their condition, and the advantage of making their lands yield them as
large an income as possible, followed the example of demanding a rent. A
rental value had never been exacted before, for it was the universal
belief that the land belonged to the clan in common. Some of the older
chiefs, then living, held to the same opinion, and among such, a change
was not perceptible until a new landlord came into possession. The
gentlemen of the clan and the tacksmen, or large farmers, firmly
believed that they had as much right to a share of the lands as the
chief himself. In the beginning the rent was not high nor more than the
lands would bear; but it was resented by the tacksmen, deeming it a
wanton injury inflicted in the house of their dearest friend. They were
hurt at the idea that the chief,--the father of his people--should be
controlled by such a mercenary idea, and to exercise that power which
gave him the authority to lease the lands to the highest bidder. This
policy, which they deemed selfish and unjust, naturally cut them to the
quick. They and their ancestors had occupied their farms for many
generations; their birth was as good and their genealogy as old as that
of the chief himself, to whom they were all blood relations, and whose
loyalty was unshaken. True, they had no written document, no "paltry
sheep-skin," as they called it, to prove the right to their farms, but
such had never been the custom, and these parchments quite a modern
innovation, and, in former times, before a chief would have tried to
wrest from them that which had been given by a former chief to their
fathers, would have bitten out his tongue before he would have asked a
bond. There can be no doubt that originally when a chief bestowed a
share of his property upon his son or other near relation, he intended
that the latter should keep it for himself and his descendants. To these
tacksmen it was injury enough that an alien government should interfere
in their domestic relations, but for the chief to turn against them was
a wound which no balm could heal. Before they would submit to these
exactions, they would first give up their holdings; which many of them
did and emigrated to America, taking with them servants and sub-tenants,
and enticing still others to follow them by the glowing accounts which
they sent home of their good fortune in the favored country far to the
west. In some cases the farms thus vacated were let to other tacksmen,
but in most instances the new system was introduced by letting the land
directly to what was formerly sub-tenants, or those who had held the
land immediately from the ousted tacksmen.
There was a class of lairds who had tasted the sweets of southern
luxuries and who vied with the more opulent, increased the rate of rent
to such an extent as to deprive the tacksmen of their holdings. This
caused an influx of lowland farmers, who with their improved methods
could compete successfully against their less favored northern
neighbors. The danger of southern luxuries had been foreseen and an
attempt had been made to provide against it. As far back as the year
1744, in order to discourage such things, at a meeting of the chiefs of
the Isle of Skye, Sir Alexander MacDonald of MacDonald, Norman MacLeod
of MacLeod, John MacKinnon of MacKinnon, and Malcolm MacLeod of Raasay,
held in Portree, it was agreed to discontinue and discountenance the use
of brandy, tobacco and tea.
The placing of the land in the hands of aliens was deplored in its
results as may be seen from the following portrayal given by Buchanan in
his "Travels in the Hebrides," referring to about 1780:--"At present
they are obliged to be much more submissive to their tacksmen than ever
they were in former times to their lairds or lords. There is a great
difference between that mild treatment which is shown to sub-tenants and
even scallags, by the old lessees, descended of ancient and honorable
families, and the outrageous rapacity of those necessitous strangers who
have obtained leases from absent proprietors, who treat the natives as
if they were a conquered and inferior race of mortals. In short, they
treat them like beasts of burden; and in all respects like slaves
attached to the soil, as they cannot obtain new habitations, on account
of the combinations already mentioned, and are entirely at the mercy of
the laird or tacksman. Formerly, the personal service of the tenant did
not usually exceed eight or ten days in the year. There lives at present
at Scalpa, in the isle of Harris, a tacksman of a large district, who
instead of six days' work paid by the sub-tenants to his predecessor in
the lease, has raised the predial service, called in that and in other
parts of Scotland, _manerial bondage_, to fifty-two days in the year at
once; besides many other services to be performed at different though
regular and stated times; as tanning leather for brogans, making heather
ropes for thatch, digging and drying peats for fuel; one pannier of peat
charcoal to be carried to the smith; so many days for gathering and
shearing sheep and lambs: for ferrying cattle from island to island, and
other distant places, and several days for going on distant errands: so
many pounds of wool to be spun into yarn. And over and above all this,
they must lend their aid upon any unforeseen occurrence whenever they
are called on. The constant service of two months at once is performed
at the proper season in making kelp. On the whole, this gentleman's
sub-tenants may be computed to devote to his service full three days in
the week. But this is not all: they have to pay besides yearly a certain
number of cocks, hen, butter, and cheese, called Caorigh-Ferrin, the
Wife's Portion. This, it must be owned, is one of the most severe and
rigorous tacksmen descended from the old inhabitants, in all the Western
Hebrides; but the situation of his sub-tenants exhibits but too faithful
a picture of the sub-tenants of those places in general, and the exact
counterpart of such enormous oppression is to be found at
Luskintire."[8]
The dismissal of retainers kept by the chiefs during feudal times added
to the discontent. For the protection of the clan it had been necessary
to keep a retinue of trained warriors. These were no longer necessary,
and under the changed state of affairs, an expense that could be illy
afforded. This class found themselves without a vocation, and they would
sow the seeds of discontent, if they remained in the country. They must
either enter the army or else go to another country in search of a
vocation.
