THE 
 OF SK 
 
 ALEXANDER MACKENZIE F.S.A. SCO'!
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 THE 
 
 ISLE OF SKYE 
 
 IN i882-i883; 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY A FULL REPORT OF THE TRIALS OF 
 
 THE BRAES AND GLENDALE CROFTERS, AT 
 
 INVERNESS AND EDINBURGH ; 
 
 AND AN 
 
 'INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 
 
 ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., SCOT., 
 
 EDITOR OF THE Celtic Magazine ; AUTHOR OF The History of the Highland 
 Clearances; T/ie History of the Mackenzies; The History of the Macdonalds 
 and Lords of the Isles ; The Macdonalds of Glengarry ; The Macdonalds 
 of Clanranald ; The History of the Mathesons ; The Prophecies of the 
 Brahan Seer; The Historical Tales and Legends of the High- 
 lands, &"c. 
 
 ALSO A FULL REPORT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 
 
 INVERNESS: A. & W. MACKENZIE. 
 
 1883.
 
 ABERDEEN UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 A 
 
 *
 
 MR. KENNETH MACDONALD, F.S.A, SCOT., 
 
 TOWN-CLERK OF INVERNESS, 
 
 A GENUINE FRIEND, AND AN ABLE ADVOCATE OF 
 THE RIGHTS OF THE HIGHLAND PEOPLE, 
 
 BY HIS FRIEND, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 879203
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Introduction : 
 
 General Remarks ix 
 
 Sleat and Strath xvii 
 
 Bracadale xx 
 
 Glendale xxvii 
 
 Dr. Martin's Estate xxix 
 
 Dunvegan xxix 
 
 Waternish xxxi 
 
 Grishornish and Lyndale xxxii 
 
 Kilmuir Major Eraser's xxxiii 
 
 The Brave Old Crofter xxxvii 
 
 Eviction Results in Skye xlii 
 
 Rent' of Benlee paid by Malcolm Mackenzie xliii 
 
 Liberation of the Glendale Martyrs xliv 
 
 The Scotsman in the Scales xlvi 
 
 Patrick Sellar's Trial Hi 
 
 Lord Napier as Chairman of the Royal Commission liv 
 
 The Social Revolution in the Braes ; 
 
 The Braes Crofters and Lord Macdonald 7 
 
 The Glendale Crofters and their Grievances 13 
 
 Dr. Nicol Martin's Estate Management 22 
 
 Burning of the First Summonses in the Braes 24 
 
 March of the Dismal Brigade, and Battle of the Braes. 26 
 
 Charge of the Skye Brigade 34 
 
 Arrest and Trial of the Braes Crofters 35 
 
 The Accused in the Prison of Inverness 36 
 
 They are Committed for Trial and Bailed out 37 
 
 Reception on their arrival at Portree 38
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Refusal of Trial by Jury 39 
 
 Agent's Letter to the Lord-Advocate 40 
 
 Questions in the House of Commons and Lord Advocate's Reply 42 
 
 Reflections suggested by his Lordship's Refusal 43 
 
 Protest by seven Members of Parliament in the Times 45 
 
 The Trial is commenced before Sheriff Blair the Indictment. ... 48 
 
 The Jurisdiction of the Court objected to and sustained 50 
 
 The Charge of Deforcement objected to found Irrelevant 
 
 Prisoners only charged with a Common Assault 53 
 
 Evidence for the Prosecution 56 
 
 Prisoners' Declarations 73 
 
 Evidence for the Defence 75 
 
 Mr. Kenneth Macdonald's Address for the Accused 79 
 
 Sheriff Blair's Judgment and Sentence 86 
 
 Fines Paid, and the Men Liberated 88 
 
 The Autumn Campaign : 
 
 Service of Writs at Gedintaillear in September 89 
 
 The Sheriff Officers again in the Braes 90 
 
 Lord Macdonald visits the Braes 93 
 
 Proposal to send a Military Force 93 
 
 Final attempt to Serve the Writs 94 
 
 Effect of Courier Special Correspondence loo 
 
 Munificent offer by Malcolm Mackenzie, and Correspondence.... IOI 
 
 Military force refused Letter from the Lord- Advocate 107 
 
 Meeting of Police Committee for the County 108 
 
 Meeting of Commissioners of Supply Report by Sheriff Ivory. . 109 
 
 Police authorities throughout the country refuse Police aid 113 
 
 Settlement of the Braes Dispute .. 114 
 
 The Social Revolution in Glendale : 
 
 The Glendale Crofters' case in the Court of Session 115 
 
 Alleged Deforcement of Sheriff Officer 117 
 
 Gunboat and Government Official in Glendale 118 
 
 Meeting of the people with Government Official 119 
 
 John Macpherson and two others surrender and go to Edinburgh 123 
 
 They are arrested, on the way, in Glasgow 124 
 
 They appear before the Court of Session 125
 
 CONTENTS. vii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Answers to the Charges made against them..., 125 
 
 The Trial before Lord Shancl 126 
 
 Dean of Faculty's Address before the First Division.. 127 
 
 Judgment and Sentence 130 
 
 The men in Calton Jail Mistake by Prison Officials 133 
 
 The Author visits them in Prison 134 
 
 Professor Blackie's Opinion on their Case 135 
 
 The Scotsman attacks the Professor ; is Bearded and Replied to 138 
 
 The Greenock Telegraph on the Sentence and on the Scotsman. .. 142 
 
 Attempted Eviction of 400 people from Glendale 143 
 
 The Sheriff Officer turns tail 144 
 
 Royal Commission granted to Inquire into the Grievances of the 
 
 People, and how it was obtained 145 
 
 Its Composition 150 
 
 Concluding Remarks on Skye 152 
 
 THE TRIAL of PATRICK SELLAR for Culpable Homicide and 
 Fire- Raising Full Report with Preface by Alexander 
 Mackenzie, F.S.A., Scot 157-203
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE body of this book was in type before the Royal 
 Commission to inquire into the grievances of the 
 Highland Crofters began its labours, but its publication 
 was delayed to enable me to glance at its proceedings in an 
 Introductory Chapter. Some of the statements made in the 
 book itself were described by certain interested indi- 
 viduals as exaggerations; others hesitated not to apply even 
 stronger terms, without the slightest pretence to a personal 
 knowledge of the facts. Keeping this in view, I resolved to 
 await the result of the Inquiry of the Royal Commissioners 
 in Skye before publishing this volume. The first portion of 
 the work has appeared in my " History of the Highland 
 Clearances," now nearly out of print, but I felt that Skye 
 deserved a volume specially dealing with itself, during a 
 period in its history when the eyes of the whole of the 
 British people, and indeed of the civilized world, were upon 
 it. The Social Unrest which has exhibited itself in the 
 Island during the last two years, will prove the turning point 
 in a long reign of oppression in the Highlands. To the 
 Men of Skye will be due the honour of securing a complete 
 change in the system of land tenure which has hitherto kept 
 the Highlands under the foot of the oppressor; and this 
 fact alone will give an interest to what might otherwise 
 appear comparatively trifling incidents, but which, in the
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 circumstances, I deemed worthy of record in the following 
 pages. 
 
 Let us first see how the evidence given before the Royal 
 Commission affects what appeared in my previous work, 
 and what I reproduce in the first portion of this volume. 
 When it first appeared, in my " History of the Highland 
 Clearances," few people believed that the description given 
 of the Social Upheaval and its results in the Braes and Glen- 
 dale were not greatly exaggerated. Indeed, that was quite 
 expected ; for it does appear incredible that the antiquated 
 customs and petty tyrannies inflicted upon a noble race by 
 factors and landlords in that part of the Queen's dominions 
 were possible, within the bounds of civilization, much less 
 in the British Isles, whose leading statesmen, in the past, 
 have in most cases secured the brighest" settings in their re- 
 putations by taking the side of oppressed races in what were 
 hitherto held to be much less favoured lands than our own. 
 The Royal Commissioners examining into the grievances of 
 the Highland Crofters have, during their Inquiry, not only 
 brought to light facts corroborative of all that has ever been 
 written or said on that subject, but disclosures have been 
 made in the Isle of Skye which no one unacquainted with 
 the facts could have believed, until, after hearing both 
 sides Crofters, Landlords and Factors, it has now been 
 placed beyond dispute. It is very remarkable, as well as 
 instructive, that the factors made scarcely any attempt 
 much less succeeded in rebutting any of the statements made 
 in my recently published " Highland Clearances " about the 
 state of affairs and what has led up to it, during the last 
 two years, in the Braes and in Glendale. 
 
 All that I have written, and much more, about the 
 Braes has been corroborated by the witnesses examined 
 before the Commission; and the factor for Lord Macdonald,
 
 INTRODUCTION. XI 
 
 Mr. Alexander Macdonald, has not, in his long and from 
 his stand-point able statement, read before the Commis- 
 sion, made any attempt to rebut a single statement which 
 has been hitherto made. 
 
 Mr. Donald Macdonald, the famous " Tormore," fails to 
 contradict anything which I have written of his factorial 
 rule in Glendale, or elsewhere ; on the contrary, he admits 
 it all and much more. At page 15, he is referred to in his 
 capacity of judge, and before the Commission he fully 
 accepted the position. In a curiously-involved statement 
 at Portree he declared in this connection that, "In his 
 capacity of factor, justice of the peace, and general well- 
 wisher of the people, it had fallen to his lot to decide two 
 cases against Peter Mackinnon, postmaster, Glendale ". 
 Referring to the harsh notice which he had issued against 
 the people of Glendale for trespassing on the lands of 
 Waterstein, he not only admits having issued it, but adds 
 that perhaps it " was injudiciously worded and written in a 
 fit of temper ". " It was quite true," he also admits, " that 
 the small farm of Lowerkell was cleared and the larger 
 farm of Ramasaig partially and nearly completely so." He 
 confesses to having put the people on their guard against 
 reading certain newspapers and other literature, and then 
 makes the important admission, from him, that, "taking 
 the whole Island," for which he was mainly responsible, 
 "there was some foundation for the discontent that had 
 been manifested ; " and when asked, " Can you suggest 
 any remedies ? " he replied, " Give them more land, with all 
 my heart," and " I would put them on such a footing that 
 they could not be deprived of their lands according to the 
 whim of any proprietor, and certainly not of a factor. It 
 would be a very unhappy thing if matters remained as at 
 present." When examined a few days earlier at Isle Ornsay
 
 Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 he stoutly denied having issued notices to the effect that an 
 additional rent of 2 should be charged against any one 
 opening a small shop for the sale of groceries and provisions. 
 The Rev. Finlay Graham, Free Church Minister of Sleat, 
 however, in answer to the chairman, after having expressed 
 reluctance to do so, said, "/ have seen the notice; to the best 
 of my knowledge it was this that any shopkeeper in Sleat 
 or Broadford would not be allowed to sell goods without an 
 additional 2 of rent ". In answer to another question, 
 the reverend gentleman said, " The general feeling in the 
 district was, ' What are we coming to ! ' I could not say 
 how long the notice was left, but I saw it on the door of 
 the Inn at Isle Ornsay." Tormore replied, " I have no 
 hesitation in saying, if that notice was put up, it must have 
 been a forgery. I never ordered that notice to be put up, 
 and the Innkeeper and his son are here to corroborate that 
 no such notice was put up. The only way that I can 
 account for it is this I did put up a notice to the very 
 effect that was borne out by Mr. Graham, not on this pro- 
 perty, but on the property of Glendale. ... I must 
 emphatically state that I put up no notices in the parishes of 
 Strath and Sleat, but I did so in Glendale." At Portree, 
 however, he admitted " that he might have been mistaken 
 when denying that a notice had been put on the Inn doors 
 as to a rent to be charged against shops " in Sleat and 
 Broadford. He did not deny that he compelled the incom- 
 ing tenants to pay the arrears of their predecessors. The 
 statements of the Glendale people to that effect were fully 
 corroborated by several witnesses in Sleat, one saying, that 
 ' the rule of the Estate was that the incoming tenant should 
 pay the arrears of the out-going tenant," and another that it 
 was a common practice. " I know it was the rule," he says, 
 and " I know that Tormore, the factor, was demanding
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 arrears from the incoming tenants." Alexander Maclean, 
 the last witness examined at Glendale, stated that " on 
 taking a croft at Milovaig he was made to pay 20 of the 
 arrears of his predecessor, to Tormore. He paid the sum 
 down, but was only left two years in possession. During 
 this time he was served with two summonses of removal, 
 and although he was loth to go, after having paid so much 
 money for the croft, he ultimately did so to escape from the 
 persecution to which he was subjected." Tormore did 
 not attempt to deny this, but, on the contrary, in answer to 
 Lord Napier, stated " that the payment of arrears by the in- 
 coming tenants," on Lord Macdonald's estate, " was a pretty 
 general practice, and was enforced ". Asked as to his 
 alleged participation in the profits of trade in the firm of 
 Neil Kennedy & Co., Isle Ornsay, or whether he was a 
 partner in the firm at the same time that he was factor for 
 Lord Macdonald, he replied that he " did not expect to be 
 examined on that question" ! He however admitted "deal- 
 ing in meal " here, as well as in Glendale, and also that he 
 told Mr. Kennedy on his taking the shop, on his recom- 
 mendation, that, " if my influence, or money, or my name 
 was any use to him, it was at his service ". He " was 
 in the habit of buying cattle from Lord Macdonald's 
 tenants while he was his factor". Lord Napier having put 
 the following question, " Did it never occur to you that by 
 trafficking with the people in this way, in your capacity of 
 farmer, you exposed yourself to imputations?" Tormore 
 innocently answered, "No". 
 
 Murdo MacLean, Husabost, stated before the Com- 
 missioners that " ten days' work was claimed by the pro- 
 prietor from each crofter at Spring and Harvest times, and all 
 the thanks and wages received was abusive language. The 
 labour was so severe that it required the very strongest of
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the people to stand it, and was it not a disgrace to civilization 
 that any human being should be compelled to perform 
 horses' work without thanks or wages ? " -In cross-examina- 
 tion he admitted that this work was not given by the tenants 
 last year, but added that " the service would still be exacted 
 if we did not rebel against it". The following dialogue 
 between the witness and the chairman is worth recording : 
 
 Q. Would the proprietor exact the services where it was incon- 
 venient for the tenant to give it ? 
 
 A. We were bound to render the service any time it was wanted. 
 
 Q. Supposing they were doing their own harvest work, would the 
 proprietor take them away and make them work at his own harvest ? 
 
 A. Although only my wife were at home, and my corn going to the 
 winds, she must needs do the landlord's work when required. I 
 remember coming home from the fishing after I had been four months 
 away. I found my wife reaping the landlord's corn, and she asked, as 
 a favour from the factor and manager, to be allowed to go home to 
 prepare food for me, and she would not get leave. (Sensation). 
 
 Q . Were you allowed to find a substitute for the work ? 
 
 A. Yes, if I paid. 
 
 Q. It is stated in the paper read that abusive language was used ? 
 
 A. The language was so bad that I would be ashamed to repeat it 
 in the presence of gentlemen. 
 
 Q. On whose part? 
 
 A. The manager, Campbell. 
 
 In the statement presented by Donald MacLean, Galtrigal, 
 on behalf of his township, it was stated that " they were also 
 forced to work ten days a year, a man or woman from each 
 croft, for the proprietor, and if they did not they were in 
 danger of eviction. They had also to buy hooks from the 
 proprietor to shear his own corn, and if they did not 
 attend to his labour they were charged 25. 6d. a day, but if 
 they got any work from him for payment [over and above 
 the ten days' free labour], he only gave them is. and is. 6d. 
 a day.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 When questioned as to these practices on his estate, Dr. 
 Martin said that when he first acquired the property, he 
 " then found the practice of free labour existing," and he 
 continued it. According to one of the witnesses, the Doctor 
 largely increased the number of days, and this Dr. Martin 
 did not deny. Asked whether his manager was in the 
 habit of going round and buying the tenants' cattle ? Dr. 
 Martin expressed unbelief, but added, " My manager might 
 do some things of which I was not aware ". 
 
 Q. " With reference to the custom of purchasing the 
 fish, was that a rule of the estate ? " 
 
 A, " That was the rule before I had anything to do with 
 it." 
 
 Last Spring, Dr. Martin issued a notice which was posted 
 up on the door of the local Post-office, and several other 
 places, to the following effect : 
 
 "All beasts bought from the crofters will be seized, 
 whenever found, unless the purchase price be paid to me." 
 
 This notice I have myself seen, on the igth of May, 
 on the Glendale Post-office door. 
 
 It will, I think, be admitted that these statements, made 
 by the witnesses, admitted by Tormore and Dr. Martin, 
 more than fully corroborate everything that I have ever 
 said or written as to the state of matters existing on 
 the respective properties under their control in the Isle 
 of Skye. I must, however, say a few words more in 
 this connection before parting with Tormore. His failings 
 of memory "without his books," have become proverbial 
 in the West, and it is but charitable to assume that this 
 weakness must be held responsible for contradictions and 
 inconsistencies in his statements, otherwise very puzzling 
 to the disingenuous. He has presented the world with 
 a version of a certain conversation which he alleges to have
 
 XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 taken place between himself and me in a railway train, 
 in reference to the appointment of the Royal Commis- 
 sioners, so grossly inaccurate that it appears quite inexpli- 
 cable, but for his constitutional defect of memory. Whatever 
 effect my efforts may have had in securing the Royal Com- 
 missioners, as Tormore puts it, I have no hesitation in 
 admitting that it would be most unfair not to give him full 
 credit for his share in our success, and that the Commis- 
 sion would yet be in the distant future, were it not for 
 the impetus given to our efforts by the imperious con- 
 duct of Tormore in the Isle of Skye ; and I only trust 
 that he is as satisfied as I am with, the result of the inquiry 
 hitherto. Tormore, as a man, was a very good fellow, 
 and one is sorry to find him placed in a position in which, 
 by contact with a pernicious system, he not only becomes 
 a changed man, but is, on occasions, driven to the com- 
 mission of acts unworthy of a gentleman of his position 
 and pretensions. 
 
 In connection with this case he brought upon himself, 
 at Portree, a singularly severe, but well-merited rebuke 
 from the chairman of the Royal Commission. Having, 
 as he thinks, discovered qualities in others which clearly 
 are not such as he can fairly lay claim to, if I may judge 
 by the exhibition which he made before the Royal Com- 
 mission at Portree ; and after giving me credit for having 
 "to answer for a lot of sins," over and above any of 
 the others whom he was pleased to designate as "the 
 instigators of the rebellion in Skye and the West," he 
 elegantly exclaimed, that I " had got a broad back and 
 a very thick hide"; whereupon Lord Napier peremptorily 
 rebuked him, and told him that such language was " not 
 permissible," and then, appealing to qualities which did not 
 appear predominant in the particular case before him his
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xvii 
 
 Lordship thus addressed him : " Your own sense of pro. 
 priety, and your gentlemanly feeling, should prevent your 
 using language which is provocative and offensive ". Poor 
 Donald evidently felt the crushing rebuke, and he " exposed 
 the raw" to an unexpected degree. 
 
 Tormore, the factor, and Tormore, the man, are evidently 
 too widely different persons. Indeed this is the case with 
 most of his class. They have, in many instances, to do 
 the dirty work of employers who would be perfectly ashamed 
 and quite incapable of doing it for themselves, though they 
 are not always ashamed to bask in the sunshine of society 
 in the South on the proceeds of factorial meannesses and 
 accumulated tyrannies on their neglected people and pro- 
 perties in the North. 
 
 EVICTIONS IN THE ISLE OF SKYE. 
 
 I shall now briefly point out the nature of the evidence 
 submitted to the Royal Commision on Evictions from the 
 Island, with many of which I was unacquainted when -I 
 wrote my general history of the Highland Clearances. The 
 extent to which these were carried out in the Isle of Skye, 
 almost quite unknown outside its own borders, is simply 
 astounding, and it is high time they were made as widely 
 known as it is now possible to make them. 
 
 Mr. Neil Nicolson, Torrin, 76 years of age, in his 
 evidence at Broadford, described those carried out on Lord 
 Macdonald's property in the south end of the Island during 
 his own recollection. He was only five years old when 
 the land in Sleat was laid out in crofts, and ten years after, 
 the people were evicted from these lots, to make room for 
 the late Major Macdonald of Water nish. They could not
 
 XV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 get an inch of ground in Sleat, but were crowded into other 
 places. Kilbride was cleared, 58 years ago, to make room 
 for the late Rev. John Mackinnon, Parish Minister of Strath. 
 There were 8 lots there, but more families; 5 more were 
 from Carradale, and 9 from Ferrindonald. Those from 
 Carradale were evicted by Tormore, and their lands added 
 to his own farm. 22 families were evicted from Suishinish 
 and Boreraig. Regarding these, fully described in my 
 "Highland Clearances," pp. 236-248, Donald Maclnnes, 
 Duisdale, said, " I remember very well the removal of the 
 people from Boreraig 26 years ago. Some of the people 
 perished from the hardships they had to endure when put 
 out of their houses. It was in time of snow they were put 
 out ; one man perished. He belonged to Suishinish. He 
 was found dead at his own door after he had been evicted. 
 His name was Alex. Matheson. There was great hardship 
 connected with that eviction. The fires were extinguished, 
 the houses knocked down, and the people forced out much 
 against their will, the officers compelling them." 
 
 Regarding Ferrindonald and Carradale, on Lord Mac- 
 donald's property, Nicolson said, "These places, and a 
 number more, are in possession of Tormore, who has Sleat 
 now from sea to sea. All these Clearings were on Lord 
 Macdonald's estates ; the present is the ninth factor under 
 whom I have been, and the fifth Lord Macdonald." 
 
 Donald Mackinnon, Elgoll, on the property of Macalister 
 of Strathaird, stated, "that from the township of Ceapach, 
 no less than 44 families had been evicted in 1852, and 8 
 other townships in the neighbourhood were cleared at the 
 same time. The tacksman who marches with them has six 
 miles in extent, and the whole estate of Strathaird is in the 
 hands of large sheep-farmers, except the square mile which 
 forms the township of Elgoll, into which 64 families 47
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 crofters, and 1 7 cottars have been congested to make room 
 for sheep. There has been no resident proprietor on this 
 estate since 1832." Hugh Macpherson, Haripool, said, 
 " That removals have been common there in his time, among 
 whom were several widows ". 
 
 The Rev. Donald Mackinnon, Minister of Strath, was 
 questioned as follows by Lord Napier : " We have heard a 
 great deal said of the eviction of the people in former 
 times, of their land being taken from them, especially the 
 hill pasture given to tacksmen, and of the people being 
 crowded into inferior lands. Do you think that the system 
 of creating large farms, and adding to them, and crowding 
 the people into smaller holdings was in past times carried 
 too far for the welfare and the happiness of the people ? " 
 Mr. Mackinnon replied, " Most undoubtedly ; I think 
 these immense sheep farms are great evils in the country. I 
 have no hesitation in saying so, while I think a moderate 
 sprinkling of comfortable tacksmen among the crofters is 
 very much to their advantage " ; and he added " that he 
 thought it a certainty that the proprietors would not now be 
 able to re-let the large holdings, except at a great reduction 
 of rent ". Mr. Mackinnon is himself a farmer as well as a min- 
 ister, and is therefore well qualified to express an opinion on 
 this question. " I should like," the reverend gentleman con- 
 tinued, " to see a tax imposed upon non-resident farmers 
 and proprietors. It is one of the greatest disadvantages to 
 our country that the landlords are non-resident, and 1 have 
 no doubt that in some cases the people had been incon- 
 siderately and selfishly used by the landlords for the purposes 
 of increased rent." 
 
 Finlay Maclnnes, Waterloo, produced the following letter, 
 affecting 149 souls in his township, every crofter there 
 having received a similar notice :
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 TORMORE, BROADFORD, SKYE, 
 
 2.1st October, i872. 
 
 MR. FINLAY MAC!NNES, 16 Waterloo, 
 SIR, 
 
 I have to intimate that your land and grazings have been 
 valued at ^i 153., and you are to be charged at that rate from Whit- 
 sunday last. If you consider yourself aggrieved, you will intimate the 
 same to me by writing within ten days from this date, when I will re- 
 lieve you of your land and let it to another. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 D. MACDONALD. 
 N.B. I have strict orders to allow no arrears after Whitsunday. 
 
 Mr. Eraser-Mackintosh put it to Maclnnes : " Supposing 
 you were not disposed to pay the increase of rent, the letter 
 informs you that you will be turned out in the middle of a 
 year ! " to which he replied " I had no other expecta- 
 tions. I could not say that I would not pay, or that 
 would have been the result ; and everyone else in the town- 
 ship was in the same position." 
 
 Mr. Fraser-Mackintosh, at a later stage pointed out that 
 there were two illegalities in this notice, one raising the rent 
 between the terms, and the other, in telling these poor 
 people that unless they signified their acquiescence in ten 
 days they would be removed from their holdings. 
 
 BRACADALE EVICTIONS. MACLEOD OF MACLEOD'S 
 PROPERTY. 
 
 Malcolm Mackay, Struan Beg, stated that Dr. MacLean, 
 Talisker, cleared the townships of Fiscavaig and Ardhoil 
 of 12 families. Hugh MacCaskill, succeeded Dr. Mac- 
 Lean, and he evicted 16 families from Aird Bhreac and 
 Heille. " When Dr. MacLean found a crofter's sheep on his 
 farm, and the owner was not prepared to pay half-a-crown 
 on the spot for it, he would have the ears of the sheep cut
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xxi 
 
 off close to the skull." In reply to Mr. Fraser-Mackintosh, 
 the witness continued " Dr. MacLean was not long in 
 possession before he began to remove the people. Mac- 
 Caskill had the place a year or two when he commenced 
 the Clearances. The people were warned to remove. They 
 were so ignorant at that time that they would remove for 
 anything. The whole of Minginish was held by Mac- 
 Caskill. It is now in the hands of two tenants. All the 
 people removed by Dr. MacLean and MacCaskill were in 
 comfortable circumstances. They had cattle and horses and 
 sheep at that time. I am not aware that any of the people 
 were in arrear, but Macleod of Macleod was due some of 
 them money for making roads. The Clearances from Mac- 
 Lean's land were made in the time of the last landlord, and 
 those of MacCaskill in the present landlord's time. The 
 MacCaskill family came to poverty at last ; they went to 
 the dogs. I never saw it [cutting off the ears] done by any- 
 body else but himself. This mark is well-known as ' the 
 thief s mark'." 
 
 The following proceedings, almost incredible, were de- 
 tailed by John MacCaskill, Shoemaker, Ferrinlea : " I have 
 learned from older people than myself that the Clearances 
 commenced about 70 years ago. MacCaskill had only Rhu- 
 dunan in his possession at that time, and Glenbrittle was 
 occupied by crofters in comfortable circumstances ; he 
 cleared it, and made a sheep run of it. There was then a 
 church in Glen Inch, there is nobody there now to use it. 
 The church is in ruins, and the manse is converted into a 
 shepherd's house. The clearances were made on the one 
 side by MacLean and by MacCaskill on the other. About 
 a dozen families all in comfortable circumstances were re- 
 moved from Tusdale." 
 
 In reply to Mr. Fraser-Mackintosh, he said "There used
 
 XX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to be 1 6 families in Crickernish; there is nobody there now 
 but a shepherd. From other townships about 47 families 
 were removed. Hugh MacCaskill was barely settled when 
 he began the same operation as MacLean. The big town- 
 ship of Ferrinlea which was occupied by 30 families was 
 cleared 50 years ago. A township in Minginish, with 12 
 families, was cleared, and the people in a place called 
 Lec-a-chlerich were evicted and the people scattered 
 throughout the world. The MacLeod family began the 
 Clearances and MacCaskill finished them. There was 
 another township near Carbost Beg, in which there were 
 four families who were very well off. The daughter of a 
 widow told me that her father had given Hugh MacCaskill 
 ;i8o to help him when he came to Talisker, but when the 
 place was cleared, he removed her mother along with the 
 others. This woman saw her father's corn shoved into the 
 river when the place was cleared to make a distillery." 
 
 The Chairman " Is that the whole list of Clearances you 
 have to mention?" "No; I may say that what the Assyrians 
 left undone the Babylonians finished. I refer to the present 
 tacksman as the Babylonian. Those whom I named before 
 are dead. I want now to speak of the living. I begin with 
 Mr. Cameron, the present tacksman of Talisker. He got 
 the tack 33 years ago, and when he came he made up his 
 mind that there should be nobody else on the place at all. 
 MacCaskill had left a remnant of the people for his own 
 convenience, but when Mr. Cameron came to Talisker he 
 would have nothing to do with any of the people, and, as I 
 have understood, he began to litigate with the landlord, 
 holding out that their being allowed on the tack was not 
 mentioned in his lease. He would give us nothing, and 
 would have nothing to do with us. It then came about 
 that he would have to take the tack as he got it or leave it.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XX111 
 
 He deprived the cottars of the grazings which they had for 
 20 years. They could not get any. He also took from us 
 our peat moss and gave us a bog which neither man nor 
 beast had used up to the time he measured it out to us by 
 the yard. The cottars who had been left by MacCaskill at 
 Fiscavaig, Cameron deprived of their peat moss. They got 
 for it a piece of bad land which could not be called earth 
 or moss. They had to cut it for fuel. Then he removed 
 ten cottar families which had been left by MacCaskill at 
 Torten-an-Fhirich, and ten or eleven from Fiscavaig, and 
 put them in Ferrinlea, dividing the existing holdings. For 
 this we were obliged to work for the tacksman of Talisker 
 whenever he required us. The strongest man, though he were 
 as strong as Samson, only got is. a day, and the women 6d. 
 We had often to walk nine or ten miles to attend to his 
 work. Though we had other employment we had to leave 
 it and work for the tacksman if he asked us to do so. 
 Persons in business like myself lost our trade in conse- 
 quence. He complained of the way in which my brother 
 and I were doing his work. We saw it would not be easy 
 to satisfy him. I told him we would stop working for 
 him entirely and pay him in money the equivalent of our 
 work according to the rate of wages in the country. Because 
 I had the coolness to say that, my mother, who is about 75 
 years of age, and myself were served with a summons to 
 remove. There was nothing for it but that I should apolo- 
 gise to the tacksman, and sign papers that I would be 
 obedient to him in the future, or that the whole of our 
 family should leave the country. When my brother saw 
 what was likely to happen he went to Talisker to make 
 peace; he said he would go in for the land, and asked 
 that the matter should be allowed to pass by. We have 
 been allowed to remain on that footing."
 
 XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In answer to further questions, he said " Mr. Cameron of 
 Talisker told me that the landlord had blamed him for his 
 usage of the people. If it had not been for MacLeod's 
 interference there would not have been a representative of 
 the families of the original inhabitants of the district to bear 
 testimony here to-day. It was MacLeod's wish to keep 
 these people and that was what caused the dispute." 
 
 Alexander MacCaskill, cottar, Cuilore, stated, in reply to 
 Sheriff Nicolson, that "all in his township have been put off 
 other townships forty years ago. There were removed, 
 from Meadale ten or twelve families ; from Somerdale ten 
 families ; from Crossburgh ten or eleven families ; and from 
 Bendhu six families." He "remembered two of these re- 
 movals. They took place when Norman MacLeod (father) 
 and Martin MacLeod was tacksmen at Drynoch. All 
 these townships were now vacant. Many of the people 
 went to America. Some have succeeded abroad, some 
 not." 
 
 In reply to Mr. Fraser-Mackintosh, he said " That ten 
 townships were cleared on Drynoch by Captain MacLeod. 
 There were cleared in addition to those he had already 
 mentioned, Ferrin-nan-cailleach, with five or six families; 
 Colbost, with four families; Glenbracadale, with two families; 
 Glenachadaloch, with three families; Invermeadale, with five 
 or six; and Boust, with four families. All these places 
 were empty now, unless there was a shepherd." 
 
 Alex. Matheson, Carbost, who said that " the people were 
 turned out wholesale" to make room for the distillery, 
 added, " I have to complain of the poverty of the people of 
 Carbost and the miserable houses they have. The families, 
 until they are grown up, have to sleep in the same room, 
 which is a sheer violation of nature. Our meal mill has 
 gone to ruin. For the past twenty years there has not been
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 a peck of meal ground in it ; and I have seen my father 
 having to wait for a whole week for his turn at the mill. 
 That was before the first potato blight. As to the Clear- 
 ances, I have only to repeat what the previous delegates 
 have stated." 
 
 Donald Campbell, crofter, Struan Mor, said "I wish to 
 state that the townships of Colbost, Ebost, Ullinish, Struan- 
 mor, and Struanbeg were added to the tack of Ullinish 
 when Mr. Gibbon became factor to MacLeod. The tenants 
 were also removed from Glen Colbost, Glen Ose, and Glen 
 MacCaskill. They were in very comfortable circumstances 
 before they were removed. Five of the families were sent 
 to a wet, black place called Garmore, which had not been 
 cultivated hitherto. Twenty families who were in Ullinish 
 he sent to Struanmor, where he gave them a corner of land 
 which was lotted out among them. That land had been 
 cultivated for 40 years. All this happened in 1841. None 
 of the people had a cow, but the merchant. He left 3 or 4 
 families in Ebost, and 5 families went to Australia to try 
 and better their condition. Mr. Gibbon compelled them 
 to give him 4 days' labour. Mr. Gibbon was 15 years in 
 possession of the tack, when he was succeeded by his 
 nephew, Mr. Norris, who was not better than him. If a 
 man married, his father dare not give him shelter for a 
 night, and the young man and his wife must needs leave 
 and go into the cities. When the parents became old 
 they became poorer, until they came on the poors' roll, as 
 their children were not allowed to remain with them. After 
 Norris, Simpson, his brother-in-law, took up his farm. He 
 was a non-residenter. He had a manager on the farm who 
 was the worst that ever came to us. He treated the people 
 very badly. He was ten years in the place, and after him 
 Mr. Robert Macdonald took the farm." Campbell further
 
 XXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 stated that " there were other three places cleared in Ullinish 
 and Ebost, besides those already mentioned, viz. : Nagli, Ose, 
 and Balmeanach. There were four or five families in Ose 
 who were removed to another part of the same place, and 
 were made to build their houses on a peaty soil beside the 
 river ; and when the river was in flood some of them had to 
 flee for their lives. Their new place was much worse than 
 their old. He did not know how many were in Balmeanach, 
 but the remains of a considerable number of houses might 
 still be seen there. Ose and Balmeanach were made into 
 tacks, and these, with Glen Caskill and Glen Ullinish, were 
 made into one tack by Mr. Steven." 
 
 The following account given at Skaeboat by Neil Shaw, 
 60 years of age, crofter, Eyre, is well worthy of record : 
 " 1 was in Duirinish at one time. There were ten tenants 
 in the township. Bad times came upon us, and Mr. 
 MacCaskill and his officer said if we put our stock into their 
 hands they would get better prices for us than we could 
 command ourselves. This we did, and it went on for two 
 years, before the end of which the tenants had got so much 
 into debt that they were unable to keep their holdings, and 
 he took the land himself. Some of the crofters went to 
 Australia, myself and four others remaining here. We got 
 a new township laid out for us at 40 rent. We were there 
 for five years. There were seven of us located on the 
 ground at first, but latterly only five. When Tormore 
 became factor he never rested until he became possessed of 
 our lands. He removed the five of us, although, I believe, 
 not one of us was a sixpence in arrears ; but when Tormore 
 became factor he took some convenient lots adjoining our 
 township, and he never rested until he got possession of our 
 land. Tormore was then factor for Orbost and for Lord 
 Macdonald, and he promised me that if I went to Eyre every-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXvii 
 
 thing would be done for me. We did not want to leave the 
 township we were in in Orbost. Tormore cleared two 
 townships Ramasaig, in which were 22 families; and 
 Lowerkell, in which I resided, and took the land himself. 
 He stated that the rent was too heavy for us and the 
 township too big for us, and I replied that another 
 crofter and myself, were quite willing to take it all. I 
 am a good deal worse off than I was. I was free of debt 
 then; I am not now. The year that I came to Eyre 
 turned out to be a bad one, and I got largely into debt 
 before I could pull myself and family through. One par- 
 ticular thing that can be done for us is to give us land at 
 its value. I believe I am paying double rent for the land 
 which I have. Should we get good land, I would like it to 
 be a condition that neither the landlord nor factor should 
 have the power to remove us. I would not take a lease 
 because they would just put us away at the end of it. I 
 know too much of factor's work now. In the event of our 
 getting land at a fair rent, we would require to be made 
 sure against eviction." 
 
 THE GLENDALE EVICTIONS. 
 
 From Lower Milovaig, 8 families were evicted between 
 1840 and 1845. At different periods 12 families were 
 cleared from Upper Milovaig, half of these being removed 
 15 years ago. Within the last fifty years, 19 families were 
 removed from Ramasaig. No new lots were provided, but 
 the old lots were subdivided by the proprietor, for the 
 occupation of those of them who could not be induced to 
 leave the country altogether. Alexander Ross, Fasach, 
 stated, "that out of 22 families who formerly tenanted these 
 lands, there were now only three cottars ; and the land, like
 
 XXV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 others named, was now under sheep." Allan MacCaskill 
 corroborated this, and added:' "It is 19 years last spring 
 since Tormore became factor, and he left about a year ago. 
 He held in his own hands a considerable portion of the 
 best lands of the estate. He removed the crofters from 
 Lowerkell, Ramasaig, and Hamara. When MacCaskill 
 complained to Professor Macpherson, one of the Trustees, 
 the latter told him that "he would take my holding off my 
 hands, but there was no word about what I was to get instead. 
 I said to myself there was no use in doing anything further 
 about it; it would only be 'the gallows succeeding the fever'. 
 I was the man who summoned the gamekeeper to Court 
 seven years ago for killing my dog, and for firing his gun in 
 the direction of my wife. The gamekeeper was fined IDS, 
 with an alternative of three days' imprisonment. A man 
 gave evidence in my favour in that case, and he was 
 deprived of his croft in consequence. He was the best 
 neighbour I ever had ; I knew he was not in arrears. He 
 gave evidence in the middle of May, at Portree, and next 
 year he and I were served with notices of removal. In 
 1834, Colbost had been cleared to make room for Tolmie, a 
 sheep-farmer, but at the end of his fourteen years' lease, the 
 people got the land back again, when the late proprietor, 
 Sir John MacLeod, returned home from India. MacRaild, 
 the factor, however, unknown to Sir John, took away a part 
 of the towhship worth ^16, but still charged the old rent 
 against the small tenants, though directed by Sir John to 
 give them the whole of the lands at the old rent. The 
 landlord only visited his property once during the last fifty 
 years." Mr. MacLean, Hamara, said, " Tormore was dis- 
 pleased with me because I gave hospitality to two persons 
 who visited the glen, and he threatened to do for me because 
 of that ".
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 DR. MARTIN'S ESTATE. 
 
