[7] “Sunny Memories,” Letter xvii.
As to those ridiculous stories about the Duchess of Sutherland, which
have found their way into many of the prints in America, one has only
to be here, moving in society, to see how excessively absurd they are.
All my way through Scotland, and through England, I was associating,
from day to day, with people of every religious denomination, and every
rank of life. I have been with dissenters and with churchmen; with the
national Presbyterian church and the free Presbyterian; with Quakers
and Baptists.
In all these circles I have heard the great and noble of the land
freely spoken of and canvassed, and if there had been the least shadow
of a foundation for any such accusations, I certainly should have
heard it recognized in some manner. If in no other, such warm friends
as I have heard speak would have alluded to the subject in the way of
defence; but I have actually never heard any allusion of any sort, as
if there was anything to be explained or accounted for.
As I have before intimated, the Howard family, to which the duchess
belongs, is one which has always been on the side of popular rights and
popular reform. Lord Carlisle, her brother, has been a leader of the
people, particularly during the time of the corn-law reformation, and
_she_ has been known to take a wide and generous interest in all these
subjects. Everywhere that I have moved through Scotland and England I
have heard her kindness of heart, her affability of manner, and her
attention to the feelings of others spoken of as marked characteristics.
Imagine, then, what people must think when they find in respectable
American prints the absurd story of her turning her tenants out into
the snow, and ordering the cottages to be set on fire over their heads
because they would not go out.
But, if you ask how such an absurd story could ever have been made up,
whether there is the least foundation to make it on, I answer that it
is the exaggerated report of a movement made by the present Duke of
Sutherland’s father, in the year 1811, and which was part of a great
movement that passed through the Highlands of Scotland, when the
advancing progress of civilisation began to make it necessary to change
the estates from military to agricultural establishments.
Soon after the union of the crowns of England and Scotland, the border
chiefs found it profitable to adopt upon their estates that system of
agriculture to which their hills were adapted, rather than to continue
the maintenence of military retainers. Instead of keeping garrisons,
with small armies, in a district, they decided to keep only so many as
could profitably cultivate the land. The effect of this, of course,
was like disbanding an army. It threw many people out of employ, and
forced them to seek for a home elsewhere. Like many other movements
which, in their final results, are beneficial to society, this was at
first vehemently resisted, and had to be carried into effect in some
cases by force. As I have said, it began first in the southern counties
of Scotland, soon after the union of the English and Scottish crowns,
and gradually crept northward--one county after another yielding to the
change. To a certain extent, as it progressed northward, the demand for
labour in the great towns absorbed the surplus population; but when it
came in to the extreme Highlands, this refuge was wanting. Emigration
to America now became the resource; and the surplus population
were induced to this by means such as the Colonization Society now
recommends and approves for promoting emigration to Liberia.
The first farm that was so formed on the Sutherland estate was in 1806.
The great change was made in 1811-12, and completed in 1819-20.
The Sutherland estates are in the most northern portion of Scotland.
The distance of this district from the more advanced parts of the
kingdom, the total want of roads, the unfrequent communication by sea,
and the want of towns, made it necessary to adopt a different course
in regard to the location of the Sutherland population from that which
circumstances had provided in other parts of Scotland, where they had
been removed from the bleak and uncultivable mountains. They had lots
given them near the sea, or in more fertile spots, where, by labour and
industry, they might maintain themselves. They had two years allowed
them for preparing for the change, without payment of rent. Timber for
their houses was given, and many other facilities for assisting their
change.
The general agent of the Sutherland estate is Mr. Loch. In a speech of
this gentleman in the House of Commons on the second reading of the
Scotch Poor-Law Bill, June 12, 1845, he states the following fact with
regard to the management of the Sutherland estate during this period,
from 1811 to 1833, which certainly can speak for itself: “I can state
as from fact that, from 1811 to 1833, not one sixpence of rent has been
received from that county, but, on the contrary, there has been sent
there, for the benefit and improvement of the people, a sum exceeding
sixty thousand pounds.”
Mr. Loch goes on in the same speech to say: “There is no set of people
more industrious than the people of Sutherland. Thirty years since they
were engaged in illegal distillation to a very great extent; at the
present moment there is not, I believe, an illegal still in the county.
Their morals have improved as those habits have been abandoned; and
they have added many hundreds, I believe thousands, of acres to the
land in cultivation since they were placed upon the shore.
