AGRICULTURE AND STOCK.
In the time of the Roman occupation of Great Britain the Highlands were
almost destitute of agriculture. That some corn was grown is manifest,
from the ancient querns or hand-mills found everywhere. The possessions
of the Highlanders then principally consisted of herds of cattle.
Tradition says that cheese and butter supplied the place of bread and
butter, and that a sort of pudding was made of blood taken from living
cattle and mixed with a little meal. These, with meat and milk, formed
the diet of the people. When the Highlands became more settled,
agriculture increased, more corn was grown, and oatmeal, in some form or
other, became a leading article of food.
The cattle of the Highlanders were mostly of the small black kind.
Now-a-days there is a mixture of other breeds amongst the crofters'
stock, and since the introduction of the black-faced sheep the cattle
have become less numerous. The practice of drawing blood from living
cattle was universal in the Highlands, even in 1730, when Captain Burt
wrote his "Letters," and Pennant noticed the same usage in 1772. In
Gairloch the practice continued to the beginning of the nineteenth
century, if we may trust the evidence of the old inhabitants. At the
east end of "the glen" (the narrow pass about half way between Gairloch
and Poolewe), there is a flat moss called to this day Blar na Fala, or
"the bog of the blood," because this was a usual place for the
inhabitants to assemble their cattle and take blood from them. At
Tournaig also a place is still pointed out where the natives used to
bleed the cattle landed here from the Lews. This barbarous mode of
obtaining blood as an article of food, affords striking evidence of the
miserable poverty of the old days.
There was a pernicious practice much in vogue amongst the small farmers
here up to the beginning of the nineteenth century; they let their cows
for the season to a person called a "bowman," who engaged to produce for
every two cows, one calf, two stones of butter weighing 24 lbs. English,
and four stones of cheese. The calf was generally starved, and during
winter the cattle got food sufficient only to keep them alive.
Before the great sheep-farms were established, the Gairloch people
always took their black cattle to the shielings on the hills to feed on
the upland pastures. It was generally the younger people who accompanied
the cattle; they went up to the shielings when the spring work of the
crofts was finished, about the end of May, and remained to the end of
August, when they brought the cattle home again. There is an air of
romance about the life at the shielings. Miss Harriet Martineau, in her
"Feats of the Fiord," draws a charming picture of the similar life in
Norway. But in Gairloch it cannot have been very desirable; the shieling
bothies, of which many remains are left, were indeed miserable
dwellings. Dr Mackenzie says:--"Well do I remember the dreadful shieling
bothies, and I can hardly yet believe that heaps of strong healthy
people actually lived and throve in them."
Sir George Steuart Mackenzie, writing in 1810, tells us that the present
system of sheep-farming was introduced into Ross-shire by Sir John
Lockhart Ross of Balnagown about 1775. Many evictions of smaller tenants
took place, and much resistance was aroused. The first sheep-farm in
Gairloch was started about 1810 at Letterewe, under the management of Mr
John M'Intyre, who was much praised by Sir G. S. Mackenzie for his
activity and good management, as well as his successful cultivation of
the land about his place of residence,--"in every department of
inclosing, draining, and management, he evinced judgment and knowledge
of the best principles of agriculture."
The commencement of sheep-farming in Gairloch does not seem to have been
accompanied by any noticeable friction. If one or two small townships
were abolished to make way for the sheep-farmer, the inhabitants had
other more desirable quarters provided for them. The population of
Gairloch steadily increased from the date when sheep-farming began.
Recently several sheep-farms have been forested for deer, _i.e._ the
sheep have been removed, and to-day the only large sheep-farm is that of
Bruachaig above Kenlochewe; but there is a considerable extent of ground
the pasturage of which is held by the crofters and by some smaller
farmers, all of whom, both crofters and farmers, possess a number of
sheep.
Sheep, unlike cattle, cause a rapid deterioration in the quality of the
pasturage, so that the number of sheep any particular ground will
maintain in health is said to diminish annually, _i.e._ if it be stocked
to its full extent. In Gairloch it generally requires ten acres of hill
pasture to support one sheep.