 John Mackinnon said, that " Scorr was depopulated by 
 Mr. Nicolson's predecessor. Like the other townships on 
 the estate, Ferrinvicquarrie had been deprived of the 
 sheep and hill pasture. Mr. Nicolson imposed four days' 
 free labour on them; Dr. Martin increased it to ten." This 
 was not denied. Regarding this free labour, Alexander 
 Mackenzie, crofter, Boreraig, in a statement presented by 
 him on behalf of that township, said, " that at this unlawful 
 labour, the grieve, named Campbell, used to make them 
 work like slaves. The women were in perfect dread of him. 
 If they did not work as hard as he wished, or if they were 
 absent for a day. he would threaten them with eviction. 
 There were 26 families crowded into the township. Both 
 men and women; had now to do the work of the horse, 
 while their children were going about naked for want of 
 clothing." No attempt was made by Dr. Martin to refute 
 this evidence when afterwards examined by the Com- 
 missioners. On the contrary, he admitted it all, and ar> 
 peared to think that such proceedings were quite justifiable. 
 
 MACLEOD OF MACLEOD'S PROPERTY OF DUNVEGAN. 
 
 Dr. Fraser, Edinbane. in reply to Mn Fraser-Mackintosh, 
 said that he rode about a great deal aver the Island, and in 
 the course of his observations he constantly saw the ruins 
 of hundreds of houses that were once occupied by the 
 people. He saw them on every hill-side, and the appear- 
 ance presented by the grass about these places denoted that 
 there was a considerable depth of good soil ; most of the 
 spots were pretty and green.
 
 XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Mr. Malcolm MacCaskill, Kilmuir, Duirinish, who stated 
 that his father had been evicted four times, handed in 
 a long statement, in the course of which he said : " The 
 proprietors hate to see the face of man, as their Clearances 
 of the land show. They have more respect for sheep and 
 cattle ; when a crofter leaves the place or dies, his next 
 neighbour will not get his croft, but it is given to a stranger. 
 There were seven crofters removed about fourteen years 
 ago in order to add their lands to those of the new Hotel 
 at Dunvegan." 
 
 John Mac-Fie, aged 74, after stating that he had been 
 in his present croft for forty-six years, continued : "In 1840, 
 there were seventeen families removed from Feorlick by 
 Mr. Gibbon, the tacksman, who took the land and the 
 people on it. They were placed, some by the sea, some on 
 peat land which had never been cultivated. Some of them 
 did not get a place on earth on which to put a foot. I my- 
 self saw them living under a sail spread on three poles, 
 below high-water mark. One of the crofters, Donald Camp- 
 bell, was warned by the ground-officer for giving refuge to a 
 poor man who had no house. The ground officer came and 
 pulled down the house, .and took a pail of water and threw 
 it on the fire. By the noise made in the extinguishing of 
 the fire and the denseness of the steam, the wife went out 
 of her mind. He never saw one so mad. Mr. Scobie 
 came afterwards, and Macleod of Dunvegan gave us all 
 over to him. He said that it was God who sent him there. 
 Rather than settle on the mossy ground which they were 
 shown, two of them preferred to go to Australia. They 
 died on the passage, and were thrown overboard. When 
 Campbell was put out of his house, not a tenant was allowed 
 to give him shelter. He had nine of a family, and they 
 had to remain on the hillside on a wet night. Scobie took
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXi 
 
 our hill pasture, which we had for fifty or sixty years, and 
 settled crofters upon it. We are still paying for that hill 
 pasture. We have no road, and if any of our people 
 die in the winter he has to be buried in the sea or in the 
 peat moss. Scobie closed up the road to the church-yard 
 with a gate, and before we could pass that way we would 
 have to break down the gate." 
 
 WATERNISH, THE PROPERTY OF CAPTAIN ALLAN 
 MACDONALD. 
 
 In the life-time of Major Macdonald, the present pro- 
 prietor's father, a great amount of pasture was .taken from 
 the people, which, as Donald Mackinnon said, " our fore- 
 fathers had ". Another witness, John MacLean, said, 
 " Factors came before the Macdonalds got it, and these are 
 the people that spoil a place. The last factor that was 
 before the Macdonalds removed the people from the high 
 to the low ground near the shore, took away their sheep 
 and horses, and put stock of his own on the hill." Accord- 
 ing to Neil MacDiarmid, " the west side of Waternish was 
 cleared ". He also states, " I cannot say to a mile how 
 much land the proprietor occupies himself, but he has the 
 ground of several townships. I cannot give an estimate of 
 the land once arable and occupied as townships now in the 
 proprietor's possession I will not try it, but it is big enough. 
 If you are on board the steamer, you will see that it extends 
 from sea to sea." Asked if he could give any idea of the 
 number of families that formerly occupied the lands now in 
 the hands of the proprietor, he said: "There were 18 
 families in Minsh ; 4 in Baile-Sheorach ; 18, latterly, in 
 Scorr ; and 10 in Lower Halistra ". He thought all these 
 clearances were made by the present proprietor's father,
 
 XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 about 1849, and others were made by Mackinnon of Corry, 
 while factor for Grant, an earlier proprietor. One of the 
 witnesses here, Alexander Morrison, in reference to the Glen- 
 dale martyrs, ominously declared that, " The parties who 
 were the means of getting this Royal Commission for us, are 
 now suffering in prison, and we are quiet here ; but if we 
 don't get justice, we will go to prison ourselves, or else we 
 will sell our lives as dear as possible ! " 
 
 GRISHORNISH, THE PROPERTY OF MR. ROBERTSON. 
 
 Murdo MacLean, Crofter, Edinbane, said that "there 
 were plenty of evictions in Grishornish and Coishletter, 
 before the time of the late Mr. Macleod. Many of us 
 have seen the law-officers come and strip the roofs in Edin- 
 bane, and pour water down to extinguish the fires. The 
 people evicted mostly emigrated. They got no compensa- 
 tion. The land is now largely in the hands of Mr. Robert- 
 son, the factor." He " makes us twice a year build up a 
 dyke that keeps our own sheep out of our own grazings. 
 We have to submit to such things for fear of being evicted. 
 There is land we might get on the Grishornish estate, from 
 which crofters had been removed, such as at Coishletter, 
 which was cleared about twenty-nine years ago, when 
 Cameron was proprietor/' Proceeding eastwards we pass 
 through the estate of 
 
 LYNDALE. 
 
 Here all that was brought out in evidence amounted only 
 to the curtailment of hill pasture, which had then become 
 the universal practice, and the precursor to ulterior evictions 
 from the arable portion of the people's holdings. In
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXX1H 
 
 SKAEBOST 
 
 Several crofters had been removed from one place to 
 another, but no evictions, in the usual sense of the term, 
 have been carried out The reader must now take a long 
 drive to 
 
 KILMUIR, 
 
 The property of Major Fraser, the first portion of the 
 Island in which open expression was given to the dis- 
 satisfied feelings of the people. As he passes along, the large 
 farm of Skorrybreck, showing unmistakeable evidence of 
 having at one time supported a large population, is left on 
 the right, while on the left and in front, between him and 
 Kilmuir, are the large tacks of Kingsburgh and Skirinish, 
 both of which, also, at one time maintained an extensive 
 population in positions of great comfort, while the large ten- 
 ants themselves were none the less so. 
 
 John Gillies, South Creil, Uig, said that he had been 
 removed five or six years ago, with five others, while at the 
 same time, an equal number of families were cleared from 
 the opposite side of the loch, and he knew no reason for 
 these removals "except the will of the landlord". There 
 was land not far off which would be suitable for the people 
 if they could get it. " Glenuig is a beautiful glen. It is in 
 possession of Mr. Urquhart, the Innkeeper. That glen, 
 fifteen or sixteen years ago, was in possession of small 
 tenants. The overcrowding in the district was caused by 
 the clearing of the glens to make room for large sheep- 
 farms." Peter Macdonald, Glenhinisdale, stated that the 
 hill pasture was taken from the people, there, sixty years ago, 
 to be added to the already large farm of Kingsburgh.
 
 XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Twenty families were removed from the lower ground of the 
 farm now occupied by Mr. Urquhart, with the Inn, in Major 
 Fraser's time. 
 
 Malcolm Nicolson, Schiadder, stated that originally they 
 held more fertile crofts than they now do, "but these" he 
 said, "we were deprived of; our original crofts were turned 
 into a sheep-farm. There were 42 crofters in all in the 
 place, and we were all removed. Some went to Aus- 
 tralia, some to America, and to various other places. We 
 were then comfortable. We are now quite the reverse. It 
 was Major Fraser who removed us. There were great 
 hardships experienced in connection with the removals from 
 Glenuig. Many shed tears." Angus Maclnnes, merchant, 
 Pecscoraid, said " The removals of the people have had a 
 great deal to do with their poverty. I never heard of 
 removals to a better place. I used to be a crofter and was 
 twice removed." Donald Macqueen, Conista, Kilmuir, 
 stated that the rents had been raised four times, though 
 their hill pasture had been taken from them, and the factor 
 considerately told them that they " could leave if they were 
 not pleased. Eighteen families were removed from Dun- 
 tulm and their lands added to that already cumbrously large 
 farm." The hill pasture -was taken from the crofters of 
 Herkbusta, eighteen years earlier, when it was divided 
 between Monskadt and Duntulm. The tenants of Hong- 
 ladder were similarly treated, their grazings given to the 
 same large tacksmen, and the poor people removed from 
 good arable crofts to very inferior land. That the want 
 of pasture is the main cause of the existing poverty is the 
 universal song. 
 
 Norman Stewart, crofter, Valtos, said that the best piece 
 of the hill pasture was taken from one end of the township, 
 and that overcrowded the rest. The part of the grazing
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXV 
 
 taken from them was also added to Duntulm. " The people 
 are poorer than I can tell. Their poverty is indescribable. 
 When they go to the dealer for a boll of meal the animal he 
 is to get for it must be marked. We are constantly getting 
 poorer. Some of our poverty has been caused by our hill 
 pasture having been taken away." Archibald Macdonald, 
 Garafad, said that " they were not making the most of the 
 land owing to insecurity of tenure. They did not know 
 but what they might be deprived of the remainder of their 
 holdings as well as what was already gone. If the landlords 
 did the one they might do the other. They were only 
 putting the ground in heart to the extent which they could 
 exhaust in one year." Questioned by Lord Napier as to the 
 evictions at Bornesketaig, Kilmuir, eighteen years ago, 
 he said, " both crofters and cottars were removed, and their 
 township was added to Monkstadt. Four of the cottars 
 were placed in Totescore and other places from Balgown. 
 Four crofters were removed, and, after, the adjoining town- 
 ship of Feaull was cleared ; there were two tenants in 
 Feaull. One left of his own accord, and the other had to 
 give up the place owing to excessive rent. After that 
 Lachasay, on which there was one tenant, was cleared and 
 the land added to Duntulm. Besides the tenant who 
 paid rent there were two families who did not pay rent. 
 The township of Scorr, adjoining Lachasay, was afterwards 
 cleared of two families, and the town of Osmagarry was next 
 added to Duntulm. The lots in Bornesketaig were then as 
 numerous as they are to-day, but I have been told by old 
 persons that they were once occupied by a number as small as 
 four to seven. The township lands were more extensive 
 then than they now are. All these evicted people were 
 placed in other townships on the property, and for the most 
 part on land which had been exhausted by their predecessors.
 
 XXXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The lots they were put into had been vacated by crofters 
 who had been compelled to leave through the poverty of the 
 land and their straitened circumstances. Some of the 
 tenants who were removed were not able to take crofts 
 at all, and they became cottars. There were in all 24 
 families evicted" 
 
 John Mackenzie, Malagar, after stating that his whole 
 district was deprived of the hill pasture to the extent of 
 two-thirds, said "Unless we get a reduction of rent we 
 cannot hold out long, as we will soon lose all we. have " ; and 
 he then naively added, " We were hearing such good news 
 from Ireland, that we were inclined to turn rebels ourselves 
 in order to secure the same good results ". 
 
 Norman Munro, Catechist, Clachan, was examined by 
 the chairman about the propriety of the people emigrating 
 to the colonies, when the following dialogue occurred : 
 
 Q. "What do you think should be done?" 
 
 A. " That they should get cheaper rents, get more land to 
 keep them in employment without running from place to place 
 to work for money to support their families. There is no 
 doubt that the custom of going away for several months in 
 the year to different places to look for employment has had 
 a bad effect on the happiness and character and morality of 
 the people. If the men remained at home with their wives 
 and children, and earned their subsistence here, they would 
 be happier and better." 
 
 Q. " What about unmarried people ? Could young men 
 not improve their condition by going to other parts or to the 
 colonies ? " 
 
 A. " Well, I think they would just be as happy at home. 
 If the land, after being properly sub-divided, was unable to 
 support the whole, then the rest could go to the colonies, 
 but the best of the land lies waste in the meantime."
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXVH 
 
 Q. " But would it not be better to sub-divide the land to 
 fewer, and send the rest away to the colonies ; as, by the 
 time you speak of, the colonies would be filled up, and 
 there would be more to send away ? " 
 
 A. "Well, that is a question; but I would divide the 
 land in the meantime, and let the future look after itself. 
 Do you not think, my lord, that I have a good right to 
 the lands for which my forefathers died. I had an uncle 
 who was taken away by Macleod of Macleod for the defence 
 of his country. My grandfather and my father went into 
 his croft at Colbost, but they were afterwards evicted. 
 Have we not as much right to these lands as strangers or 
 deer ? It is the claiming of such rights in respect of what 
 our fathers did for the country that has been causing the 
 little disturbances in the island." 
 
 Rents were increased to an incredible amount, while the 
 hill grazings, and the best portions of the arable land were, 
 at the same time, taken away, and that not less than on 
 four different occasions, since Major Fraser acquired the 
 property. The case of 
 
 THE BRAVE OLD CROFTER 
 
 will illustrate this and other high-handed proceedings on 
 this estate so completely that I am tempted to give it at 
 length. The following authenticated version of it is from 
 the Celtic Magazine for August : 
 
 Donald Nicolson, formerly of Totescore, but now of 
 Solitote, Kilmuir, stated that he was past 78 years of age ; 
 that he was formerly a crofter, but that Captain Fraser all at 
 once doubled his rent, which increase he most reluctantly 
 agreed to pay. He was then asked to pay i more, which 
 he naturally refused, after which he was forcibly evicted, and
 
 XXXV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 his lot given to Mr. Macleod, the tacksman of Monkstadt, 
 local factotum for Captain Fraser, who sent round word that 
 any one who gave Nicolson a night's shelter would be 
 treated in a similar manner next year. Having related how 
 he was evicted from his home and lands, and turned out- 
 side, Nicolson continued 
 
 "My son's wife and her two young children were with me, 
 and we were all that night in the cart shed, and our neighbours 
 were afraid to let us in, and were crying over us. There 
 was plenty of meal outside, but we had no fire to make a 
 cake. We lived in the stable all the summer. I could 
 only erect one bed in it, and my daughter and my son's 
 wife and two children slept in the bed, and myself slept on the 
 stones. During a vacancy, the Presbytery of the Established 
 Church allowed me to enter the glebe. After that I got 
 refuge in the house of a poor woman at Duntulm, and the 
 factor, Mr. Alexander Macdonald, Portree, challenged the 
 tacksman of Duntulm for allowing this poor woman to keep 
 me in her house. Mr. Grant, the parish minister, supports 
 me now. That happened five years ago." 
 
 The witness then appealed to Mr. Dugald Maclachlan, 
 banker, Portree, who was present as interpreter, for confir- 
 mation of his story ; and at the request of Lord Napier, Mr. 
 Maclachlan gave the following explanation : 
 
 "After Nicolson was put out of his house he entered a 
 cart-shed, and thereafter he entered the stable ; then he was 
 evicted a second time, and an interdict taken out against 
 him, forbidding him to enter for ever his dwelling-house, or 
 at all to enter upon the lands, except for the purpose of 
 preserving his crop, which Mr. Macleod had refused to take 
 over with the croft. Under stress of circumstances, he 
 entered the barn with his family. He was had up for breach 
 of interdict, and for this breach of interdict was fined
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXIX 
 
 i os. with the alternative of five days' imprisonment. The 
 expenses of the interdict were S. Then there was a year's 
 rent due, and in addition to that he was charged with 
 ' violent profits,' which means the doubling of the rent for 
 remaining in possession after the term. The whole came 
 to ^35 odds, which the man paid." 
 
 Lord Napier "But do you mean to say that that money 
 was really exacted, and passed into the factor's hands ? " 
 
 Mr. Maclachlan " Yes. I arranged with the factor for 
 him, and advanced the money out of the bank. When the 
 markets came round he realised his stock, and paid me 
 every penny of it." 
 
 In conclusion, Nicolson said that his family was all 
 scattered now, but if he got a piece of land, although he 
 was now 78 years of age, he would gather them again about 
 him. 
 
 When Mr. Alex. Macdonald afterwards gave his account 
 of Skye affairs, to the Royal Commissioners, at Portree, the 
 case of the "Brave Old Crofter" was referred to. The 
 burden of Mr. Macdonald's explanation was 
 
 " That Nicolson was a litigious and disagreeable neighbour, 
 who kept more stock than he was entitled to, and allowed 
 his stock to stray on neighbouring lands. Many com- 
 plaints were made of him. There was a decree got against 
 him for about ^55 35. 2d., and off that he (Mr. Macdonald) 
 struck voluntarily ^25 ; that left .^30, and against that he 
 was credited with the value of his house and effects to the 
 extent of ;i6. He had only the remainder, 14, to pay. 
 The law expenses, so far as he personally was concerned, 
 were 9 to 10. 6 was paid to sheriff-officers, and the 
 remainder was put to the credit of the incoming tenant, who 
 had been kept out of the croft for a considerable time." 
 
 This explanation did not agree with the statement made
 
 xl INTRODUCTION, 
 
 by Mr. Maclachlan, who had corroborated Nicolson, at Uig ; 
 and at the close of his subsequent examination, at Portree, 
 Mr. Maclachan desired to make a further explanation re- 
 garding the case. He said that " he feared an impression had 
 gone abroad that there was a discrepancy between the two 
 statements. There were some outsiders who did not alto- 
 gether understand the question." 
 
 Lord Napier " I don't altogether understand it myself." 
 (Laughter.) 
 
 Mr. Maclachlan stated that the whole sum of ^"35 us. 
 8d. was paid to the landlord and no portion of it was re- 
 turned; and he produced a receipted account under Mr. 
 Macdonald's hand, being a note of " Rent and violent pro- 
 fits and expenses due by D. Nicolson to Captain Eraser of 
 Kilmuir ". The note, which Mr. Maclachan produced, was 
 as follows : 
 
 Rent and Violent Profits ... 16 o o 
 
 Expenses decerned for 4 18 8 
 
 Do. further ... ... ... ... 340 
 
 Extracting ... ... o 10 6 
 
 Officer ejecting, and party ... ... ... 2 18 o 
 
 Expenses of Interdict proceedings 806 
 
 Total 35 ii 8 
 
 Less Valuation of House 15 17 6 
 
 Balance paid in cash ^19 14 a 
 
 The proprietor thus got the total sum of ^35 us. 8d. from 
 Nicolson. Of that sum, ^15 173. 6d. was the valuation of 
 Nicolson's own property, while the balance of 19 143. ad. 
 was paid by Mr. Maclachlan (acting for Nicolson) to the 
 factor, on 5th December, 1877, and for which he held the 
 receipt produced.
 
 INTRODUCTION. xli 
 
 Mr. Macdonald here said that " anything which was got 
 for violent profits went to the incoming tenant to pay the 
 damage which he was entitled to for not getting possession 
 at Whitsunday. The proprietor got the rent, and nothing 
 but the rent ; and, of course, Mr. Maclachlan did not know 
 that." 
 
 Mr. Maclachlan " Of course, I don't ; but Nicolson paid 
 to you, in the first place, the sum that I have mentioned. " 
 
 Lord Napier, to Mr. Macdonald " Have you any other 
 statement to make ? Nicolson's statement was that his rent 
 had been doubled, and that he was willing to stick to his 
 land for all that, but that he was charged \ more, which 
 really was the straw that broke this tenant's back." 
 
 Mr. Macdonald "That was his statement, but we deny it. 
 It was for his own misconduct that we put him out." 
 Lord Napier " Was Nicolson's rent doubled ? " 
 Mr. Macdonald " It was, my lord." 
 Lord Napier " Now, Mr. Macdonald, why was his rent 
 doubled?" 
 
 Mr. Macdonald "It was doubled when all the other 
 rents were doubled." (Great Laughter.) 
 
 Lord Napier " Were all the other rents doubled ? " 
 Mr. Macdonald "His rent was doubled like all the 
 other rents of that township, and it was according to the 
 valuation of Mr. Malcolm, Nairn. This man was evicted 
 for his own misconduct." 
 
 The Chairman "Mr. Maclachlan alluded to a model 
 eviction on another estate a case in which all the tenants 
 petitioned the proprietor to have a certain tenant removed. 
 Now, was the case of this poor man Nicolson as bad as that 
 one?" 
 
 Mr. Macdonald " I think it was a worse case (" Oh ") 
 or, at least, fully as bad." (Laughter.) Mr. Macdonald 
 
 3
 
 xlii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 added "that the other tenants complained of this crofter 
 (Nicolson), but he himself had no ill-will towards him. He 
 thought, however, his eviction was perfectly justifiable." 
 
 Mr. Maclachlan " had no doubt it would involve a long 
 inquiry to prove Nicolson's misconduct ; but he would say 
 that the impression which this eviction left on his mind, at 
 the time was, that it was a most high-handed and arbitrary 
 exercise of the landlord's legal rights." (Loud applause.) 
 
 Mr. Macdonald " That was only your impression." 
 
 Lord Napier " We are quite sure that in this matter Mr. 
 Maclachlan acted a most honourable and humane part 
 according to his judgment." (Loud applause.) 
 
 An incomplete account of this shameful story appeared 
 in almost every newspaper and in every language in Europe. 
 It has been the theme of conversation and adverse criti- 
 cism in every club and household in the kingdom, and 
 further comment here is quite unnecessary. The mere 
 record of the facts is enough to make every freeborn 
 Briton blush for the fair fame of his native land. 
 
 EVICTION RESULTS IN SKYE. 
 
 These Skye evictions affected directly some seven hundred 
 families, each, on an average, representing at least five 
 persons, and making a grand total of more than three 
 thousand five hundred souls, not less than two thousand 
 of whom were evicted, during the last half century, from the 
 property of MacLeod of MacLeod ! What physical misery, 
 what agony of soul these figures represent, it is impossible 
 even to imagine ! The number of those removed in Skye, 
 as elsewhere, from one portion of the island to another, 
 even from one part of an estate to another, can never 
 be ascertained ; and the misery and loss endured by
 
 INTRODUCTION. xliii 
 
 these can only be surpassed by the misfortunes of those who 
 had been forcibly driven from their native land altogether ; 
 though that unfortunate class are usually left out of 
 account when the more drastic and complete forms of 
 eviction are written or spoken o There is also another 
 class who were, and are being, deprived of their hill pasture 
 and left to comparative starvation, with their cattle, on 
 wretchedly small and unprofitable arable patches among 
 the barren rocks on the sea-shore. And all this misery and 
 agony to gratify the inhuman selfishness of some two or 
 three persons who, by the mere accident of birth, enjoy a 
 power which they could never have secured for themselves ! 
 One of the results brought out by the evidence submitted 
 to the Royal Commission in Skye is, that nearly all the meal 
 mills that used, in great numbers, to be constantly employed 
 twenty to fifty years ago, have fallen into decay or are lying 
 completely idle in consequence of the evictions and of the 
 best portions of the Island having been laid waste to make 
 room for large sheep farms. These silent and dilapidated 
 buildings now proclaim the sad truth respecting the 
 once prosperous inhabitants of the famous and soldier- 
 producing Island more eloquently than pen can possibly 
 record. 
 
 RENT OF BEN LEE PAID. 
 
 In reference to the correspondence published at pp. roi- 
 106, and the settlement of the dispute between the Braes 
 Crofters and Lord Macdonald, described at page 114, it 
 may be right to state that Mr. Malcolm Mackenzie, while 
 not admitting any claim whatever upon him, after Lord 
 Macdonald's refusal of his generous offer to pay two years' 
 rent for the Braes Crofters, on the conditions set forth in 
 his published letters, already referred to, decided upon
 
 xliv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 making a very substantial gift to the people of the Braes. 
 With this object he- requested me to proceed to the district; 
 to pay a year's rent of Ben Lee, amounting to ^74 155. ; 
 and to distribute ^25 55. in meal and money, making a 
 sum of ^100 in all, among the most necessitous of the 
 inhabitants of the three townships of Gedintaillear, Bal- 
 meanach,andPeinichorain; and these instructions were duly 
 carried out in February last. The rent being after-hand, 
 the tenants will thus, through the generosity of Mr. Mac- 
 kenzie, have the use of Ben Lee for two years before they 
 can be called upon to pay any rent whatever for it out of 
 their own earnings.. 
 
 In support of the claim made by the people of the Braes, 
 it may not be inappropriate to quote here from a letter 
 published by Macleod of Macleod in the northern News- 
 papers in July last. He says, that "Ben Lee was a Common, 
 and as is well known, what is common to all is of little 
 value to any ". What are the statements and denials by 
 Lord Macdonald and his representatives of the peoples' 
 rights to this Common worth, after this damaging admission 
 by Macleod? 
 
 LIBERATION OF THE GLENDALE MARTYRS. 
 
 The three Glendale crofters imprisoned for two months 
 in the Calton jail, Edinburgh, for breach of interdict were 
 liberated on i5th May, at 8 A.M., when they were met at 
 the door by about 1000 people, headed by two pipers, who 
 marched to the Ship Hotel, and there entertained the lib- 
 erated men to a public breakfast. The same evening John 
 Macpherson, after visiting his friends in Glasgow, proceeded 
 to Skye, by Strome Ferry, that he might reach Glendale in 
 time to be examined by the Royal Commission on the
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xlv 
 
 following Saturday. It became known in Sltye that lie was 
 coming, and the Portree and Braes people determined to 
 give him a hearty reception. As the " Clydesdale " ap- 
 proached the Braes, three bonfires were noticed a-blaze, and 
 several flags were flying aloft, in the distance. When the 
 steamer rounded into Portree Bay, a large crowd congre- 
 gated on the pier, while numbers were flocking from all 
 parts of the village in the same direction. Macpherson 
 having been observed on deck, the crowd cheered vocifer- 
 ously, while hats were raised and handkerchiefs waved by 
 the assembled multitude. Before he could place his foot 
 on shore he was raised on the shoulders of four stalwart 
 fellows, who carried him aloft, hat in hand, bowing to the 
 crowd, amid the enthusiasm of the people, to the Portree 
 Hotel, a piper leading the way, playing appropriate airs. 
 Macpherson, on his arrival at the hotel, addressed the 
 people, warmly thanking all his friends and the friends of 
 the people of Skye, north and south, and urging upon his 
 countrymen to insist upon getting justice now that it was 
 within their reach. "If Joseph," he said, "had never been 
 sent into Egyptian bondage, the children of Israel might 
 never have got out of it." He believed the imprisonment 
 of the Glendale crofters had done more to remove landlord 
 tyranny and oppression from Skye than anything which hap- 
 pened during the present century. He was afterwards enter- 
 tained in the hotel by many of the leading inhabitants of 
 Portree, where several of the Braes men came all the way 
 to pay, honour, on his return from prison, to one whom they 
 esteemed as the leading martyr in the crofter cause. 
 
 An attempt to arrive at an amicable settlement has recently 
 been made by the proprietor of Glendale, who personally 
 approached his tenants after all the mischief recorded in 
 this book had been completed, and since the Royal Com-
 
 xlvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 mission visited the glen ; and it was heralded forth, in 
 inspired quarters, that a settlement of the question in dis- 
 pute had been finally arranged. Though this is not the 
 case, as yet, it is gratifying to find that negotiations have 
 been entered upon, and that no attempt at evictions fol- 
 lowed on the notices of removal served by registered 
 letters in April last. (See pp. 144-145.) The settlement 
 proposed, according to an excellent authority, writing from 
 the spot, on the nth of July, is as follows: 
 
 " Waterstein," he says, "is one of the finest grazings, or arable 
 lands, in the Island. The proprietor only intends to give the crofters 
 a narrow strip off the worst end, about 150 yards wide, and about a 
 mile in length ; and preparations are being made to fence this off. Dr. 
 Martin was paying ^"133 rent for the whole of it ; the section offered to 
 the crofters is only one-fifteenth of the whole, and is at the worst end, 
 being chiefly heather. The rent asked for this strip is ^33. I am told 
 that the crofters naturally refused this, but offered to take the whole at the 
 same rent that Dr. Martin paid for it. The proprietor refuses to accept 
 this offer ; the crofters are withholding their rents, but little or nothing 
 is going on now in the way of negotiation, as the men areaway at the 
 fishing." 
 
 This is how the matter stands as we go to press. 
 
 THE "SCOTSMAN" IN THE SCALES. 
 
 The one-sided position taken up by the Scotsman in 
 connection with this question, can easily be gathered from 
 what appears in the body of the book, especially at pages 
 135 to 143 ; but it may be added, as a further illustration, 
 that its representative, while reporting the proceedings of 
 the Royal Commission in the Lewis, was driven about the 
 Island, and to the meetings of the Commission, by Lady 
 Matheson's Chamberlain, while the other reporters had to 
 provide carriages in the usual way, at their own expense ; 
 and that he was entertained as the guest of the Chamber-
 
 INTRODUCTION. xlvii 
 
 Iain's principal Accountant while in Stornoway. It may 
 further be added, that this reporter concocted and sent 
 the most unfounded falsehoods to his journal, regarding my 
 own sayings and doings in the Isle of Skye, during my visit 
 to the Island, on a recent occasion, and that his journal 
 maintained its character for partiality and unfairness, by 
 refusing to insert a correction of the false statements so 
 meanly manufactured and sent to him by his own reporter. 
 
 If any further evidence be necessary, to prove the inex- 
 plicably one-sided unscrupulousness of the Scotsman under 
 its present management, it will be found in the following: 
 On the 2oth of July last, it published a letter, from Macleod 
 of Macleod, on " Highland Land Rights," in which he 
 quotes a paragraph from a speech delivered by Dr. 
 Cameron, M.P., for Glasgow, at a meeting of the Federa- 
 tion of Celtic Societies, held in Liverpool, on the 2nd of 
 January, 1883, and charges me with using similar and even 
 stronger language in the Isle of Skye. The quotation from 
 Dr. Cameron is as follows : 
 
 "Before the '45 rising the tenants in the Highlands had distinct 
 proprietary rights on the land they cultivated, and the chiefs were 
 looked upon as the trustees for the clans. But after "45 the feudal 
 system was introduced, the tenants lost their rights, and the landlords 
 were made the absolute proprietors of the land. In Scotland there 
 was provision made for the registration of titles to land ; but the very 
 existence of that registration had the effect of quickly getting rid of the 
 proprietary interests of the tenants. The landlords, of course, registered 
 their titles, but the crofters knew nothing about the system of registra- 
 tion, and took no trouble to register the rights they had in the land." 
 
 What Macleod said regarding myself, and my comments 
 thereon, will be found in my reply addressed to the Scots- 
 man, but, consistently with that journal's characteristic 
 lack of fair-play towards the crofters and their friends, 
 it was refused insertion. The Scotsman has on repeated
 
 xlviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 occasions misreported my remarks, and then honoured me 
 by criticism, in his leading articles, on what I never did 
 say. He cannot, in point of fact, afford to allow the 
 truth to appear in his columns, as to what the crofters' 
 friends say and do, and at the same time, make an outward 
 appearance of decency and apparent truthfulness in his 
 abuse of them for what they neither say nor do. Here is 
 my reply to Macleod which the Scotsman, for these and other 
 reasons of his own, would not insert : 
 
 HIGHLAND LAND RIGHTS. 
 
 TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SCOTSMAN". 
 
 "CELTIC MAGAZINE" OFFICE, 2nd Aug., 1883. 
 SIR, Having been from home for the last fortnight, I have hitherto 
 been unable to notice Macleod of Macleod's letter on the above subject, 
 which appeared in your issue of 2oth July last. I expect that you will, 
 on the simple grounds of fairplay, permit me to do so now, though my 
 doing so may seem somewhat late. 
 
 Having given a quotation from the speech delivered by Dr. Cameron, 
 M. P., at Liverpool, on the 2nd of January last, as to the respective 
 rights of landlords and tenants to the soil in the Highlands, Macleod 
 proceeds : "I should not have quoted this remarkable statement, for 
 which there was no foundation whatever, were it not that similar lan- 
 guage has been used lately by Dean of Guild Mackenzie, who has gone 
 through Skye in advance of the Commission, assuring the people that 
 the land belonged to them, and that, with a view to its recovery, they 
 should represent their condition to the Commissioners as one of extreme 
 hardship and suffering, and their proprietors as heartless oppressors." 
 This whole statement by Macleod regarding me, my doings and sayings, 
 is simply and absolutely untrue. For this, however, I do not hold him 
 responsible, except in so far as he has unwittingly accepted the state- 
 ments of some underling flatterer, who must have drawn upon his 
 imagination as to what I was saying and doing in the Isle of Skye. I 
 know that Macleod was not in the island when I was there, and, there- 
 fore, he could not have had any personal knowledge of the subject upon 
 which he wrote. 
 
 I cannot but feel nattered that Macleod should consider my sayings 
 of more importance than Dr. Cameron's, M.P. ; and as others, as well 
 as he, may possibly care to know how the facts really stand, permit me
 
 INTRODUCTION. xlix 
 
 to say that I not only disapproved of Dr. Cameron's statement, as 
 quoted by Macleod, but that a few days after it was made, I publicly 
 said so in presence of one of the Royal Commissioners, Sir Kenneth S. 
 Mackenzie of Gairloch, Baronet, who, on the occasion, presided at the 
 annual dinner of the Gaelic Society of Inverness, when I had the honour 
 of occupying the opposite end of the table. I then pointed out the mis- 
 chief that such crude and inaccurate statements were likely to lead to, 
 and stated that most Highland proprietors held charters for the last four 
 or five hundred years, as I myself had shown in my histories of the 
 Macdonalds and Mackenzies, and, more recently, in my "History of the 
 Camerons," now passing through the Celtic Magazine, 
 
 It is quite possible that what I did say regarding the rights of land- 
 lords and tenants to the land would not be of sufficient interest to the 
 general public to justify me in asking you to publish it. I may, how- 
 ever, be permitted to state that I hold the rights of the landlords to be 
 legally unassailable, and that I said so in Skye and elsewhere, as well as 
 that I would not, even in the public interest, deprive them of a sixpence 
 worth without full compensation for the agricultural value of their estates. 
 I, however, hold very decided views as to the natural rights of the people 
 to live in their native land as against the legal rights of the landlords to 
 evict them. I have openly given expression to these views, and I shall 
 not rest satisfied until the legal rights of the landlords are brought into 
 harmony with the natural rights of the people by Act of Parliament. I 
 shall soon have an opportunity of stating more fully, before the Royal 
 Commission, what my views on that most important subject are ; mean- 
 while I trust that you will insert this in your next issue. I am, &c., 
 
 ALEX. MACKENZIE. 
 
 P. S. When men in Macleod of Macleod's position make such reck- 
 less and unfounded statements in your columns, people should hesitate 
 before charging the less-favoured crofters with wilful misrepresentation 
 in detailing their grievances to the Queen's representatives. They 
 cannot all, like me, call a Royal Commissioner to their aid to rebut 
 the baseless charges made against them. A. M. 
 
 I am not, however, without hopes as to the future of the 
 Scotsman on the Crofter question. As soon as he finds that 
 his ravings are ignored by the Liberal Government of the 
 day, so soon the Scotsman will ponderously support the 
 Government and turn his back upon himself, as he has done 
 in the past, with scarcely an exception, in similar circum-
 
 1 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 stances. It, however, requires more talent than the editorial 
 department at present commands to ensure success in so 
 delicate an acrobatic performance, and, probably, rather 
 than expose himself too glaringly he will make a further and 
 stronger effort to maintain his consistency in a career of 
 abuse and misrepresentation of the Highland people. 
 
 The following extract from a letter published in the 
 Scotsman on May 2ist, 1881, when the Irish Land Bill was 
 before Parliament, in reply to some " leading " criticism in 
 connection with the Leckmelm Evictions, will be found as 
 truly descriptive of his position now as it was then : 
 
 You have consistently opposed the principle of State interference 
 between landlord and tenant any restriction of the right to enter into 
 private contracts until the Liberal Government threw your principle 
 to the winds, in such as the Ground Game Act of last year, and now 
 the Irish Land Bill. You were then equally consistent with your past 
 history in support of the Government and inconsistent with yourself. 
 If a principle is sound in Ireland it is equally so in Scotland. If you 
 give up the principle in Ireland, I must ask you to do so here, if it can 
 be shown that the circumstances are similar, or in proportion to the 
 extent in which they are so. What, then, becomes of your proposition 
 "that land, like gold, ought to be left to the laws of supply and 
 demand," and that no one ever thought that the possessor of it "should 
 be compelled to part with it for less than the price which it would fetch 
 in a free and fair market ? " The present Government say exactly what 
 you state no one would think of saying or doing, and you ably support 
 them to get a Bill passed for Ireland by which the owners of land shall 
 be restricted in letting their land for what it would ' ' fetch in a free and 
 fair market ". This was clearly brought out by Mr. Gladstone in his 
 able speech on the Bill on Monday last. He boldly stated and clearly 
 proved that the market value of land was in many cases an unfair one, 
 and far higher than its real value. He is making provision accordingly 
 in his Irish Land Bill. What is good for Ireland in this respect cannot 
 be very bad for the Highlands of Scotland, and I expect to see the 
 powerful influence of the Scotsman one day wielded in favour of a 
 Government measure for this country, as it is now wielded in favour of 
 an Irish Bill founded on a principle which the Scotsman has always 
 consistently condemned.
 
 INTRODUCTION. li 
 
 You describe the contention that the country requires men, and that 
 by abolishing small holdings they are being exterminated, as "non- 
 sense ". The facts are against you. The men are exterminated, so 
 far as this country is concerned, when they are evicted ; for most of 
 them emigrate, and the recent census shews that the Highlanders in 
 the Highlands are being, to all intents and purposes exterminated, and 
 that the population is rapidly decreasing. Therefore, if it is a good 
 thing to have the men, evictions must be bad, and should be checked. 
 If the men are of no value, the case is altered. 
 
 I have no personal knowledge of the miseries of small tenants in 
 Connaught [to which you refer], though I believe such chiefly prevails 
 among the cottars who have no land. I know something about the 
 state of the Highlands, and I carefully read the letters of your own 
 "Special Commissioner" a few years ago. If we believe him, he 
 seems to have found misery enough, though, in my opinion, he, in 
 many cases, overstated it. No one ever suggested that the Highlanders 
 should be crowded on the land. They are overcrowded already in 
 patches close to the sea-shore. What is proposed is, that they should 
 be spread over the straths and beautiful glens from which they were 
 evicted to make room for sheep and deer. 
 
 And here let me say what I have often said privately, that sheep 
 and sheep farmers are almost entirely responsible for the Highland 
 evictions. The people were driven away to make room for sheep, and 
 it seems now that retribution is fast overtaking the original sinners by 
 their being in turn gradually driven out by sportsmen and deer forests. 
 These will also have their day, and I trust and believe that man will 
 yet take his proper place and occupy his fair share of the land. Even 
 then there will be plenty room for real sport and for a sufficient supply 
 of sheep. 
 
 I am not sure that I could even now write anything more 
 accurate or appropriate than this extract, and time will show 
 that I have accurately gauged and described in it the true 
 position of the Scotsman, not only as regards the past, but 
 also as to his future position respecting the Highland 
 Crofters.
 
 lii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 PATRICK SELLAR'S TRIAL. 
 