“Previous to the change to which I have referred, they exported very
few cattle, and hardly anything else. They were also, every now and
then, exposed to all the difficulties of extreme famine. In the years
1812-13, and 1816-17, so great was the misery that it was necessary
to send down oatmeal for their supply to the amount of nine thousand
pounds, and that was given to the people. But, since, industrious
habits were introduced, and they were settled within reach of fishing,
no such calamity has overtaken them. Their condition was then so low
that they were obliged to bleed their cattle during the winter, and mix
the blood with the remnant of meal they had, in order to save from them
starvation.
“Since then the country has improved so much that the fish, in
particular, which they exported, in 1815, from one village alone,
Helmsdale (which, previous to 1811, did not exist), amounted to five
thousand three hundred and eighteen barrels of herring, and in 1844
thirty-seven thousand five hundred and ninety-four barrels, giving
employment to about three thousand nine hundred people. This extends
over the whole of the county, in which fifty-six thousand barrels were
cured.
“Do not let me be supposed to say that there are not cases requiring
attention: it must be so in a large population; but there can be no
means taken by a landlord, or by those under him, that are not bestowed
upon that tenantry.
“It has been said that the contribution by the heritor (the duke)
to one kirk session for the poor was but six pounds. Now, in the
eight parishes which are called Sutherland proper, the amount of
the contribution of the Duke of Sutherland to the kirk session is
forty-two pounds a-year. That is a very small sum, but that sum merely
is so given because the landlord thinks that he can distribute his
charity in a more beneficial manner to the people; and the amount of
charity which he gives--and which, I may say, is settled on them, for
it is given regularly--is above four hundred and fifty pounds a-year.
“Therefore the statements that have been made, so far from being
correct, are in every way an exaggeration of what is the fact. No
portion of the kingdom has advanced in prosperity so much; and if the
honourable member (Mr. S. Crawford) will go down there, I will give him
every facility for seeing the state of the people, and he shall judge
with his own eyes whether my representation be not correct. I could
go through a great many other particulars, but I will not trouble the
House now with them. The statements I have made are accurate, and I am
quite ready to prove them in any way that is necessary.”
The same Mr. Loch has published a pamphlet, in which he has traced out
the effects of the system pursued on the Sutherland estate, in many
very important particulars. It appears from this that previously to
1811 the people were generally sub-tenants to middlemen, who exacted
high rents, and also various perquisites, such as the delivery of
poultry and eggs, giving so many days’ labour in harvest time, cutting
and carrying peat and stones for building.
Since 1811 the people have become immediate tenants, at a greatly
diminished rate of rent, and released from all these exactions. For
instance, in two parishes, in 1812, the rents were one thousand five
hundred and ninety-three pounds, and in 1823 they were only nine
hundred and seventy-two pounds. In another parish the reduction of
rents has amounted, on an average, to thirty-six per cent. Previous
to 1811 the houses were turf huts of the poorest description, in many
instances the cattle being kept under the same roof with the family.
Since 1811 a large proportion of their houses have been rebuilt in a
superior manner--the landlord having paid them for their old timber
where it could not be moved, and having also contributed the new
timber, with lime.
Before 1811 all the rents of the estates were used for the personal
profit of the landlord; but since that time, both by the present duke
and his father, all the rents have been expended on improvements in the
county, besides sixty thousand pounds more which have been remitted
from England for the purpose. This money has been spent on churches,
school-houses, harbours, public inns, roads, and bridges.
In 1811 there was not a carriage-road in the county, and only two
bridges. Since that time four hundred and thirty miles of road have
been constructed on the estate, at the expense of the proprietor and
tenants. There is not a turnpike-gate in the county, and yet the roads
are kept perfect.
Before 1811 the mail was conveyed entirely by a foot runner, and there
was but one post-office in the county; and there was no direct post
across the county, but letters to the north and west were forwarded
once a month. A mail-coach has since been established, to which
the late Duke of Sutherland contributed more than two thousand six
hundred pounds; and since 1834 mail-gigs have been established to
convey letters to the north and west coast, towards which the Duke of
Sutherland contributes three hundred pounds a year. There are sixteen
post-offices and sub-offices in the county. Before 1811 there was no
inn in the county fit for the reception of strangers. Since that time
there have been fourteen inns either built or enlarged by the duke.