Unquestionably the most potent of all causes for emigration was the
introduction of sheep-farming. That the country was well adapted for
sheep goes without disputation. Sheep had always been kept in the
Highlands with the black cattle, but not in large numbers. The lowland
lessees introduced sheep on a large scale, involving the junction of
many small farms into one, each of which had been hitherto occupied by a
number of tenants. This engrossing of farms and consequent depopulation
was also a fruitful source of discontent and misery to those who had to
vacate their homes and native glens. Many of those displaced by sheep
and one or two Lowland shepherds, emigrated like the discontented
tacksmen to America, and those who remained looked with an ill-will and
an evil eye on the intruders. Some of the more humane landlords invited
the oppressed to remove to their estates, while others tried to prevent
the ousted tenants from leaving the country by setting apart some
particular spot along the sea-shore, or else on waste land that had
never been touched by the plow, on which they might build houses and
have an acre or two for support. Those removed to the coast were
encouraged to prosecute the fishing along with their agricultural
labors. It was mainly by a number of such ousted Highlanders that the
great and arduous undertaking was accomplished of bringing into a state
of cultivation Kincardine Moss, in Perthshire. At that time, 1767, the
task to be undertaken was one of stupendous magnitude; but was so
successfully carried out that two thousand acres were reclaimed which
for centuries had rested under seven feet of heath and vegetable matter.
Similarly many other spots were brought into a state of cultivation. But
this, and other pursuits then engaged in, did not occupy the time of all
who had been despoiled of their homes.
The breaking up of old habits and customs and the forcible importation
of those that are foreign must not only engender hate but also cause
misery. It is the uniform testimony of all travellers, who visited the
Highlands during the latter half of the eighteenth century, especially
Pennant, Boswell, Johnson, Newte, and Buchanan, that the condition of
the country was deplorable. Without quoting from all, let the following
lengthy extract suffice, which is from Buchanan:
"Upon the whole, the situation of these people, inhabitants of
Britain! is such as no language can describe, nor fancy conceive. If,
with great labor and fatigue, the farmer raises a slender crop of
oats and barley, the autumnal rains often baffle his utmost efforts,
and frustrate all his expectations: and instead of being able to pay
an exorbitant rent, he sees his family in danger of perishing during
the ensuing winter, when he is precluded from any possibility of
assistance elsewhere. Nor are his cattle in a better situation; in
summer they pick up a scanty support amongst the morasses or heathy
mountains: but in winter, when the grounds are covered with snow, and
when the naked wilds afford neither shelter nor subsistence, the few
cows, small, lean, and ready to drop down through want of pasture,
are brought into the hut where the family resides, and frequently
share with them the small stock of meal which had been purchased, or
raised, for the family only; while the cattle thus sustained, are
bled occasionally, to afford nourishment for the children after it
hath been boiled or made into cakes. The sheep being left upon the
open heaths, seek to shelter themselves from the inclemency of the
weather amongst the hollows upon the lee-side of the mountains, and
here they are frequently buried under the snow for several weeks
together, and in severe seasons during two months and upwards. They
eat their own and each other's wool, and hold out wonderfully under
cold and hunger; but even in moderate winters, a considerable number
are generally found dead after the snow hath disappeared, and in
rigorous seasons few or none are left alive. Meanwhile the steward,
hard pressed by letters from Almack's or Newmarket, demands the rent
in a tone which makes no great allowance for unpropitious seasons,
the death of cattle, and other accidental misfortunes: disguising the
feelings of his own breast--his Honor's wants must at any rate be
supplied, the bills must be duly negotiated. Such is the state of
farming, if it may be so called, throughout the interior parts of the
Highlands; but as that country has an extensive coast, and many
islands, it may be supposed that the inhabitants of those shores
enjoy all the benefits of their maritime situation. This, however, is
not the case; those gifts of nature, which in any other commercial
kingdom would have been rendered subservient to the most valuable
purposes, are in Scotland lost, or nearly so, to the poor natives and
the public. The only difference, therefore, between the inhabitants
of the interior parts and those of the more distant coasts, consists
in this, that the latter, with the labors of the field, have to
encounter alternately the dangers of the ocean and all the fatigues
of navigation. To the distressing circumstances at home, as stated
above, new difficulties and toils await the devoted farmer when
abroad. He leaves his family in October, accompanied by his sons,
brothers, and frequently an aged parent, and embarks on board a small
open boat, in quest of the herring fishery, with no other provisions
than oatmeal, potatoes, and fresh water; no other bedding than heath,
twigs, or straw, the covering, if any, an old sail. Thus provided, he
searches from bay to bay, through turbulent seas, frequently for
several weeks together, before the shoals of herring are discovered.