 Shortly after my " Highland Clearances " appeared, Mr. 
 Thomas Sellar, eldest son of the late Patrick Sellar, com- 
 plained that I did not make enough of the fact that his 
 father was acquitted of the charges of Culpable Homicide 
 and Fire-raising in the Inverness Court of Justiciary. I 
 have since published a report of the trial separately, and it 
 is reproduced in full in this volume. I trust that Mr. Sellar 
 will be satisfied with the circulation I have secured for it. 
 I am perfectly content to leave the public to judge of the 
 whole question in dispute from this report of the trial. 
 Mr. Sellar would have been much better to have let sleeping 
 dogs lie, but that is his affair. He has chosen to publish a 
 book in reply to those who believe that his father was 
 largely responsible for the Sutherland Clearances. He has 
 as completely failed in his object, as he would have failed 
 in an attempt to turn the ocean into dry land. His book 
 answers itself. By its publication, he has, however, chal- 
 lenged further discussion of the whole question in dispute. 
 
 A valued correspondent, well acquained with the history 
 and traditions of Sutherland, oral and written, on seeing 
 an intimation that such a book was forthcoming, wrote to 
 me as follows : " I see the Sellars are moved against you 
 for exhibiting the part their famous father took in the 
 atrocities committed in Sutherland ; that one of them is to 
 write a book in vindication of their father ! Well, I have 
 heard a fetish, to wit, that ' a clear-eyed person 
 could distinguish the dust of the righteous from that of the 
 wicked in the same grave; that the dust of the former lay still, 
 but in that of the latter there was a perpetual vermicular 
 motion which prevented it taking rest or being still'. It would 
 appear that the memory of the unenviable Sellar is doomed
 
 INTRODUCTION. liii 
 
 to this endless restlessness. No learning, no literary skill, 
 or power, no wealth, no ducal influence, can prevent that 
 name going down to posterity otherwise than as an example 
 to be avoided, a character to be shunned." After detailing 
 various incidents connected with the Sutherland Clearances, 
 my correspondent gives an account of a lively colloquy 
 which is reported to have taken place between Sellar and 
 Colonel Mackay of Pitfure, Strathfleet, who demanded an 
 interview with him on the subject of the burning of the 
 houses in Strath Brora, and tells how the Colonel was in- 
 strumental in putting a stop to them, with the result, as he 
 says, that "a good part of Strathfleet was saved from the 
 catastrophe that fell on the whole of the other Straths ; and 
 to-day," he writes, " Strathfleet is a happy and prosperous 
 contrast to the ruin and loss that reign elsewhere in the 
 county of Sutherland ". He then exclaims, " Such is a 
 specimen of the accounts of Mr. Sellar which are handed 
 down from father to son, wherever a Sutherland man is 
 to be found. And now the public character of this man is 
 to be thatched with legal technicalities so as to make him 
 appear a just and humane man ! This will be accomplished 
 when the world is made to believe that Ahab did justly 
 in getting possession of the vineyard of Naboth. Before 
 this promised book, justifying Mr. Sellar, comes out, I 
 would give the following review of it : nine-tenths of 
 Sutherland was reduced to a wilderness, the inhabitants 
 burnt out as vermin. Of this fact, there is no doubt, no 
 possible dispute. Who did it ? Earl Gower, the Countess 
 of Sutherland, Mr. Loch, and their most active lieutenant, 
 Mr. Sellar. It would be difficult, at this time of day, to 
 balance the blame fairly between them, but almost all will 
 conclude that Mr. Sellar's was not the least of the four. 
 Let them divide the guilt between them ; each of them will
 
 llV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 find his own share too much to bear." Here I, at least, am 
 satisfied, at present, to leave Mr. Sellar and his book. 
 
 LORD NAPIER AS CHAIRMAN OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION. 
 
 In view of what has been said and written, when the 
 Royal Commission was appointed, and especially of what 
 appears at pp. 150-152 of this book, I have much pleasure 
 in acknowledging here the absolutely impartial and searching 
 manner in which the grievances of the people have been 
 inquired into, hitherto, under the guidance of the noble 
 chairman, Lord Napier and Ettrick, who has not only, proved 
 himself possessed of the necessary qualifications imparti- 
 ality, knowledge of the subject, and a remarkable patience 
 for such a responsible and difficult position, but has, at 
 the same time, exhibited an insight into the whole question 
 of the Inquiry which has no less surprised than it has 
 gratified the Crofters and their friends. His conduct as 
 chairman has been in all respects unexceptional, a fact for 
 which he deserves the universal gratitude of the Highland 
 people at home and abroad. 
 
 It would be at present invidious to make special reference 
 to other individual members of a Commission which has, in 
 its corporate capacity, done its work so well. This will be 
 in good time when the Inquiry is completed and the Report 
 issued. 
 
 A. M. 
 
 25 ACADEMY STREET, INVERNESS, 
 22nd August, 188?.
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882-1883.
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 
 
 THE BRAES CROFTERS AND LORD MACDONALD. 
 
 No evictions have yet taken place in consequence of the 
 social revolution which has, during 1882-3, directed the 
 attention of the world to the position of landlord and tenant 
 in the Isle of Skye. Considerable space must, however, 
 be devoted to what has already occurred. The writer 
 went over the ground, and he has carefully considered the 
 whole question. The following statement was published by 
 him, on his return from the Island, in the Celtic Magazine 
 'for May 1882, and he has not hitherto found it necessary to 
 modify a single sentence of what he then wrote, though he 
 has watched all the proceedings which have since occurred 
 including the evidence given at the trial of the Braes 
 crofters with great care. Indeed, it has been admitted by 
 those more immediately concerned on the landlords' side, 
 that his account was exceedingly moderate in tone, carefully 
 couched in temperate language, and accurately stated in all 
 its details. It is as follows : 
 
 That we were, and still are, on the verge of a social revo- 
 lution in Skye is beyond question, and those who have any 
 influence with the people as well as those lairds and factors 
 who have the interests of the population virtually in their 
 keeping, will incur a very grave responsibility at a critical 
 time like this, unless the utmost care is taken to keep the
 
 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 action of the aggrieved tenants within the law, and on the 
 other hand grant to the people, in a friendly and judicious 
 spirit, material concessions in response to grievances regard- 
 ing any hardships which can be proved to exist. 
 
 It is quite true that, though innumerable grievances un- 
 questionably do exist, no single one by itself is of sufficient 
 magnitude to make a deep impression on the public mind, 
 or upon any mere superficial enquirer. It is the constant 
 accumulation of numberless petty annoyances, all in the 
 same direction, that exasperate the people. The whole 
 tendency, and, it is feared, the real object of the general 
 treatment of the crofter is to crush his spirit, and keep him 
 enslaved within the grasp of his landlord and factor. Indeed, 
 one of the latter freely admitted to us that his object in 
 sometimes* serving large numbers of notices of removal, 
 which he had not the slightest intention of carrying into 
 effect, was that he might " have the whip-hand over them ". 
 This practice can only be intended to keep the people in a 
 constant state of terror and insecurity, and it has hitherto 
 succeeded only too well. 
 
 The most material grievance, however, as well as the 
 most exasperating, is the gradual but certain encroachment 
 made on the present holdings. The pasture is taken from 
 the crofters piecemeal ; their crofts are in many cases sub- 
 divided to make room for those gradually evicted from 
 other places in a way to avoid public attention to make 
 room for sheep or deer, or both. The people see that they 
 are being gradually but surely driven to the sea, and that if 
 they do not resist in time they will ultimately, and at no 
 distant date, be driven into it, or altogether expelled from 
 their native land. A little more pressure in this direction, 
 and no amount of argument or advice will keep the people 
 from taking the law into their own hands and resisting it by
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 9 
 
 force. The time for argument has already gone. The 
 powers that be has hitherto refused to listen to the voice of 
 reason, and the consequence is that scarcely any one can 
 now be found on either side who will wait to argue whether 
 or not a change is necessary. It is admitted on all hands 
 that a change, and a very material change, must take place 
 at no distant date, and the only question at present being 
 considered in the West at least, is, What is to be the nature 
 of the change? This is what we have now been brought 
 face to face to, and, however difficult the problem may be 
 and it is surrounded with endless difficulties on all sides 
 the change must come ; and it is admitted all round that 
 the day when it shall take place has been brought much 
 nearer by the inconsiderate action and unbending spirit of 
 those at present in power in the Isle of Skye. This is now 
 seen and admitted by themselves. In short, a great blunder 
 has been committed. This opinion is almost universal in 
 the Island, and it will be a crime against owners of land, 
 against the interests of society, and against common sense, 
 if the blunder is not at once rectified by the good sense of 
 those who have it in their power to do so. The error will 
 soon be forgotten if rectified with as little delay as possible ; 
 and the class of men who are willing to sacrifice their own 
 ideas of self-importance to confer a great boon upon society 
 is so limited, that we appeal with no slight confidence to 
 Lord Macdonald's factor to retrace his steps, and arrange a 
 settlement with his people in the Braes ; and thus assuredly 
 raise himself to a higher position in public estimation than 
 he has ever yet occupied, with all his power; and at the 
 same time become an example for good to others. He can 
 do all this with the less difficulty, seeing that not a single 
 one of the grievances of the Braes tenants were originated 
 since he became factor on the Macdonald estates, and that
 
 10 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 the only thing with which he can fairly be charged in con- 
 nection with them was a too imperious disinclination to 
 listen to the people's claims, and that he had not fully and 
 sufficiently early enquired into the justice of them. On his 
 prudence very much depends at present the amicable settle- 
 ment of a great question, or at least the shape which the 
 present agitation for the settlement of the relations of land- 
 lord and tenant in the Highlands will ultimately take. 
 
 We believe that the sad consequences of the recent pro- 
 ceedings against the Braes tenants is deplored by himself as 
 much as by any in the Isle of Skye, where the feeling of 
 regret and shame is universal among the people, from the 
 highest to the lowest, irrespective of position or party. 
 
 There is a very strong feeling that the law must be main- 
 tained ; but the opinion is very generally expressed that the 
 people ought not on this occasion, and in the present state 
 of the public mind, to have been brought into contact with 
 the criminal authorities ; and that by a little judicious rea- 
 soning this could have been very easily avoided. We quite 
 agree that the law must not only be respected, but firmly 
 vindicated, when occasion demands it; but at the same 
 time the owners of land who press hard upon their poor 
 tenants are living in a fool's paradise if they expect that 
 harsh laws, harshly administered, will be allowed to stand 
 much longer on the statute-book if such as the recent pro- 
 ceedings at the Braes are to be repeated elsewhere throughout 
 the country. Just now the facts of history deserve careful 
 study, and we trust that the lessons they teach will not be 
 thrown away on those more immediately concerned in main- 
 taining their present position in connection with the land. 
 
 An attempt has been made to show that the Braes tenants 
 have no real grievances ; and our own opinion before we 
 went to examine them on the spot was, and it is so still,
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. II 
 
 that they are, from a legal standpoint, in a far worse position 
 to assert their claims than the tenants of Glendale, Dr. 
 Nicol Martin's, and other proprietors on the Island. We 
 are now satisfied, however, that they have very considerable 
 grievances from a moral standpoint, and no one will dispute 
 that grievances of that kind are generally as important, and 
 often more substantial and exasperating than those which 
 can be enforced in a court of law. 
 
 The Braes tenants maintain that in two instances con- 
 siderable portions of their lands have been taken from them 
 without any reduction of rent, and their contentions are 
 capable of legal proof. 
 
 I. There is no doubt at all that they had the grazings of 
 Benlee the original cause of the present dispute down to 
 1865, when it was taken from them and let to a sheep 
 farmer as a separate holding. It can be proved that Lord 
 Macdonald paid them rent for a small portion of it, which 
 he took into his own hands for the site of a forester's house 
 and garden. It can also be proved that it was not a 
 "common" in the ordinary acceptation of that term, though 
 it is called so in a map made by a surveyor, named Black- 
 adder, who, in 1810, divided the crofts from the run-rig 
 system into ordinary lots, while the grazings of Benlee con- 
 tinued to be held in common as before. The Uist people, 
 and others from the West, paid a rent for the use of it to 
 the Braes tenants when resting their droves on their way to 
 the Southern markets. 
 
 II. The townships are, or were, divided into seven crofts, 
 occupied by as many tenants, and an eighth, called the 
 shepherd's croft, which that necessary adjunct to a common 
 or club farm received in return for his services. The 
 shepherd's croft has been since withdrawn, and let direct by 
 the factor to an eighth tenant, and that without any reduc-
 
 12 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 tion of rent to the other seven crofters in each township, 
 while they have now to bear the burden of paying their 
 shepherd from their own resources. This is a virtual raising 
 of the rents, without any equivalent, by more than 13! per 
 cent., altogether apart from the appropriation of Benlee. 
 
 These grievances took shape long before the present 
 factor came into power, and he himself has stated that it was 
 only since the present agitation began that he became even 
 acquainted with the complaint regarding the shepherds' 
 crofts. For townships to have such a croft is quite common 
 in the Island, and the practice is well known and under- 
 stood. 
 
 It has been stated that the rents are now not higher than 
 they were in 1810, but, apart from the fact that Benlee and 
 the eighth croft have since been taken away, why compare 
 the present with 1810, a time at which, in consequence of 
 the wars of the period, and the high price obtained for kelp, 
 rents and produce of every kind were very high. The rental 
 of Lord Macdonald's Skye property, we understand, was 
 ;8ooo, while in 1830, it fell to ^5000, but no corresponding 
 reduction was made in the Braes. The tenants maintain 
 that they have repeatedly claimed Benlee, and that the 
 late factor told them if they had been firm when the previous 
 lease expired, they would have got it, though whether with 
 or without rent was nqt stated. This is admitted, though 
 different views were held by each as to the payment of rent 
 the tenants expecting they were to get it in terms of their 
 request, without any payment, while the factor says that he 
 meant them to get it on payment of the then rent. In any 
 case it is impossible that they can now obtain a decent liveli- 
 hood without additional pasture for their stock, for they 
 have been obliged to allow a great portion of their arable 
 land to run into waste, to graze their cattle upon it. They
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 13 
 
 are willing to pay some rent for Benlee, and it is to be 
 hoped, in all the circumstances, that the factor will meet 
 them in a liberal spirit (as he can, without difficulty, get the 
 lands from the present tenant at Whitsunday next),* and thus 
 avoid further heart-burnings and estrangements between the 
 landlord and his tenants. That they have moral claims of 
 a very substantial character cannot be disputed, and the 
 mere fact that the lands have been taken from them so long 
 back as 1865, can scarcely be pleaded as a reason why this 
 stale of matters should be continued. It has indeed been 
 suggested, with some amount of apparent justice, whether in 
 all the circumstances the people have not a moral claim to 
 a return of the value of Benlee for the period during which 
 it has been out of their possession, seeing that they still have 
 the arable portions and part of the grazings of their original 
 holdings. 
 
 GLENDALE. 
 
 We visited this property, some 30 to 35 miles from 
 Portree, and 7 to 12 miles from Dunvegan, accompanied by 
 the special commissioners for the Aberdeen Daily Free Press, 
 the Dundee Advertiser, and the Glasgow Citizen. The 
 whole surroundings of Glendale at once indicate a more 
 than average comfortable tenantry, indeed, the most 
 prosperous, to outward appearance, that we have seen in the 
 North- West Highlands. The estate is owned by the Trustees 
 of the late Sir John Macpherson Macleod. The people 
 are remarkably intelligent and well informed, and their 
 grievances place those of the Braes men entirely in the 
 shade. The following account of them and their position 
 generally, largely from Mr. William Mackenzie's account in 
 
 * This was written in April, 1882.
 
 14 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 the Free Press, and taken down in the presence of the 
 writer, may be accepted as a true statement of their case : 
 
 While the people are thoroughly firm in their demands, it 
 would be a mistake to call their attitude and actions a " no 
 rent" agitation. They are all alive to their obligation to 
 pay rent to the landlord, and where rent is witheld that is 
 done, not in defiance of the landlord's rights, but as the best, 
 and perhaps the only, means they can devise to induce the 
 landlord to consider the claims and grievances of the people. 
 The estate managed by the trustees of the late John 
 Macpherson Macleod consists of about a dozen townships. 
 According to the current valuation roll, lands, etc., of the 
 annual value of ^400 93. are in the occupancy of the 
 trustees. Dr. Martin pays ^133 for Waterstein, and the 
 shooting tenant pays ^"140. The ground officer pays some 
 30 for lands at Colbost, while the rest of the estate is 
 occupied by crofters, who among them pay a rent of about 
 ^"700. The extent of the estate is about 35,000 acres. 
 Ten years ago the rent was ^1257, while now it is ^1397 
 odds, shewing a net increase on the decade of ^139 i6s. id. 
 or slightly over 1 1 per cent. 
 
 The tenants complain that the different townships were 
 deprived of rights anciently possessed by them ; that some 
 townships were by degrees cleared of the crofters to enable 
 the laird or the factor to increase his stock of sheep, and 
 that such of these people as did not leave the estate were 
 crowded into other townships, individual tenants in these 
 townships being required to give a portion of their holdings 
 to make room for these new comers. They also complain 
 of the arrogant and dictatorial manner in which the factor 
 deals with them. So the Glendale crofters, wearied for 
 years with what they have regarded as oppression, have now 
 risen as one man, resolved to unfold before the public gaze
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 15 
 
 those matters of which they complain, and to demand of 
 their territorial superiors to restore to them lands which at 
 one time were occupied by themselves and their ancestors, 
 to lessen, if not to remove, what they regard as the severity 
 of the factor's yoke, and generally to place them in that 
 position of independence and security to which they con- 
 sider they are fairly and justly entitled. The functions per- 
 formed by the factor of Glendale are exceedingly varied in 
 their character. He is, they say, as a rule, sole judge of 
 any little dispute that may arise between the crofters. He 
 decides these disputes according to his own notions of right 
 or wrong, and if anyone is dissatisfied a not uncommon 
 occurrence even among litigants before the Supreme Courts 
 the dissatisfied one dare not carry the matter to the 
 regularly constituted tribunals of the land. To impugn the 
 judgment of the factor by such conduct might entail more 
 serious consequences than any one would be disposed to 
 incur, and, further, the extraordinary and mistaken notion 
 appears to have prevailed that if any one brought a case 
 before the Sheriff Court the factor's letter would be there 
 before him to nonsuit him. This factorial mode of adminis- 
 trating the law is probably a vestige that still lingers in 
 isolated districts of the ancient heritable jurisdiction of 
 Scotland ; and it is only right to state that Glendale is not 
 the only place in the Highlands where the laird or the 
 factor have been wont to administer the law. Among the 
 privileges which the Glendale people formerly possessed 
 was the right to collect and get the salvage for timber 
 drifted from wrecks to the shore. Of this privilege it was 
 resolved to deprive them, as may be seen from the following 
 written notice which was posted up at the local post-office, 
 the most public part of the district : 
 
 Notice. Whereas parties are in the habit of trespassing" on the
 
 1 6 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 lands of Glendale, Lowergill, Ramasaig, and Waterstein, in searching 
 and carrying away drift timber, notice is hereby given that the shep- 
 herds and herds on these lands have instructions to give up the names 
 of any persons found hereafter on any part of said lands, as also anyone 
 found carrying away timber from the shore by boats or otherwise, that 
 they may be dealt with according to law. Factor's Office, Tormore, 
 4th January, 1882. 
 
 The lands over which they were thus forbidden to walk, 
 consist mainly of sheep grazing, in the occupation of the 
 trustees, and managed for them by the factor. The people 
 were also forbidden to keep dogs. 
 
 These notices, it is stated, had the desired effect ; tres- 
 passing ceased, and the crofter, with a sad heart, destroyed 
 his canine friend. Grievances multiplying in this way, it 
 was resolved by some leader in the district to convene a 
 public meeting of the crofters to consider the situation. 
 The notice calling the meeting together, was in these 
 terms : 
 
 We, the tenants on the estate of Glendale, do hereby warn each 
 other to meet at Glendale Church on the 7th day of February, on or 
 about one P.M., of 1882, for the purpose of stating our respective 
 grievances publicly, in order to communicate the same to our superiors, 
 when the ground-officer is requested to attend. 
 
 Such a revolutionary movement as this, the people actually 
 daring to meet together to consider their relations with the 
 laird, and make demands, was not to be lightly entered 
 upon, and it need not be wondered at if some of them at first 
 wanted the moral courage to come up to the occasion. If 
 any one showed symptoms of weakness in this way he was 
 encouraged, and on the appointed day the clansmen met 
 and deliberated on the situation. At that meeting their 
 grievances received full expression. It was in particular 
 pointed out that the township of Ramasaig, which fifteen 
 years ago was occupied by 22 separate crofters, is now
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. I? 
 
 reduced to two, the land taken from or given up by the 
 other twenty families having been put under sheep by the 
 factor. The people, who presumably were less valuable 
 than the sheep, in some cases left the country altogether, 
 while those that remained were provided with half crofts on 
 another part of the estate. 
 
 For instance, a crofter who perhaps had a ten pound 
 croft, say, at Milivaig was requested to give up the one-half 
 of it to a crofter removed from Ramasaig, a corresponding 
 reduction being made in the rent. In this way, while the 
 sheep stocks under the charge of the factor were increasing, 
 the status of the crofters was gradually diminishing, and the 
 necessity for their depending more and more on other indus- 
 tries than the cultivation of their croft was increasing. To 
 illustrate this all the more forcibly, we may state that the 
 crofters at Ramasaig had eight milk cows and their fol- 
 lowers, and about forty sheep on each whole croft altoge- 
 ther over a hundred head of cattle and from 300 to 400 
 sheep. Lowerkell was similarly cleared. At the meeting 
 of the crofters, to which I have alluded, it was resolved 
 that, as a body, they should adopt a united course of action. 
 They were all similarly situated. Each man and each 
 township had a grievance, and no individual was to be 
 called upon to make a separate claim. Each township or 
 combination of townships was to make one demand, and if 
 any punishment should follow on such an act of temerity, it 
 should not be allowed to fall on any one person, but on the 
 united body as a whole. To guard against any backsliding, 
 and to prevent any weakling or chicken-hearted leaguer (if 
 any should exist) from falling out of the ranks, they, one 
 and all, subscribed their names in a book, pledging them- 
 selves as a matter of honour to adhere in a body to the 
 resolution thus arrived at. The scheme having thus been
 
 iS THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 formulated, each township or combination proceeded to get 
 up petitions embodying their respective cases, and sending 
 them to the trustees, Professor Macpherson, of Edinburgh, 
 and his brother. 
 
 The tenants of Skinidin claim two islands, opposite their 
 crofts, in Loch Dunvegan. Apart from this, they complain 
 that they do not get the quantity of seaweed to which they 
 were entitled. This may appear to some a small matter, 
 but to the cultivator of a croft it is a matter of great import- 
 ance, for seaware is the only manure which he can conveni- 
 ently get, excepting, of course, the manure produced by his 
 cows. The quantity of ware promised to the Skinidin 
 crofters was one ton each, but the one-half of it, they say, 
 was taken from them some time ago, and given to the 
 " wealthy men " and favourites of the place. The result is 
 that they have to cross to the opposite side of Loch Dun- 
 vegan and buy sea-ware there at 313. 6d. per ton. This is 
 not only an outlay of money, which the poor crofters can ill 
 afford to incur, but it also entails great labour, which is 
 attended with no inconsiderable danger to life. The crofters 
 accordingly demand the quantity of ware to which, they say, 
 they are entitled. 
 
 The Colbost tenants, to the number of twenty-five, also 
 sent in a petition, in which they complained of high rents, 
 and stated that owing to incessant tilling the land is becom- 
 ing exhausted, and ceasing to yield that crop which they 
 might fairly expect. In 1848, they say they got Colbost 
 with its old rights at its old rent with the sanction of the 
 proprietor. The local factor, Norman Macraild, subse- 
 quently deprived them of these privileges, while the rents 
 were being constantly increased. They accordingly demand 
 that their old privileges should be restored, and the rents
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 19 
 
 reduced to the old standard, otherwise they will not be able 
 to meet their engagements. 
 
 We shall next take the petition of the Harmaravirein 
 crofters. The place is occupied by John Campbell, who 
 pays 9 155. 4d.; John Maclean, ^5 33. 4d.; John Mackay, 
 6 2s. 8d.; and Donald Nicolson, ^4 123. The petition, 
 which was in the following terms, deserves record : 
 
 We, the crofters of Harmaravirein, do humbly show by this peti- 
 tion that we agree with our fellow-petitioners in Glendale as to their 
 requests. We do, by the same petition, respectfully ask redress for 
 grievances laid upon us by a despotic factor, Donald Macdonald, Tor- 
 more, who thirteen years ago for the first time took from us part of our 
 land, against our will, and gave it to others, whom he drove from ano- 
 ther quarter of the estate of Glendale, to extend his own boundaries, 
 and acted similarly two years ago, when he dispersed the Ramasaig 
 tenantry. We, your humble petitioners, believe that none of the griev- 
 ances mentioned were known to our late good and famous proprietor, 
 being an absentee, in whom we might place our confidence had he been 
 present to hear and grant our request. As an instance of his goodwill 
 to his subjects, the benefits he bestowed on the people of St. Kilda are 
 manifest to the kingdom of Great Britain. We, your petitioners, pray 
 our new proprietors to consider our case, and grant that the tenantry 
 be reinstated in the places which have been cleared of their inhabitants 
 by him in Tormore. 
 
 The petition of the Upper and Lower Milivaig and Borro- 
 dale crofters set forth that, notwithstanding their going north 
 and south all over the country to earn their bread, they are 
 still declining into poverty. The crofts too are getting ex- 
 hausted through constant tilling. Before 1 845 they say there 
 were only 16 families in the two Milivaigs and one in Borro- 
 dale. There are now 5 in Borrodale, 19 in Upper Milivaig, 
 and 20 in Lower Milivaig, averaging six souls in each family. 
 The rent before 1845 f r *he two Milivaigs was 40. At 
 the date mentioned, Macleod of Macleod, who was then 
 proprietor, divided each of the two Milivaigs into 16 crofts.
 
 20 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 They prayed that they might get the lands of Waterstein 
 now tenanted by Dr. Martin. The petition concluded : 
 
 Further, we would beg, along with our fellow-petitioners in Glen- 
 dale, that the tenantry who have been turned out of Lowerkell, Rama- 
 saig, and Hamara by our ill-ruling factor be reinstated. 
 
 The tenants of Holmesdale and Liepbein, 29 in number, 
 stated in their petition, that 48 years ago the place was let 
 to ten tenants at about ^60, and afterwards re-let to 25 
 tenants at about ^85, besides a sum of ^3 25. 6d. for 
 providing peats for the proprietor. The rents, they say, 
 have nearly doubled since then, and the inhabitants in- 
 creased, the present number being nearly 200, occupying 33 
 dwellings. There was much overcrowding, there being as 
 many as 15 persons upon crofts of four acres. The petition 
 contained the following estimate of factors : " Unless poor 
 crofters are to be protected by the proprietor of the estate, 
 we need not expect anything better than suppression from 
 factors who are constantly watching and causing the down- 
 fall of their fellow-beings, in order to turn their small portion 
 of the soil into sheep-walks." These tenants prayed that 
 the evicted townships of Lowerkell, Ramasaig, and Hamara, 
 should be restored to the tenants, and thus to afford relief 
 to the overcrowded townships. The crofters of Glasvein 
 said they had no hill pasture for sheep, and no peat moss 
 to get their fuel from. When some of the present crofters, 
 they say, came into possession of their crofts, the town- 
 ship of Glasvein was allotted to seven tenants, each paying 
 an average rent of ^5, whereas now the township is in the 
 possession of 12 crofters, paying each an average rent of 
 ^4 or so. They accordingly sought to have this matter 
 remedied. 
 
 It may be stated that most of the tenants of Glendale
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 21 
 
 appear to be all hard-working, industrious men, and their 
 houses are better, on the whole, than any crofter district that 
 that we have yet visited in Skye. The soil is more fertile, 
 well drained, and comparatively well cultivated. The men 
 seem to be thoroughly intelligent, and some of them not 
 only read newspapers, but have very decided opinions in 
 regard to some of them. One of these, the Scotsman^ 
 we heard them designating as " The United Liar ". But 
 newspaper reading that is Liberal newspaper reading is 
 not encouraged in Glendale. One man whom we met 
 informed us that a crofter in Glendale was accused of 
 reading too many newspapers, a circumstance which the 
 factor strongly suspected accounted for the heinous crime of 
 the crofter being a Liberal. At one time there were some 
 small shops in Glendale, but these would appear to have 
 practically vanished. Some years ago the factor set up a 
 meal store himself, and the crofters, we are informed, were 
 given to understand that shopkeepers would have to pay a 
 rent of 2 each for these so-called shops, in addition to 
 their rents. No one, however, appears to have ever been 
 asked to pay this, but the shops ceased to exist ! 
 
 Perhaps the most indefensible custom of all was to compel 
 the incoming tenant to pay up the arrears, however large a 
 sum, of his predecessor. This appeared so incredible that 
 no one present felt justified in publishing it ; but on our 
 consulting the factor personally, he not only admitted but 
 actually defended the practice as a kind of fair enough 
 premium or " goodwill " for the concern, and said it was 
 quite a common practice in the Isle of Skye. We would 
 describe it in very different terms, but that is unnecessary. 
 It only wants to be stated to be condemned by all honest 
 men as an outrage on public morality. 
 
 As we left the district the crofters were in great glee at the
 
 22 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 prospect of a visit from the trustees to arrange matters with 
 them. They are hopeful that important concessions may be 
 made to them, and if these hopes should not be realised, 
 they appear to be animated with an unflinching determination 
 to stand by one another, and, shoulder to shoulder, agitate 
 for the redress of what they firmly maintain to be great and 
 serious grievances. 
 
 Dr. MARTIN'S ESTATE. 
 
 We have left ourselves but little space to speak of the 
 condition of affairs on the estate of Dr. Martin. This 
 estate is one which is of great interest to Highlanders. 
 Borreraig, one of the townships in revolt, was anciently 
 held rent free by the MacCrimmons, the hereditary pipers 
 of Macleod of Dunvegan. The principal grievance com- 
 plained of by the crofters may be briefly stated. The 
 crofters are required to sell to the laird all the fish they 
 catch at a uniform rate of sixpence for ling and fourpence 
 for cod, and we have actually been informed of a case 
 where some one was accused at a semi-public meeting of 
 interfering in a sort of clandestine way with the doctor's 
 privileges by buying the fish at higher prices. The 
 crofters were also required to sell their cattle to the doctor's 
 bailiff at his own price. A man spoke of his having some 
 time ago sold a stirk to a foreign drover, and was after all re- 
 quired to break his bargain with the outsider and hand over 
 the animal to the bailiff. This bailiff was, however, dis- 
 missed last Whitsunday, a fact stated in defence by Dr. 
 Martin's friends. Tenants are also required to give eight 
 days' free labour each year to the laird, failing which to pay 
 a penalty of 23. 6d. per day ; and while thus working, we 
 were informed that if any one by accident broke any of the
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 23 
 
 tools he used, he was required to pay for the damage. The 
 breaking of a shearing-hook subjected the man who did it to 
 pay 2S. 6d. for it. We are aware that the friends of the 
 laird maintain that the labour thus contributed by the people 
 is in reality not for labour, but an equivalent for a portion 
 of the rent. This is a very plausible excuse, but it will not 
 bear examination. If it is regarded as a part of the rent, 
 rates should be paid upon it, and the "annual value" or 
 rent returned to the county valuator each year should be 
 the amount actually paid in money plus the value of the 
 eight days' labour. Thus, either the labour is free, or there 
 is an unjust and inequitable burden thrown on the other 
 crofters in the parish who do not perform such labour, as, 
 of course, the labour given by Dr. Martin's tenants is not 
 rated. The tenants have now struck against performing 
 this work, and Dr. Martin's work was done this year on 
 ordinary day labour. 
 
 The people also complain that the hill land was taken 
 from the tenants of Galtrigill, and the hill grounds of 
 Borreraig, the neighbouring township, thrown open to them. 
 This was a very material curtailment of the subjects let, but 
 further, sums of from IDS. to 303. were added to the rent 
 of each holding. No crofter on the estate has a sheep or a 
 horse, and they are obliged to buy wool for their clothing 
 from a distance, as Dr. Martin, they say, will not sell them 
 any. The tenants paid their rents at Martinmas last, but 
 they have given notice that unless their demands are con- 
 ceded they will not pay the rent due at Martinmas next 
 The leading points of their petition are that the rents be 
 reduced, the old land-marks restored, and the hill grounds 
 as of old given to them. This petition the tenants sent 
 to Dr. Martin some time ago, but he has not made any 
 reply. The tenants do not appear to be very hopeful that
 
 24 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 he will make any concession, but they are evidently deter- 
 mined to walk in the same paths as their neighbours on the 
 estate of Sir John Macpherson Macleod, and they are in 
 great hopes that the friends of the Gael in the large towns 
 of the south will manfully aid them in their battle against 
 landlordism. This statement will enable the reader to form 
 his own opinion on the question which has produced such a 
 feeling of insecurity and terror in the minds of both crofter 
 and proprietor for the last two years in the Isle of Skye, 
 indeed throughout the whole Highlands. 
 
 BURNING THE SUMMONSES IN THE BRAES. 
 
 We shall next give a short account of what followed upon 
 the refusal of these proprietors to give favourable considera- 
 tion to the claims of their crofting tenantry. A correspon- 
 dent of the Free Press, early in April last, described what 
 had occurred after the tenants had refused to pay any rent 
 until their grievances were considered in the following 
 terms : 
 
 The quarrel between Lord Macdonald and his tenants of 
 Balmeanach, Peinichorrain, and Gedintaillear, in the Braes 
 of Portree, is developing into portentous importance. His 
 lordship, it appears, has made up his mind to put the law in 
 force against them, and not on any account to yield to their 
 demands ; and on Friday a sheriff-officer and assistant, 
 accompanied by his lordship's ground-officer from Portree, 
 proceeded to serve summonses of removing, and small debt 
 summonses for rent upon about a score of the refractory 
 ones. The tenants, however, for some time past, since they 
 took up their present attitude, have been posting regular 
 sentinels on watch to give warning of any stranger's approach, 
 and when the officer and his party were at the Bealach near
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 25 
 
 the schoolhouse, two youngsters who were on duty there- 
 about gave the signal, and, immediately, it was transmitted 
 far and near with the result of bringing together from all 
 quarters from their spring work a gathering of about 150 or 
 200 men, women, and children, who rushed to meet the 
 officer before he had got near the intended scene of his 
 operation, viz., the townships of Peinichorrain, Balmeanach, 
 and Gedintaillear, and, surrounding him, demanded his 
 business. Upon understanding it, and being shown the 
 summonses, the documents were immediately taken from 
 him and burnt before his eyes, and thereupon he was coolly 
 requested to go to his master for more of them. The officer, 
 who is well known among them, with good tact, humoured 
 them, and so escaped with a sound skin, so that no violence 
 was used ; but it appears the temper of the people was such 
 that had he been less conciliatory, or had he attempted to 
 resist the people, the consequence would have been inevi- 
 tably very serious for him. When they were gathering from 
 the sea-shore, where many of them were cutting sea-ware 
 with reaping-hooks, their leaders judiciously shouted out to 
 leave their hooks behind, which was done, so that the risk 
 of using such ugly arms in the event of a melee was avoided. 
 The officer spoke lightly before proceeding to the place of 
 the resistance he was likely to meet, and thought there 
 would really be none, as he knew the people so well and 
 they knew him, many of them being his relations, but his 
 impressions now of the real state of the people's minds is 
 said to be very different, and he believes there would be 
 no use attempting any legal steps again by the employment 
 of the officers of civil law. The same paper in a later issue 
 says : 
 
 We have received the following narrative of the manner 
 in which the summonses were burned on Friday last : The
 
 26 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 people met the officer on the road, about a mile from the 
 scene of his intended labours. They were clamorous and 
 angry, of course. He told them his mission, and that he 
 would give them the summonses on the spot if they liked. 
 They said, " Thoir dhuinn iad," (Give them to us) and he did 
 so. The officer was then asked to light a fire. He did so ; 
 and a fish liver being placed upon it, that oily material was 
 soon in a blaze. The officer was then peremptorily ordered 
 to consign the summonses to the flames, which he did ! 
 The summonses were of course straightway consumed to 
 ashes. The interchange of compliments between the 
 officers of the law and the people were, as might be ex- 
 pected, of a fiery character. The chief officer was graciously 
 and considerately informed that his conduct as he had 
 only acted in the performance of a public official duty was 
 excusable; but with his assistant, or concurrent, it was 
 different. He was there for pay, and he would not go 
 home without it. Certain domestic utensils, fully charged, 
 were suddenly brought on the scene, and their contents 
 were showered on the unlucky assistant, who immediately 
 disappeared, followed by a howling crowd of boys. 
 
 MARCH OF THE DISMAL BRIGADE. 
 
 The summonses were never served, and the County Au- 
 thorities after full consideration determined to arrest and 
 punish the ringleaders for deforcing the officers of the law. 
 Sheriff Ivory obtained a body of police from Glasgow, and 
 with these, twelve from the mainland of the County of In- 
 verness, and the Skye portion of the force, he, with the 
 leading county officials invaded the Isle of Skye during the 
 night of the iyth of April. After consulting with the local
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 27 
 
 authorities in Portree, an early start was made for the Braes 
 to surprise and arrest the ringleaders. The secret was well 
 kept, but two newspaper correspondents were fortunate 
 enough to get an inkling of the proceedings, namely, Mr. 
 Mackinnon Ramsay, of the Citizen, who followed the in- 
 vading force from Glasgow, and Mr. Alexander Gow, a 
 special correspondent of the Dundee Advertiser^ who had 
 gone to Portree a few days before the Battle of the Braes. 
 These gentlemen accompanied the county officials, saw the 
 whole proceedings, and sent a full description of the desper- 
 ate and humiliating scrimmage to their respective papers. 
 We give below Mr. Gow's graphic account, every particular 
 of which we found corroborated by the leading county 
 officials on our arrival in Portree the same evening. After 
 describing the state of feeling, and the acts on the part of 
 the crofters which led up to direct contact with the criminal 
 authorities, Mr. Gow proceeds : 
 
 Here we were, then two Sheriffs, two Fiscals, a Captain 
 of police, forty-seven members of the Glasgow police force, 
 and a number of the county constabulary, as well as a 
 couple of newspaper representatives from Dundee and Glas- 
 gow, and a gentleman representing a well-known Glasgow 
 drapery house fairly started on an eight-mile tramp to the 
 Land League camp at Braes, in weather that for sheer brutal 
 ferocity had not been experienced in Skye for a very long 
 time. In the cold grey dawn the procession wore a sombre 
 aspect. It looked for all the world like a Highland funeral. 
 It was quite on the cards, indeed, that the return journey 
 might partake of the nature of a funeral procession. There 
 could be no doubt that every one was fully impressed with 
 the gravity of the mission on which we were proceeding. 
 It is literal truth to say that no member of the company 
 expected to return without receiving knocks, if not some-
 
 28 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 thing more serious. We were perfectly aware that the 
 crofters had made preparations for giving us a warm recep- 
 tion. In front, some distance ahead of the main body, 
 walked the sheriff-officer, a policeman, and another person 
 occupying for the time being some official position. Then 
 came the police detachment, and the Sheriffs and the Fiscals 
 brought up the rear the three unofficial persons already 
 mentioned forming what may be termed the rearguard. In 
 this manner we proceeded without incident for four miles, 
 when the Sheriff and his friends left the vehicle and sent it 
 back. About half-past six o'clock we reached the boundary 
 of the disaffected district nearest Portree. Hitherto scarcely 
 a single soul was observed along the route, and some sur- 
 prise was expressed by those in charge. At the schoolhouse, 
 however, it was expected that a portion of the colony would 
 be encountered, but the place was untenanted. On another 
 mile, and signs of life appeared among the hillocks. Pre- 
 sently our ears were saluted with whistling and cheering, 
 and this was interpreted as a sign that it was time to close 
 the ranks. Gedentailler township was passed without any 
 demonstrations of hostility. At the south end of this town- 
 ship there is an ugly looking pass, which seemed to cause 
 some anxiety to the officers in charge. No wonder, as there 
 could not be a finer position for an attack on a hostile body 
 of men. On the west, a steep rocky brae rises sheer from 
 the road to the height of about 400 or 500 feet. On the 
 other side, a terrific precipice descends to the sea. We 
 passed through it in safety, however, but Inspector Cameron, 
 of the Skye police, had reason to believe that the return 
 passage would be disputed. 
 