It is certain there were sheep in Gairloch centuries before the
black-faced sheep were introduced. The original sheep were of small
size, and had pink noses and brownish faces; their coat varied in
colour; they were kept in houses at night for protection from wolves,
and later on from foxes. This original native breed of sheep is now
unknown in Gairloch; some of them are still to be seen in St Kilda. The
late laird of Dundonell gave me a description of the St Kilda sheep,
which exactly agreed with my own observations. He said they were "of
every size, shape, and colour, from a hare to a jackass." In the present
day the sheep in Gairloch are of the black-faced and cheviot breeds
(with some crosses), probably in almost equal proportions.
There are twenty-seven farms entered in the County Valuation Roll as at
present existing in Gairloch. There are sheep on all of them except one,
viz., that attached to the Kenlochewe Hotel, which is a purely dairy
farm; all of them have some arable land; several are club farms.
Most of the arable land, however, is cultivated by the crofters.
Strictly speaking the present system of crofts in Gairloch dates back
only to 1845. Prior to that time the "run-rig" system of cultivation
prevailed throughout Gairloch. The small tenants, instead of having
crofts as now, held the arable land in common; in many cases an oversman
was responsible to the proprietor for the whole rent. The arable land
was divided into "rigs," and these were cultivated by the tenantry in
rotation, sometimes decided by lot. In Appendix XCIX. to the Report
(1885) of the Royal Commission on the Crofters and Cottars, is an
interesting description of three varieties of "run-rig," communicated by
Mr Alexander Carmichael.
The new system of crofts was established in Gairloch in 1845 and 1846.
The Dowager Lady Mackenzie of Gairloch writes:--"Each tenant had a lot
or croft of about four acres assigned to him; houses (of which there had
before been usually five or six together) were now placed separately on
the new lots; and fevers and epidemics, which formerly had spread so
fast, ceased to do so. Money was borrowed from government, and a great
deal of draining and trenching was done. The surveying, measuring,
planning, and mapping near five hundred crofters' lots was very
expensive to the proprietor, Sir Kenneth Mackenzie, and the trouble of
having this change effected was very great; but it has proved of great
benefit to the crofters themselves." There are still several small
townships where the houses remain in close juxtaposition as under the
old run-rig system. "First Coast" and "Second Coast," on the late Mr
Bankes's estate, are examples.
The crops raised by the crofters are almost exclusively oats and
potatoes; a little barley and some turnips are also grown. Besides their
arable land the crofters have the right of grazing cattle and sheep on
specified areas of moorland, or "hill" as it is called. The average
stock of each crofter in Gairloch is two or three cows, one stirk, and
five to ten sheep; a few horses or ponies are also kept. There are now
four hundred and forty-two crofters on the Gairloch estate of Sir
Kenneth Mackenzie, who pay an average rent, including common pasture, of
£3 15s 5d, and have on an average three and a quarter acres of arable
land. On the estates of the late Mr Bankes there are one hundred and one
crofters, paying an average rent of £5 2s 2d for four and a quarter
acres of arable land and the hill pasture. Of course each crofter has a
dwelling-house, besides byre and barn, mostly very humble structures.
The average number of persons residing on each croft is five. The
crofters live in communities called townships, and the "hill" is
occupied in common by each township; a herd boy is usually employed by
the township to herd the cattle and sheep.
Few of the crofters have ploughs; they work their crofts by means of the
"cas-chrom" (_see illustration_). A southerner might well be pardoned
for disbelieving that such a primitive and ancient instrument should
still exist and be used in Great Britain; nevertheless hundreds of
cas-chroms may be seen in use within the parish of Gairloch every April
and May. The cas-chrom is generally, but not universally, condemned; no
doubt it is a slow process to turn over a plot with this simple and
ungainly-looking implement, but some argue that if properly used it is
effective in getting at the sub-soil.
