Mr. R. Alister, author of _Barriers to the National Prosperity of
Scotland_, had a controversy with the Marquis of Breadalbane in 1853,
about the eviction of his tenantry. In a letter, dated July of that
year, Mr. Alister made a charge against his lordship which, for obvious
reasons, he never attempted to answer, as follows:--
“Your lordship states that in reality there has been no depopulation
of the district. This, and other parts of your lordship’s letter,
would certainly lead any who know nothing of the facts to suppose that
there had been no clearings on the Breadalbane estates; whereas it is
generally believed that your lordship removed, since 1834, no less than
500 families! Some may think this is a small matter; but I do not. I
think it is a great calamity for a family to be thrown out, destitute
of the means of life, without a roof over their heads, and cast upon
the wide sea of an unfeeling world. In Glenqueich, near Amulree, some
sixty families formerly lived, where there are now only four or five;
and in America, there is a glen inhabited by its ousted tenants, and
called Glenqueich still. Yet, forsooth, it is maintained there has been
no depopulation here! The desolations here look like the ruins of Irish
cabins, although the population of Glenqueich were always characterised
as being remarkably thrifty, economical, and wealthy. On the Braes of
Taymouth, at the back of Drummond Hill, and at Tullochyoule, some
forty or fifty families formerly resided, where there is not one
now! Glenorchy, by the returns of 1831, showed a population of 1806;
in 1841, 831;--is there no depopulation there? Is it true that in
Glenetive there were sixteen tenants a year or two ago, where there
is not a single one now? Is it true, my lord, that you purchased an
island on the west coast, called Luing, where some twenty-five families
lived at the beginning _of this year_, but who are now cleared off to
make room for one tenant, for whom an extensive steading is now being
erected? If my information be correct, I shall allow the public to
draw their own conclusions; but, from every thing that I have heard, I
believe that your lordship has done more to exterminate the Scottish
peasantry than any man now living; and perhaps you ought to be ranked
next to the Marquis of Stafford in the unenviable clearing celebrities.
If I have over-estimated the clearances at 500 families, please to
correct me.” As we have already said, his lordship thought it prudent,
and by far the best policy, not to make the attempt.