 Arrived at the boundary of Balmeanach, we found a collec- 
 tion of men, women, and children, numbering well on to 
 100. They cheered as we mounted the knoll, and the
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 29 
 
 women saluted the policemen with volleys of sarcasms about 
 their voyage from Glasgow. A halt was then called, and a 
 parley ensued between the local inspector and what ap- 
 peared to be the leader of the townships. What is passing 
 between the two it is difficult for an outsider to understand, 
 and while the conversation is in progress it is worth while 
 to look about. At the base of the steep cliff on which we 
 stood, and extending to the seashore, lay the hamlet of 
 Balmeanach. There might be about a score of houses 
 dotted over this plain. From each of these the owners were 
 running hillward with all speed. It was evident they 
 had been taken by surprise. Men, women, and children 
 rushed forward, in all stages of attire, most of the females 
 with their hair down and streaming loosely in the breeze. 
 Ever) 7 soul carried a weapon of some kind or another, but 
 in most cases these were laid down when the detachment 
 was approached. While we were watching the crowds 
 scrambling up the declivity, scores of persons had gathered 
 from other districts, and they now completely surrounded the 
 procession. The confusion that prevailed baffles description. 
 The women, with infuriated looks and bedraggled dress for 
 it was still raining heavily were shouting at the pitch of 
 their voices, uttering the most fearful imprecations, hurling 
 forth the most terrible vows of vengeance against the enemy. 
 Martin was of course the object of greatest abuse. He was 
 cursed in his own person and in that of his children, if he 
 should have any, one female shrieking curses with especial 
 vehemence. The authorities proceeded at once to perform 
 their disagreeable task, and in the course of twenty minutes 
 the five suspected persons were apprehended. A scene utterly 
 indescribable followed. The women, with the most violent 
 gestures and imprecations, declared that the police should be 
 attacked. Stones began to be thrown, and so serious an aspect
 
 30 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 did matters assume that the police drew their batons and 
 charged. This was the signal for a general attack. Huge 
 boulders darkened the horizon as they sped from the hands 
 of infuriated men and women. Large sticks and flails were 
 brandished and brought down with crushing force upon the 
 police the poor prisoners coming in for their share of the 
 blows. One difficult point had to be captured, and as the 
 expedition approached this dangerous position, it was seen 
 to be strongly occupied with men and women, armed with 
 stones and boulders. A halt was called and the situation 
 discussed. Finally it was agreed to attempt to force a way 
 through a narrow gully. By this time a crowd had gathered 
 in the rear of the party. A rush was made for the pass, and 
 from the heights a fearful fusilade of stones descended. 
 The advance was checked. The party could neither ad- 
 vance nor recede. For two minutes the expedition stood 
 exposed to the merciless shower of missiles. Many were 
 struck, and a number more or less injured. The situation 
 was highly dangerous. Raising a yell that might have been 
 heard at a distance of two miles, the crofters, maddened by 
 the apprehension of some of the oldest men in the township, 
 rushed on the police, each person armed with huge stones, 
 which, on approaching near enough, they discharged with a 
 vigour that nothing could resist. The women were by far 
 the most troublesome assailants. Thinking apparently 
 that the constables would offer them no resistance, they 
 approached to within a few yards' distance, and poured a 
 fearful volley into the compact mass. The police charged, 
 but the crowd gave way scarcely a yard. Returning again, 
 Captain Donald gave orders to drive back the howling mob, 
 at the same time advising the Sheriffs and the constables in 
 charge of the prisoners to move rapidly forward. This 
 second charge was more effective, as the attacking force was
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 31 
 
 driven back about a hundred yards. The isolated con- 
 stables now, however, found their position very dangerous. 
 The crofters rallied and hemmed them in, and a rush had 
 to be made to catch up the main body in safety. At this 
 point several members of the constabulary received serious 
 buffetings, and had they not regained their comrades, some 
 of their number would in all probability have been mortally 
 wounded. Meanwhile the crowd increased in strength. 
 
 The time within which summonses of ejectment could 
 be legally served having expired, the crofters had for a 
 day or two relaxed their vigilance, and not expecting the 
 constables so early in the morning, they had no time 
 to gather their full strength. But the " Fiery Cross " had 
 in five minutes passed through the whole township from 
 every point. Hundreds of determined looking persons 
 could be observed converging on the procession, and 
 matters began to assume a serious aspect. With great 
 oaths, the men demanded where were the Peinichorrain men. 
 This township was the most distant, and the men had not 
 yet had time to come up. But they were coming. Cheers 
 and yells were raised. " The rock ! the rock ! " suddenly 
 shouted some one. " The rock ! the rock ! " was taken 
 up, and roared out from a hundred throats. The strength 
 of the position was realised by the crofters ; so also it 
 was by the constables. The latter were ordered to run at 
 the double. The people saw the move, and the screaming 
 and yelling became fiercer than ever. The detachment 
 reached the opening of the gulley. Would they manage 
 to run through ? Yes ! No ! On went the blue coats, but 
 their progress was soon checked. It was simply insane to 
 attempt the passage. Stones were coming down like hail, 
 while huge boulders where hurled down before which 
 nothing could stand. These bounded over the road and
 
 32 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 descended the precipice with a noise like thunder. An 
 order was given to dislodge a number of the most deter- 
 mined assailants, but the attempt proved futile. They 
 could not be dislodged. Here and there a constable might 
 be seen actually bending under the pressure of a well- 
 directed rounder, losing his footing, and rolling down the 
 hill, followed by scores of missiles. This state of matters 
 could not continue. The chief officials were securing their 
 share of attention. Captain Donald is hit in the knee with 
 a stone as large as a matured turnip. A rush must be made 
 for the pass, or there seems a possibility that Sheriff Ivory 
 himself will be deforced. Once more the order was given 
 to double. On, on, the procession went Sheriffs and Fiscals 
 forgetting their dignity, and taking to their heels. The scene 
 was the most exciting that either the spectators or those who 
 passed through the fire ever experienced, or are likely ever 
 to see again. By keeping up the rush, the party got through 
 the defile, and emerged triumphantly on the Portree side, 
 not however, without severe injuries. If the south end 
 township had turned out, the pass would, I believe, never 
 have been forced, and some would in all probability have 
 lost their lives. 
 
 The crofters seemed to have become more infuriated by 
 the loss of their position, and rushing along the shoulder of 
 the hill prepared to attack once more. This was the final 
 struggle. In other attacks the police used truncheons freely. 
 But at this point they retaliated with both truncheons and 
 stones. The consequences were very serious indeed. Scores 
 of bloody faces could be seen on the slope of the hill. One 
 woman, named Mary Nicolson, was fearfully cut in the head, 
 and fainted on the road. When she was found, blood was 
 pouring down her neck and ears. Another woman, Mrs. 
 Finlayson, was badly gashed on the cheek with some
 
 THE ISLE OF SKYE IN 1882. 33 
 
 missile. Mrs. Nicolson, whose husband, James Nicolson, 
 was one of the prisoners, had her head badly laid open, but 
 whether with a truncheon or stone is not known. Another 
 woman, well advanced in years, was hustled in the scrimmage 
 on the hill, and, losing her balance, rolled down a consider- 
 able distance, her example being followed by a stout police- 
 man, the two ultimately coming into violent collision. The 
 poor old person was badly bruised, and turned sick and 
 faint. Of the men a considerable number sustained severe 
 bruises, but so far as I could ascertain none of them were 
 disabled. About a dozen of the police were injured more 
 or less seriously. One of the Glasgow men had his nose 
 almost cut through with a stone, and was terribly gashed 
 about the brow. Captain Donald, as already stated, was 
 struck on the knee, and his leg swelled up badly after the 
 return to Portree. Neither the Sheriffs nor the Fiscals were 
 injured, but it is understood that they all received hits in 
 the encounter on the hill. 
 
 After the serious scrimmage at Gedintailler, no further de- 
 monstrations of hostility were made, and the procession went 
 on, without further adventure, to Portree. Rain fell without 
 intermission during the entire journey out and home, and 
 all arrived at their destination completely exhausted. On 
 arrival in town the police were loudly hooted and hissed 
 as they passed through the square to the jail, and subse- 
 quently when they marched from the Court-house to the 
 Royal Hotel. The prisoners were lodged in the prison. 
 There names are : Alexander Finlayson, aged between 60 
 and 70 years ; Malcolm Finlayson, a son of the above, and 
 living in the same house (the latter is married) ; Peter 
 MacdonaM has a wife and eight of a family ; Donald Nicol- 
 son, 66 years of age, and is married ; and James Nicolson, 
 
 whose wife was one of the women seriously injured. 
 
 3
 
 34 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 Unless appearances are totally misleading, the work which 
 they were obliged to accomplish was most repugnant to 
 Sheriff Ivory, Sheriff Spiers, Mr. James Anderson, Pro- 
 curator-Fiscal for the County, and Mr. MacLennan; and the 
 hope may be expressed that they will never again be called 
 upon to undertake similar duties. 
 
 The "Battle of the Braes" has been capitally hit off in the 
 following parody, published in the Daily Mail of the 26th of 
 April last : 
 
 CHARGE OF THE SKYE BRIGADE. 
 
 Half a league, half a league ! 
 
 Four a-breast onward ! 
 All in the valley of Braes 
 
 Marched the half-hundred. 
 "Forward, Police Brigade! 
 In front of me," bold Ivory said ; 
 Into the valley of Braes 
 
 Charged the half-hundred. 
 
 " Forward, Police Brigade ! 
 Charge each auld wife and maid ! " 
 E'en though the Bobbies knew 
 
 Some one had blundered ! 
 Their's not to make reply ; 
 Their's not to reason why ; 
 Their's but to do or die ; 
 Into the valley of Braes 
 
 Charged the half-hundred. 
 
 " Chuckies" to right of them, 
 " Divots " to left of them, 
 Women in front of them, 
 
 Volleyed and thundered ! 
 Stormed at with stone and shell, 
 Boldly they charged, they tell, 
 Down on the Island Host ! 
 Into the mouth of well ! 
 
 Charged the half-hundred.
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 35 
 
 Flourished their batons bare, 
 Not in the empty air 
 Clubbing the lasses there, 
 Charging the Cailleachs, while 
 
 All Scotland wondered ! 
 Plunged in the mist and smoke, 
 Right thro' the line they broke ; 
 Cailleach and maiden 
 Reeled from the baton stroke, 
 
 Shattered and sundered ; 
 Then they marched back intact 
 
 All the half-hundred. 
 
 Missiles to right of them, 
 Brickbats to left of them, 
 Old wives behind them 
 
 Volleyed and floundered. 
 Stormed at with stone and shell 
 Whilst only Ivory fell 
 They that had fought so well 
 Broke thro' the Island Host, 
 Back from the mouth of well ! 
 All that was left of them 
 
 All the half-hundred ! 
 
 When can their glory fade ? 
 O, the wild charge they made ! 
 
 All Scotland wondered ! 
 Honour the charge they made ! 
 Honour the Skye Brigade ! 
 
 Donald's half-hundred ! 
 
 ALFRED TENNYSON, JUNIOR. 
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 
 
 WHEN the " Battle of the Braes " had been fought and won, 
 and the gallant Sheriff with his brave contingent of blue- 
 coats covered with the mud of the Braes and the glory of
 
 36 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 their masterly retreat before the old men and women of 
 Gedintailler had retired to their quarters in Portree, the 
 friends of the prisoners began to think of their defence when 
 they came before the Law Courts for trial. 
 
 A few hours after the Police Brigade returned to Portree, 
 Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Inverness, editor of the Celtic 
 Magazine, who had gone, as representative of the Highland 
 Land Law Reform Association, to report upon the alleged 
 grievances of the crofters in Skye, arrived In Portree. Him 
 the friends of the prisoners consulted, with the result that 
 he dispatched a telegram to Mr. Kenneth Macdonald, 
 Town Clerk of Inverness, asking him to undertake the 
 defence. Curiously enough a number of sympathisers in 
 Glasgow, who had formed themselves into a defence com- 
 mittee, met about the same time, and they also, through 
 their secretary, Mr. Hugh Macleod, Writer, Glasgow, tele- 
 graphed to know if Mr. Macdonald would defend the 
 prisoners. Both telegrams were delivered about the same 
 time and to each an affirmative reply was immediately 
 sent. 
 
 At this time nothing definite was known of the charge 
 preferred against the prisoners, and it was not until the 26th 
 of April, 1882, a week after the arrest, and when they could 
 no longer be legally detained without having a copy of the 
 charge delivered to them, that the prisoners were committed 
 for trial and allowed to see an adviser. Such is the 
 humanity of the Criminal Law of Scotland. During the 
 week which a prisoner can thus be legally kept in close 
 confinement, he will not be permitted to see friend or 
 adviser of any kind, but he may be brought day after day 
 before the Sheriff and subjected to examination by a 
 skilful lawyer whose main if not sole object is to get from 
 him admissions which will tend to prove his guilt, and every
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 37 
 
 word he utters during this time is taken down for the 
 purpose of being used against him at his trial. 
 
 After the prisoners were committed for trial, they were 
 visited by their agent, with the editor of the Celtic Magazine 
 as interpreter, and in course of conversation, and in reply 
 to questions, the prisoners expressed a desire to get home 
 to proceed with the spring work on their crofts. By this 
 time the sympathy with the prisoners among the outside 
 public, not merely in the Highlands but in the large cities 
 of the south, had extended through all classes of society. 
 Many who were in entire sympathy with them in their per- 
 sonal grievances thought that they saw in the proceedings 
 taken against them, and in the outrages perpetrated in Skye 
 in the name of law, a means of creating a public opinion 
 which would compel the Legislature to take up the question 
 of land tenure in the Highlands. It was the desire of this 
 party that the accused should be allowed to remain in prison 
 until their trial came on, in order that the public sympathy 
 which their apprehension and imprisonment evoked should 
 have time to take definite form. If the calculations of these 
 sympathisers should turn out accurate, the infliction of a 
 slight hardship upon these men would result in permanent 
 good to themselves and the whole class to which they 
 belonged. The desires of the men themselves, however, 
 of their friends in Inverness, and the interest of their fami- 
 lies, naturally guided Mr. Macdonald's proceedings, and he 
 presented a petition to the Sheriff to fix bail. The bail was 
 fixed by Sheriff Blair at 20 sterling for each prisoner 
 ^100 in all and immediately it became known that 
 persons were wanted, to sign the bond, gentlemen offered 
 themselves, the required subscriptions were obtained, and 
 the five prisoners were liberated that night. The gentlemen 
 who signed the bond were : Mr. John Macdonald, mer-
 
 38 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 i 
 
 chant, Exchange; Dean of Guild Mackenzie; Councillor 
 Duncan Macdonald; Councillor W. G. Stuart; Mr. Wm. 
 Gunn, Castle Street; Mr. T. B. Snowie, gunmaker; Mr. 
 Donald Campbell, draper ; and Mr. Duncan MacBeath, 
 Duncraig Street all of Inverness. On the following day 
 the accused left Inverness for Skye by the 9 A.M. train, 
 accompanied to the station by several of their friends, 
 including the Reverend and venerable Dr. George Mackay. 
 The following account of the reception of the liberated 
 men on their return to Portree is taken from the Aberdeen 
 Daily Free Press, whose special correspondent, Mr. William 
 Mackenzie, was on the spot : 
 
 The five men from the prison of Inverness arrived at Portree this 
 evening, and were received with unbounded enthusiasm. Early in the 
 day a telegram was received intimating that they had left Inverness in 
 the morning, and that the venerable pastor of the North Church, the 
 Rev. Dr. Mackay, gave them there a friendly farewell. Mairi Nighean 
 Iain Bhain, to whose poetic effusions on the men of the Braes and 
 Benlee, I have formerly alluded, went by the steamer from Portree in 
 the morning to meet them at Strome Ferry. She was accompanied by 
 Colin the piper, and on the homeward journey the men were inspired 
 with the songs of the poetess, the music of the Highland war-pipe, and 
 a scarcely less potent stimulant, the famous Talisker, It was known 
 far and wide that the men were to come to-night, and their fellow- 
 crofters in the Braes resolved to give them a hearty reception. The 
 Braes men accordingly began to straggle into the town in the afternoon, 
 and groups of them might be seen along the street eagerly discussing 
 the situation. Endeavours were made to induce the "suspects" to 
 leave the steamer at Raasay and row afterwards to the Braes. This 
 would, of course, deprive their friends of any chance to give them an 
 ovation at Portree, and lead outsiders to suppose that the Portree people 
 regarded the matter with indifference. The liberated men were, how- 
 ever, warned against being caught in the snare which was laid for them, 
 and they came straight on to Portree. The steamer did not arrive till 
 about eight o'clock, but whenever she reached the quay the assembled 
 multitude raised a deafening cheer, again and again renewed, which 
 completely drowned Colin's pipes. As soon as the steamer was brought
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 39 
 
 alongside the quay, Colin stepped out, playing ' ' Gabhaidh sinn an 
 rathad mor ". He was followed by the poetess, and after her the five 
 liberated men. Each man, as he stepped on the quay, was embraced 
 by the males, and hugged and kissed by the females, amid volumes of 
 queries as to their condition since they left, and congratulations on their 
 return. These friendly greetings were not allowed to be of any duration, 
 for each man was hoisted and carried shoulder-high in triumph through 
 the streets of Portree. The Braes men themselves mustered in full 
 force, and in the procession they were joined by numerous sympathisers 
 in the district and the village of Portree. The crowd, headed by the 
 piper and the poetess, proceeded along the principal thoroughfare to 
 the Portree Hotel. Bonnets were carried on the tops of walking sticks, 
 and held up above the heads of the people, amid cries of " Still higher 
 yet my bonnet," while the women of Portree waved their white hand- 
 kerchiefs and shouted Gaelic exclamations of joy as the "lads wi' the 
 bonnets o' blue " were carried along in triumph. On reaching the 
 Portree Hotel a number of them, including the " suspects, " went in, 
 and Mr. Maclnnes, the popular tenant of that excellent and well- 
 conducted establishment, treated the "suspects" to refreshments. 
 Who should happen to turn up unexpectedly at the hotel but the factor, 
 accompanied by some of his friends, and when that individual emerged 
 from the door of the hotel, he was received with a volume of groans. 
 The Braes men left the hotel without any delay and marched to their 
 homes in a body, shouting and cheering as they proceeded on their way. 
 A carriage was sent after them to convey the five men from Inverness 
 to their respective places of abode. 
 
 In the meantime an intimation had been conveyed to the 
 Prisoners' Agent by Mr. James Anderson, Procurator-Fiscal 
 of Inverness, that he had been ordered by the Crown Agent 
 to have the prisoners tried summarily before the Sheriff for 
 the crimes of deforcement and assault. This was, so far as 
 known, the first time in Scottish Legal History that so 
 serious a crime, so seriously treated by the authorities at the 
 outset, had been ordered for summary trial. There was 
 something suspicious in the order, and although the letter 
 of it was adhered to, it is probable that but for the protests 
 made on behalf of the prisoners, both in and out of Parlia- 
 ment, the true meaning of the order would have been made
 
 40 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 evident at the trial. On receiving intimation of the order, 
 Mr. Macdonald wrote to the Lord-Advocate for Scotland, 
 requesting that he should instruct the trial to proceed before 
 a jury. To that letter the following reply was received : 
 
 WHITEHALL, April 29, 1882. 
 SIR, 
 
 I am directed by the Lord-Advocate to acknowledge receipt of your 
 letter of 27th current, and to say in reply that he sees no reason for re- 
 calling the order for trial of the Skye crofters charged with assault and 
 deforcement before the Sheriff summarily, and that the order will there- 
 fore be carried out 
 
 I am, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 D. CRAWFORD. 
 
 KENNETH MACDONALD, Esq. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald, immediately on receiving the reply, 
 addressed the following letter to the Lord-Advocate : 
 
 INVERNESS, ist May, 1882. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 I have received from your Secretary a letter stating that you 
 "see no reason for recalling the order for trial of the Skye crofters 
 charged with assault and deforcement before the Sheriff summarily, and 
 that the order will therefore be carried out ". I thought when I first 
 wrote you that the request for a jury trial was so fair and reasonable 
 that I did not require to adduce any reason in support of it, and that it 
 lay with you, if you refused it, to give a reason for the refusal. Since, 
 however, you do not seem to take this view of the matter, you will 
 permit me to state some of the reasons which I think ought to induce 
 you to grant the request of the prisoners. 
 
 The crime with which the men are charged is said to have been com- 
 mitted in the Skye district of this county. In that district there is a 
 Court which has hitherto, so far as I can ascertain, tried all summary 
 cases arising in the district. And yet without any reason assigned, the 
 present case has been ordered for trial at Inverness. Had the case been 
 sent for a jury trial it would have been the usual, and indeed, necessary,
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 41 
 
 course to try the case here, but it is a thing hitherto unheard of that a 
 summary trial from one of the outlying districts of the county should be 
 taken here. With a complete machinery for conducting summary 
 trials in the District Court, the prisoners are entitled to some explana- 
 tion of the reason why they are put to the expense of bringing their 
 witnesses and themselves from Skye to Inverness, when, in the ordinary 
 course of things, they ought to go no further from home than Portree. 
 It may be answered that as the resident Sheriff at Portree was engaged 
 in the apprehension of the prisoners, he ought not to try the case. 
 That is perfectly true. The prisoners quite agree that it would be im- 
 proper to have the case tried by Mr. Spiers, but they are not responsible 
 for what he has done, and ought not to suffer for it. If Sheriff Spiers 
 has disqualified himself from trying the case, that affords no reason for 
 punishing the persons to be tried. All that would be required to be 
 done would be to have the trial conducted in Portree by Sheriff Blair, 
 who would, according to your order, conduct it in Inverness. 
 
 What I have said is sufficient to show that your order is an excep- 
 tional one, and the prisoners, and, I believe, the public also, will 
 expect you to justify it. Had these prisoners stood alone, their poverty 
 would have prevented them bringing a single witness from Skye to es- 
 tablish their innocence, and your order would have meant a simple 
 denial of justice. 
 
 But, further, the crime with which these men are charged is that of 
 deforcement of an officer of the Sheriff of Inverness, and your order is 
 that the Sheriff, whose servant is said to have been deforced, shall be 
 the sole judge of whether the crime was committed or not. It is not 
 my wish to draw historical parallels, but the circumstances will, no 
 doubt, suggest to your lordship a series of trials which took place in 
 Scotland nearly ninety years ago, when Muir and his fellow-reformers 
 were convicted of sedition. It is not for me to suggest, and I do not 
 suggest, that any of our local judges would deal unfairly with the 
 prisoners, but I ask what is your reason for refusing them a trial by jury. 
 It is to you they look in the first instance, and it is your reasons for 
 pursuing an exceptional course with men who have already been 
 harshly dealt with that the public will canvass. 
 
 I presume the object of the proceedings which have already been 
 adopted with regard to these men, and of the trial which is to follow, 
 is to inspire them and their fellows with a proper respect for the law. 
 If this is so, let them have no excuse for saying they have not got fair 
 play. If their crime was so important as to call for the exceptional 
 measures taken for their apprehension, it is surely too important to be
 
 42 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 disposed of by a Court whose duties are usually confined to mere 
 matters of police. The belief of the prisoners is that the object of 
 your order is to secure their conviction at all hazards irrespective of 
 their guilt or innocence, and this belief is shared by a growing number 
 of the outside public. It is for you to dispel this misapprehension if it 
 is one. 
 
 In such circumstances as I have described a summary trial would be 
 little else than a farce ; and you will never inspire the Highland crofters 
 or their friends with respect for the law if you persist in enacting such 
 a farce in its name. I trust, therefore, you will reconsider your resolu- 
 tion, and yet order the trial of the prisoners in a manner which will 
 inspire them with confidence in the administration of the law of their 
 country. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 KENNETH MACDONALD. 
 
 The Honourable the LORD-ADVOCATE for Scotland, 
 Home Office, Whitehall, London, S.W. 
 
 On the same evening that the letter was written Mr. 
 Fraser-Mackintosh (M.P. for the Inverness Burghs), in the 
 House of Commons, asked the Lord-Advocate whether he 
 would order that the Skye crofters now committed for trial 
 should, instead of being tried summarily, have the privilege 
 of being tried by a jury of their countrymen, and that the 
 presiding judge should be one disconnected with the 
 exceptional proceedings attendant on their recent apprehen- 
 sion ? 
 
 Mr. Dick Peddie had also the following question to ask 
 the Lord-Advocate Whether it is the case that instructions 
 have been given that the five crofters recently arrested in 
 Skye, and now released on bail, be tried summarily; whether 
 they have applied through their agent to be tried by jury : 
 and whether he intended to comply with their application ? 
 
 The Lord-Advocate, in reply, said he saw no reason for 
 recalling the order for the trial before a summary magistrate.
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 43 
 
 After due consideration with his learned friend, the Solicitor- 
 General for Scotland, this decision had been arrived at when 
 the case was before them during the Easter recess. The 
 people of Skye were generally peaceful, and having reason to 
 believe that they were misled by bad advice, or they would 
 not have resisted officers of the law in the execution of a 
 legal warrant, he, with his learned colleague, thought that 
 the offence would not be repeated if it was made clear to the 
 people as rapidly as possible that the law will be vindicated. 
 The charges preferred were of the least grave class that 
 could be preferred on behalf of the Crown, and summary 
 trial proceedings afforded little delay. The maximum 
 sentence that could be inflicted was sixty days, and of 
 course a lighter sentence would be passed if in the discretion 
 of the magistrate it met the justice of the case. As to the 
 last part of the question, it was intended that the trial should 
 proceed before the Sheriff of Inverness who had not hitherto 
 taken part in measures which unfortunately became necessary 
 to vindicate the authority of the law in Skye. 
 
 The refusal of a Jury trial was final so far as the Crown 
 was concerned. Curious as it may seem, an accused person 
 in Scotland has no right to demand a trial by his peers. 
 Our forefathers were not so careful of their liberties in this 
 respect, or not so powerful to enforce them as our neighbours 
 over the border. They took care centuries ago to secure 
 this right ; we have not secured it yet. 
 
 What might have occurred in this particular case but for 
 the fear of public indignation it is hard to say. Tyranny 
 has a peculiar fascination for weak men. Lord-Advocate 
 Balfour, a good lawyer, but a weak politician, the holder of 
 an office which was long since stripped of most of its power, 
 and which immediately before his accession to it was so 
 emasculated that his predecessor declined to sacrifice his
 
 44 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 self-respect by continuing to hold it, desired to do one 
 official act which had an appearance of strength about it 
 without the reality. He had brought contempt upon the 
 administration of the law by sanctioning or suggesting the 
 sending of a large body of police from Glasgow to Skye to 
 arrest a few old men of peaceful habits and general good 
 character, whose worst weapon, it has been proved, was a 
 lump of wet turf, and when the whole country was indulging 
 in a roar of laughter over the ignominious retreat of the in- 
 vading army of policemen before the women of the Braes, 
 and the ridiculous ending of a performance which was in- 
 tended to represent the dignity of the Law, he, the person 
 primarily responsible for the mistake which had been com- 
 mitted, would naturally desire to cover his blunder by 
 securing a conviction against the few harmless cottars whom 
 the policemen in their blind panic had first laid hands 
 on. 
 
 If ever there was a case which ought to be tried by a 
 Jury this was one. At no time is the right of Jury trial 
 more valuable than when the opinions of the public, and the 
 acts of the Crown, as represented by its officials, run counter 
 to each other, and when these acts are in any way connected 
 with thexoffence to be tried. At no time ought the right to 
 be more readily conceded. Here, however, it was deter- 
 minedly denied. To Mr. Macdonald's second letter no 
 answer was ever given. We believe none was expected. 
 Except in the answer given to the questions of Mr. Fraser- 
 Mackintosh and Mr. Dick Peddie in the House of 
 Commons, at least twenty-four hours before Mr. Mac- 
 donald's letter reached him, the Lord-Advocate did not 
 attempt either to explain or defend his conduct. In point 
 of fact, complete explanation or defence was impossible. 
 All that time the Crown officers must have known what was
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 45 
 
 not known to the prisoners' advisers at the time, that there 
 was no evidence against the prisoners upon which any sane 
 Jury would convict. But the Lord-Advocate seems never 
 to have forgotten that the officialism of the County of 
 Inverness had involved itself in the mess, and in a sum- 
 mary trial officialism might be left to vindicate its own 
 dignity. This would also vindicate the dignity of the 
 law, and the wisdom of its administrators at least so they 
 thought. This theory was universally accepted outside official 
 circles as the reason for the resolution to try summarily, and 
 but for the protests made by outsiders, and particularly a 
 number of Scottish Members of Parliament to secure a fair 
 trial for the prisoners, most people believed that the trial 
 would have been even a greater farce than it turned out 
 to be, but with a far different ending. 
 
 The efforts of the Scottish Members to obtain a Jury trial 
 did not end with the questions in the House of Commons. 
 Efforts were made privately by some of these gentlemen to 
 save the Administration of Justice in Scotland from being 
 sullied, but without result, and when all their efforts failed, 
 the members who had taken most interest in the matter, 
 published the following protest in the Times of loth May, 
 1882, from which it was quoted by almost every newspaper 
 in the Kingdom : 
 
 The circumstances of the arrest, by a large body of police brought 
 from Glasgow, of half-a-dozen Skye crofters, accused of deforcing a 
 sheriff's officer who went among them to serve writs, and the attempt at 
 a rescue which attended it, must be fresh in the minds of your readers. 
 We need not say that the case has excited great public interest in 
 Scotland. It is most important, therefore, in order to secure any moral 
 effect, that the trial should be conducted under such circumstances as 
 will place the verdict above all suspicion. This, we regret to say, is 
 not to be done, and already many persons who sympathise with the 
 men, and desire that their case shall be fairly heard, openly accuse the 
 Executive of resorting to unworthy means to obtain a conviction. For
 
 46 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 ourselves, we may at once state our perfect belief in the sincerity of the 
 Lord Advocate in his profession of a desire, while vindicating the law, 
 to provide for the accused that form of trial which will protect them 
 from an unnecessarily heavy punishment. But punishment pre-supposes 
 guilt, while what the accused contend is that they are not guilty. 
 What they claim is that they shall first have their guilt established in 
 the ordinary way, and if found guilty they are willing to take their 
 chance of that punishment their conduct may seem to deserve. 
 
 Now, persons accuse'd of crimes committed in Skye have 'hitherto 
 been invariably tried in one of two ways. If the cases are considered 
 so trivial as to be dealt with summarily, they are tried by a sheriff- 
 substitute sitting at Portree. This course secures to the accused the 
 important advantage that evidence for his defence is procurable at a 
 minimum of expense and inconvenience. If the case is of a grave 
 character, it is tried by a jury at Inverness. This, of course, involves 
 much more inconvenience and expense to the defence, but it secures the 
 services of a jury, a tribunal which, for the purpose of deciding on 
 matters of fact, is admittedly superior to a Judge, however impartial, 
 sitting alone. But in the case of the Skye crofters the trial is to be at 
 Inverness, without a jury. The defence thus incurs all the incon- 
 venience and expense usually attendant on a jury trial, and obtains none 
 of the advantages in the way of a tribunal the best qualified to pro- 
 nounce on the question of the guilt or innocence of the accused. It is 
 stated that Portree is in such an excited state that it is unadvisable that 
 ihe trial should take place there, and that, therefore, it has to be 
 removed to Inverness. There is not the smallest reason, however, 
 why, being held at Inverness, it should not be held in the usual 
 manner. The accused dispute the facts alleged by the prosecution. 
 Their agent has asked for a jury to decide on the question of fact. A 
 jury trial is the invariable mode of disposing of Skye cases tried at 
 Inverness ; but a jury trial, though in this case specially demanded, has 
 been refused. The reason given for its refusal is that the Crown 
 authorities having originally intended that the trial should be a summary 
 one at Portree, though it has now been deemed advisable to remove it 
 to Inverness, they see no reason to change the form of trial on that 
 account. The reply is that at Portree there would have been nothing 
 unusual in a summary trial, and trial at Portree would have secured 
 material advantages to the accused. At Inverness the summary trial of 
 a Skye case is unprecedented, and the expense to the accused as heavy 
 as would be that of a jury trial. 
 
 But the Lord Advocate has explained that if the cases had been tried
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 47 
 
 by jury the sentences might have been much heavier than those to which 
 they would be exposed on summary conviction. That is true, but it is 
 equally true that the judge might have awarded sentences as light as he 
 deemed proper. In the interests of justice it is desirable that the 
 punishment should be commensurate with the offence. There is no 
 reason why a judge sitting with a jury on circuit or in the Sheriff Court 
 should not award the slightest possible sentence. That is what the 
 agent for accused thinks, and, knowing their case, he is willing to take 
 his chance of the heavier sentence if they are found guilty and are 
 thought to deserve it. 
 
 On the point of guilt or innocence, however, he prefers the verdict of 
 a jury to the decision of a judge, and that has been refused. In 
 criminal cases in Scotland a bare majority of the jury convicts, and 
 if the case is not strong enough to convince eight men out of fifteen, 
 the prisoners are surely entitled to the benefit of the doubt. That is 
 all that has been asked, and that, despite the strongest representations, 
 has been refused. To us its refusal in this particular case, on grounds 
 of public policy, seems particularly regretable, and we beg through 
 your columns publicly to protest against it. 
 
 CHARLES CAMERON. 
 C. FRASER-MACKINTOSH. 
 P. STEWART MACLIVER. 
 JAMES COWAN. 
 FRANK HENDERSON. 
 J. DICK PEDDIE. 
 JAMES W. BARCLAY. 
 
 House of Commons, May 9, 1882. 
 
 Commenting on this protest the Pall Mall Gazette of loth 
 May, said : 
 
 It is hard to see what answer there can be to the protest on behalf 
 of the Skye crofters raised in the Times this morning by seven Scotch 
 members. Skye cases have hitherto always been disposed of either 
 summarily at Portree or by trial before a jury at Inverness. If the 
 accused had not the satisfaction of submitting his case to a jury, he was, 
 at least, relieved from the expense of being tried at a distance from 
 home. But in the present instance it is proposed to try the crofters at 
 Inverness, but without a jury. Why should the crofters be subjected to 
 the disadvantage of both methods of trial without the benefit of either ?
 
 48 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 Whether if published earlier this Protest would have had 
 any effect it is hard to say. Probably not. As it was, it only 
 appeared in the Times the day before that fixed for the trial. 
 By that time the arrangements were complete. Some days 
 before then Mr. Macdonald, the accused's agent, finding that 
 the trial was to proceed summarily, had gone to Skye and 
 precognosced a large number of witnesses, several of whom 
 were cited for the defence. On the morning the . Protest 
 appeared in the Times the accused and the witnesses for the 
 prosecution and defence left Portree for Inverness, the trial 
 having been fixed for the nth of May, 1882. 
 
 On that day the accused took their place at the Bar of 
 the Sheriff Court in the Castle of Inverness. The hour of 
 commencement was noon, and by that time the Court-house 
 was crowded. Sheriff Blair, the presiding judge, was accom- 
 panied on the bench by Sheriff Shaw, late of Lochmaddy. 
 Besides numerous members of the Faculty, there were 
 around the bar Mr. Alex. Macdonald, factor, Portree ; Mr. 
 Macleod, secretary of the Skye Vigilance Committee, 
 Glasgow ; Dean of Guild Mackenzie; Bailie Smith; Mr. 
 Alex. Macdonald Maclellan; Mr. MacHugh; Mr. Cameron 
 of the Standard, and several others. 
 
 The indictment set forth that Alexander Finlayson, tenant or 
 crofter ; Donald Nicolson, tenant or crofter ; James Nicolson, now or 
 lately residing with the said Donald Nicolson ; Malcolm Finlayson, 
 son of, and now or lately residing with, the said Alexander Finlayson ; 
 and Peter Macdonald, son of, and now or lately residing with, Donald 
 Macdonald, tenant or crofter, all residing at Balmeanach, had all and 
 each, or one or more of them, been guilty of the crime of deforcing 
 an officer of the law in the execution of his duty ; or of the crime of vio- 
 lently resisting and obstructing an officer of the law in the execution of his 
 duty, or persons employed by and assisting an officer of the law in the 
 execution of his duty ; and also of the crime Dassault, or of one or other 
 of these crimes, actor or actors or art and part, in so far as Angus 
 Martin, now or lately residing at Lisigarry, near Portree, in the parish
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 49 
 
 Portree aforesaid, having been as a sheriff-officer of the County of Inver- 
 ness, on or about the 7th day of April, 1882, instructed by Alexander 
 Macdonald, solicitor in Portree aforesaid, as agent for the Right 
 Honourable Ronald Archibald Macdonald, Lord Macdonald, of 
 Armadale Castle, Skye, to go to Balmeanach, Penachorain, and Geden- 
 tailor, three of the townships in the district of Braes, in the parish of 
 Portree aforesaid, to serve actions of removing, which, with the warrants 
 thereon, he delivered to the said Angus Martin for that purpose, raised 
 in the Sheriff Court of Inverness, Elgin, and Nairn at Portree, at the 
 instance of the said Right Honourable Ronald Archibald Macdonald, 
 Lord Macdonald, upon the tenants in the said townships . . . and also 
 to serve small debt summonses for debt . . . and the said Angus Martin 
 having upon the said 7th day of April, 1882, or about that time, pro- 
 ceeded towards, or in the direction of the said three townships of Bal- 
 meanach, Penachorain, and Gedentailor, in order to serve the said 
 actions and small debt summonses, accompanied by Ewen Robertson, 
 now or lately residing at Lisigary aforesaid, as his concurrent and 
 assistant, and by Norman Beaton, ground-officer on the estates of the 
 said Lord Macdonald, and now or lately residing at Shullisheddar, in the 
 parish of Portree aforesaid, the said Alex. Finlayson, Donald Nicolson, 
 James Nicolson, Malcolm Finlayson, and Peter Macdonald, did all 
 and each, or one or more of them, assisted by a crowd of people to the 
 number of 150 or thereby, whose names are to the complainer un- 
 known, actors or actor, or art and part, at or near Gedentailor aforesaid 
 [and at a part thereof three hundred yards or thereby on the south of 
 the schoolhouse, known by the name of MacDermid's Institution, on 
 the lands of Olach in the parish of Portree aforesaid, and now or lately 
 occupied by Kenneth MacLean, teacher there], wickedly and felonious- 
 ly attack and assault the said Angus Martin, well knowing him to be an 
 officer of the law, and in the execution of his duty as such, and that he held 
 the said actions and small debt summonses and warrants for service, and the 
 said Ewen Robertson, well knowing him to be the assistant and concur- 
 rent and witness of the said Angus Martin and the said Norman 
 Beaton, and did knock them, or one or more of them to the ground, and 
 did by force at or near Gedentailor aforesaid, forcibly seize hold of, and 
 destroy the service copies of the actions and ^small debt summonses 
 before mentioned, and did also upon the lands of Upper Olach, being 
 another township in the said district of Braes, and in the parish of Por- 
 tree aforesaid [and at a part of said lands occupied by Donald Mac- 
 pherson, crofter, there, forty yards or thereby on the south of the said 
 schoolhouse], forcibly seize hold of and burn, or cause, or procure to be 
 
 4
 
 50 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 burned, the principal copies of the said actions and small debt summon- 
 ses and warrants thereon, and did further upon the said township of 
 Gedentailor, and upon the said township of Upper Olach, and upon 
 the high road leading from these townships to Portree aforesaid [and on 
 that part of said road lying between Gedentailor aforesaid and the said 
 Schoolhouse], throw stones and clods of earth and peat at the said 
 Angus Martin, Ewen Robertson, and Norman Beaton, by which they, 
 or one or more of them were struck to the hurt and injury of their per- 
 sons ; and by all which or part thereof the said Angus Martin, and the 
 said Ewcn Robertson were deforced and by force, prevented from executing 
 and discharging their duty and from serving the said actions and small 
 debt summonses. 
 