Before 1811 there was scarcely a cart on the estate; all the carriage
was done on the backs of ponies. The cultivation of the interior was
generally executed with a rude kind of spade, and there was not a gig
in the county. In 1845 there were one thousand one hundred and thirty
carts owned on the estate, and seven hundred and eight ploughs, also
forty-one gigs.
Before 1812 there was no baker, and only two shops. In 1845 there were
eight bakers and forty-six grocers’ shops, in nearly all of which
shoe-blacking was sold to some extent, an unmistakable evidence of
advancing civilization.
In 1808 the cultivation of the coast-side of Sutherland was so
defective that it was necessary often, in a fall of snow, to cut down
the young Scotch firs to feed the cattle on; and in 1808 hay had to
be imported. _Now_ the coast side of Sutherland exhibits an extensive
district of land cultivated according to the best principles of modern
agriculture; several thousand acres have been added to the arable land
by these improvements.
Before 1811 there were no woodlands of any extent on the estate,
and timber had to be obtained from a distance. Since that time many
thousand acres of woodland have been planted, the thinnings of which,
being sold to the people at a moderate rate, have greatly increased
their comfort and improved their domestic arrangements.
Before 1811 there were only two blacksmiths in the county. In 1845
there were forty-two blacksmiths and sixty-three carpenters. Before
1829 the exports of the county consisted of black cattle of an inferior
description, pickled salmon, and some ponies; but these were precarious
sources of profit, as many died in winter for want of food; for
example, in the spring of 1807, two hundred cows, five hundred cattle,
and more than two hundred ponies died in the parish of Kildonan alone.
Since that time the measures pursued by the Duke of Sutherland, in
introducing improved breeds of cattle, pigs, and modes of agriculture,
have produced results in exports which tell their own story. About
forty thousand sheep and one hundred and eighty thousand fleece of wool
are exported annually; also fifty thousand barrels of herring.
The whole fishing village of Helmsdale has been built since that
time. It now contains from thirteen to fifteen curing yards covered
with slate, and several streets with houses similarly built. The
herring fishery, which has been mentioned as so productive, has been
established since the change, and affords employment to three thousand
nine hundred people.
Since 1811, also, a savings-bank has been established in every parish,
of which the Duke of Sutherland is patron and treasurer, and the
savings have been very considerable.
The education of the children of the people has been a subject of deep
interest to the Duke of Sutherland. Besides the parochial schools
(which answer, I suppose, to our district schools), of which the
greater number have been rebuilt or repaired at an expense exceeding
what is legally required for such purposes, the Duke of Sutherland
contributes to the support of several schools for young females, at
which sewing and other branches of education are taught; and in 1844 he
agreed to establish twelve General Assembly schools, in such parts of
the county as were without the sphere of the parochial schools, and to
build schools and schoolmasters’ houses, which will, upon an average,
cost two hundred pounds each; and to contribute annually two hundred
pounds in aid of salaries to the teachers, besides a garden and cow’s
grass; and in 1845 he made an arrangement with the education committee
of the Free Church, whereby no child, of whatever persuasion, will be
beyond the reach of moral and religious education.
There are five medical gentlemen on the estate, three of whom receive
allowances from the Duke of Sutherland for attendance on the poor in
the districts in which they reside.
An agricultural association, or farmers’ club, has been formed under
the patronage of the Duke of Sutherland, of which the other proprietors
in the county, and the larger tenantry, are members, which is in a very
active and flourishing state. They have recently invited Professor
Johnston to visit Sutherland and give lectures on agricultural
chemistry.
The total population of the Sutherland estate is twenty-one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-four. To have the charge and care of so large
an estate, of course, must require very systematic arrangements; but a
talent for system seems to be rather the forte of the English.
The estate is first divided into three districts, and each district
is under the superintendence of a factor, who communicates with the
duke through a general agent. Besides this, when the duke is on the
estate, which is during a portion of every year, he receives on Monday
whoever of his tenants wishes to see him. Their complaints or wishes
are presented in writing; he takes them into consideration, and gives
written replies.