The glad tidings serve to vary, but not to diminish his fatigues.
Unremitting nightly labor (the time when the herrings are taken),
pinching cold winds, heavy seas, uninhabited shores covered with
snow, or deluged with rain, contribute towards filling up the measure
of his distresses; while to men of such exquisite feelings as the
Highlanders generally possess, the scene which awaits him at home
does it most effectually. Having disposed of his capture to the
Busses, he returns in January through a long navigation, frequently
amidst unceasing hurricanes, not to a comfortable home and a cheerful
family, but to a hut composed of turf, without windows, doors, or
chimney, environed with snow, and almost hid from the eye by its
astonishing depth. Upon entering this solitary mansion, he generally
finds a part of his family, sometimes the whole, lying upon heath or
straw, languishing through want or epidemical disease; while the few
surviving cows, which possess the other end of the cottage, instead
of furnishing further supplies of milk or blood, demand his immediate
attention to keep them in existence. The season now approaches when
he is again to delve and labor the ground, on the same slender
prospect of a plentiful crop or a dry harvest. The cattle which have
survived the famine of the winter, are turned out to the mountains;
and, having put his domestic affairs into the best situation which a
train of accumulated misfortunes admits of, he resumes the oar,
either in quest of herring or the white fishery. If successful in the
latter, he sets out in his open boat upon a voyage (taking the
Hebrides and the opposite coast at a medium distance) of two hundred
miles, to vend his cargo of dried cod, ling, etc., at Greenock or
Glasgow. The product, which seldom exceeds twelve or fifteen pounds,
is laid out, in conjunction with his companions, upon meal and
fishing tackle; and he returns through the same tedious navigation.
The autumn calls his attention again to the field; the usual round of
disappointment, fatigue, and distress awaits him; thus dragging
through a wretched existence in the hope of soon arriving in that
country where the weary shall be at rest."[9]
The writer most pitiably laments that twenty thousand of these wretched
people had to leave their homes and famine-struck condition, and the
oppression of their lairds, for lands and houses of their own in a
fairer and more fertile land, where independence and affluence were at
their command. Nothing but misery and degradation at home; happiness,
riches and advancement beyond the ocean. Under such a system it would be
no special foresight to predict a famine, which came to pass in 1770 and
again in 1782-3. Whatever may be the evils under the clan system, and
there certainly were such, none caused the oppression and misery which
that devoted people have suffered since its abolishment. So far as
contentment, happiness, and a wise regard for interest, it would have
been better for the masses had the old system continued. As a matter of
fact, however, those who emigrated found a greater latitude and brighter
prospects for their descendants.
From what has been stated it will be noticed that it was a matter of
necessity and not a spirit of adventure that drove the mass of
Highlanders to America; but those who came, nevertheless, were
enterprising and anxious to carve out their own fortunes. Before
starting on the long and perilous journey across the Atlantic they were
first forced to break the mystic spell that bound them to their native
hills and glens, that had a charm and an association bound by a sacred
tie. A venerable divine of a Highland parish who had repeatedly
witnessed the fond affection of his parishioners in taking their
departure, narrated how they approached the sacred edifice, ever dear to
them, by the most hallowed associations, and with tears in their eyes
kissed its very walls, how they made an emphatic pause in losing sight
of the romantic scenes of their childhood, with its kirks and cots, and
thousand memories, and as if taking a formal and lasting adieu,
uncovered their heads and waived their bonnets three times towards the
scene, and then with heavy steps and aching hearts resumed their
pilgrimage towards new scenes in distant climes.[10]
"Farewell to the land of the mountain and wood,
Farewell to the home of the brave and the good,
My bark is afloat on the blue-rolling main,
And I ne'er shall behold thee, dear Scotland again!