 Mr. James Anderson, Procurator-Fiscal for the county, 
 conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Kenneth Macdonald, 
 solicitor, and Town Clerk of Inverness, appeared for the 
 prisoners. 
 
 The Procurator-Fiscal asked that certain amendments 
 should be made on the complaint with the object of more 
 specifically defining the places at which the acts charged 
 against the prisoners were alleged to have been committed. 
 The amendments were not objected to and were allowed. 
 The lines introduced are those within [ ] in the preceding 
 copy of the libel. 
 
 Immediately after the amendments had been made, Mr. 
 Macdonald said that, before the complaint was gone into, 
 he had to state objections to the relevancy of the in- 
 dictment and also to the competency of the Court to try the 
 case. He objected to the competency of the Court on the 
 ground that the crime charged was of such a serious nature 
 that it ought to be tried by a jury ; and he objected to the 
 competency of the complaint on the ground that the punish- 
 ment attached by law to the crime charged in the indictment 
 is beyond that which could be imposed in that court. The 
 charge in this case was that of deforcing an officer of the 
 law in the execution of his duty, and that was said to have
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 51 
 
 been done by the prisoners in concert with a crowd of 150 
 people ; so that the deforcement ran into the other serious 
 charge of mobbing and rioting, the most serious kind of 
 deforcement known to the law. This was the first time, he 
 believed, in the legal history of Scotland that a charge of 
 such a serious nature had been tried in a Summary Court. 
 The accused had been brought to that Court ; they objected 
 to being brought there. The public prosecutor had no right 
 to dictate what was the competent Court for the trial of a 
 case ; it was for his lordship to say whether the Court was 
 competent or incompetent. The public prosecutor had 
 refused to go to a higher Court; he had refused to give 
 these men the benefit of trial by jury ; and it was now for his 
 lordship to say whether these men were to have that bene- 
 fit. It had been said that the reason for bringing the trial 
 in the Summary Court was the fact that the maximum 
 sentence was so small, but his lordship had the same power 
 in the Jury Court as he had in the Summary Court. 
 
 The Sheriff said there was no question whatever in 
 regard to the power of a judge sitting in the Jury Court to 
 inflict the minimum punishment in a case of deforcement ; 
 and he instanced a case of that kind, tried by Lord Young 
 at the Inverness Circuit Court, in which the sentence was a 
 fine of 403., with the alternative of one month's imprison- 
 ment. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald quoted the acts of the Scottish Parlia- 
 ment of 1581 (C. 118), 1587, (C. 85), and 1591 (C. 152), 
 which regulated the punishment which by statute followed 
 on conviction, to show the serious nature of the charge 
 against the prisoners, and argued that as the libel concluded 
 generally for " the pains of law " and these pains were 
 statutory and such as were beyond the power of a Court of 
 summary jurisdiction to inflict, the Court was incompetent to
 
 52 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 dispose of the cause. He also quoted from Hume and 
 Alison to show that the High Court had frequently suspended 
 sentences pronounced in a Summary Court when the crime 
 charged was too serious for such a mode of trial. He 
 maintained that before 1864 there never was a case of such 
 magnitude tried before a Summary Court, and if not before 
 1864 there was nothing in the Act of that date which would 
 entitle them to try it. 
 
 The Sheriff said that this was an offence at common law 
 as well as under the statute. They were proceeding at 
 common law, and the pains and penalties which the 
 prosecutor asked should be inflicted, were the pains and 
 penalties applicable under the Summary Procedure Acts. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald held that the punishment was statutory, 
 even though the offence was charged at common law. 
 
 The Sheriff said the punishment was statutory if the 
 prosecution was under the statute ; but if the prosecution 
 was at common law, it was not necessary for the Court to 
 take the statutory penalty. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald contended that when his lordship was 
 asked generally, as in this complaint, to inflict the pains of 
 law upon defenders, that carried them back to the statute 
 law. 
 
 The Sheriff That carries you back to the statute under 
 which you are proceeding; and the statute under which you 
 are proceeding is the Summary Procedure Acts. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald If that is your lordship's view, there is 
 no use in any further pressing my contention. 
 
 The Sheriff said that was the view he was inclined to take. 
 He might mention that he had been aware that some objec- 
 tion of this sort might be taken, and he had given the point 
 careful consideration. Personally he should have preferred 
 that the case had been tried by jury, on the ground that it
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 53 
 
 would have relieved him of a considerable deal of personal 
 responsibility ; but it was not what he desired, but what was 
 really the law on the point. It was quite true, and it had 
 been the opinion of most distinguished lawyers in this 
 country, that there was no point less fixed than as to when 
 a trial was to be by jury or not. In the present case, even 
 should he have been of opinion which he was not that 
 the nature of the offence as detailed in the complaint before 
 him was unfit for summary trial, he did not think he could 
 interfere with the discretion of the public prosecutor in 
 trying under the Summary Procedure Acts, as the penalty 
 craved did not extend beyond the limits set forth in these 
 Acts. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald then stated that he objected to the relev- 
 ancy of the indictment. The libel amounted to this that 
 Angus Martin, who lived at Portre'e, proceeded on a certain 
 day towards, or in the direction of, certain townships ; and 
 that on the way there, at a certain place, he was met by 
 certain people, and had his warrants taken from him. The 
 question for his lordship was whether that amounted to 
 deforcement. The act charged in the indictment, Mr. 
 Macdonald contended, might be theft, or mobbing and 
 rioting, or assault, but it was not deforcement. To be 
 deforced, an officer must be assaulted, and be in bodily fear 
 while in the execution of his duty ; but in the libel it was 
 not mentioned that Martin ever made an attempt to execute 
 the warrants he carried. There was nothing to show that 
 the officers had got near to the residences of any of the 
 persons upon whom they meant to serve the summonses 
 nothing even to show that even on the road they were near 
 to any of the men against whom they held summonses. He 
 quoted from Hume, Alison, and Macdonald's works on 
 Criminal Law to show that an officer could only be deforced
 
 54 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 while he was actually in the execution of his duty as an 
 officer, or in actu proximo to its execution. There was 
 nothing in the libel to show that the officers in this case 
 were in the execution of their duty, or on the point of 
 executing it, or even near any of the places where their duty 
 fell to be executed, indeed, the presumption was, from the 
 terms of the libel and this presumption was strengthened by 
 the amendments just made by the Public Prosecutor that 
 they had not reached the place when they were met by the 
 people. 
 
 As to the alternative charge of violently resisting and 
 obstructing an officer of the law in the execution of his 
 duty, that was simply an unsuccessful attempt at deforcement, 
 and would only be committed in circumstances which, had 
 the resistance been successful, would have amounted to 
 deforcement. In short, here also the officer must be 
 executing, or on the point of executing, his duty, otherwise 
 the crime would not be committed. If, therefore, the libel 
 was irrelevant as regarded the charge of deforcement it was 
 necessarily so as regards the less serious charge of 
 obstructing also. 
 
 The Procurator- Fiscal, in reply, quoted from Alison and 
 Macdonald to show that it was unquestionably deforcement 
 if when a messenger had come near to the debtor's house 
 he was met by a host of people who drove him off on notice 
 or suspicion of his purpose. In this case the officer was in 
 the immediate neighbourhood of the place where he in- 
 tended to serve his warrants, as stated in the libel ; and 
 therefore the act charged amounted to deforcement. 
 
 The Sheriff, after full consideration, said The objection 
 taken to the complaint is one of very great importance, 
 and if sustained detracts very materially from the gravity 
 of the offence with which they are charged. The offence
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 55 
 
 of deforcement, as Mr. Hume says, is not to the indi- 
 vidual, but to the officer and the law, which is violated 
 in his person ; and it lies in the hindrance of these formal 
 and solemn proceedings, which took place under regular 
 written authority, which it belongs only to an officer of the 
 law to perform. It therefore appears to me to.be indispen- 
 sable that the complaint should bear that the officer said to 
 be deforced was at or near the premises of the parties against 
 whom the writs were issued; or that the officer had assumed 
 that official character and entered on his commission, being 
 in the near and immediate preparation with proceeding to 
 the first formalities in the execution of that commission. 
 This complaint does not, in my opinion, contain those 
 essentials ; and therefore, to the extent that I have now 
 stated, the objection must be sustained. 
 
 The Procurator-Fiscal In these circumstances, there is 
 no case of deforcement, and I propose now to proceed with 
 the case as one of assault. 
 
 The Sheriff Of course the offence, though not deforce- 
 ment, may be assault and battery, aggravated certainly by 
 the station of the officer. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald All that there is in the complaint re- 
 garding assault is the phrase, "as also of the crime of 
 assault". There is not a single word about aggravation. 
 I hope there will be no attempt to prove aggravation when 
 there is no aggravation libelled. 
 
 The Sheriff The offence now to be tried is that of 
 assault. Assault, as we know, may be of various degrees. 
 It may be of such a character as would be met by the 
 minimum sentence, and it may be a serious assault. I used 
 the word "aggravated" in the popular rather than the 
 technical sense. The case to be tried was not an assault
 
 56 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 with an aggravation, but an assault which might or might 
 not be of a serious character. 
 
 The effect of this judgment was that the charge of deforce- 
 ment was struck out of the libel and the words printed in 
 italics were held as deleted. 
 
 The prisoners were then asked to plead to the charge of 
 assault, and Mr. Macdonald stated that their plea was " Not 
 Guilty ". 
 
 THE SHERIFF-OFFICER AT THE BRAES. 
 
 Angus Martin, sheriff-officer, Portree, was the first witness called. 
 Examined by Mr. Anderson, he said A few days before the 7th April 
 last I received instructions to go to the Braes for the purpose of serving 
 summonses. I went on the 7th April to the Braes, which is about 
 eight miles from Portree. It is on the estate of Lord Macdonald. The 
 summonses I had were' for removal, and I had also some small debt 
 summonses for arrears of rent. I left Portree about twelve o'clock, ac- 
 companied by Ewen Robertson, and Norman Beaton. As we were 
 going towards the Braes, my attention was directed to two little boys, 
 who-came out on the road and looked at us. They ran away, but 
 returned a second time with small flags in their hands. Then they ran 
 towards the townships of Balmeanach, Peinachorrain, and Gedintailler. 
 When I went to Gedintailler I saw two young men with flags. They 
 were bawling out and waving the flags, the boys were also waving their 
 flags. When I got to Gedintailler a great number of persons came out. 
 
 The Sheriff Were there two flags ? Witness Yes. 
 
 The Sheriff After the waving a great many people came ? Witness 
 Yes. A crowd came from the townships. 
 
 The Sheriff How many would there be? Witness I should say 
 there would be from 150 to 200, including women and children. 
 (Laughter.) 
 
 Mr. Anderson When you say women and children do you also in- 
 clude men ? Yes. . 
 
 Did they surround you ? Yes, sir, they did. 
 
 The Sheriff They came towards you and surrounded you ? Yes, my 
 lord. I had not then gone off the public road. 
 
 Mr. Anderson Did they ask you anything ? They called out to me 
 to return. I had the summonses in my pocket, and I took them out and
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 57 
 
 told them my name was Angus Martin, and that I was a sheriff-officer 
 from the Sheriff. When I took out the summonses they rushed forward 
 and snatched the summonses out of my hand. This was done by 
 Donald Nicolson. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald I think we might stop this line of examination 
 now. 
 
 Mr. Anderson On what principle ? 
 
 Mr. Macdonald The charge is one of assault merely, and the evi- 
 dence with which it was intended to support the charge of deforcement is 
 now being led for the purpose as I take it of proving an aggravation 
 which is not libelled. 
 
 The Sheriff overruled the objection. 
 
 Mr. Anderson Were the crowd quiet at that time? No. They 
 were very excited. 
 
 What was done with the summonses ? They tried to tear them up 
 and threw them on the ground. 
 
 Did any person come up to you then ? Yes, Alex. Finlayson, who 
 had a staff in his hand. He told us that unless we turned back we 
 would lose our lives, meaning myself and the ground-officer. 
 
 Did he dare you to proceed further ? Yes. He was also brandishing 
 the stick. Stones were thrown by the crowd, and the whole five 
 prisoners were amongst the crowd. I cannot say who threw the stones. 
 My concurrent was taken hold of by Donald Nicolson, who said, " Get 
 
 away you b ". He had a hold of Robertson about the back, and 
 
 Robertson was afterwards thrown to the ground. Nicolson said 
 (evidently referring to the summonses), " Lift them now, and take them 
 
 away, you ". I do not know who it was among the crowd who 
 
 threw Robertson on the ground. The women were very busy at that 
 time. (Laughter.) I saw James Nicolson when my concurrent was on 
 the ground. He rushed forward with his two hands closed, and asked 
 
 who was that? On being told, he said, "Kill the b ". I can't 
 
 say what Robertson did then, as I did not like to turn my back. I 
 wished to keep my front to them. (Laughter.) 1 think he ran towards 
 Portree. He was followed by a large crowd. The crowd continued to 
 threaten me. I spoke to them, and tried to pacify them as best I 
 could, though I was very shaky. (Laughter.) I proceeded towards 
 Portree, but the crowd followed, and continued to threaten me. Stones 
 were thrown by the crowd from Gedintailler until I reached the school- 
 house at Olach, when I got rid of them. 
 
 Mr. Anderson Did they say anything about you not coming back 
 there again ? Yes. They told me not to come back, because I might
 
 58 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 be killed, and said if it had been any other officer he would have been 
 killed. 
 
 Mr. Anderson Did Malcolm Finlayson do anything ? He came to 
 me in a great hurry and said the people wished to speak to me ; and I 
 said I would be very glad. He asked me, If I had any summonses, 
 and I told him I had the principals and copies. He snatched them out 
 of my hand, and after trying to tear them threw them on the ground. 
 The crowd were about me at this time, and one of the prisoners, Peter 
 Macdonald, said something about burning the summonses. He said, 
 addressing me, "unless you burn these you will not go home alive". 
 There were murmurs among the crowd and I was asked to burn the 
 summonses. They tried to burn the summonses themselves first, and 
 tried to light them at a burning peat, but were unsuccessful. When I 
 was threatened with my life, I asked for a piece of paper, and one of the 
 crowd handed me a bit of the torn summons. I blew the burning peat 
 as hard as I could to make it burn and I lighted the piece paper at the 
 burning peat, and handed it to some one in the crowd, crying "go 
 ahead ". I was induced to do this, because I was afraid of my life, as 
 I had been told before I went up that I would be killed. Nothing else 
 induced me to burn the summonses. 
 
 Mr. Anderson You were afraid of your life ? Yes ; I was, and I 
 was very glad to get away. (Laughter. ) 
 
 Between the place where the summonses were torn and where they 
 were destroyed was there much stone-throwing? Yes, stones and clods, 
 but I was not struck with them. 
 
 Did you see your assistants struck ? Well, I did not like to look 
 back (Laughter) but I think they must have been getting some of 
 them. 
 
 When you got home you reported the matter to the Fiscal ? Yes. 
 
 Cross-examined by Mr. Kenneth Macdonald What do you do ? I 
 am a sheriff-officer and auctioneer. 
 
 Are you also a clerk in the office of Lord Macdonald's factor ? I am. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald Anything else? I am sanitary inspector, clerk to 
 the Local Authority, and clerk to the Road Trustees. 
 
 Do you hold many other offices ? I am a crofter. (Laughter.) 
 
 In which capacity did you go to the Braes ? I went in my capacity 
 as sheriff-officer. I called in to Mr. Macdonald, the factor's office, that 
 morning to tell that I was going away for a time. I did not get the 
 summonses against these people signed as the Factor's clerk. They 
 were handed to me by the Sheriff-Clerk. I was instructed to get them 
 from him by Mr. Macdonald, and I proceeded to the Braes to serve
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 59 
 
 them. I was quite sober then, as sober as I am now, and I think I am 
 sober. Donald Nicolson snatched the summonses from me. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald Will you swear to that ? Yes. 
 
 Who saw him ? Lots of people, besides my concurrent and the 
 ground-officer. He tore some of them and did not hand them back to 
 me. I turned my back shortly afterwards, but by that time the papers 
 were lying on the ground. 
 
 Did Nicolson ask you for the summonses ? No. 
 
 How did he come to get them from you ? I did not give them to 
 him. 
 
 How did he come to have them then? I took them out of my 
 pocket and said I would give the summonses to them as I saw some of 
 the persons for whom they were in the crowd. 
 
 Was the bundle tied up ? There was an elastic band about it. 
 
 Did you hand the summonses to anyone ? They were snatched out 
 of my hand by Nicolson. 
 
 Do you swear that he did not hand them back ? No. I swear that, 
 so far as I can remember. 
 
 You must remember that ? 
 
 The Sheriff Have you any doubt about it ? No, my lord. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald What became of the summonses? I don't know. 
 They were lying on the road. 
 
 You were not struck by a stone ? No. 
 
 Or by anything else ? One of the women, I think, struck me with 
 some soft stuff on the head. 
 
 One of the women ? I think so. 
 
 Was that Mrs. Flora Nicolson? Witness Which Mrs. Nicolson? 
 
 Mr. Macdonald You know Mrs. Nicolson ? There are so many 
 Mrs. Nicolsons. 
 
 Do you know Widow Nicolson, to whom you made the statement 
 about the widows of Gedintailler ? I know two widows of that name. 
 
 Do you remember a widow you made remarks about before that ? 
 There are so many of them I can't remember. 
 
 Do you know Widow Nicolson of Gedintailler to whom you made a 
 statement about the widows of Gedintailler ? I know more than one 
 Widow Nicolson in Gedintailler, but I don't know their first names. 
 
 The Sheriff Did you see any of thase widows ? Yes, I saw Widow 
 Nicolson, Balmeanach. 
 
 By Mr. Macdonald Did she strike you? No, Sir. 
 
 Did she call upon the widows of Gedintailler to come round Martin 
 to get their character ? No, I am not sure.
 
 60 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 Did you make a statement about the widows of Gedintailler in Por- 
 tree before that ? I do not think it. I would always be speaking to 
 them about rents. 
 
 Did you make a statement about the character of the widows ? No, 
 no. 
 
 Were you rebuked by Norman Beaton about the filthiness of your 
 language about these women ? Filthy language ! I do not remember. 
 I was not checked by Norman Beaton or any other. 
 
 The Sheriff objected to this, but Mr. Macdonald said he wished to 
 show that the whole of the disturbance arose out of an attack made by 
 Martin a short time before, on the character of the ladies who formed 
 the major part of the crowd. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald Did Widow Nicolson strike you ? No. 
 
 Did any one strike you ? No, but it was a narrow shave. 
 
 Did any one threaten to strike you? Yes, Donald Finlayson with a 
 stick. 
 
 And you did not attempt to proceed further ? No, not I. 
 
 Did you make any attempt to regain the doubles of your summonses ? 
 I just let them go. 
 
 I suppose you were glad to get rid of them ? Oh no, not in that 
 way. 
 
 How far had you gone back towards Portree before you were again 
 overtaken by the crowd ? Well, I think it would be about three-quar- 
 ters of a mile. Malcolm Finlayson came up to me then, and I took the 
 summonses out of my pocket. He snatched them from me, although I 
 had a good hold of them. He did not return them, and I heard nobody 
 tell him to return them to me. 
 
 You said some one tried to burn the summonses and failed ? Yes. 
 
 And then you said " I have a good breath," did you not ? I was 
 hearing murmurs in the crowd that they would make me burn them, so 
 I took a piece of paper and set fire to a bit of one of the summonses. 
 
 What did you say then ? I handed it to some one in the crowd, and 
 immediately there was a great clapping of hands. 
 
 Now, did you not set fire to the summonses ? No, I set fire to a bit 
 of one of them with a piece of paper which I lighted at a burning 
 peat. 
 
 Did you not bend down and set fire to them ? No, I am quite certain 
 I did not. 
 
 Did you not, Martin, in setting fire to these summonses say, " Now, 
 keep back, boys, and give it air ? " I did not set fire to the summonses, 
 but after they set fire to them there was a great cheering.
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 6 1 
 
 Did you call on the crowd to keep back and give it (the fire) air ? 
 I may have said stand back, but not to give it air. 
 
 Now, why did you say that ? In order to please them. 
 
 Did you make a speech after that? Yes, for their kindness. I 
 thanked them because they had not struck me, and as I wanted to get 
 rid of their company. 
 
 Did anbody say "Angus, boy, you need not fear?" Yes. That 
 was at the first stage of the proceedings, when I said don't kill me. 
 
 Did you say you were not afraid of anything ? I said I was there 
 independent of factor or anybody else. 
 
 Did you say you were not afraid of anybody ? Well, I might have 
 said so. 
 
 Was that true ? No, it was not. (Laughter). 
 
 Did you say that all the people of the Braes would not hurt you ? 
 Very likely. 
 
 And that was not true ? Well, I saw it was not true at that stage. 
 (Laughter). 
 
 Did you tell any more lies that day ? Well, I do not remember. It 
 is not my profession to tell lies. 
 
 You seem to practice it occasionally. (Laughter). 
 
 You asked for a smoke ? Yes. 
 
 Why did you ask for that ? I was not a smoker, but I asked for it 
 to please them. 
 
 How long did you smoke ? For five or six minutes. 
 
 In answer to further questions, witness said that when leaving he 
 shook hands with a number of the men in the crowd. He denied 
 having advised the crowd, in his speech, to be smart and hard about 
 Ben-Lee, and that they would get it. He had no whisky that day, and 
 denied emphatically that he had lately been dismissed for drunkenness. 
 He reported the case to the Fiscal when he went home. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald Is this the first criminal charge against the Braes 
 tenants ? No. 
 
 There was a charge of intimidation, but it broke down ? Yes. 
 
 Did you go to the Braes with the intention of serving these summon- 
 ses ? Yes, and I thought I was safe in serving summonses in any part 
 of Skye up to that time, 
 
 Is it not the case that you were sent to the Braes with the view of 
 getting up a charge of deforcement against these people ? It was not, sir. 
 
 EVIDENCE OF EWEN ROBERTSON, PORTREE. 
 Ewen Robertson, who spoke through Mr. Whyte as interpreter,
 
 62 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 said I am a labourer, residing at Portree. On the 7th April last, I 
 went as witness with Angus Martin to the Braes with summonses. 
 The ground officer, Norman Beaton, was also with us. When we 
 came to Gedintailler we saw two boys, and they had flags in their 
 hands on the point of a stick. They ran ahead of us. They were 
 waving the flags, and ran away to a knoll on the low side of Gedin- 
 tailler. When we went on we saw a man, and he came down where 
 we were. A number of people collected, but I do not know how 
 many. The crowd surrounded us. I knew the people, but did not 
 see but Donald and James Nicolson. The crowd knocked me down 
 three times. I was pushed down on the road. The crowd was much 
 excited. I was hurt every time they knocked me down. I went off 
 when I got on my feet. I heard them saying to us that they would 
 kill us. I heard James Nicolson saying so. I did not hear Donald. 
 After throwing the summonses down, Donald seized me by the back of 
 the neck. Donald plucked the summonses from Martin and tore them, 
 and then seized me. He did not throw me down, but caught me by 
 the back of the neck and told me to lift the pieces, and I said there was 
 no use of them. He told me where the summonses were. I was 
 frightened at that stage, "and it was not little". The crowd were 
 excited, and I took myself away, and was followed by about a dozen 
 youths throwing mud at me. I do not know who knocked me down, 
 but I was thrown down three times. They also threw a pail of water 
 at me, but I don't know who did. When I ran away a great deal of 
 stones and earth were thrown at me. Some of them struck me, but 
 I was avoiding them as well as I could. It was only a few youths who 
 followed me. The youths were among the crowd first. 
 
 You did not go back again ? Oh, indeed, I would not go. I did 
 not see the summonses burned, and was frightened for my life. 
 
 By Mr. Macdonald What is your occupation ? Anything I can do 
 if I get payment for it. 
 
 Are you in the habit of accompanying Martin ? Yes, and his father 
 before him for forty years, and others of the same kind before him, and 
 nothing ever happened to me. 
 
 This profession I take it is not very highly respected in the Island of 
 Skye ? I never heard anything about it. Before that time everything 
 went on quietly, and we did our message and got the best in the house 
 before we went away. 
 
 Did you see anything happen to Martin ? No ; I did not. I went 
 away. 
 
 When you were asked in Portree to submit to precognition on behalf
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 63 
 
 of the Prisoners, what was your reply the first time ? I said who asked 
 that of me. 
 
 Did you refuse to answer any question when I asked you ? I said I 
 had been already examined, and until I would go before the judge I 
 would not answer more questions. 
 
 You came the following day and gave information. What led to 
 the change in your opinion ? Yes ; I did that when I heard who 
 it was. 
 
 Did I not tell you the first night who it was ? Oh, yes, you did. 
 (Laughter). 
 
 What brought about the change ? I did not wish to be examined. 
 
 Did Martin tell you not to answer any questions ? He did not. 
 
 Did you see Martin that night ? Yes. 
 
 Where ? On the street at Portree. 
 
 At the hotel door ? Yes. 
 
 Waiting for you ? I do not know whether he was or not. 
 
 Did he tell you to refuse to answer questions ? No ! he did not indeed. 
 
 How did Donald Nicolson come to get hold of the summonses ? He 
 just came over from where he was and took them from him. 
 
 How long had Martin the summonses in his hand before Nicolson got 
 them ? No time ; and he said he had come to deliver the summonses 
 with the Sheriff's warrant. 
 
 Did he take them out of his pocket? Yes. 
 
 How long was that before Nicolson got them ? I cannot say what 
 time. I had no watch. 
 
 Did Martin offer the men the summonses ? I did not hear him. The 
 people would not take them from him. 
 
 Then he did offer them ? He did not offer them at that time. 
 
 Why had he the summonses in his hand ? There were some there for 
 whom the summonses were. 
 
 My question was, why had Martin the summonses in his hand ? Oh, 
 God ! How could I know what they were in his hand for. 
 
 Did he offer them ? He did not require to offer them. 
 
 How long were you beside Martin at this time ? I was not long 
 when I was thrust away by the people. 
 
 Did you know all the people ? I did not know them all. 
 
 Had they anything on their heads ? The women had handkerchiefs 
 on their heads, but I do not know was it to protect them from the sun 
 or hide them. 
 
 Why did you not lift up the summonses? Why should I lift them 
 when they were in pieces.
 
 64 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 Who tore them ? Nicolson did. 
 
 Did you see him ? I will swear that. 
 
 Did you see the destruction of the other summonses ? 
 
 Witness (before interpretation) No. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald This witness had good English a week ago. 
 (Laughter). 
 
 Did you see any person touch Martin ? No, I did not see them. 
 
 Or Beaton ? No, I do not, but they might have killed him for all I 
 know. 
 
 You ran home ? I ran back as fast as I could. 
 
 Did any of them touch you ? I am not aware of any of them touch- 
 ing me. 
 
 EVIDENCE OF NORMAN BEATON. 
 
 Norman Beaton, ground-officer, said I reside at Shullisheddar. I 
 accompanied the sheriff-officer on 1 7th April last. I wnt to point out 
 the places. He had summonses to serve at Penachorrain, Balmeanach, 
 and Gedintailler. On coming near Gedintailler we saw two boys, and 
 they ran away. We afterwards saw a man with a flag waving it. 
 They came and asked where we were going, and Martin said he was 
 going to serve summonses on them. He took the summonses out of 
 his pocket. Alexander Finlayson said he would not allow them to go 
 on. He said lifting his staff, "You won't go any further". He said, 
 "Surely you all know me, I came here by order of the Sheriff". 
 Donald Nicolson took the summonses out of Martin's hands and threw 
 them on the road, but I could not say who tore them. I saw them in 
 bits on the road. The people were gathering. There was about 150 
 altogether men, women, and children and girls. I saw them all in the 
 crowd. Martin I and returned back towards Portree. Robertson turned 
 first, and after he left I saw him knocked down in the road. The 
 crowd followed us when we turned back to Portree, and some of them 
 were throwing stones and clods at us, near Gedintailler on the road. 
 Not many of them struck me. Near Murchison's schoolhouse, about 
 three-quarters of a mile from the place where the summonses were des- 
 troyed, the crowd followed us, and amongst them were James Nicolson, 
 Peter Macdonald, and Malcolm Finlayson. They were very much 
 excited, and using threats. They ran after us, and asked if we had 
 any more summonses. Martin said he had the principal summonses to 
 bring them back to Portree. He took them out of his pocket and 
 showed them, and Malcolm Finlayson snatched them out of his hand
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 65 
 
 and threw them in the road. They were not torn, and I could not say 
 if they were afterwards torn. 1 saw peat lying beside them ; it was 
 alive. Martin stood on the road, and I stood nearer Portree. I saw 
 smoke, but could not say if the summonses were burning. I was 
 alarmed but not hurt, and afraid to go on. 
 
 Cross-examined by Mr. Macdonald In what capacity did you go 
 with Martin to the Braes ? I think I went as ground-officer as Lord 
 Macdonald's servant. 
 
 You did not go as Martin's concurrent ? I was sent there by Lord 
 Macdonald's factor, by whom I was employed. Martin was not to 
 pay me. 
 
 Were the crowd principally women and children ? Yes, and men. 
 
 Were they principally women and children ? No answer. Were 
 there more women and children than there were men ? I believe there 
 were more men. To make three shares of them, I believe there were 
 more men. More than one third were men. 
 
 You said that Robertson was knocked down by some women and 
 men ? Yes. 
 
 He had gone away from the crowd at that time ? Yes. 
 
 When Martin came up first with the summonses, how was it he hap- 
 pened to take them out of his pocket ? They asked him where he was 
 going, and what brought him there, and he took the summonses out of 
 his pocket. He told them it was for that purpose he came. He kept 
 the summonses in his hand. 
 
 Close to his body ? He held them out a little. He said, " Here they 
 are". Donald Nicolson then took them. He was not very close to 
 them, just past him a yard or two. 
 
 Was not this what took place ? Did not Nicolson put out his hand 
 and take them? He was not so close as that. Was Martin offering 
 them at the time ? 
 
 The Procurator-FiscalMartin did'nt say that. You are putting 
 words in the witness's mouth he never used. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald If I put a question, it is not the part of the Pro- 
 curator-Fiscal to instruct his own witness what to say in answer to it. 
 
 Cross-examination continued What were Martin's words ? He 
 said, "Here they are". I swear he did not say, "Here they are to 
 you ". I will swear to that. . 
 
 Were they pointed in the direction of Nicolson ? They were pointed 
 in the way of the crowd as well as Nicolson. He was along with the 
 crowd. 
 
 And he took the summonses ? Yes.
 
 66 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 Did he offer them back to Martin ? I did not see that. I was close 
 to Martin all the time and I did not see that. I was very close behind. 
 
 Might they have been offered to Martin without you seeing it ? 
 They could not, and I did not see them offered. He tore the sum- 
 monses. I could not see Nicolson put them on the ground. 
 
 Were they torn then ? No, they were not torn when he put them on 
 the ground. 
 
 How long after you first saw them on the ground did you see them 
 torn ? I could not say. It was some little 'time. 
 
 Did you see them in anybody's hand between the time you saw them 
 on the ground untorn and when you saw them torn ? No. 
 
 The whole crowd was walking over them. I cannot say if that 
 would account for the tearing of them. The band which bound the 
 summonses was off when I saw them on the road. It was torn off 
 about the time they were dropped upon the road. Nicolson took the 
 band off and threw it upon the road. By the time I went down to the 
 school-house, I was struck with stones and clods by some women not 
 by men in the crowd. 
 
 Did you hear anything said by Mrs. Nicolson there as to the character 
 of the women of Gedintailler ? I did not. 
 
 Did not you hear her say, "Now, come, women of Gedintailler, and 
 hear your character from Angus Martin?" I did. I heard her also 
 say that he should burn the summonses. I heard her say that he was 
 saying some words to her in Portree about the character of the women 
 of Gedintailler. She told words to me herself at that time. 
 
 At what time ? At Olach. Not in the presence of Martin. It was 
 said to me near Murchison's school-house. Martin was not there at the 
 time. 
 
 She complained of the language Martin had used ? I cannot remem- 
 ber what words he had used. It occurred after the meeting of the 
 Disaster Committee in Portree. I did not hear anything about the 
 language till she told me there that day. 
 
 Is it not a fact that you and Lachlan Ross checked him for the 
 language in Portree ? I can't remember of it. Was it filthy language? 
 Yes, very filthy. 
 
 And she referred to it this day at Gedintailler ? Yes. 
 
 After you got down to near Murchison's school-house the principal 
 summonses were produced by Martin ? Yes. He was asked if he had 
 any more of them, and he took them out of his pocket. He caught 
 them in his hand and told me to bring them back to Portree. He did 
 not offer them to Malcolm Finlayson. He said, " I have them here,
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 6^ 
 
 and I have to take them back to Portree ". I did not hear him ask for 
 a match. I heard some one in the crowd ask for a match to burn them. 
 I did not see any weapons in their hands. 
 
 No sticks or anything of that sort ? No. 
 
 I heard Martin asking for a smoke from some of the crowd who were 
 about. I think he got a smoke. I believe Martin was afraid. 
 
 And yet he asked for a smoke ? Yes. 
 
 How long did he stand smoking? I could not say. I saw him on 
 the road and some of the crowd speaking to him. It was about that 
 time Mrs. Nicolson came, and there were some women with her. 
 
 She wanted Martin to repeat what he had said at Portree ? I could 
 not say. 
 
 Did you hear Martin make a speech ? No, sir. 
 
 Did you observe her speaking to the crowd can you tell us what was 
 said ? No. I could not say how many he shook hands with. There 
 was not many about that time. I was struck in Gedintailler with 
 stones and clods by the women. They did not hurt me. I was struck 
 at Olach with stones and clods again, but they did not hurt me. Some 
 women were throwing them. 
 
 Did one of the men wipe off the mark of a clod on Martin's clothes 
 with the sleeve of his coat ? I saw that done to Martin. A woman be- 
 fore that had taken a handful of turf and rubbed it on his jacket. 
 
 Did one of the men come and wipe it off with his sleeve ? One of 
 the men of the crowd came and wiped off the mark with his coat. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald here turned to consult his notes, and witness, who 
 was apparently getting rather uneasy, hurriedly left the box. Mr. Mac- 
 donald, without turning fully round, put the question, "Did Martin 
 make a speech," but getting no answer he found to his surprise that the 
 box was empty, and the witness escaping rapidly by the door of the 
 Court-room. He was recalled amidst much laughter, and, having 
 answered a few questions, was allowed to go. 
 
 ESTATE MANAGEMENT IN SKYE. 
 
 EVIDENCE OF MR. MACDONALD, FACTOR FOR LORD MAODONALD. 
 
 Alexander Macdonald, factor, examined I am a solicitor at Portree, 
 and act as factor for Lord Macdonald. In the middle of April, I in- 
 structed summonses against Donald Nicolson, Balmeanach ; Alex. 
 Finlayson, do. ; Samuel Nicolson, do. ; John Nicolson, do. ; James 
 Matheson, Widow C. Matheson, Widow C. Nicolson, Widow Mac-
 
 68 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 kinnon, John Stuart, and Donald Macwilliam. I instructed Martin to 
 go and serve the summonses, and he proceeded to do so. 
 
 Cross-examined by Mr. Macdonald Is Martin your clerk ? Yes, 
 and has been so for a long time. 
 
 How long has he been so ? I think he entered my office first, at the 
 very beginning, and then he went to Glasgow, and came back, and has 
 been with me for the last eight or ten years. 
 
 From the beginning of what ? Of his career. 
 
 How many years will that be ? I cannot tell you, Mr. Macdonald. 
 
 He was in your office before he became sheriff-officer ? Yes. 
 
 Is he your clerk still ? Yes. 
 
 Was he absent for a time recently ? Well, I think he was. 
 
 What was that for? I cannot tell you. I was away (a pause). Let 
 me see (another pause). I think I was away in the south somewhere, 
 and when I came home (a pause) 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald Oh, don't be afraid (laughter). 
 
 Witness I am not afraid at all. I beg to assure you 
 
 Mr. Macdonald Well, go on then. 
 
 Witness I was absent from the office lately, and, during my absence 
 from home, I understand he was absent. 
 
 The Sheriff What was the cause of the absence ? 
 
 Witness I don't know. He was absent when I returned. I think 
 he was absent for a fortnight, or nine or ten days. 
 
 Did you enquire what was the cause of his absence ? No, I did not 
 enquire particularly. 
 
 The Sheriff Did you not enquire at all ? Yes. 
 
 By Mr. Macdonald And what was the result of your enquiries ? 
 I heard a suspicion cast on him by some people that he was rather un- 
 steady, but I do not think it is true at all. 
 
 Did you dismiss him ? No, certainly not. 
 
 You took him back whenever he came ? I forget the circumstances. 
 I was not prepared to speak to this. I took him back. 
 
 And made little enquiry ? I asked of his mother and wife, but I 
 don't remember much about it, 
 
 Martin is your clerk and a sheriff-officer. Does he hold other offices ? 
 He is clerk to the Road Trustees and collector of rates for the parish 
 of Snizort, about five miles from Portree, and collector of poor rates for 
 Bracadale, nine miles away. I do not recollect if he is collector for any 
 other parish. 
 
 How many proprietors are you factor for besides Lord Macdonald ?
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 69 
 
 Macleod of Macleod, Mr. Macallister of Strathaird, Mr. Macdonald of 
 Skaebost, and Major Fraser of Kilmuir. 
 