The following extracts from Sir G. S. Mackenzie's "General Survey," and
Sir Francis Mackenzie's "Hints," bear on our present subject:--
Sir G. S. Mackenzie says:--"There are no sources of information from
which a precise knowledge of the state of agriculture in the northern
counties, previous to the rebellion in 1745, can be derived; but from
what it has been since that time, it may safely be concluded that
agricultural knowledge was neither sought for nor desired. The mode of
management which has been practised in this county (Ross-shire) and in
other parts of the Highlands, and which has been handed down from father
to son for many generations, is still to be found in the midst of the
most improved districts. We still see the arable land divided into small
crofts, and many of the hills occupied as commons. On the west coast
particularly, the ground is seen covered with heaps of stones, and large
quantities are collected on the divisions between the fields, so that a
considerable portion of the land capable of cultivation is thus rendered
useless by the indulgence of the most unpardonable sloth. The management
of the native farmers is most destructive. The soil of one field is dug
away to be laid upon another; and crop succeeds crop until the land
refuses to yield anything. It is then allowed to rest for a season, and
the weeds get time to multiply. Such, we must suppose, was the system of
farming before the rebellion; we cannot imagine it to have been worse."
Coming to the nineteenth century, Sir G. S. Mackenzie writes as follows
of the parish of Gairloch:--"The business of farming is but ill
understood; and it certainly is surprising that proprietors, and the
holders of long leases though of old date, should have their land in
very bad order, and stock of a quality inferior to that which their
ancestors possessed fifty years ago. There are a few exceptions no
doubt; but the attachment to ancient customs is nowhere more strongly
fixed than in this district. The time, however, has at length arrived
when the people must shortly change their habits, or quit the country.
The labour which is required for small farms occupies but a small
portion of the time of the tenants; but they are so perversely indolent
and careless that, while they see people from Inverness and Argyleshire,
who in their own counties pay much higher rents, employed in fishing,
making kelp, &c., and receiving high wages, none of them can be engaged
for such labour. This is the case in general; and although, from my
connection with this part of the country, I may have remarked the habits
of the people more particularly than elsewhere, yet, from the various
testimonies I have received, I can safely assert that the censure of
indolence is not applicable to the inhabitants of this district only."
In another part of his "Survey" Sir George gives the following account
of the Highland husbandman of his day:--"Though a singular one, it is a
fact, that every one of the Highlanders, except those who have some
connection with the soil, is active and enterprising. If he cannot find
employment at home, he travels hundreds of miles to seek it. There are
not more handy labourers in the world than Highlanders at piece-work.
They are not in general neat-handed, but they very soon acquire
expertness in any kind of work they engage in. But look attentively to
the proceedings of a Highland farmer, and a very different description
will be found necessary for his habits. Until he gets his seed sown, he
is as active as a man can be. When that business is over, he goes to
sleep, until roused by the recollection that he must have some means of
keeping himself warm during winter. He then spends a few days in the
peat moss, where the women and children are the chief operators. He cuts
the peats, and leaves them to be dried and piled up by his family.
Whenever the peats have been brought home, another interval presents
itself for repose until the corn is ripe. During the winter, unless a
good opportunity for smuggling occurs, a Highland farmer has nothing to
do but to keep himself warm. He never thinks of labouring his fields
during mild weather, or of collecting manure during frost; nothing
rouses him but the genial warmth of spring. I cannot reckon how often I
have seen Highland farmers basking in the sun on a fine summer day, in
all the comforts of idleness. I have asked them, when I found them in
such a situation, why they were not busy hoeing their potatoes. "O! the
women and bairns do that," was the answer. I would then ask why they did
not remove the heaps of stones which I saw on their fields, or conduct
away the water which rested on them. They would answer, that they did
not know where to put them; or, that they did no harm; or, that they had
been there so long that it was not worth while to stir them; and that
water gave sap to the land; with many other answers equally absurd, and
dictated by nothing but what must be considered constitutional sloth.
During his leisure hours a Highland farmer will do nothing for himself;
but hire him to work, and he will become as brisk as a bee. He will
never go to seek work; it must be brought to him. There are many,
however, who will absolutely refuse to work at all."
The ensuing quotations from the "Hints" of Sir Francis Mackenzie,
published in 1838, shew that the Gairloch people had not progressed much
in the quarter of a century which had elapsed since Sir G. S. Mackenzie
had written. Sir Francis states, "that hardly one field in your parish
has ever had a mattock applied to it for the purpose of giving a little
greater depth of soil, although you are constantly grumbling about its
poverty and thinness; nor, till within the last five years, has any
tenant in Gairloch ever trenched a single rood of land properly; whilst
even at this day there are not half-a-dozen who have performed this
Herculean task, which just occupies a good labourer in any other country
from eight to ten hours, even where this operation is most difficult."