Adieu to the scenes of my life's early morn,
From the place of my birth I am cruelly torn;
The tyrant oppresses the land of the free;
And leaves but the name of my sires unto me.
Oh! home of my fathers, I bid thee adieu,
For soon will thy hill-tops retreat from my view,
With sad drooping heart I depart from thy shore,
To behold thy fair valleys and mountains no more.
'Twas there that I woo'd thee, young Flora, my wife,
When my bosom was warm in the morning of life.
I courted thy love 'mong the heather so brown,
And heaven did I bless when it made thee my own.
The friends of my early years, where are they now?
Each kind honest heart, and each brave manly brow;
Some sleep in the churchyard from tyranny free,
And others are crossing the ocean with me.
Lo! now on the boundless Atlantic I stray,
To a strange foreign realm I am wafted away,
Before me as far as my vision can glance,
I see but the wave rolling wat'ry expanse.
So farewell my country and all that is dear,
The hour is arrived and the bark is asteer,
I go and forever, oh! Scotland adieu!
The land of my fathers no more I shall view."
--_Peter Crerar._
America was the one great inviting field that opened wide her doors to
the oppressed of all nations. The Highlanders hastened thither; first in
small companies, or singly, and afterwards in sufficient numbers to form
distinctive settlements. These belonged to the better class, bringing
with them a certain amount of property, intelligent, persevering,
religious, and in many instances closely related to the chief. Who was
the first Highlander, and in what year he settled in America, has not
been determined. It is impossible to judge by the name, because it would
not specially signify, for as has been noted, Highlanders had gone to
the north of Ireland, and in the very first migrations of the
Scotch-Irish, their descendants landed at Boston and Philadelphia. It
is, however, positively known that individual members of the clans, born
in the Highlands, and brought up under the jurisdiction of the chiefs,
settled permanently in America before 1724.[11] The number of these must
have been very small, for a greater migration would have attracted
attention. In 1729, there arrived at the port of Philadelphia, five
thousand six hundred and fifty-five Irish emigrants, and only two
hundred and sixty-seven English, forty-three Scotch, and three hundred
and forty-three Germans. Of the forty-three Scotch it would be
impossible to ascertain how many of them were from the Highlands,
because all people from Scotland were designated under the one word. But
if the whole number were of the Gaelic race, and the ratio kept up it
would be almost insignificant, if scattered from one end of the Colonies
to the other. After the wave of emigration had finally set in then the
numbers of small companies would rapidly increase and the ratio would be
largely augmented.[12]
It is not to be presumed that the emigrants found the New World to be
all their fancies had pictured. If they had left misery and oppression
behind them, they were destined to encounter hardships and
disappointments. A new country, however great may be its attractions,
necessarily has its disadvantages. It takes time, patience, industry,
perseverence and ingenuity to convert a wilderness into an abode of
civilization. Innumerable obstacles must be overcome, which eventually
give way before the indomitable will of man. Years of hard service must
be rendered ere the comforts of home are obtained, the farm properly
stocked, and the ways for traffic opened. After the first impressions of
the emigrant are over, a longing desire for the old home engrosses his
heart, and a self-censure for the step he has taken. Time ameliorates
these difficulties, and the wisdom of the undertaking becomes more
apparent, while contentment and prosperity rival all other claims. The
Highlander in the land of the stranger, no longer an alien, grows
stronger in his love for his new surroundings, and gradually becomes
just as patriotic for the new as he was for the old country. All its
civilization, endearments, and progress, become a part of his being. His
memory, however, lingers over the scenes of his early youth, and in his
dreams he once more abides in his native glens, and receives the
blessings of his kind, tender, loving mother. Were it even thus to all
who set forth to seek their fortunes it would be well; but to hundreds
who left their homes in fond anticipation, not a single ray of light
shone athwart their progress, for all was dark and forbidding.
Misrepresentation, treachery, and betrayal were too frequently
practiced, and in misery, heart-broken and despondent many dropped to
rise no more, welcoming death as a deliverer.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 8: Keltie's "History of the Highland Clans," Vol. II, p. 35.]
[Footnote 9: Keltie's "History of the Highland Clans," Vol. II, p. 42.]
[Footnote 10: "Celtic Magazine," Vol. I, p. 143.]
[Footnote 11: See Appendix, Note A.]
[Footnote 12: See Appendix, Note B.]