 I suppose that is the greater part of Skye ? Yes, decidedly. 
 
 And in addition to this you are also a landed proprietor yourself? 
 Well, I believe I am. (Laughter). 
 
 You are also a solicitor and bank-agent ? Yes. 
 
 And 1 believe you are agent for Captain Macdonald of Waternish ? 
 Oh, I have a number of appointments besides these, and lots of clients. 
 
 And your influence extends all over the Isle of Skye? I do not know 
 about my influence, but I hold the positions mentioned. 
 
 You are distributor of stamps ? Yes. 
 
 And Clerk of the Peace for the Skye district ? Yes, Depute under 
 Mr. Andrew Macdonald. (Laughter). 
 
 Any other offices? I may have some, but I do not remember any 
 more. I do not see what right you have to ask these questions. Do 
 you mean to assess my income ? I will tell the Assessor of Taxes when 
 he asks me, but you have no right to inquire. 
 
 You are also a coal-merchant? I am not aware, Mr. Macdonald. 
 (Laughter). 
 
 And how many School Boards and Parochial Boards are you a 
 member of ? Several. 
 
 The Sheriff I don't want to interrupt you, but what has this to do 
 with the case ? 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald To show that this gentleman is the King of Skye 
 the uncrowned King of the Island (laughter) an absolute monarch 
 who punishes a murmur by transportation to the mainland. There are 
 some other offices which you hold in Skye? Witness Yes. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald In point of fact, you and Martin hold between you 
 pretty much all the valuable offices in Skye except that of parish 
 minister ? (great laughter). Witness (warmly) Not all, sir ; not at 
 all (laughter). 
 
 Did the people of the Braes petition you about Benlee 1 They lodged 
 a document, but I do not call it a petition. I call it a demand or 
 ultimatum. The witness read the document, which was to the effect 
 that the petitioners "demand" the grazings of Benlee, otherwise they 
 would not pay their rents. 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald These people of the Braes are not very well 
 educated ? Witness Some of them are. 
 
 What did you do with that petition when you got it ? I kept it. 
 
 Did you send it to Lord Macdonald ? No, but I wrote to Lord 
 Macdonald about it.
 
 70 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 Did you make any inquiry on the spot as to the grievances of these 
 people ? I understood what they meant by the petition itself. 
 
 Did you make any inquiry to ascertain if their grievances could be 
 substantiated? Yes, I made inquiries of a number of people. 
 
 Did you go to the place to make the inquiries ? No, I do not require 
 to do that, as I know the place perfectly well. 
 
 Is the statement which they made true or not ? I believe that the 
 demand for the exclusive possession of Benlee is not a well founded 
 claim. 
 
 The Sheriff That is irrelevant ; we need not go into that matter. 
 
 Mr. Anderson was of the same opinion, but would not object. 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald If your lordship wishes me to stop, I will do so. 
 I am probably outside of the immediate issue now, but I am led on by 
 the hope that if an explanation is now made of the position taken up 
 by Lord Macdonald and his factor in relation to the demands of the 
 prisoners and their neighbours in Skye, an arrangement may be come 
 to which will prevent a recurrence of the events which have led to the 
 present trial. 
 
 The Sheriff If any opposition was taken by the proseeution, I would 
 stop this course of examination at once. 
 
 Mr. Anderson I do not object, my lord. 
 
 The Sheriff I do not see what bearing it has on the case. 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald Did these people refuse to pay their rents until 
 the grievances complained of were inquired into and redressed? Until 
 they got Benlee. I sent them circulars and letters, copies of which are 
 produced. 
 
 You state in the printed letter that they have each 6| acres arable 
 land, with a right to keep 5 cows, 20 sheep, and I horse ? Yes. 
 
 Did you ascertain the accuracy of that statement before you made it ? 
 I have only acted as factor for two and a-half years, and that state- 
 ment regarding the townships was given to me shortly after I entered, 
 and I think it is quite correct. 
 
 Are you not aware now that, if these tenants would put all these 
 cattle and sheep on the ground, they would die from starvation ? I am 
 not aware of anything of the sort, sir, bat we are quite prepared to 
 look into that. The request was never civilly made. 
 
 Did a deputation of these people come to you in November last ? 
 There was a deputation of their sons, but there were no tenants except 
 one. 
 
 An old man of 85 ? I do not think he was 85. I told them the 
 tenants must come themselves, and not their sons. I saw this maa
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 71 
 
 Nicolson, but I do not think Nicolson came into my office, though I 
 met him on the street. 
 
 Was there a man Angus Stewart there ? Well, I don't remem- 
 ber. 
 
 Was not Angus Stewart, a tenant of Lord Macdonald for the last 65 
 years, their principal speaker ? You refer to a different occasion. 
 
 When was that ? When they came arm-in-arm and shoulder-to- 
 shoulder with a piper at their head. (Laughter). 
 
 Is it not the case that they were met by this piper, who plays for 
 money in Portree ? On the first occasion there was no piper, but on 
 the second occasion they came with this piper, and would scarcely listen 
 to me. They never came quietly to me. (Laughter). The time they 
 came with a piper they entered the rent collection room and would 
 scarcely listen to me. I called over their names to see I had nobody 
 but tenants to deal with. 
 
 What was the object of this, Mr. Macdonald ? I told you before that 
 it was to ascertain that I had nobody but tenants to deal with. 
 
 No intimidation in it ? I do not believe the men were ever afraid of 
 me, nor that they are so yet. (Laughter). I do not see why they 
 should be so unless they were doing wrong. 
 
 Did you prefer a criminal charge against some of these men before 
 this charge was made ? Two widows 
 
 Mr. Kenneth Macdonald Never mind the widows. 
 
 Witness (excitedly) You have asked me a question, and I must 
 answer it. 
 
 The Sheriff Did you make a criminal charge against these people ? 
 Witness I cannot answer no or yes, but two widows came to me 
 weeping, saying they had been intimidated by a number of men in the 
 Braes for paying their rents, and 1 went with these two widows to the 
 Fiscal. 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald Was there a charge of intimidation made to the 
 Fiscal ? 
 
 The Sheriff He says the two old ladies 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald They are widows, my lord, but not old. (Laugh- 
 ter.) 
 
 The Sheriff The question is a simple one. Did you or did you not? 
 
 Witness They made a charge of intimidation. 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald But the charge fell through? Not so far as I 
 know. 
 
 When did you hear the last of it ? I do not know if I have heard 
 the last of it yet. (Laughter.)
 
 72 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 Did you hear that Crown Counsel had ordered no further proceedings 
 to be taken on that charge ? Yes. 
 
 Was it after that you caused the summonses of removing to be pre- 
 pared? Yes, but the one thing has no connection with the other. 
 There may have been a coincidence of time, but there was no relation 
 between the two cases. The summonses were for ejectment for non- 
 payment of rent. 
 
 Was it not the fact that Martin arranged to be deforced before he left 
 Portree? Certainly not ; he did not expect it. (Laughter.) 
 
 The Sheriff Is Martin a native of the Braes? No ; he is a native 
 of Portree. His people belong to Kilmuir. 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald Is it your practice to fesue summonses of re- 
 moving that you have no intention to enforce ? No, of course I do not 
 enforce them if the cause for which they were issued has been removed. 
 
 Question repeated ? No, but they may not be followed out, because 
 if the rent be paid there is nothing more about it. 
 
 Then you intend to evict these people ? Certainly, if they do not 
 pay their rent, or show good reason why they should not. 
 
 Had you Lord Macdonald's authority for evicting these people ? I 
 did not want to evict them, nor do I intend to evict them if they pay 
 their rent. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald Kindly answer my question. Had you Lord Mac- 
 donald's authority for what you did ? I cannot give you a more direct 
 answer. 1 believe I said something to Lord Macdonald that it would 
 be necessary to do something to the ringleaders. I did not ask for any 
 instructions to evict, but said it would be necessary to warn them out 
 for not paying their rents. 
 
 Had you Lord Macdonald's authority for evicting these people ? I 
 did not require his authority for that. 
 
 The Sheriff Were your instructions special or general ? I had no 
 special instructions, as I did not ask for them. 
 
 Mr, Anderson When you got the petition, Mr. Macdonald, did you 
 write to say that they would get the hill according to the value of the 
 present day, and expressed your wish to have it valued by an experienced 
 person, and sent to Lord Macdonald for his consideration ? 
 
 Witness Yes, but I got no answer from them. 
 
 Did you also offer them Benlee ? I offered them Benlee if they would 
 pay for it, and would give a lease of it to any tacksman who would 
 come forward. 
 
 The Sheriff -That will do. 
 
 Witness (sharply) Are you done, Mr. Macdonald ? (Laughter. )
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 73 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonatd Oh, yes. 
 
 PRISONERS' DECLARATIONS. 
 
 The prisoners' declarations were then read. They are as follows : 
 
 Donald Nicolson, Balmeanach, sixty-six [years of age, declared I 
 know Angus Martin, Portree, and I know that he is a sheriff-officer. 
 .1 also know, but only by sight, Ewen Robertson, residing at Lisigarry, 
 Portree. I also know Norman Beaton, ground-officer, Portree. I saw 
 the three of them at Braes about a fortnight ago. They were on the 
 township of Gedintailler, and there was a crowd about them. We were 
 hearing that they were going up with summonses of removing. I was 
 in the crowd, and I saw papers in Martin's hand. I could not tell what 
 they were. 
 
 Did you take the papers out of his hands ? He knows himself. 
 There were plenty of witnesses if they saw me do so. I did not catch 
 hold of Ewen Robertson or touch any one there ; neither did I throw 
 anything, nor was I swearing. I asked Robertson to lift up the papers 
 which were at the time scattered on the road. 
 
 James Nicolson, son-in-law, residing with the above Donald Nicol- 
 son, is 30 years of age. He knew Martin to be a sheriff-officer, and he 
 also knew Robertson and Beaton. He saw the three of them at Ged. 
 intailler on the occasion in question. The Declaration continued 
 There was a crowd about them when I saw them. I joined the crowd. 
 I knew that it was with summonses of removing they had come. 
 When I joined the crowd I did not cry out to kill Martin. I have no 
 recollection of saying, or hearing said, that even with the support of the 
 Volunteers no one would dare to come to Braes to put us out. I saw 
 Martin having papers. I did not know what the papers were, but I 
 thought they were the summonses. I saw Martin handing out the 
 papers, and some one taking them out of his hand, and I afterwards 
 saw them on the road torn. I did not see Ewen Robertson down on 
 the ground. I saw a crowd of boys and girls after him along the road. 
 They were saying that I was cursing and swearing, but I was not, and I 
 did not put a hand on any one that day or on the papers which the 
 sheriff-officer had. I did not think there was any harm in anything I 
 saw done. 
 
 Peter Macdonald, Balmeanach, aged 48, and married, said he heard 
 that Martin was a .sheriff-officer. He saw Martin and Beaton at the 
 Braes, but not Robertson. He was not present when Martin arrived. 
 The Declaration continued We were thinking it was with the sum- 
 monses of removing he (Martin) came. There was a crowd gathered
 
 74 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 about him when he arrived of about 150 women and children. I did not 
 see papers with him until I saw them on the road at Olach. I saw them 
 before they were burnt. The crowd called out that is, the women 
 called out that Martin and his assistants would require to burn them 
 themselves. I did not say to Martin that he would be made to burn 
 them himself. It was at Olach that I joined the crowd. I have nothing 
 further to say bnt that Martin burned the papers himself. The place 
 Olach above alluded to is about half a-mile from Gedentailler, in the 
 direction of Portree. 
 
 Alexander Finlayson, Balmeanach, 70 years of age, declared that he 
 did not know until Martin arrived that he had come to the Braes to serve 
 the summonses. He was not present when Martin arrived, and he saw 
 him first among a number of men, women, and children at Gedentailler. 
 He did not know that Robertson was helping Martin. The Declaration 
 continued I told him to return and burn them. At this time there was 
 some torn papers scattered about the road, and it was to these papers I 
 referred. The papers were torn and on the ground before I joined the 
 crowd. I did not know that these papers were summonses of removing, 
 but some of the people were saying that they were. I did not know that 
 Martin was going with summonses to us that day, but we were hearing 
 a rumour that we were to be warned. I did not dare Martin to proceed 
 further with his summonses that day. I had a staff in my hand. I was 
 not flourishing it. I did not hear Martin say that he had the Sheriff's 
 warrant for serving the summonses that day. I thought we ought to get 
 justice concerning the matter in dispute, which was the hill pasture of 
 Benlee, which we ever had. When had you the pasture ? We had 
 it ever in connection with our town-ships. It was taken from us about 
 sixteen years ago by bad rulers. We have not possessed it for the last 
 seventeen years. It was let to another tenant. I and my father before 
 me, and my grandfather, great-grandfather, and great -great -grandfather, 
 have been living in the township of Balmeanach, and the hill of Ben- 
 lee was all that time connected with our township. 
 
 Alex. Finlayson, son of and residing with the said Alex. Finlayson, 
 Balmeanach, is married, and about thirty years of age. He saw Martin 
 at the Braes on the day in question. The Declaration continued I did 
 not know then that Martin was a sheriff-officer. I only knew that he 
 was the factor's clerk when I saw him at the Braes on that occasion. 
 Martin had a bunch of papers. I did not know what the papers were, 
 but he told us they were summonses, some of removing and some of 
 rent. I did not take these papers out of Martin's hands, but after 
 seeing them in his hands, I saw them torn and scattered on the road. I
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 75 
 
 saw some of the papers which Martin had burnt at Olach that day, but 
 these were different papers from those I saw scattered on the road at 
 Gedentailler. It was I who took the papers which were burnt at Olach 
 out of Martin's hand. He stretched out his hand holding these papers, 
 and I took them out of his hands. Somebody said I should not take 
 them, and I offered them back to him, but he would not take them, and 
 I let them fall on the road. At this time there were a good many 
 people about Martin, and some of them cried out to burn the papers, 
 but I am not sure whether I said this or not. Martin then asked for a 
 match, but there was no match to be found. A lighted peat, however, 
 was produced, and Martin set fire to one of the summonses, and then 
 the whole caught fire and were burned. The crowd did not very much 
 force Martin to burn the summonses. They told him to burn them, and 
 he did so. The crowd did not call bad names to Martin, but he told 
 the people he would be put out of his situation by the factor if he had 
 not come to give them the summonses that day. They did not say any- 
 thing worse than his name to him. I told him to move on, as I was 
 afraid the scholars and women would come and hurt him. He then 
 asked us to see him safe over the burn, and we did so. 
 
 THE EVIDENCE FOR THE DEFENCE. 
 
 Mr. Donald Macdonald, Tormore, examined by Mr. K'. Macdonald 
 You were factor for Lord Macdonald until about two years and a-half 
 ago ? Some time about that. 
 
 You know the Braes ? I do. 
 
 When you were factor did the tenants of the Braes townships com- 
 plain to you about the want of the hill of Ben-Lee ? They may have 
 done. I have no distinct recollection about their making any specific 
 charge. 
 
 You know the story about the shepherd's house being built, about 
 which some of the crofters complained? Yes. 
 
 What did you do ? Well, the complaint was that the tenant of Ben- 
 lee was building a house on a portion of what they considered their 
 land. 
 
 The Sheriff All this occurred two or three years ago, Mr. Macdon- 
 ald ?-Yes. 
 
 The Sheriff asked Mr. K. Macdonald if he meant to justify the 
 action of the prisoners by this evidence ? He did not see that it had 
 any relevancy. 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald It has a bearing on what followed. 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald (to witness) There was a lease of Benlee which 
 expires at Whitsunday 1882. Is not that so ? I believe it does.
 
 76 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 And the people wished to get the land back at that term ? There 
 was some indication that way. 
 
 Did you make them any promise ? I made no promise. 
 
 Did you hold out any hope ? No ; certainly no distinct hope. 
 
 Then, was it from you they got their information ? I don't remember, 
 but it is quite possible. 
 
 Did you renew the lease during your factorship ? I believe I did. 
 
 For a further period ? Yes. And without informing them ? I don't 
 remember, but it is quite possible. 
 
 In answer to Mr. Anderson, Mr. Macdonald said Benlee had not 
 been in the possession of the crofters for the past 1 6 or 17 years. 
 
 The Sheriff. Benlee is advertised to let now. 
 
 Mr. K. Macdonald Yes, in the Courier of to-day. 
 
 Mr. A. Macdonald, factor And the tenants may have it if they like 
 to pay rent for it. 
 
 EVIDENCE OF CROFTERS. 
 
 John Finlayson, a tenant of the Braes, said, in reply to Mr. Mac- 
 donald I was at the Braes when Martin arrived, and saw him with the 
 papers in his hands. He handed them over to Donald Nicolson, who 
 took them and threw them back to Martin, who turned his back, and I 
 think refused to take them back. Some one in the crowd said to Nicol- 
 son that he had no right to the papers, and he then dropped them on the 
 ground, and the children trod upon them. No one struck Martin, or 
 even threatened to strike him. I heard some one saying to Martin, 
 " Be not afraid, no one will touch you". Robertson at this time had 
 gone homewards, the children following him. Martin also followed, 
 but after he had gone some distance he stopped, and asked for a light. 
 He got an ember of a peat, with which he set a paper (a paper about 
 the size of a summons) on fire, and put some more with it. He said, 
 "Stand back and don't smother it," and added, "There it is for you, 
 boys ". He appeared to be laughing, and did not seem to be afraid. 
 He afterwards had a smoke and chatted with the people. He made a 
 speech before leaving, in which he said, "Be hardy and active ; you 
 will not see me again, and you will get Benlee". He also said he did 
 not blame them for what they had done, and said if he had been in 
 their place he would have done the same thing. He shook hands with 
 a number of people before leaving. I did not see any person strike 
 Martin. 
 
 By Mr. Anderson I joined the crowd when they began. I went 
 there just because I followed the rest.
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 77 
 
 You saw some boys with flags on the watch ? There were. 
 
 And what were these boys to do? They were to give us notice. 
 
 Of what ? About the force that was being sent to us. 
 
 Was that a sheriff-officer you expected ? We did not know that it was 
 a sheriff-officer. 
 
 Did you expect Martin ? No. 
 
 Did you expect summonses ? Yes, I expected a summons. 
 
 Now, was it for persons coming with summonses that you placed the 
 boys on the watch ? Yes. 
 
 And it was arranged that as soon as a boy saw them he was to give 
 warning ? Yes. 
 
 And you were to collect then ? Yes. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald objected to this line of examination, as being really 
 an attempt to prove the charge of Deforcement which the Prosecutor 
 had not been able to libel relevantly. The Sheriff however allowed it. 
 
 Was it said that he would not be allowed to serve a summons ? I 
 did not hear that. 
 
 What were you going to do when you met the persons comiug with 
 the summonses ? To return them. 
 
 That is to return him to Portree? I do not know where. (Laughter. ) 
 
 I suppose you know that you were to turn him ofi' the Braes ? Yes, 
 we were going to turn him off the Braes. 
 
 Are you any relation of Finlaysons in the box ? I am a brother of 
 Malcolm's and a son of Alexander P'inlayson. 
 
 Did you see any stones thrown ? No. 
 
 Nor clods of earth ? No. 
 
 Nor peats ? No. 
 
 Did you see Robertson on the ground ? Yes. 
 
 Did you see him lying on the ground ? No. 
 
 Did you see anybody touch him ? No. 
 
 What became of him ? I saw him going away, and the children were 
 cheering him home. (Laughter.) 
 
 Were they throwing anything after him ? I did not see, I was far 
 from him. Witness saw only two of the prisoners, Malcolm Finlayson 
 and Patrick Macdonald following Martin to the second crowd, near 
 Murchison's schoolhouse. 
 
 Alexander Finlayson, Peinachorrain, was at Gedentailler on the day 
 when Martin came with the papers. He knew that Martin was the 
 factor's clerk, but did not know that he was a sheriff-officer. The 
 papers were lying on the road when he saw them first, and Martin was 
 laughing and talking, and did not appear to be frightened. He
 
 78 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 generally corroborated the previous witness regarding the burning of 
 the papers, and said he did not see any stones thrown at Martin. In 
 answer to Mr. Anderson, he said he was a son of Alexander Finlayson, 
 one of the prisoners, and brother of Malcolm Finlayson, another of 
 the prisoners. Martin did not seem to be in the least afraid. 
 
 James Mathieson, on being asked to take the oath in English, declined. 
 He said Oh no. All the speaking in this case has been done in 
 Gaelic, and I am not going to interpret Gaelic into English. (Laughter.) 
 The oath having been administered in Gaelic, he said he resided at Bal- 
 meanach, and was at Gedentailler on the I yth April when Martin came 
 to serve the summonses. When the people came up Martin held out 
 some papers in his hands. He held them out in the direction of Donald 
 Nicolson, and said, "There they are, take them ". I don't know whether 
 he said this to Nicolson or to the rest of the people. Nicolson, how- 
 ever, took them. He did not snatch them from Martin, and Martin did 
 not endeavour to keep them from him. In answer to other questions, 
 witness said Martin did not appear to be frightened, and had no occasion 
 to be so. 
 
 What occurred near Murchison's schoolhouse ? I saw him with more 
 papers there. When I arrived he had them in his hand as at first. He 
 was offering them to anyone who would receive them. I don't know 
 where Robertson was. He went along before them. I don't know if 
 they were following him at that time, but they were before that, and 
 some children. 
 
 Was Martin quite sober at that time? Well, I don't know. I would 
 think him like a man that would have a little. 
 
 Did you hear Martin ask for a match ? Yes. He said, Was there no 
 one there had a match? They replied that they had a burning ember 
 for lighting his pipe. After this Martin asked where it was. They said, 
 It was here. I was standing at the side of the road, and I saw him go 
 over by the papers. I saw him point to them and say, ' ' Lads, 
 there is a fire, stand back and don't choke it ". I saw the papers on fire 
 after that. I saw him drink at the well. He was inclined to bend at 
 the well, but they told him there was a pail. He asked, Have any of you 
 a pipe till I smoke ? Alexander Nicolson went to give him his pipe, but 
 it was broken. Nicolson then went to get another man's, and after 
 cleaning it so (here the witness made a movement as if wiping a pipe 
 clean) he handed it to Martin, and Martin smoked it. He (Martin) was 
 in the very middle of the crowd smoking it. 
 
 Was he talking to them and smoking ? Yes, smoking and talking. 
 I did not see any appearance of fright about him. There was no 
 occasion for his being frightened.
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. ' 79 
 
 Did you hear Murdo Nicolson say anything to him ? I heard some 
 one say, I am not very certain if it was Angus Nicolson, but I heard 
 some one say, " No one here will do anything to him ". 
 
 What did he say to that ? He said, " Oh, I had no fear. I know 
 that the Braes people will not do anything to me. " He was shaking 
 hands with the people before he went away. He was shaking hands 
 and thanking them for dealing so gently with him. He told them to be 
 active after this, as it was now they had it to do. 1 don't know what 
 he meant by that. I did not hear him say he was a sheriff-officer, or 
 that he came from the Sheriff. I know he is the factor's clerk in 
 Portree. I thought the "bailie " sent him there that day. I saw the 
 widows standing up as if they were speaking to him. One of them, 
 Widow Nicolson, seemed to be angry. I did not hear Martin say any- 
 thing to her at the time. She was done speaking to him before I came. 
 I don't know what they were talking about, but people were telling me 
 afterwards. I did not see anyone touching Martin other than to shake 
 him by the hand. 
 
 John Nicolson, Gedintailler, gave corroborative evidence. He saw 
 no one putting a hand on Martin, and said Martin seemed quite pleased, 
 and put the papers on the top of the fire. 
 
 John Nicolson, Peinachorrain, also gave evidence regarding the pro- 
 ceedings at Martin's visit. He saw no stones thrown. In cross- 
 examination by Mr. Anderson, he admitted that clods had been thrown 
 by the school children, but if Martin was frightened it was only at 
 seeing so many women. (Laughter.) 
 
 John Maclean, Balmeanach, described the scene at the schoolhouse 
 where the papers were burnt. He said Martin stepped into the centre 
 of the crowd, and getting a fire-brand blew it until he had lighted the 
 papers. He then set them on the ground, and said, "Men of the 
 Braes, I am obliged to you for your kindness". He appeared quite 
 hearty, and shook hands with the people. There was no reason for 
 Martin fearing anything. He added, I was in the factor's office in 
 November last as one of the deputation. Our names were taken down 
 at that time, and we were charged with impertinence. The factor was 
 sending us letters after that threatening us. 
 
 This brought the evidence to a close. 
 
 Mr. Anderson did not address the court, but simply 
 asked a conviction for assault. 
 
 Mr. Macdonald began by showing the effect upon the 
 indictment, of the judgment sustaining his objection to the
 
 8o THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 relevancy of the charge of deforcement, and the minor 
 charge of obstructing an officer of the law in the performance 
 of his duty ; and he read what was left of the indictment, to 
 show that all that remained was a charge of simple assault 
 against the prisoners. He went on to say : When I first 
 addressed your Lordship to-day, I attempted to show that 
 the case as it then stood was too important for trial in this 
 court It has now been reduced to such slender propor- 
 tions that the wonder is it was ever brought into any court. 
 It has been attempted, by leading irrelevant evidence, to 
 give the case a fictitious importance, but the prosecutor has 
 been flogging a dead horse. A common assault such as is 
 now charged would never have justified the measures taken 
 to apprehend the men now in the dock. Would the public 
 have looked on in silent wonder if they had been told that 
 the army of policemen sent to Skye had been sent there to 
 apprehend a few men most of them old men whose only 
 crime was that they looked on while a few respectable women 
 threw dirt at a man who had slandered them. I rafher 
 think they would then do what those of them who have not 
 to pay for it will do now they would laugh outright. I 
 really feel some difficulty in discussing seriously the very 
 small mouse which this mountain in labour has brought 
 forth. The charge is assault. What is the evidence in 
 support of it ? It is certainly not the sort of evidence usu- 
 ally led in cases of assault. We heard of a sheriff-officer 
 being sent from Portree to serve writs at a place nine or ten 
 miles away, of his seeing boys with flags and afterwards 
 being met by a crowd of people, of his papers being burnt 
 by himself, and of his making a speech thanking the people 
 for their kindness to him, and encouraging them to perse- 
 vere in their demands ; but very little, and that unreliable, 
 of an assault by anybody, nothing of an assault by the men
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 8 1 
 
 at the bar. In fact the public prosecutor never anticipated 
 having to prove a charge of assault, and had no evidence to 
 support it. The turn the case took when the Court held 
 his main charges irrelevantly stated had taken him by sur- 
 prise, and he ought then to have thrown up the whole case. 
 He had not done that He had led evidence which showed 
 that the prisoners had done certain things which might or 
 might not be criminal, but which certainly did not constitute 
 the crime with which they now stood charged, nor, for that 
 matter, any of the crimes with which the indictment, as it 
 originally stood, sought to charge them. The prosecutor 
 had not stated the grounds upon which he asked for a con- 
 viction on the charge of assault, there were none to state. 
 The only hope he could have was that the Court would 
 convict them of a crime of which they were not guilty, 
 because the evidence showed that they came near commit- 
 ting another and a totally different offence with which they 
 could not be charged. If this was the hope of the prose- 
 cutor, he hoped it would be disappointed, and that these 
 men would not be convicted of a crime of which they were 
 not guilty simply because some victims were required to 
 shield officials from the charge of playing a huge practical 
 joke at the expense of the public. I shall now, with your 
 Lordship's permission, go over the evidence shortly, and I 
 think I shall be able to show that there is no evidence no 
 reliable evidence that any one of the accused committed 
 an assault, while there is a considerable amount of reliable 
 evidence to show that not only was no assault committed, 
 but that Martin and the ground-officer were on the best of 
 terms with the prisoners while they were together terms so 
 friendly that the idea of an assault having been committed 
 during the interview is utterly precluded. As to Robertson, 
 he was clearly not a popular favourite, and he retreated 
 
 6
 
 82 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 towards Portree at an early stage, followed by some children. 
 If he was assaulted at that time, the prisoners were no par- 
 ties to it. Robertson was, however, the only person who 
 was said in evidence to have been touched by one of the 
 accused ; but the evidence on that point came from so sus- 
 picious a source, and was, as would be shown immediately, 
 so strongly contradicted, that I have no hesitation in asking 
 your Lordship to disbelieve it. Mr. Macdonald then pro- 
 ceeded to review the evidence for the purpose of showing 
 that Martin, Robertson, and Beaton had contradicted each 
 other in important particulars in their account of what had 
 taken place, and that the story told by the witnesses for the 
 defence was consistent throughout, and entirely inconsistent 
 with those of Martin and his associates. Martin, he said, 
 had to account to his master, the factor, for his failure to 
 serve the summonses, if, indeed, it was not intended before 
 he went that he should fail ; and this was the story he told 
 on his return. The enlightened management of Lord Mac- 
 donald's estates in Skye by his omnipotent and unapproach- 
 able factor had brought about a state of matters which the 
 usual machinery of the factor's office summonses of re- 
 moving and occasional evictions, supplemented by threats 
 of undefined pains and penalties was unable to deal with. 
 An attempt even to get up a criminal prosecution had failed. 
 What more natural, then, than to get up a sensational charge 
 which would bring a large force to the rescue of the powerless 
 factor without expense to his employer. I do not say this 
 is the explanation of what took place, but it is a possible 
 interpretation of the evidence, and it would go a long way 
 to account for the peculiar "coincidence," as Mr. Macdonald 
 calls it, that while the criminal authorities intimated the 
 abandonment of the first criminal charge on ist April, the 
 attempt to serve the summons of removing was made on
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 83 
 
 the yth of the same month. Be that, however, as it may, 
 the evidence which, by the forbearance of the Court, I was 
 permitted to lead, showed that the present unhappy state of 
 matters among Lord Macdonald's tenants was entirely attri- 
 butable to mismanagement on the part of successive factors. 
 Before 1865 those people were comfortable and contented. 
 They had their patches of arable land near the sea and the 
 hill grazings beyond. The grazings were on Benlee, of 
 which so much has been heard. The rent for both lands 
 was paid in one sum, and was fixed on the basis of the 
 number of cattle, sheep, and horses each tenant was able to 
 keep. In 1865, however, a factor deprived them of the hill 
 while their rents remained the same. They were pushed 
 down towards the sea-shore, and there, under the shadow of 
 their mountain, and a few inches above highwater mark, on 
 what was at no very distant date a sea-beach, they eked out 
 a precarious living from their patches of mixed rock and 
 sand, dignified with the name of arable land. For years 
 these people went on uncomplainingly, while year by year 
 they became poorer. Their horses first went, in 1865 
 every man had a horse most of them several ; now there is 
 not a horse for every three tenants. Then the little stocks 
 of sheep and cattle gradually dwindled down, while all the 
 time their owners were paying rents for the grazing of three 
 or four times the number of sheep and cattle the grazings 
 left to them would feed. At last the inevitable came the 
 people saw starvation or pauperism staring them in the face, 
 and they made a humble appeal for redress. To whom ? 
 To Lord Macdonald ? No ! To his factor, and the 
 factor made fair promises at least so say the people. He 
 told them, they say, that the hill was let on lease, but the 
 lease would expire in 1882, when they would get it. How 
 does he keep his promise? Several years before 1882, he,
 
 84 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 without saying anything to the crofters who were patiently 
 enduring poverty and hardship waiting for the fulfilment of 
 his promise, let the hill on a new lease, and then leaving this 
 little complication for his successor to settle, he resigned his 
 factorship. The successor was Mr. Alexander Macdonald. 
 It was Mr. Macdonald's misfortune that in his time the 
 crofters found out how they had been deceived, and that, not 
 taking the trouble to understand their grievances, he 
 threatened them when he ought to exhihit at least the appear- 
 ance of sympathy, and to attempt to conciliate them. To 
 the crofters Martin was simply the factor's clerk, Beaton the 
 factor's underling, and with the factor and all his belongings 
 they resolved to have nothing to do. To Lord Macdonald 
 they must appeal. They believed that he had never autho- 
 rised the harsh measures adopted towards them, and the 
 evidence led to-day shows that their belief was well founded. 
 Lord Macdonald, in whose name these proceedings were 
 carried on, never authorised them, was never even consulted 
 about them. Proceedings which had for their ostensible 
 object the eviction of the inhabitants of three townships, 
 several hundred people in all, were not important enough 
 forsooth to lead the factor to consult his master. The people 
 knew well that less than thirty years before similar pro- 
 ceedings had been carried out to their bitter end in the name 
 of their landlord's father without his authority, and they knew 
 that to the day of his death that Lord Macdonald bitterly 
 regretted these proceedings. Well might they believe that 
 this Lord Macdonald would not lightly consent to their whole- 
 sale eviction and expatriation. They knew, and he knew, 
 that the strong arm of their ancestors was the only title deed 
 by which his ancestors held their land, and that but for the 
 sturdy clansmen of the Isles, Lord Macdonald would not 
 now hold an acre of land in Skye. It was not, therefore, the
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 85 
 
 law in the person of its officers, it was not even their land- 
 lord, these men resisted, it was the factor the man who was 
 in their eyes the impersonation of all the injustice and hard- 
 ship to which they had been subjected, and I ask was there 
 not some justification for their resistance ? This being the 
 position taken up by the accused and their neighbours, was 
 it probable that they would degrade themselves and their 
 cause by assaulting a person in Martin's position ? I think 
 not. Further, was Martin's own story consistent with the 
 theory of an assault ? Would a man who had just been 
 assaulted, and who was in mortal terror, as Martin says he 
 was, find himself so sound in wind as Martin admits he was. 
 When a lighted peat was procured to burn the summonses, 
 some of the men in the crowd tried to blow it into a flame 
 but failed. Martin, however, notwithstanding his terror 
 found himself, as he admits, " in better breath " than his 
 alleged assailants, and succeeded in blowing the peat into a 
 flame when they had failed to do so. (Laughter.) Though 
 terror-stricken and in mortal fear he managed somehow to 
 enjoy a smoke quietly. When he wanted a drink of water 
 he was not afraid to go off the road to a well, and to go on 
 his knees and dip his head into it. It never occurred to him 
 that this dangerous crowd finding his head in the water might 
 keep it there. He gauged the crowd correctly enough as his 
 conduct showed. He stood among them, chatted with them, 
 drunk out of their pails, borrowed and smoked one of their 
 pipes, and on parting made them a speech. That was the 
 evidence of the prosecution, as well as of the defence. The 
 Prosecutor did not make an attempt, after hearing the 
 evidence, to argue that Martin had been assaulted. To do 
 so in the face of such evidence would be an outrage on 
 common sense. Mr. Macdonald concluded by asking for a 
 verdict of not guilty. (Applause.)
 
 86 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 THE PRISONERS FOUND GUILTY THE SENTENCE. 
 
 The Sheriff said The charge now is one of assault against 
 these men combinedly or against one or other of them, 
 "actor or art and part," so that if the prosecution has proved 
 that one of them assaulted one or other of the men said to 
 be assaulted, and that the other prisoners aided and abetted 
 them in that assault, that, I take it, would be sufficient to 
 enable me to find the whole of them guilty as libelled. 
 Throwing aside all that is really unnecessary, the simple 
 question for me to determine is this Did these men "or 
 one or other of them " do something to one or other of the 
 three men, Martin, Beaton, and Robertson, which in the eye 
 of the law is assault ? Now, it is quite true that there are 
 certain discrepancies in the evidence which has been adduced. 
 There is no doubt whatever that the witnesses for the defence 
 do not support the evidence for the prosecution ; but the 
 evidence for the defence confirms to a very great extent the 
 statements that are made by the principal witnesses for the 
 prosecution. And part of the evidence of the defence is 
 really of a mere negative character. Certain of the witnesses 
 the first three say that they were not present at the 
 beginning of this disturbance. They came to the ground 
 after the papers were taken out of Martin's pocket. Now, 
 Martin says that when he came to the place he had the 
 papers in his pocket, and they were only taken out of it 
 when he was asked for them. I may mention, before pro- 
 ceeding further, that I see no reason whatever to doubt 
 Martin's statement. Martin gave his evidence fairly, and in 
 a way which convinced me at least that he really was telling 
 the truth, and I do not think there was anything in his 
 cross-examination which tended to render Martin's evidence 
 untrustworthy. Now Martin says that Donald Nicolson
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 87 
 
 took a leading part in this affair, and he stated that Donald 
 Nicolson caught hold of Ewen Robertson by the back of the 
 neck "and called out to me in language which was not very 
 polite," but it had reference to things which had taken place 
 before then. Robertson tells us more particularly how 
 Donald acted after the summonses had been plucked from 
 Martin. He laid hold of him by the neck and so on. 
 Now, I take it that this is an assault within the four corners 
 of this complaint. It will not do for any one to say that 
 because five or six witnesses did not see this that the affair 
 did not take place. There is the direct evidence of two 
 witnesses which is a great deal better than the indirect 
 evidence or negative testimony of a score. Therefore, if 
 Robertson's and Martin's evidence were true, Donald Nicol- 
 son was guilty of an assault. Now, if Donald Nicolson was 
 guilty of an assault, the question will then come to be, what 
 part did the others take in regard to this ? Donald Nicol- 
 son, according to Martin, came forward and took the papers 
 from him. The next person who comes on the scene is 
 Alex. Finlayson, and the proceedings that he adopts are 
 certainly of a most threatening character. There is no doubt 
 whatever that he had a stick in his hand, and the testimony 
 given by Robertson and others is that he comes forward 
 and threatens them, flourishing his stick and daring them to 
 proceed further. And then he proceeds to tell us of the 
 throwing of stones, in which Finlayson took an active part, 
 and in this way he became "art and part" with Nicolson in 
 the assault upon these men. I therefore take it that when 
 you have Nicolson behaving as he had done, and Finlayson 
 being there with him, and taking the part he did, that 
 Finlayson is guilty of the assault as a party as one acting 
 art and part with Nicolson. Then the next persons who 
 come before us are James Nicolson and the other two.
 
 88 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 These three men are not said to have done anything except 
 to be accessories along with these people. Peter Macdonald, 
 indeed, after a time, comes to make himself conspicuous by 
 telling Martin that unless he burns his papers, Martin would 
 not get home alive ; but there is no evidence of Macdonald 
 doing anything in particular beyond threatening Martin and 
 the others. Malcolm Finlayson appears afterwards near the 
 schoolhouse, and all three form part of the threatening 
 crowd. It appears to me, however, that Peter Macdonald, 
 Malcolm Finlayson, and James Nicolson did not take that 
 conspicuous part which Donald Nicolson and Alexander 
 Finlayson took. And, therefore, although the case against 
 each and all of these prisoners has been proved, I thinlc 
 there is a distinction between the conduct of Donald Nicol- 
 son, and Alexander Finlayson, and the others. These two 
 are really the persons who committed the assault, and a 
 distinction must be made between them and the others. 
 The judgment of the Court is that Donald Nicolson and 
 Alexander Finlayson be each fined ^2 ios., or, failing 
 payment, one month's imprisonment; and the other three 
 prisoners, Peter Macdonald, Malcolm Finlayson, and James 
 Nicolson, be each fined 205,, or fourteen days' imprisonment. 
 
 LIBERATION OF THE PRISONERS. 
 