Under the head of manures, Sir Francis writes:--"Though so much depends
both on the quantity and quality of your manure, nothing can be worse
than your present system. Your dung-hill is generally placed immediately
in front of your house door, raised like a mound, so that all the sap
and moisture flows away; while filth of every kind may be seen wasted
around, which, if thrown together, would materially enlarge and enrich
the heap. Instead of little daily attentions to increase the manure by
every means in your power, you delay everything till the spring, when
all is hurry and confusion, contending for sea-ware, and waiting for low
tides, at the very time when your dung should be ready on the spot and
your seed committed to the ground."
Referring to the "cas-chrom," Sir Francis remarks:--"The present mode of
scratching your soil with the cas-chrom ought totally to be abolished;
for though you may shovel over a greater surface with it than with the
spade, it does not go to such a depth in the soil as to loosen it
sufficiently and allow the roots of the various crops to seek for
nourishment. By turning the soil over to one side only, it raises the
ridges unequally; and whilst one half has a greater depth than
necessary, the other is robbed till it becomes almost unproductive. I
repeat, that your antique instrument is totally inadequate for
cultivating your lands properly; its very name, 'crooked foot,' implies
deformity; and it should only be retained as an object of curiosity for
posterity, since it is a relic of that barbarism which, I rejoice to
think, is fast vanishing."
Sir Francis strongly urges the advantage of industry, which he seems to
have considered to be the principal want of the people. Sir Francis
says:--"I had an admirable opportunity of illustrating this lately when
walking with a small tenant, who, with both hands in his pockets,
vehemently complained of the limited extent of his arable land, the
poverty of the unreclaimed part, the barrenness of his cattle; in short,
he found fault with everything. We were at that moment passing some land
which he himself and his forefathers once possessed, but which had
lately been given to a clergyman, who was anxious to set a moral as well
as a spiritual example to his flock, and who was rapidly and
successfully reclaiming the waste and improving the hitherto ill
cultivated lands. 'Donald,' I asked, 'look at the improvement your
parson is making on that land. Why not imitate his exertions?' 'Ah,' was
the reply, 'well may he do all that, since the _fine subject_ is sure to
repay him!' 'And why,' I said, 'did not you or your forefathers discover
this, and do something during the last century it was in their
possession,--all which time it remained a barren moor? Would it not have
repaid your father fifty years ago, or yourself last year, as well as it
promises to remunerate the minister this season?' Donald scratched his
head, but could not reply; he was for once convinced of his indolence,
though I fear it is hardly yet cured. I fear that Donald still prefers a
lounge on the banks of the Ewe, or a saunter in the direction of the inn
in hopes of the friendly offer of a dram, to taking up his spade and
opening a passage between his lazy beds for the water to escape, or
gathering only a few barrowfuls of gravel from his immediate
neighbourhood to throw upon his moss, or doing any little thing to make
his home neat, his house clean, and himself happy and comfortable. His
new farm is now what the glebe was under his reign and that of his
forefathers. Thus it is with those who are naturally indolent."
Sir Francis strongly recommends gardens. He says:--"Half a century ago
no more than two or three gardens, I believe, existed in your whole
parish, one of the most extensive in Britain; and even now, when
civilization has been making rapid strides elsewhere, the number of
spots where fruits are raised and flowers cultivated has not increased
to perhaps a dozen." There are still, as previously remarked, few
gardens attached to the crofters' dwellings in Gairloch, and vegetables,
other than potatoes, are but little grown. The potato is said not to
have become common in Gairloch until the end of the eighteenth century;
there is no account of its introduction into the parish. It is stated by
the old folk, that when first grown the tubers were hung in nets from
the rafters of the roofs to be kept dry, exactly as is often done with
onions. The potato disease was unknown in Gairloch until 1846. Now it
frequently appears, and causes great loss; but in some seasons there is
little of it, and years have been known when potatoes were pretty
largely exported.
[Illustration: ANTIQUITY NO. 10.
QUERN, OR TROUGH, FOUND IN A BROCH OR PICTISH ROUND HOUSE AT TOURNAIG.
SCALE--ONE INCH TO A FOOT.]