Besides the three factors there is a ground officer, or sub-factor, in
every parish, and an agriculturist in the Dunrobin district, who gives
particular attention to instructing the people in the best methods of
farming. The factors, the ground officers, and the agriculturists,
all work to one common end. They teach the advantages of draining;
of ploughing deep, and forming their ridges in straight lines; of
constructing tanks for saving liquid manure. The young farmers also
pick up a great deal of knowledge when working as ploughmen or
labourers on the more immediate grounds of the estate.
The head agent, Mr. Loch, has been kind enough to put into my hands a
general report of the condition of the estate, which he drew up for the
inspection of the duke, May 12, 1853, and in which he goes minutely
over the condition of every part of the estate.
One anecdote of the former Duke of Sutherland will show the spirit
which has influenced the family in their management of the estate. In
1817, when there was much suffering on account of bad seasons, the Duke
of Sutherland sent down his chief agent to look into the condition of
the people, who desired the ministers of the parishes to send in their
lists of poor. To his surprise it was found that there were located
on the estate a number of people who had settled there without leave.
They amounted to four hundred and eight families, or two thousand
persons; and though they had no legal title to remain where they were,
no hesitation was shown in supplying them with food in the same manner
with those who were tenants, on the sole condition that on the first
opportunity they should take cottages on the sea-shore, and become
industrious people. It was the constant object of the duke to keep the
rents of his poorer tenants at a nominal amount.
What led me more particularly to inquire into these facts was, that I
received by mail, while in London, an account containing some of these
stories, which had been industriously circulated in America. There were
dreadful accounts of cruelties practised in the process of inducing
the tenants to change their places of residence. The following is a
specimen of these stories:--
“I was present at the pulling down and burning of the house of William
Chisholm, Badinloskin, in which was lying his wife’s mother, an old,
bed-ridden woman of near one hundred years of age, none of the family
being present. I informed the persons about to set fire to the house of
this circumstance, and prevailed on them to wait till Mr. Sellar came.
On his arrival I told him of the poor old woman, being a condition
unfit for removal. He replied, ‘The old witch! she has lived too long;
let her burn.’ Fire was immediately set to the house, and the blankets
in which she was carried were in flames before she could be got out.
She was placed in a little shed, and it was with great difficulty they
were prevented from firing that also. The old woman’s daughter arrived
while the house was on fire, and assisted the neighbours in removing
her mother out of the flames and smoke, presenting a picture of horror
which I shall never forget but cannot attempt to describe. She died
within five days.”
With regard to this story, Mr. Loch, the agent, says: “I must notice
the only thing like a fact stated in the newspaper extract which
you sent to me, wherein Mr. Sellar is accused of acts of cruelty
towards some of the people. This Mr. Sellar tested, by bringing an
action against the then Sheriff-substitute of the county. He obtained
a verdict for heavy damages. The Sheriff, by whom the slander was
propagated, left the county. Both are since dead.”
Having, through Lord Shaftesbury’s kindness, received the benefit of
Mr. Loch’s corrections to this statement, I am permitted to make a
little further extract from his reply. He says:--
“In addition to what I was able to say in my former paper, I can
now state that the Duke of Sutherland has received from one of
the most determined opposers of the measures, who travelled to the
north of Scotland as editor of a newspaper, a letter regretting all
he had written on the subject, being convinced that he was entirely
misinformed. As you take so much interest in the subject, I will
conclude by saying that nothing could exceed the prosperity of the
county during the past year; their stock, sheep, and other things sold
at high prices; their crops of grain and turnips were never so good,
and the potatoes were free from all disease: rents have been paid
better than was ever known. * * * As an instance of the improved habits
of the farmers, no house is now built for them that they do not require
a hot bath and water-closets.”
From this long epitome you can gather the following results. First, if
the system were a bad one, the Duchess of Sutherland had nothing to do
with it, since it was first introduced in 1806, the same year her grace
was born; and the accusation against Mr. Sellar, dates in 1811, when
her grace was five or six years old. The Sutherland arrangements were
completed in 1819, and her grace was not married to the duke till 1823,
so that, had the arrangement been the worst in the world, it is nothing
to the purpose so far as she is concerned.
As to whether the arrangement _is_ a bad one, the facts which have
been stated speak for themselves. To my view it is an almost sublime
instance of the benevolent employment of superior wealth and power in
shortening the struggles of advancing civilization, and elevating in
a few years a whole community to a point of education and material
prosperity, which, unassisted, they might never have obtained.