 The result was received with some surprise, though not 
 with dissatisfaction. As the Sheriff summed up strongly 
 against two of the prisoners it was anticipated that the full 
 penalty in their case, at least, would be inflicted, and that 
 on the other three prisoners the sentence would have been 
 more severe than that pronounced. The leniency of the 
 judgment, therefore, was satisfactory to the audience. Dean 
 of Guild Mackenzie at once passed a cheque for the full
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS. 89 
 
 amount of the fines to Mr. Anderson, but the agent for the 
 prisoners (Mr. Macdonald) intimated that it was paid under 
 protest in order to enable him to lodge an appeal if this 
 should afterwards be resolved upon. * 
 
 The prisoners, who had been confined between two 
 policemen throughout the day, were then liberated. As they 
 emerged from the Castle, they were met by a large crowd, 
 who greeted them with cheers and calls for a speech. They, 
 however, were allowed to proceed to their hotel without any- 
 further demonstration. 
 
 The men and the witnesses were lodged, and provided 
 with a liberal supply of all the creature comforts, in the 
 Glenalbyn Hotel, where they were visited by many of those 
 in Inverness who sympathised with their position. Next 
 morning they left by train and steamer for Portree, their 
 fares having been paid, and provision made for anything 
 they might require on the journey. On their arrival the 
 same evening in the Capital of Skye they were met by 
 their friends and the people of Portree, who greeted them 
 with great enthusiasm, and many of whom convoyed them 
 the greater part of their way to the Braes. 
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. 
 
 NOTHING of importance occurred for months after the 
 trial, until the crofters appear to have allowed their sheep 
 to take possession of Benlee, and, it is alleged, refused 
 to take them back to their own ground. 
 
 Early in October, Lord Macdonald's Edinburgh agents 
 
 *A cheque for the whole amount of the fines was shortly afterwards 
 received from Mr. Norman Macleod, Bookseller, Bank Street, Edinburgh, 
 on behalf of a few Highlanders in that city, who were quite willing to subscribe 
 much more had it been found necessary. The whole of the other expenses 
 of the Trial was paid by the Federation of Celtic Societies.
 
 90 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 sent to the Braes crofters registered letters requesting them 
 to withdraw their stock from Benlee without delay. These 
 letters were, in the ordinary course, sent to the district post- 
 office. Delivery of two or three was accepted, but on their 
 contents becoming known the rest of the crofters resolved to 
 have nothing to do with them, and refused to take delivery. 
 A copy of one of these letters appeared at the time in the 
 Aberdeen Free Press. The burden of its contents was a 
 request to the crofters to pay up their arrears and remove their 
 stock from Benlee, otherwise proceedings would be taken 
 against them. The rents had not been paid, the stock was 
 still on Benlee, and the threat by Lord Macdonald's agents 
 was immediately followed up ; the Court of Session granted 
 notes of suspension and interdict against the crofters with 
 regard to the grazings of Benlee. Mr. Alexander Mac- 
 donald, Messenger-at-arms, Inverness, proceeded from 
 Inverness with the Court of Session writs in his possession. 
 On Saturday morning, the 2nd of September, he left Portree 
 for the Braes to serve the writs, accompanied by Lord 
 Macdonald's ground-officer. Gedentailler is the township 
 nearest to Portree, and on arriving there the officer of Court 
 proceeded to serve the^documents on the different crofters. 
 He appears to have gonon smoothly enough there, but word 
 seems to have been sent to Balmeanach, the largest of the 
 three townships, that the 'officer and his companions were 
 approaching. Thereupon the women and children of 
 Balmeanach gathered in large numbers, covering their heads 
 with handkerchiefs to disguise themselves as well as they 
 could. They proceeded towards Gedentailler, and met the 
 officers on the way. There the second Battle of the Braes 
 began. Stones and clods were flying freely, the officers 
 thought it expedient to beat a retreat, and the writs were not 
 served in the township of Balmeanach, or Peinachorrain.
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. 91 
 
 Mr. William Mackenzie, the special correspondent of the 
 Aberdeen Free Press, to whom we are indebted for the nar- 
 rative of these proceedings, visited the Braes on the following 
 Tuesday, while the sheriff-officers were still in Portree, 
 waiting for further instructions from the authorities at Inver- 
 ness. He writes on Tuesday evening : 
 
 The serving of writs at Gedentailler was evidently managed 
 with great rapidity, for the work was done before the people 
 realised their position. The people of the other townships 
 got hurried word of -what was going on, and they mustered 
 and drove the officers away before they reached Balmean- 
 ach. The whole of the people are now in a state of great 
 anxiety, and every stranger visiting the district is watched. 
 The children, indeed, run away weeping and crying " Tha 
 iad a' tighinn, tha iad a' tighinn " (They are coming, they 
 are coming), on the approach of any suspected person. An 
 impression was abroad last night that the officers were again 
 to proceed to the Braes to-day, and, accordingly, the women 
 and children, in large numbers, gathered and formed them- 
 selves into two divisions the one being detailed to watch 
 and protect Peinachorrain (the farthest south of the town- 
 ships), in case of the officers coming on them from Sligach- 
 an, and the other to defend Balmeanach, the middle 
 township, in case of their coming from Portree. They 
 occupied their respective positions for a considerable time 
 during the day, but ultimately as the " foe " did not appear, 
 they retired to their homes, leaving sentries on duty, to warn 
 them of the approach of danger. These sentinels soon saw 
 me, and gave the alarm, and in a very short time I was sur- 
 rounded by a large crowd of women and children, and a few 
 men. .Each Amazon as she came up looked anything but 
 friendly ; but as I came to be known I received a cordial 
 welcome. The old men who were present regarded the
 
 92 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 conduct of the proprietor towards them as harsh ; but they 
 thought that the Court of Session writs should be peaceably 
 accepted. The Amazons, 'however, thought otherwise, and 
 they expressed in no qualified terms their intention to resist. 
 
 Those who suffered in spring are looked upon as heroes 
 and martyrs, and some feel themselves driven to such a 
 state of desperation and exasperation that they are well nigh 
 indifferent as to what may happen. " Whatever becomes of 
 us," they say, " we cannot he worse off than we are." The 
 application of force may crush them individually, but in the 
 present frame of mind of these people, force will be no more 
 a remedy in the Braes than in Ireland ; and I am satisfied 
 that any attempt at evicting them, or selling them out, with- 
 out some attempt at an amicable settlement, will be attended 
 with some rough work. 
 
 The officers were re-called to Inverness on the nth of 
 September, having remained in the Island for nine days 
 without again attempting to serve the writs. 
 
 The same correspondent, in one of a series of able 
 articles, writes, under date of nth October, regarding a 
 rumour which was then current in well-informed circles, to 
 the following effect : " During the week of the Argyle- 
 shire gathering, when the gentry and nobility of the west 
 were promoting social intercourse in Oban, an informal 
 meeting of proprietors was there held in private, to consider 
 the present position and future prospects of land ownership 
 in the Highlands. The Skye question naturally formed a 
 leading topic of discussion, and the opinion was expressed 
 that Lord Macdonald, in the interests of his class, ought to 
 have gone long ago to the Braes and to have endeavoured 
 to settle the dispute between himself and the crofters ; and 
 it was felt that so long as the question remained in its present 
 aspect it will naturally be kept before the country, and the
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. 93 
 
 popular mind will be imbibing doctrines with regard to the 
 land which may probably end in restricting the liberties in 
 dealing with landed estates now enjoyed by their owners." 
 The Northern Meeting at Inverness took place on 2ist and 
 22nd September (in the following week), and many of the 
 gentlemen present at the Argyleshire Meeting attended the 
 meeting in the Highland capital. Lord Macdonald was also 
 present. Whether his lordship had any interview with those 
 gentlemen I know not, but on Saturday, 23rd of September, 
 he left Inverness, and on Monday, the 25th, he visited 
 the Braes. The conference was fruitless. The tenants, 
 who had hitherto demanded Benlee free of rent, now, 
 in order to put an end to the present turmoil, offered 
 to give about ^40. Lord Macdonald, who receives 
 ^128 from the present tenant, agreed to accept ^100. 
 Possibly another interview might lead to a compromise be- 
 tween parties the tenants offering more and the landlord 
 agreeing to accept less. But whether there will be another 
 interview or not is a matter that must lie with the proprietor, 
 for in their present frame of mind the tenants are not likely 
 to seek an interview at the stage which the case has now 
 reached. 
 
 Now, with regard to the threatened military invasion. 
 That it was the intention of the authorities at one time to 
 send one or two companies of soldiers to Skye is not 
 denied ; aud that these companies were to go from Fort- 
 George. This would undoubtedly be very distasteful work 
 to Highland soldiers, but if ordered they would have no 
 alternative but to obey. That they were warned to be in 
 readiness for "active service" in the Braes is certain ; but I 
 have good reasons for stating that military opinion at the 
 Fort was decidedly against any such task being assigned to 
 Highland soldiers, and that such remonstrances as could be
 
 94 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 made consistent with military discipline were sent to the 
 superior authorities. The reasons for this are obvious. The 
 country is now divided into regimental districts, and Skye 
 is one of the recruiting districts for the Highland regiments 
 which have their depots at Fort-George. The belief among 
 Highland officers is that if a company of Highland soldiers 
 were sent to Skye on such an errand there would be no 
 more recruits from that island for at least half a century. 
 That this opinion is a sound one will be readily admitted by 
 any one acquainted with the Highland character. 
 
 It was ultimately resolved to make another attempt, with 
 a larger force of police, to serve the writs on the tenants of 
 Balmeanach and Peinachorrain, on Tuesday the 24th of Oc- 
 tober. The special correspondent of the Inverness Courier, 
 who accompanied the expedition, describes the proceedings 
 thus : 
 
 At half-past eight this morning, in weather as pleasant as 
 one could desire, there drove from Portree for the Braes two 
 waggonettes containing Mr. A. Macdonald, messenger-at- 
 arms, Inverness (who was to serve the writs); his concurrent; 
 his guide, the ground-officer on Lord Macdonald's estates ; 
 Mr. Aitchison, superintendent of the County Police; Mr. 
 Macdonald, inspector, Portree ; and a body of nine police 
 constables. Some newspaper correspondents followed in a 
 third conveyance. All along the route there was manifested 
 the most intense interest I may say excitement. Soon 
 after leaving Portree we met two pleasant old men crofters 
 at Balmeanach who had not heard that the officers were 
 coming, but who, when asked as to what kind of reception 
 they might expect, shook their heads, and indicated that their 
 reception would be somewhat warm, but decidedly un- 
 pleasant. One of them told us that the officers had spoken 
 to him as he came along, he having been pointed out as one
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. 95 
 
 of the crofters in question by Mr. Beaton. They asked him 
 to accept the " paper," but he would have nothing to do 
 with it ; he did not understand that it was anything else 
 than a paper the reception of which would end in his 
 being reduced to misery and want. Then, as we proceeded, 
 we met people who told us that a reception was quite 
 prepared at the Braes for the officers, and for the police. 
 Here, and at several other points, information which we 
 received in Portree last night was confirmed, information, 
 namely, that the crofters had been advised that officers were 
 approaching them, had been counselled to receive the 
 papers, and that they had been on the watch all night. We 
 passed on and on through a country which plainly had at 
 one time been thickly peopled, but which is now a scene 
 solitary to an extent that is painful to contemplate. At a 
 little township near the Braes, women stopped their work at 
 the peats to look at the passing carriages. A little further 
 on the officers and policemen left their waggonettes, and 
 walked to Gedintailler a distance of over two miles on 
 foot. We adopted the same course. 
 
 The high green hill which, at the very entrance to the 
 township of Gedintailler, rises right up from the roadside, 
 was soon before us a little over a mile ahead. We could 
 see that there were groups of people on the height, and a 
 couple of crofters belonging to a place immediately on the 
 Portree side of Gedintailler, and who joined us here going 
 forward to see the fun said that sixty people had been on 
 the watch there ever since the dawn of day, and that they 
 carried flags with which they were to wave to the whole 
 community signals of approaching strangers. As soon as we 
 approached the borders of Gedintailler, it was plainly seen 
 that the officers, who were now a third of a mile ahead 
 of us, were engaged in a task of a most delicate and
 
 96 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 difficult nature. A band of young men, and stout 
 lads, and girls, occupied a height, from which, with 
 stones, they could command the passage by the road 
 underneath. Here we learned that the people whose 
 writs were served successfully on the 2nd September last had 
 driven their cattle off, thinking that the officers had come to 
 seize them. Further on, we could see that the officers and 
 the policemen were marching along a road, on each side of 
 which were gathered here and there small knots of men, 
 women, and children. As the officers and police force 
 advanced, these knots of people retreated before them all, 
 however, to concentrate at a point just within the march that 
 separates the township of Gedintailler from the township of 
 Balmeanach. The people were angry and excited. Some 
 carried sticks. Others doubtless were quite prepared to use 
 the stones that lay everywhere about. Many wore an aspect 
 of determination which was ominous in the extreme. It was 
 clear that a whole country-side was up in arms against the 
 messenger-at-arms, the police, and the writs. One young 
 fellow, in answer to a question by myself, spoke in a tone and 
 with a look which were the opposite of encouraging ; and 
 only changed his behaviour when he heard that I had come 
 from a newspaper. This much must be said of everyone 
 else ; they were kind and courteous to those who were not 
 connected with the officials who came to visit them ; they 
 seem well disposed too so long as you did not propose to 
 take Benlee from them ; in appearance and demeanour 
 altogether there was nothing when they were away from the 
 officers, but what is creditable. They, however, hate the 
 writs, and all connected with them ; and they entertain a 
 bitter aversion to the very word "police" an aversion 
 deeply rooted in the minds of the youngest because pre- 
 sumably of the recollection of the visit which was made to
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. 97 
 
 them in April last. But extreme excitement is perfectly 
 compatible with this courtesy towards those who they know 
 are not connected with the writs. If I were asked to describe 
 the Braes to-day, I should say the whole community 
 resembled a barrel of gunpowder that only required the 
 lighted match to produce an explosion. 
 
 The officers and the police were stopped at the entrance 
 to the township of Balmeanach quite near the first house in 
 the township by a body of men, women, and children, 
 variously estimated at from 140 to 160 individuals. 
 
 The scene, while officers and crowd were face to face with 
 each other, was one both striking and picturesque. While 
 officers and people discussed in Gaelic we wandered around 
 to see what was to be seen, and hear what of English was to 
 be heard. There they were, a great crowd engaged in loud 
 and angry talk, varied now and again by strange cries and 
 shouts from the women ; and the very gathering and the 
 noise and the excitement lent additional interest to the more 
 distant scenes, which were already striking in solitude and 
 grandeur. The girls, who were attending to the cattle on 
 the green hill-sides, gathered in little knots to hear what was 
 going on. The children who played on the roadside, or 
 watched on the green turf infants of tender years, whose 
 mothers were confronting the officers, seemed to have a 
 perfect idea of what was taking place. At the beach, far 
 down below the roadway, there lay a little boat in which three 
 fishermen were engaged in shaking out of the nets some 
 herrings which the night before they had got in Loch-Eynart. 
 They, too, had to be apprised of what was going on. 
 Occasionally one of the crew would land, ascend the steep 
 brae, and look on the crowd. But while he was in the boat 
 a knot of young women far up above the beach, would report 
 the movements. 
 
 7
 
 98 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 The interview between the people and the officers con- 
 tinued near an hour and a-half. The conversation was carried 
 on in Gaelic. It would appear that every advice given to 
 the crofters to receive the writs was lost upon them ; they 
 apparently did not know what the papers were, what they 
 meant, or what the receiving of them would result in 
 beyond the taking from them of Benlee. It is said they 
 had been advised to receive the writs by two ministers and 
 others ; and in the afternoon we were shown the following 
 telegram which had been handed in at Inverness at 4.52 
 P.M., Monday, and which had been received in Portree at 
 5 P.M. : 
 
 " From Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Inverness. 
 
 " To Mr. Neil Buchanan, or any of the Braes Crofters, 
 near Portree. 
 
 " Sheriff-officers, with body of County Police, left to-day 
 with writs for Braes crofters. Be wise. Receive sum- 
 monses peaceably. Trust to support of public opinion 
 afterwards." 
 
 But the unfortunate crofters declined the counsel thus 
 given. They regard Benlee as belonging to their holdings, 
 and Benlee, and nothing but Benlee they would have. 
 
 There were heads of families in the crowd, and these 
 were pointed out to the messenger-at-arms by the ground- 
 officer. The messenger-at-arms then endeavoured to effect 
 the service of the writs, but his efforts were of no avail. 
 The officer tried them over and over again, but in vain. At 
 length, he said he would go to the houses, and lodge the 
 papers there. He endeavoured to go, but women rushed 
 to intercept him, carrying stones and sticks, and all indi-
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. 99 
 
 eating that the proposed action on the part of the officers 
 would not be allowed. At this stage, Beaton, the ground- 
 officer, declined to go further to point out the houses, the 
 enterprise threatening to be accompanied with danger. 
 Shortly thereafter Mr. Macdonald said, "Very well, good- 
 bye, ladies and gentlemen". Some women replied, " Good 
 morning and a half to you, sir". The officers and the police 
 force the "dismal brigade," as they were once happily 
 termed turned their backs on the Braes, marched to the 
 spot where the waggonettes were awaiting them, and re- 
 turned to Portree, bearing with them the undelivered writs 
 of the Court of Session. 
 
 During the interview with the officers, some of the women 
 were weeping, and even at a distance from the crowd could 
 be heard exclamations in Gaelic about the number of help- 
 less widows and orphans that were in the Braes. Some 
 called out that the curses of the orphans and widows would 
 follow all these things. One woman said she would not 
 like to see any one suffer greatly, but if those over them 
 continued these actions much longer she did not know 
 what she might wish them. Once a man was heard to 
 say that the officers seemed to have come in a friendly 
 way; but he was replied to with a chorus of voices that they 
 came in no friendly way, that they were come to ruin poor 
 people, and that they would not be allowed to go further. 
 The police came in for a considerable share of the angry ex- 
 pressions of the women. One person reminded the police 
 that there were people there who yet suffered from wounds 
 they received in April. Actions and expressions were fre- 
 quently greeted with cries on the part of the crowd, which 
 were very far from encouraging to the officers. Occasion- 
 ally, however, there were signs of good humour ; but these 
 were few, and disappeared as soon as the officers tried to go
 
 100 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 to the dwelling-houses. Altogether, as will have been 
 clearly seen, the atmosphere was troubled in the extreme. 
 A single injudicious act on the part of the messenger or 
 police would unquestionably have produced an explosion of 
 feeling which would have compelled the legal force to re- 
 treat with greater haste and with less dignity than that with 
 which they did actually retire. At one point a row seemed 
 imminent, but it was prevented by the officers and the 
 police exercising prudence as the better virtue. 
 
 Judging from the appearance and the demeanour of the 
 people to-day, my own opinion is that, if these writs are to be 
 served by force, they must be served by men protected by the 
 military. This, too, is the opinion of many people in Portree. 
 The truth is, these frequent visits of officers and men in drib- 
 lets to serve papers, which the crofters associate with im- 
 pending misery, and possibly, eviction, are irritating and 
 distressing the people. As it is, the people have become 
 exasperated ; and it will be absolutely cruel, considering 
 their ignorance of legal forms, their extreme poverty, and 
 their attachment to the soil, to serve the writs by any other 
 force than one which, by previously overawing them, will 
 preclude the possibility of inflicting personal wounds on 
 either man or woman. The appearance of the military may 
 possibly overawe them, if they be sent in sufficient force ; 
 but a police force will only still more exasperate them, and 
 lead to a repetition of the painful scenes of April last. 
 
 The tone and spirit of this communication was altogether 
 different to anything that had hitherto appeared in the 
 Courier. It began to dawn upon the landlords that there 
 must be something in the complaints of the people, after 
 all, when this newspaper published such an account of the 
 Braes and its unfortunate inhabitants. The change in its 
 views produced a sensation, and pressure was immediately
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. IOI 
 
 brought to bear upon Lord Macdonald by some of the 
 Highland lairds to bring about a settlement with his people, 
 if at all possible ; but hitherto, so long as he expected a 
 military force to crush them, without avail. 
 
 The urgent appeals made by the County authorities to 
 the Home Office for a military force completely failed. It 
 is well known in certain circles that Sir William Harcourt 
 would not even listen to the proposal, and that he openly 
 ridiculed the idea of sending Her Majesty's soldiers to 
 settle a paltry dispute between a landlord and a few of his 
 crofters, which, by the exercise of a little sound judgment 
 and ordinary prudence, could be arranged by sensible men 
 in a few minutes. In consequence of this attitude on the 
 part of the Crown authorities further pressure was brought 
 to bear upon Lord Macdonald to come to terms with the 
 Braes crofters, and it is well known in well-informed circles 
 that under this pressure he finally agreed to enter into 
 negotiation, in the event of proposals to that effect emanat- 
 ing from the crofters themselves or from any of their friends. 
 After a good deal of private correspondence in influential 
 circles on both sides, negotiations were arranged, as we shall 
 see hereafter, which ultimately ended in a settlement satis- 
 factory in the circumstances to all concerned. 
 
 The special correspondence in the Courier had an effect 
 also in other quarters than that of the landowners. Immedi- 
 ately on its perusal a patriotic Highland gentleman of means, 
 who resides in the Channel Islands during the winter 
 months, telegraphed on the 28th of October, as follows, to 
 the writer of these pages : 
 
 "To Alexander Mackenzie, Esq., Dean of Guild of Inverness, 
 from Malcolm Mackenzie, Vue du Lac, Guernsey. 
 
 " Tender by telegraph to Lord Macdonald's agent all arrears of rent
 
 102 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 due by Braes crofters, and to stay proceedings. I write by post and 
 send securities for one thousand pounds on Monday." 
 
 These instructions were carried out, and the following reply was 
 received in due course : 
 
 5 Thistle Street, Edinburgh, soth Oct., 1882. 
 
 Sir, We have received your telegram of to-day stating that you are 
 authorised by a Mr. Malcolm Mackenzie, Guernsey, to tender payment 
 of the last two years' arrears of rent due to Lord Macdonald by the Braes 
 crofters, on condition that all proceedings against them are stopped, and 
 that you will be prepared to deposit securities for one thousand pounds 
 to-morrow. 
 
 Although we know nothing of the gentleman you mention, we will 
 communicate your telegram to Lord Macdonald. At the same time, we 
 must observe, that you seem to be labouring under a misapprehension 
 as to the matter at issue between his lordship and the crofters, the 
 proceedings against whom were raised for the purpose of preventing 
 trespass, and not for recovering arrears of rent. We are, &c., 
 
 (Signed) JOHN C. BRODIE & SONS. 
 To Dean of Guild Mackenzie, Celtic Magazine Office, Inverness. 
 
 To the above letter the writer replied as follows : 
 
 Celtic Magazine Office, Inverness, Nov. I, 1882. 
 
 Sirs, I am in receipt of your favour of Monday acknowledging my 
 telegram on behalf of Malcolm Mackenzie, Esq., Guernsey, offering to 
 pay arrears of Braes crofters on terms stated therein. 
 
 I was fully aware of the nature of the proceedings against the crofters, 
 though possibly Mr. Mackenzie was not, and I simply carried out my 
 instructions. I think, however, that , if Lord Macdonald desires to settle 
 amicably with the people, this proposal, if it does nothing else, will 
 give him an opportunity of doing so without any sacrifice of his position 
 beyond showing a willingness to discuss the matter with a view to 
 settle it in a way that will extricate all parties from a difficult position. 
 
 Mr. Mackenzie has now, through me, deposited securities amounting 
 to over 1000 in bank here, and I shall be glad to hear from you 
 when you shall have heard from his lordship. I am, Sirs, your obedient 
 servant, 
 
 A. MACKENZIE. 
 Messrs. John C. Brodie & Sons, W.S.
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. 103 
 
 Lord Macdonald's agents having published their letter, as 
 above, in the Inverness Courier of 2nd November, Dean of 
 Guild Mackenzie wrote them another letter in the course of 
 which he said : 
 
 Referrring to the second paragraph of my letter of yesterday, permit 
 me to express my opinion that a favourable opportunity has now 
 arrived to compromise the question in dispute advantageously to both 
 parties, and if I can in any way aid in that object, nothing will give me 
 greater satisfaction. I have had no communication either direct or in- 
 direct with the Braes people since the recent trial, except the telegram 
 which has appeared in the papers ; but if a desire is expressed for an 
 amicable arrangement, I shall be glad to visit them and do what I can 
 to bring such about. I believe if a proposal were made to appoint an 
 independent valuator connected with the West, and one in whom the 
 people might fairly place confidence as to his knowledge of the country 
 and the climate, the question might be settled in a few days. This 
 valuator should value the crofts and Benlee together, and name one 
 sum for the whole. Though I have no authority for making this pro- 
 posal, I believe it could be carried out to the satisfaction of all concerned, 
 and it would extricate the authorities and Lord Macdonald from a most 
 unenviable position. 
 
 To these letters no reply was received. 
 
 Mr. Malcolm Mackenzie followed up his telegram of 28th 
 October with a letter, of the same date, at once published 
 in almost all the newspapers in Scotland, in the course of 
 which he said : 
 
 On reading in the Inverness Courier an account of the proceedings 
 of Tuesday last against the Braes crofters, I thought that something 
 might be done to take everybody out of a difficulty, and wired you the 
 following message : " Tender by telegraph to Lord Macdonald's agent 
 all arrears of rent due by Braes crofters, and to stay proceedings. I 
 write by post, and send securities for one thousand pounds on Monday." 
 
 I trust that Lord Macdonald will be advised to accept payment of 
 arrears, and to leave the people of the Braes in peace until the Govern- 
 ment of the country can overtake measures to judge between him and 
 them. It will be a heavy responsibility and a disgrace to call soldiers 
 to Skye at the present time. Her Majesty has more important work to
 
 104 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 do with her soldiers than to place them at the service of the Court of 
 Session in vindication of an unconstitutional law which is not based on 
 principles of justice, and which has, by the progress of events and the 
 evolution of time, become inoperative. The Court of Session looks 
 for precedents. Where are these precedents for the reign of Queen 
 Victoria ? 
 
 Our dual system is no longer possible. Lord Macdonald does not 
 know what to do. Nobody knows what to do. There is an absence 
 of law and justice. In Scotland the administrator of justice is the 
 robber who deprives the people of their natural and indefeasible right 
 to the soil and of the labour which they have incorporated with it. Is 
 that not a terrible contingency for any country to be in ? It is peculiarly 
 disgraceful that it should be so in respect of the Highland race, who 
 successfully defended their country, their lands, and liberties, against 
 Romans and Normans. What have we come to ? Are they going to 
 send for the Highland Brigade from Egypt to slaughter the people of 
 Skye? 
 
 We call for Mr. Gladstone. What can poor Mr. Gladstone do, with 
 time against him, society in a state of revolt, a demoralised House of 
 Commons, a recalcitrant House of Lords, and the Court of Session at 
 its wit's ends ? Let us pray that he may be able to act as a governor on 
 this rickety steam-engine of society which, under high pressure, and by 
 reason of great friction, is in danger of tearing itself to pieces. In the 
 meantime, and until the machine is put in some sort of order, by Rules 
 of Procedure and alteration of the law, it is every man's duty to keep 
 her Majesty's peace and prevent bloodshed ; and as you appear to me, 
 sir, to be doing yours, like a good Seaforth Highlander, or Ross-shire 
 Buff, allow me to subscribe myself, very faithfully and loyally yours. 
 
 The following letters explain themselves : 
 
 TO THE EDITOR OF THE INVERNESS COURIER. 
 Celtic Magazine Office, 2 Ness Bank, Inverness, 8th November, 1882. 
 
 Sir, I have just received the enclosed letter from Mr. Malcolm 
 Mackenzie, Guernsey. Please publish it in the Courier, as you have 
 already published the reply to my telegram from Lord Macdonald's 
 agents. 
 
 Permit me, at the same time, to state that the sum of .1000, in actual 
 cash, has now been placed by Mr. Mackenzie at my disposal in the 
 Caledonian Bank, and, in the event of his offer being entertained by
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. 105 
 
 Lord Macdonald, that I shall be ready at any moment to implement Mr. 
 Mackenzie's offer. I am, &c., 
 
 ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. 
 
 Guernsey, 4th November, 1882. 
 
 Alexander Mackenzie, Esq. , Dean of Guild, Inverness. 
 
 Dear Sir, 1 am in receipt of your letter of the ist, enclosing the reply 
 of Lord Macdonald's solicitors to your telegram tendering them payment 
 of two years' rent due by the Braes crofters. 
 
 From Lord Macdonald's dignified position, he might be thought 
 entitled to ask me for an introduction before accepting any assistance on 
 behalf of his tenants ; but acting as I was, on the spur of the moment, 
 to prevent bloodshed, and possibly to avert an act of civil war, I did not 
 think that in these hard-money days his solicitors would raise any objec- 
 tions on the ground of my being unknown to them, especially as I made 
 the Dean of Guild of Inverness the medium of my communication. 
 
 As the days of chivalry are gone, and as clan ties and feelings of 
 patriotism and humanity are no longer of binding obligation, I could not 
 imagine that a firm of solicitors would stand on so much ceremony. 
 
 Whatever misapprehension Lord Macdonald's advisers are labouring 
 under, I can assure them that I am labouring under none as to the real 
 issues between him and his crofters. It would, doubtless, suit them to 
 have the case tried on a false issue of trespass before a Court which must 
 be bound by former decisions and prevailing canons as to the rights of 
 Highland landlords. The plea of the poor people is that Lord 
 Macdonald is the trespasser, in depriving them of their mountain grazings, 
 without consent or compensation, and thereby reducing them to abject 
 poverty. What can they do ? It would raise the whole question of con- 
 stitutional right, and, as I have said, the Court is bound by former 
 decisions that the landlord has the right to resume possession, and to 
 evict and banish the peasantry after having first reduced them to the last 
 nettle of subsistence. A sentence of banishment used to be regarded as 
 a punishment only next to death, but in the phraseology of landlords it 
 is now an "improvement". 
 
 In the days of " bloody " George of our own ilk, the Court of Session 
 knew better how to apply the "boot" and the thumb-screw than con- 
 stitutional law. Even later, such ruffians as old Braxfield recognised no 
 right in the people, and according to their dog Latin, they found that 
 the landlord was the only person who had a persena standi. It might, 
 indeed, be an interesting question for more enlightened and better men
 
 106 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 to discuss, whether the Crown of Scotland conferred on the chieftains by 
 their charters the right of wholesale clearances and forcible banishment 
 of the people from their native country ; and when their military service 
 was commuted into rent charges, if it extended to the landlord the right 
 to make it so oppressive that they could not live without appealing to the 
 public bounty for charity. But I fear it is now too late to expect the 
 High Court of Scotland to remedy the evil, and that we must look to 
 some other Court for redress. 
 
 It is in the hope that such a Court of equity may be established for 
 Scotland as regards land and the well-being of the people, that I ventured 
 to offer my assistance, and I thought that Lord Macdonald and his 
 advisers would be glad to make it the means of getting out of a difficulty, 
 and quashing a case that has become a public scandal, instead of standing 
 on ceremony. I am, sir, faithfully yours, 
 
 (Signed) MAL. MACKENZIE. 
 
 No further reply was received from Lord Macdonald or 
 his agents to Mr. Mackenzie's munificent offer, the accepting 
 of it being understood by them as equivalent to giving up the 
 grazings in question to the people, without any rent what- 
 ever, the only proceedings then current against them being 
 the Note of Suspension and Interdict to remove and keep 
 their stock off Benlee. They quite understood that, if these 
 proceedings were withdrawn, as conditioned in Mr. Mac- 
 kenzie's offer, the Braes Crofters would have the grazings in 
 dispute on their own terms, until some settlement was arrived 
 at between them and Lord Macdonald; and rather than agree 
 to this, his Lordship, if the crown authorities had been pliant 
 enough, would have chosen to see them slaughtered by a 
 military force. Better counsels have fortunately prevailed, 
 and his Lordship was saved by others from making his 
 name for ever infamous among the Highlanders, especially 
 among his own clansmen, and this although it was only 
 through the strong arms and trusty blades of their forbears 
 that his ancestors were able to leave him an inch of his vast 
 estates !
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. ID/ 
 
 While strong efforts were being made in private to induce 
 his Lordship to yield, the following letter, refusing the ex- 
 pected military force, was received from the Lord Advocate 
 by the Sheriff of the County : 
 
 Whitehall, 3rd November, 1882. 
 
 Sir, I received on the 28th ulto. the Report of the Procurator- Fiscal 
 at Portree, relative to the occurrences which took place at Braes on the 
 24th, and the precognitions referred to in the Report reached me on the 
 3Oth. These documents have been carefully considered, along with the 
 previous papers, and I have now to communicate to you the view enter- 
 tained by the Government on the subject to which they relate. 
 
 It is clear that Lord Macdonald is entitled to have adequate protection 
 for the Messengers-at-Arm$ whom he may employ for the purpose of 
 serving writs upon the crofters at Braes, and the question to be deter- 
 mined is, by whom should that protecting force be provided, and should 
 it consist of police or soldiers ? 
 
 The duty of preserving the peace and executing the law within the 
 County rests upon the County Authorities, who are by statute authorised 
 to provide and maintain a police force for these purposes. The number 
 of the force must necessarily depend upon the condition of the county, 
 and the nature of the services which require to be performed in it. 
 Recourse should not be had to military aid unless in cases of sudden riot 
 or extraordinary emergency, to deal adequately with which police can- 
 not be obtained, and soldiers should not be employed upon police duty 
 which is likely to be of a continuing character. From the various reports 
 which have been received, it appears that one or more places in the 
 Island of Skye are in a disturbed condition, though actual riot or violence 
 is not anticipated unless on the occasion of the service of writs, or the 
 apprehension of offenders, and it further appears, that any force em- 
 ployed in protecting the officers performing such duties would probably be 
 required not once only, but in connection with services falling to be made 
 throughout the successive stages of the process of Suspension and Inter- 
 dict, and of the Petition for Breach of Interdict, by which it would, in 
 all likelihood, be followed. It further seems to be the view of the 
 Authorities in Skye that the force would require to remain in the Island 
 for a considerable time. These considerations have led the Government 
 to the conclusion that they ought not to sanction the employment of a 
 military force under existing circumstances, but that the County 
 Authorities should provide or obtain the services of such a force of police
 
 108 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 as they may consider necessary for preserving the peace and executing 
 the law within the county. It is not for the Government to prescribe or 
 even to suggest the particular mode in which the County Authorities 
 should fulfil this duty, whether by adding to their own police force, or 
 by temporarily obtaining the services of police from other Counties or 
 Burghs, but I am authorised by Sir William Harcourt to say, that if they 
 should resolve to make an addition to the number of their own police, 
 he will be ready to grant his consent, in terms of section 5 of the Police 
 (Scotland) Act of 1857, to whatever addition they may consider 
 requisite. I am, Sir, Your obedient Servant, 
 
 (Signed) J. B. BALFOUR. 
 To William Ivory, Esq., Sheriff of Inverness. 
 
 This letter was a bitter pill for the County Authorities, 
 who naturally desired to escape the serious responsibility of 
 serving the writs in Skye by the small police force at their 
 disposal. The Police Committee held a meeting on the 
 1 3th of November to consider the document, and to decide 
 what was necessary to be done in the altered circumstances. 
 After serious deliberation Mackintosh of Mackintosh moved : 
 
 "That while protesting against the assumption that under existing 
 circumstances the county was bound, without the special aid asked for 
 from the Government, to execute the Supreme Court's warrants within 
 the disturbed districts ; and while disclaiming all responsibility for any 
 consequences which may result from the action which is now forced upon 
 them, the Committee ageee to make a strenuous effort to execute the 
 Court's warrants, and with that view they resolve that the police autho- 
 rities of Scotland be immediately communicated with, asking them to 
 furnish the largest number of constables they can possibly spare on a 
 given date, and to place this force at the disposal of the executive of the 
 county;" which motion was seconded by Mr. Davidson of Cantray, and 
 unanimously agreed to. 
 
 Lord Lovat then. moved "That the Committee recommend to the 
 Commissioners of Supply to increase the present force by 50 con- 
 stables;" which motion was seconded by Mr. Davidson, and unanimously 
 agreed to. 
 
 It was also agreed to recommend that a meeting of Commissioners be 
 held on Monday following to consider and dispose of this recommenda- 
 tion.
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. 109 
 
 The meeting of Commissioners of Supply was duly held 
 on the following Monday, when the subjoined interesting 
 Report, dated Edinburgh, i8th November, was submitted by 
 Sheriff Ivory : 
 
 1. The second deforcement at the Braes took place on 2nd September, 
 1882. A full account of that and the previous deforcement is given 
 in my report to the Home Secretary, and appending which is sent 
 herewith. 
 
 2. On 6th September an order was issued by Crown Counsel, after 
 consultation with the Lord Advocate, to serve on upwards of fifty crofters 
 at Braes notes of suspension and interdict prohibiting them from tres- 
 passing on Benlee, which was then, and had been for seventeen years 
 previous, occupied by another tenant, at a rent of .130. 
 
 3. That order was given to the Procurator-Fiscal of the Skye district, 
 who was directed to judge of the amount of the police force that would 
 be required, and to ask the police authorities to furnish it, the particular 
 mode in which the writs were to be served being distinctly specified in 
 Crown Counsel's order. 
 
 4. The above order was on the 7th September communicated by the 
 Procurator-Fiscal (Skye District) to the Clerk of the Police Committee, 
 the former intimating at the same time that he and Sheriff Spiers con- 
 sidered 100 police necessary, and that they should be supported by 
 troops. The order was thereafter communicated to me as Chairman of 
 the Police Committee, whereupon I at once put myself in communica- 
 tion with the Lord Advocate, and asked for instructions. 
 
 5. The Lord Advocate thereafter requested the Procurator-Fiscal of 
 Inverness-shire and myself to go to Edinburgh, and consult with him 
 there. We went, and on the i6th September, after a long and anxious 
 consultation (in the course of which I strongly advocated an expedition 
 with a Government steamer and marines), it was finally resolved that, 
 as the calling in of strange police had caused a serious riot on a pre- 
 vious occasion, and would be likely on the next occasion to cause much 
 more disturbance and bloodshed than a military force, it was the best 
 course to prevent a serious riot and perhaps loss of life, to call in the 
 aid of the military, and I was requested by the Lord Advocate to make 
 the necessary requisition to the military authorities. 
 
 6. On 2ist September I intimated to the Home Secretary that, after 
 consultation with the Lord Advocate, I intended to make a requisition 
 for troops, and sent him at the same time, through the Lord Advocate,
 
 110 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 a full report in regard to the disturbed state of Skye, and the previous 
 deforcements and assault on 50 Glasgow police and myself at Braes. 
 
 7.- The requisition for troops was made by me on 23rd September, 
 and on my informing the Lord Advocate of the fact, his lordship wrote 
 me on 25th September that he did not see that the county authorities 
 had then any alternative but to request military aid. 
 
 8. On 3Oth September the Home Secretary wrote me deprecating the 
 use of military, unless it was absolutely necessary, and suggesting that 
 if the expedition had not started I should again consult with the Lord 
 Advocate on the subject. 
 
 9. On 3Oth September, and again on 1st October, I pressed on the 
 Lord Advocate my decided opinion that (failing the Government fur- 
 nishes a steamer and marines) it was absolutely necessary to make use 
 of the military. 
 
 10. Shortly after this Lord Macdonald visited {he l!raes, and in con- 
 sequence the Lord Advocate directed me to suspend the requisition for 
 the military; and on 12th October, I intimated this order to Colonel 
 Preston. 
 
 11. On 1 7th October, the Lord Advocate wrote me that the Braes 
 arrangement was at an end ; that the position of matters had altered since 
 the requisition for the military was made ; and that, in his lordship's 
 opinion, a further attempt should be made to ascertain, by the test of 
 experience, whether a military force was absolutely essential. 
 
 12. That further attempt was made on 23rd October and failed. A 
 full report of the expedition was afterwards communicated to the Lord 
 Advocate. 
 
 13. Considerable misapprehension exists in regard to this expedition. 
 The Lord Advocate was of opinion that, from what passed during the 
 negotiations between Lord Macdonald and his crofters, the latter had 
 indicated a more peaceable frame of mind, and that there was no ground 
 for assuming that they would forcibly resist a well-conducted service. 
 The Police Sub-committee and I entertained doubts as to the propriety 
 of sending such a small force of police to the Braes, as in the present 
 excited state of the people they might suffer severe injury. These doubts 
 were intimated to the Lord Advocate and Home Secretary, but at the 
 same time, in deference to the views of the former, the expedition was 
 carried out. In giving their consent to this expedition, the Sub-com- 
 mittee stated that they ' were decidedly of opinion that if the messenger 
 should be deforced on this occasion it will be absolutely necessary that 
 a military or naval force should immediately thereafter be sent with the 
 messenger to insure service and the vindication of the law. The com-
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. Ill 
 
 mittee were strongly of opinion that a gun-boat and naval force would 
 be preferable, and that the boat should remain for some time in the 
 district. 
 
 Sheriff Ivory here relates, in paragraphs 14, 15, and 16, the resolution 
 of the Police Committee to apply to counties and burghs in Scotland 
 for a special police force, and to permanently increase the force of the 
 county by 50 men (see excerpt from their minute already given). He 
 proceeds 
 
 17. These resolutions on the part of the Police Committee are in my 
 opinion highly creditable to them, and I sincerely trust that they will be 
 unanimously approved of and adopted by the Commissioners of Supply. 
 For, while the latter have no doubt great reason to complain of the 
 great delay that has already occurred in consequence of the manner in 
 which the Government has acted, and of the delay that in all probability 
 must still take place, if the Government adhere to their resolution to 
 refuse military aid, and while I think the Commissioners ought to pro- 
 test against the present attempt of the Government to throw on the 
 county authorities tTie whole responsibility of serving writs, apprehend- 
 ing offenders, executing the law, and preserving the peace of the 
 county, without naval or military aid, in the present disturbed state of 
 Skye, and to disclaim all responsibility for the consequences, should 
 serious bloodshed or loss of life ensue I am of opinion that the con- 
 duct of the Government in the matter renders it all the more necessary 
 for the county authorities to do their utmost in the meantime to preserve 
 the peace, and vindicate the authority of the law in Skye. 
 
 1 8. For my own part I regret exceedingly the delay that has already 
 occurred, and that will in all probability still occur, before the law is 
 duly vindicated in Skye. Such delay will be most prejudicial, in my 
 opinion, to the best interests of the island. Had I foreseen the course 
 which matters have unfortunately taken, I should at once have recom- 
 mended the county authorities when application was made to them for 
 a sufficient force to serve the writs to do then what they propose to do 
 now viz., to apply to Glasgow and other police authorities for a larger 
 force of police to ensure the due service of the writs. But this course 
 appeared to me objectionable in many respects. In particular, nothing 
 gave such great offence to the crofters and their friends as the sending 
 on the last occasion a large force of strange police to Skye, and I am 
 credibly informed, and believe that if such a force was sent again, a 
 serious riot, and probably bloodshed would ensue. Further, it ap- 
 peared to me far from a judicious course to apply to Glasgow and othe r 
 burgh and county authorities for police, thereby necessitating innumer-
 
 112 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 able discussions regarding the rights of crofters before the Police Com- 
 mittees of Scotland, while at the same time it was very doubtful 
 whether these authorities could or would supply the necessary force. 
 On the other hand, I was assured by many persons who were much 
 interested in Skye, and who knew the people well, that if a force was 
 sent by Government whether naval or marine the people would see 
 that the Government were determined to vindicate the law in Skye 
 that in that case in all probability no resistance would be offered, and 
 the writs would not only be served in peace and quietness, but in all 
 likelihood the people would in future refrain from trespassing on ground 
 to which they had no right or committing breaches of interdict, or 
 otherwise setting the law at defiance. On these grounds when I failed 
 to get the use of a Government steamer and marines, I willingly ac- 
 cepted the other alternative of making a requisition for military aid. 
 It must be kept in view, however, that the suggestion for military aid 
 came neither from the county authorities nor from myself. It was 
 originally insisted on by the Procurator-Fiscal of Skye (acting as the 
 hand of the Lord Advocate in the matter) as necessary to enable him 
 to fulfil the order of the Crown Counsel to serve the writs at Braes ; it 
 was afterwards adopted by the Lord Advocate, after long and anxious 
 consultation with the parties on whose judgment his lordship thought 
 proper to rely as the best course to be followed in all the circumstances; 
 and while the formal requisition was made as it could only formally 
 be made by me as Sheriff of the county in point of fact the requisi- 
 tion for military aid, which has now after two months' delay been 
 refused by her Majesty's Government, was truly made at the request, 
 and for the purpose of carrying out the views of the Lord Advocate, 
 who at the time represented her Majesty's Government in Scotland. 
 
 (Signed) W. IVORY. 
 
 The following excerpt from the Minutes of the Police 
 Committee Meeting, held on the i8th of September was 
 also read : 
 
 The Committee, having reference to the Procurator-Fiscal's letter, as 
 to the nature and extent of the force necessary to be employed, and to 
 the reports made to them at the time of the previous disturbances at the 
 Braes, were of opinion that no force of police at their disposal will be 
 adequate to the duty the county authorities are now called upon to per- 
 form, and that with the view not only of securing the service of the 
 writs, and the apprehension of the accused parties, but of duly impressing
 
 THE AUTUMN CAMPAIGN. 113 
 
 the people of Skye with the resolution of the authorities to maintain the 
 law, a military or naval force should accompany the authorities in their 
 endeavour to enforce the law, to be employed as a protection and aid to 
 the civil officers, in the event of their being overpowered ; and the 
 Sheriff was requested to make requisition to that effect in the proper 
 quarter. 
 
 It was agreed that the county police force should be placed at the 
 Sheriff's disposal, but they do not think it advisable again to apply for 
 police from Glasgow. Especially, seeing that a strong feeling of irrita- 
 tion was excited in Skye against them on the former occasion, the moral 
 effect would be less than were the military employed, and also because 
 difficulties may be anticipated with the Glasgow Town Council in pro- 
 curing the necessary force. 
 
 After considerable discussion and some opposition, it was 
 resolved to increase the police force of the county from 44 
 to 94 men ; at an estimated cost of over ^3000 per annum. 
 It was also agreed 
 
 To make a strenuous effort to execute the Court's warrants, and with 
 that view they resolve that the police authorities of Scotland be immedi- 
 ately communicated with, asking them to furnish the largest number of 
 constables they can possibly spare on a given date, and to place this 
 force at the disposal of the executive of the county. 
 
 The police authorities of Scotland had been applied to, and 
 the response was of so discouraging a character that the 
 proposed police force has not yet been sent to Skye, and 
 it is most unlikely that it ever shall be. A few counties 
 agreed to send small detachments, which resolution some 
 of them afterwards rescinded. All the burghs point blank 
 refused to send any. This indicated an ominous state of 
 adverse feeling throughout the country regarding the proposed 
 action of the Inverness County Authorities, and they became 
 paralyzed in consequence. The Commissioners of Police 
 for the Burgh of Inverness, on the motion of the present 
 writer, refused the application of the County Authorities 
 (on the evening of the day on which the Commissioners of 
 Supply resolved to ask for it), by a majority of 14 to 5, the 
 
 8
 
 114 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 minority, it has been pointed out, consisting of three factors 
 Culloden's, Sir Alexander Mathieson's, and Flichity's, with 
 Lord Lovat's Law Agent, and the local architect of Mackin- 
 tosh and Sir John Ramsden. 
 
 What was to be done next ? Neither military nor police 
 could be had to serve Lord Macdonald's writs ; the county 
 authorities were virtually powerless, and various efforts were 
 made to secure a settlement. They had in fact to fall back 
 on the friends of the crofters, one of whom, a gentleman in 
 Skye, was communicated with by his Lordship's agents, urging 
 him to use his good offices to get the crofters to let his Lord- 
 ship drop easy, by getting proposals of settlement to emanate 
 from them. The result was a visit by the factor, Mr. 
 Alexander Macdonald, to the Braes, on the 2 7th of Novem- 
 ber last; a long conference with the tenants, and a final 
 settlement, the people agreeing to pay a rent of ^74 153. a 
 year for the now celebrated Benlee, for which the late tenant, 
 Mr. John Mackay, had been paying ^128 per annum, and 
 he, who was joint-petitioner with Lord Macdonald, in the 
 Note of Suspension and Interdict, in the Court of Session, 
 having given his consent, the case was withdrawn in 
 the month of December, and peace, which, with a little 
 prudence, and the exercise of the smallest modicum of 
 common-sense, need never to have been broken, now reigns 
 supreme in the Braes. 
 
 It should be mentioned that the Braes crofters told their 
 friends from the beginning that, although they considered 
 themselves entitled to Benlee without any rent, still they 
 were willing to pay a fair sum for it, if Lord Macdonald 
 or his factor would only listen to their grievances or con- 
 descend to discuss with them, with the view of arriving at 
 any reasonable compromise, such as that which has now been 
 agreed upon, apparently to the satisfaction of all concerned
 
 GLENDALE CROFTERS IN COURT. 115 
 
 THE GLENDALE CROFTERS AND THE 
 COURT OF SESSION. 
 
 IT appears that the Glendale crofters have permitted their 
 stock to remain on the farm of Waterstein, notwithstanding 
 an interdict procured against them, in absence, in the Court 
 of Session, and they are now further charged with an assault 
 on one of the shepherds. Unlike the Braes tenants, they 
 were apparently not only quite willing to receive any number 
 of writs, but they were at the same time most courteous to 
 the officers of the law, who have had occasion to visit them 
 repeatedly in the performance of their official duties. On 
 the last occasion they, with the greatest consideration, ferried 
 Mr. MacTavish, the sheriff officer, across the loch from one 
 district to another with the unserved portion of the writs, 
 for those on the opposite side, in his possession. 
 
 The following report of what took place in the Court of 
 Session will explain how the matter stood with them in 
 January 
 
 PETITION AND COMPLAINT. MACLEOD'S TRUSTEES v. MAC- 
 KINNON AND OTHERS, GLENDALE CROFTERS. 
 
 This petition and complaint was presented by the Trustees 
 of the late Sir John Macpherson MacLeod, of Duirinish, 
 K. C.S.I., and the petitioners complained of various breaches 
 of interdict against five of the crofters on the estate of 
 Duirinish and Glendale, in the island of Skye, which estate 
 is in the hands of the petitioners as trustees. The case 
 was before the Court on the nth of January, when 
 
 Mr. Murray, for the petitioners, appeared and said In 
 this case no answers have been lodged, and I have to ask 
 your lordships to pronounce an order ordaining the respon-
 
 Il6 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 dents to appear at the bar. In the special circumstances of 
 this case I shall ask your lordships to allow us to send the 
 order by registered letter. 
 
 The Lord-President What is the order you ask for ? 
 
 Mr. Murray The order I ask for is to ordain the respon- 
 dents to appear at the bar. 
 
 Lord Mure How many respondents are there ? 
 
 Mr. Murray There are five of them. 
 
 The Lord-President Have you any precedent for that 
 mode of sending an order, Mr. Murray ? 
 
 Mr. Murray No, my lord : there is no authority. I think 
 the matter is entirely in your lordships' hands. The matter 
 is not regulated by any express enactment. The Act of 
 Sederunt that deals with it is 28, which simply says that the 
 procedure shall be, so far as possible, the same as the 
 procedure in a petition and complaint against the freeholders. 
 Your lordships see that this is really simply intimating an 
 order of Court, and one great reason for this, without 
 directing your attention to any other special circumstances, 
 is the very large expense that is incurred by service in such 
 a remote part. The service in this case practically costs 
 ^40. Now, there have already been three services. There 
 was first the original service of interdict; and then there 
 was the service of interim interdict ; and then, lastly, there 
 was the service of the petition and complaint. 
 
 The Lord-President Is there any messenger-at-arms ? 
 
 Mr. Murray There is nobody nearer than Glasgow or 
 Inverness. 
 
 Lord Mure What do you say the expense was? 
 
 Mr. Murray ^40 on each occasion. ^30 of fee, and 
 ;io of expenses. 
 
 The Lord-President Is there a Sheriff Court officer in 
 Skye?
 
 GLENDALE CROFTERS IN COURT. 1 17 
 
 Lord Mure There is a Sheriff-Substitute at Skye if there 
 is not a sheriff officer. 
 
 After a consultation the Lord-President stated that their 
 lordships would dispose of the matter in the course of the 
 day. 
 
 When the case again came up in the afternoon, the Lord- 
 President said their lordships did not see their way to grant 
 the request to serve the order by registered letter, and they 
 would just have to serve it in the ordinary way. They would 
 make an order for the respondents to appear personally at 
 the bar, but he thought probably they had better make it so 
 many days after service. He supposed it was a matter of no 
 consequence whether they authorised it to be done by a 
 sheriff officer rather than a messenger-at-arms. 
 
 Mr. Murray said it would be better if they had the option 
 of employing either the one or the other. He would not 
 like to be tied down to a sheriff officer. 
 
 The Court, therefore, in respect of no answer and no 
 appearance for the respondents, made an order for them to 
 appear personally at the bar on the ist day of February next, 
 provided this order was served on them ten days before that 
 date, and authorised either a sheriff officer or messenger-at- 
 arms to serve the order. 
 
 The Sheriff-Officer, in due course, proceeded to Skye, to 
 serve the Order of the Court, but on arriving in Glendale 
 he was met by a large crowd of men, women, and children, 
 who refused to receive the writs. 
 
 The officer is alleged to have been roughly handled by 
 the crowd on his way back, and next day a body of about 
 2000 people followed him all the way to Dunvegan, a dis- 
 tance of 10 miles, to compel him to leave the district. 
 Learning that he had already left for Portree, the people 
 soon dispersed and returned peaceably to their homes.
 
 Il8 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 GUNBOAT IN GLENDALE WITH GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL. 
 
 The county authorities knew that it was utterly useless to 
 attempt the apprehension of any of those charged with 
 Breach of Interdict by the Police force at their disposal, 
 and they applied to Government for a gunboat or a mi- 
 litary force. Several meetings were held and resolutions 
 passed, by associations throughout the country, deprecating 
 the use of the military until all other means were exhausted, 
 as there was still hope that Sir John MacLeod's trustees 
 would reconsider the position they had taken up. The 
 result was that at 9 P.M. on Monday, 5th of February, a 
 gun-boat, the Jackal, left her moorings at Rothesay, and 
 arrived, after a rough passage and consequent delay, in the 
 North of Skye. She had neither military nor police force 
 on board. On Friday the 9th, she anchored in Poltiel bay, 
 opposite Glendale, and sent an officer ashore, who was met 
 by some of the crofters, and courteously received. It was 
 arranged that the people should meet Mr. Malcolm Mac- 
 Neill of the Board of Supervision, and Captain Macdonald 
 of Waternish, in the Free Church, at two o'clock the same 
 afternoon. The horns were sounded, and between 600 and 
 700 persons attended the meeting, when the two gentlemen 
 named were introduced by the Rev. John MacRae. Captain 
 Macdonald addressed the people in Gaelic, and explained 
 to them the object of Mr. MacNeuTs visit, which was of a 
 peaceable nature, after which the latter read the following 
 statement to the people, translated into Gaelic, by the Rev. 
 Mr. MacRae : 
 
 Inhabitants of Glendale, I have come here to speak to you one last 
 word on behalf of the Government. It may be that you are not aware 
 how serious is the offence which you have committed in deforcing and 
 maltreating an officer carrying out the orders of the Supreme Court. If
 
 GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL IN GLENDALE. 119 
 
 so, it is my duty to tell you that it is an offence which will neither be 
 forgotten nor forgiven till four offenders viz., John Macpherson, Mal- 
 colm Matheson, Donald Macleod, and John Morrison have surrendered 
 themselves to receive the punishment they deserve. But whatever may 
 have been your mistake on this point, every one of you is aware that to 
 seize grazings belonging to another, to drive off his stock and servants 
 without any legal authority whatever, is a gross breach of the law, even 
 if you have a moral right to these grazings, a fact which must be clearly 
 proved before it is admitted. Then, again, nothing can excuse^or- 
 ganised assemblages for the express purpose of intimidation, if not of 
 violence. 
 
 Having now shortly described to you what are your offences, I have 
 further to inform you that the Government are resolved to enforce law 
 and order in Skye at whatever cost. No one need fear that injustice 
 will be done him ; but you seem to forget that justice, while she carries 
 a balance in one hand, carries a sword in the other, and that however 
 important may be her duties in removing grievances, those in punishing 
 offenders are still more important. 
 
 Some who call themselves your friends may tell you that you have 
 only to resist to gain what you desire. It is my duty to warn you 
 against such evil counsel. Your resistance to the law, and your| riotous 
 proceedings, are turning against you those who most earnestly desire to 
 see your just claims satisfied. They begin to fear that your claims may 
 turn out to be as bad as your behaviour has been. 
 
 You will, perhaps, allow me to give you a word of advice. Let the 
 men named, viz., John Macpherson, Malcolm Matheson, Donald Mac- 
 leod, and John Morrison surrender themselves on board the Jackal. 
 Let the stock be instantly removed in my presence from Waterstem. 
 Let an intimation, signed for you by your elders, be sent to the tenant, 
 promising security for his stock and servants. I shall now leave you to 
 discuss this matter among yourselves, and I shall be here again to re- 
 ceive your answer on the loth, at ten o'clock. Meanwhile I should 
 like to visit you in your houses, and to hear from your own mouth what 
 are the grievances of which you complain. I trust you may arrive at a 
 reasonable decision. If you persevere in your present attitude, though 
 I shall regret what may befall you, I shall be obliged to admit that you 
 have none to blame but yourselves. 
 
 The discussion which took place at the meeting was con- 
 ducted by the crofters with remarkable ability, and the facts 
 brought out fully corroborated the grievances already
 
 120 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 enumerated in these pages, and many others besides. The 
 people were told that if they surrendered and went to 
 Edinburgh all their grievances would be listened to and 
 fully enquired into, promises which, as the sequel proved, 
 and as those who made them should have known, turned out 
 completely false ; for the only matter of which any discussion 
 was allowed in Court, was the narrow and technical question 
 as to whether the accused were guilty or not of a Breach of 
 the Court of Session Interdict. The following conversation 
 which passed at the meeting will be found interesting in 
 many respects : 
 
 John Macpherson, said, in reply to statements made, that none of 
 the people ever put cattle or sheep on Waterstein. The place was not 
 fenced in, and it was perfectly impossible for the crofters to prevent 
 their . cattle from straying there. He then related how that eighteen 
 years ago Tormore gave grazings for 150 sheep belonging to other ten- 
 ants than those of Glendale ; how, when the Milovaig people were away 
 at the fishing, the shepherds put these sheep on their (the Milovaig 
 tenants') land ; how they were never taken off ; and how, since they 
 were deprived of grazing for 150 sheep for eighteen years, they were 
 entitled to get something in return. They complained to Tormore of 
 the giving of their grazing to other townships, but got no redress. 
 They told the shepherds to take away these sheep to their own lands, 
 but the shepherds, acting under Tormore's orders, would not. 
 
 Captain Macdonald, of Waternish, said, if he (Macpherson) would go 
 to Edinburgh, all this would be heard ; they would be allowed to pro- 
 duce witnesses. 
 
 John Macpherson said the Milovaig tenants had been there for 37 
 years. When Tormore took Waterstein a year or so ago, he came there 
 as a new tenant. Now, before Tormore, then factor, took Water- 
 stein to himself, the crofters offered to take it at the old rent. They 
 would not get it although they had been 37 years in the place. When 
 Waterstein was out, was it not as fair for the crofters, so long there, to 
 get it at the full rent, as it was for Tormore, the factor, to take it ? 
 W r ould the Government support them, and send witnesses after them to 
 Edinburgh to prove this ? 
 
 Captain Macdonald said that any witnesses that would be cited by the 
 Government would be paid. He had heard that Tormore offered to put
 
 GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL IN GLENDALE. 121 
 
 up a march between his farm and the crofters' townships, but that the 
 crofters would not allow him. 
 
 John Macpherson said that was not correct. He had been 37 years 
 in Milovaig, and he and the other crofters thought that no fence ought 
 to have been put up without their having been consulted ; the factor's 
 fence was to have taken a straight line, and this would have taken some 
 of the crofters' land away. 
 
 Peter Mackinnon, a crofter, and keeper of the Post-office at Glendale, 
 repudiated the charge of lawlessness made against them, and pointed to 
 his own services in the Crimea, particularly at the siege of Sebastopol, 
 in proof of his desire to respect order. He had medals of good conduct 
 at home. He had been in Glendale for the last twenty years. He used 
 at one time to buy the fish from the fishermen, but Tormore, when he 
 came, would not allow him to do so ; and by that act of tyranny, he had 
 lost 100. He charged the factor's servants with having with their 
 dogs driven his cow against a fence. The cow died, and he lost 12. 
 He got no compensation for that. The Glendale people were never 
 allowed to go to law, by the tyranny of the factor. Tormore was the 
 Sheriff in this place. When he (Mackinnon) went to Tormore, and 
 bitterly complained of his conduct in preventing the fishermen from 
 selling their fish to him, and in taking the fish himself, Tormore's 
 answer was, " You are reading too many newspapers, and you don't 
 deserve to get justice ". During the time of his factorship Tormore 
 never allowed any case in dispute to go before the Sheriff at Portree, but 
 he decided them in his own way. The people would be evicted if they 
 went against his decision. What the people now wanted to do was to 
 break this tyranny of factors and proprietors, and not to break the law. 
 For 20 years there had been no law in Glendale, but the law of the 
 factor. Mackinnon denied that the people deforced Mactavish, till 
 Mactavish lifted a stick ; and then a half-witted lad threw a pail of 
 water about his ears. The present factor was as bad as the other. 
 Solomon, that was Tormore, beat them with swords ; but Rehoboam, 
 that was Greshornish, tormented them with scorpions. 
 
 Captain Macdonald said the proprietors might be wrong, and the 
 crofters might be right ; but when, in going against the proprietors, the 
 people maltreated policemen and officers of the law, they were grossly 
 breaking the foundations of all good society. 
 
 Peter Mackinnon replied that they had heard it said that " Britons 
 never shall be slaves ". 
 
 Captain Macdonald said the Glendale people would not be slaves ; 
 they would get justice.
 
 122 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 Peter Mackinnon said they had been slaves, and it was a fine thing 
 to see the Union Jack of Great Britain coming in there to take them 
 away. The Union Jack should do away with slavery. The Glendale 
 people had been slaves since ever he was born. 
 
 Captain Macdonald said it was to put this right that he came to give 
 them advice. 
 
 Peter Mackinnon defied any one to say he ever broke the law. At 
 last election Tormore said to him If you go against me with Lochiel 
 "if you go against me" you will cause all the proprietors in Skye to 
 go against you. 
 
 Mackinnon, continuing, said the sun and the moon would change their 
 courses before the conditions asked would be given. He was, of course, 
 only speaking for himself. He referred to requirements two and three 
 only. It was impossible, he added, to keep stock off ground that was 
 not fenced, especially at this time of the year. It would cost 20 a- 
 year to keep a herd for the purpose, and how could he, with a single 
 cow, pay that money ? Such conditions were entirely out of all question. 
 He declared that no one could fulfil them. Why would not the pro- 
 prietor or tenant fence Waterstein ? Surely every one who had a pro- 
 perty was bound to defend it. Were the crofters to guarantee that their 
 stock was not to wander on the proprietor's land ; would the proprietors 
 guarantee that the factor's stock should not wander on the crofters' 
 land ? That was only fair, because the proprietor put up no fences. 
 The four townships of Bracadale had been crowded down upon those 
 living in Glendale evicted from Bracadale. It was utterly impossible 
 for them to exist under present circumstances. The proprietors had 
 dealt with them in a bloodthirsty way. Tormore promised them Water- 
 stein, but would not give it them although they offered the same rent 
 as was paid by the former tenant. 
 
 John Macpherson said Tormore was giving grazings for 150 sheep for 
 1 8 years. There were 150 sheep on the Milovaig pasture all that time. 
 They now wanted the factor to pay the crofters for the grazing of their 
 sheep for the last 18 years. 
 
 A crofter (excitedly) said although they took all the men away from 
 Milovaig to Edinburgh, it would not stop this agitation. (Applause). 
 They might be imprisoned, but the agitation would not be put down. 
 They must get more land before the agitation would stop. 
 
 Captain Macdonald You are young men, and I am an old man. 
 If you take my advice you will give yourselves up. 
 
 A crofter asked who was to support their families while they were 
 away?
 
 THREE CROFTERS SURRENDER. 123 
 
 Captain Macdonald replied that Campbell, the inspector of poor, was 
 there to look after them ! 
 
 A crofter asked who is to pay for the witnesses ? 
 
 Captain Macdonald said the country would guarantee that they would 
 be paid. 
 
 A Crofter Guarantee will not do, but the money. (Laughter.) 
 
 Captain Macdonald I have little doubt you will get the money. 
 
 We are not aware that any of the promises above made 
 as to the maintenance of the families of the men, or pro- 
 viding money to pay for their witnesses, have been imple- 
 mented. 
 
 THREE OF THE CROFTERS AGREE TO SURRENDER AND 
 GO TO EDINBURGH. 
 
 At a meeting held immediately after the deputation from 
 theybrr&z/had left, the people decided that the three men, 
 John Macpherson, John Morrison, and Donald MacLeod, 
 should proceeed to Edinburgh by the Dunara Castle, but 
 not by the government gunboat, for they would not have 
 it said of them by future generations of their country- 
 men, " that Glendale men had to be taken away from 
 their homes in a man-of-war". Peter MacLean, Merchant, 
 Dunvegan, strongly urged them to this course, telling them 
 that " There was no doubt an arrangement would be made 
 for the support of their families while they were away. A 
 committee would be formed to gather subscriptions every- 
 where for their support, and they had Captain Macdonald's 
 guarantee that witnesses for their defence would be sent to 
 Edinburgh." We are curious to know, for certain, how far 
 these promises have been kept, as our information at pre- 
 sent is by no means of a satisfactory character, and scarcely 
 creditable to those who made them. 
 
 On the following Monday, the three crofters went aboard 
 the Dunara Castle, after bidding farewell to their families
 
 124 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 and friends, many of whom were steeped in tears. The 
 special correspondent of the Inverness Courier, who was 
 present, informs us that "John Macpherson, who is a 
 man of striking appearance, bold and manly bearing, great 
 intelligence, and considerable mental power, had a word of 
 comfort and re-assurance for all. ' If I was going,' he said 
 to them in Gaelic, ' to jail for a sheep or for a lamb, you 
 might be very sorry. But, as it is, you ought to be very 
 glad. For we go to uphold a good cause ; we go to defend 
 the widow and the fatherless, and the comfort and needs of 
 our hearths and homes.' This he told to his wife and 
 family, and, with these characteristic words, delivered with 
 the eloquence for which he is distinguished among his 
 fellows, he reassured the people who gathered here and 
 there on the roadside between Milovaig and Colbost." 
 
 On the following Wednesday, the men arrived in Glasgow, 
 and called on some of their friends, who provided for them 
 in a comfortable hotel. Immediately afterwards, a letter 
 was sent the Prosecuting Agents in Edinburgh, that the 
 three men would appear before the Court of Session as 
 soon as a diet could be fixed. The reply to this letter was 
 the unexpected appearance of a messenger-at-arms and his 
 officers at their hotel, before six o'clock in the morning on the 
 following Friday, who at once gained admittance 'to their 
 bedrooms, arrested them, and hurried them off by train to 
 Edinburgh, without even allowing them to partake of break- 
 fast, which had been ordered the night before. They were, 
 on their arrival, taken to the Calton Prison, but the governor 
 refused to admit them on the warrant produced, when they 
 were removed to the Ship Hotel, and there provided for 
 under the charge of Mr. MacTavish, the Messenger-at-arms 
 who arrested them. 
 
 Their case was taken up by Mr. Robert Emslie, S.S.C.,
 
 THE TRIAL. 125 
 
 Edinburgh, and Mr. Dugald Maclachlan, Writer, Glasgow, 
 who secured the services of Mr. Dugald Mackechnie and 
 Mr. Burnet, Advocates, for the defence. 
 
 BEFORE THE COURT OF SESSION. 
 
 On Tuesday, aoth of February, the three men appeared 
 before the Court of Session, when Mr. J. P. P. Robertson, 
 for the Trustees, moved for sentence for Contempt of Court 
 and Breach of Interdict. Mr. Mackechnie asked that they 
 should be allowed to lodge answers at that stage, offering to 
 find caution for their appearance for any amount the Court 
 might fix. The application was granted, bail being fixed at 
 ;ioo each. The cautioners were at once forthcoming. 
 Major Neil MacLeod, Eskbank, late of the Royal Artillery, 
 the Rev. J. Mackinnon, Edinburgh, and Mr. Samuel Mac- 
 laren, Merchant, Leith, entered into the necessary bonds. 
 The Answers were ordered to be lodged within forty-eight 
 hours. This was done on the 23rd, giving a general denial 
 to all the charges made against the men. The following 
 extract although no evidence was permitted to be led in 
 court regarding it will show how these poor people have 
 been driven to extremes : 
 
 For many years previous to the year 1845 these lands were occupied 
 by eight tenants on each of the Milovaigs, and one tenant on Borodale. 
 They paid a rental of about 7 each per annum for their crofts, and 
 with the aid of fishing they were able to live. Each family then pos- 
 sessed five cows, twenty sheep, and a horse. In or about that year, 
 however, the then proprietor of the said lands subdivided the Milovaigs, 
 into sixteen crofts or lots each, in order to provide for a number of 
 tenants whom he had removed from the neighbouring farms of Bracadale 
 and Minginish. The position of the crofters was very much deteriorated 
 by this subdivision, and still more so when, some three or four years 
 ago, the number of crofters on each of the Milovaig farms was increased 
 to twenty on each, and to four in Borodale, in order to find room for 
 tenants removed from other holdings on petitioners' lands. No addi-
 
 126 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 tional land was allotted to the crofters, who now, with their families, 
 number nearly 400, instead of less than 100 ; and the crofts or lots left 
 to them are far from sufficient for their subsistence. 
 
 After hearing counsel, their Lordships ordered the case 
 to be set down for trial at ten o'clock on the pth of March, 
 the evidence to be taken before Lord Shand. 
 
 Meanwhile Mr. Emslie, and Mr. MacLachlan, with John 
 Macpherson, proceeded to Glendale, to precognose wit- 
 nesses on behalf of the accused. This completed, 
 
 THE TRIAL 
 
 Took place as arranged, before Lord Shand on the 9th 
 of March, Mr. J. P. P. Robertson, and Mr. Graham Murray 
 conducting the case on behalf of the Trustees, and Mr. 
 John H. Macdonald, Q.C., Dean of Faculty, Mr. Dugald 
 Mackechnie, and Mr. D. Burnet, appearing for the crofters, 
 Mr. Donald Mackinnon, M.A., Professor of Celtic Languages 
 in the University of Edinburgh, acted as interpreter. The 
 evidence was strictly confined to the question of Breach of 
 Interdict. The general question of the crofters' grievances, 
 and of how they had been driven to extremes, was sternly 
 excluded from consideration. Mr. Donald Macdonald, 
 Tormore, late factor, distinctly admitted, however, in cross- 
 examination, that the people "did not propose to get Water- 
 stein for nothing," but were willing to pay for it a rent, " to 
 be matter of adjustment like any other rent ". He also 
 admitted that there were other grounds for the crofters' com- 
 plaints about the Borodale sheep grazing on Milovaig; that 
 100 was the proper summing, although the tenants were 
 allowed by him to have on it at least double that number, and 
 that these sheep were driven by the Waterstein shepherds on 
 to the Milovaig grazings. " That complaint," he admitted, 
 " may be quite true." The Waterstein shepherd also ad-
 
 THE TRIAL. 127 
 
 mitted having driven the Borodale sheep from Waterstein 
 on to the crofters' grazings at Milovaig, but still he was on 
 friendly terms with the people. The crofters naturally 
 resented these proceedings of driving strange sheep to eat 
 up the grazing which was already so circumscribed that 
 their own sheep and cattle were half-starving upon it, and 
 they drove back the sheep upon Waterstein, thinking such 
 a proceeding perfectly fair ; and what they considered fair, 
 they thought, in their innocence, must be also perfectly 
 legal. They soon discovered their error, when they came in 
 contact with the Court of Session, acting as judge and jury 
 in their own case. The evidence taken before Lord Shand 
 having been printed, the Judges of the First Division the 
 Lord Justice-General, Lords Deas, Mure, and Shand, met on 
 the 1 5th of March, and heard counsel in the case. Mr. 
 Robertson for the MacLeod Trustees, ably summed up the 
 evidence for his clients, and moved for sentence. 
 
 The Dean of Faculty, in a masterly speech, went over the 
 whole case for the respondents. He said that : 
 
 The first witness called for the petitioners was a man who knew the 
 ground intimately John MacDiarmid and he told them that the mar- 
 ches between Milovaig and Waterstein farm were regularly repaired 
 except last year he (the Dean) presumed by the proprietor so that, as 
 far as the petitioners were concerned, they came forward for the purpose 
 of endeavouring to make out that the respondents had suffered sheep to 
 stray and pasture upon their lands ; while the first thing that was learned 
 about what was done by the petitioners was that, for the first time for 
 many years, nothing was done by the petitioners to put their own fences 
 in proper order. That being so, the next fact to which he wished to 
 call attention was that upon the other side of Milovaig from Waterstein, 
 the factor of these trustees had, upon his own showing, allowed the four 
 crofters of Borodale to have a stock of sheep which he himself admitted 
 the township could not possibly carry that about 100 sheep could be 
 carried by the township, and that last summer, with his consent, the 
 four crofters had 200 sheep upon Borodale. These sheep being too 
 many for Borodale, the Borodale crofters went to Tormore, and asked
 
 128 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 him what was to be done. By a direct arrangement, or by a tacit 
 arrangement, or by a misunderstanding, the whole of these 200 sheep, 
 with the exception of one, which he supposed was sick (a laugh) 
 were driven down through Waterstein to Ramasaig, past the end of 
 Milovaig township. These sheep, as sheep did working their way 
 towards their own pastures, naturally went through Waterstein and 
 through the Milovaig land. His case was that not only did they do so 
 naturally, in consequence of what Tormore allowed, but that in point of 
 fact the people upon Waterstein knew that they did so, and that, know- 
 ingly, they drove the sheep on to Milovaig. The respondents maintained 
 that a great deal of the excitement and anger of the Milovaig crofters was 
 caused by this indiscriminate thrusting over their march of sheep which 
 belonged to Borodale, and could not admittedly be pastured on Boro- 
 dale. There had been no attempt made by the servants at Waterstein 
 to discriminate between Milovaig and Borodale stock. They only 
 knew that strayed sheep were upon the ground ; and in particular, 
 nothing was done to find out whether any of the sheep of the three res- 
 pondents were upon Waterstein. That surely, when these three men 
 had been specially picked out, should have been done. It appeared 
 from the evidence of Macdonald that the shepherds had a general in- 
 struction to drive all sheep straying upon Waterstein on to Milovaig. 
 But not the slightest attempt was made here to identify any sheep. 
 Even Robertson, the factor, merely said, ' ' I knew they were strange 
 stock, but I did not know to whom they belonged". Surely this was a 
 case, when it was proposed to punish people for an alleged offence, where 
 the sheep should have been impounded and the marks examined. It was 
 clear from Robertson's testimony that he knew that the Borodale ten- 
 ants had an overstock of sheep, which could not subsist upon their own 
 ground, and that there had been complaints on the subject ; but as to 
 the conversations which took place at the meetings there was naturally 
 some haziness, as Robertson knew not a word of Gaelic, and the 
 speakers little English. The evidence of the petitioners proved that, for 
 the first time in the history of those townships, the people who were 
 anxious to get an interdict for the purpose of protecting their property 
 did none of the ordinary repairs on the fences as in former years, and 
 that they knew, both by their factor and shepherds, that there was 
 stock trespassing on their land with which the respondents had 
 nothing to do, but which, nevertheless, they pushed back on Milovaig. 
 He ventured to say that one could not very well imagine more unfav- 
 ourable circumstances for the petitioners coming forward to ask that 
 people should be punished for allowing their sheep to be on their land.
 
 THE TRIAL. 1 29 
 
 The evidence given for the respondents was to the same effect. The 
 order of the Court was to prevent the people of Milovaig doing on 
 Waterstein what the Waterstein people were doing on Milovaig ; and, 
 considering all the circumstances, that would necessarily create irritation. 
 There was only general evidence that sheep came upon Waterstein, and 
 were driven back on the Milovaig townships. In this evidence Mac- 
 pherson said that the sheep might have been backwards and for- 
 wards over the marches, and as there were no fences, and 
 as the work had to be done by shepherds, that was a thing which 
 could not have been prevented. In reply to a question by the 
 Court, the Dean of Faculty said that the Milovaig people kept 
 a shepherd, but that they stopped herding the sheep when they found 
 the Borodale stock was continually thrust back upon their land. The 
 second point against them was that they trespassed on the lands of Wa- 
 terstein without any valid excuse. Now, if anyone went on Waterstein 
 for an illegal purpose, that would be trespass ; but if they went to speak 
 to the shepherds on business in a friendly way, the element of trespass 
 would not enter. But he took it that this charge of trespassing would be 
 taken in connection with the last charge, that of molesting the petitioners' 
 servants and threatening them. As to that, he thought he had succeeded 
 in showing their Lordships that the Milovaig people had good ground of 
 complaint against the shepherds for their persistence in doing what was 
 wrong viz., in sending Borodale sheep upon their land. There was 
 no doubt from the evidence that this matter of the Borodale sheep was 
 a substantial grievance. This was a most important element in consider- 
 ing the question whether this action of the Milovaig people in regard to 
 the shepherds was a breach of interdict, because this was interference to 
 prevent a thing which the Court had never contemplated or authorised 
 these petitioners to do. It was clearly an illegal act for the Waterstein 
 shepherds to drive Borodale sheep on to Milovaig. It was a remark- 
 able thing that the quarrel of the crofters was against Macdonald, the 
 under shepherd, and not against MacDiarmid, his chief. That clearly 
 showed that the feeling was due to Macdonald persistently driving these 
 Borodale sheep upon their ground. Even MacDiarmid had a quarrel 
 with Macdonald upon the subject, and had gone the length of calling 
 him a liar, because he had deceived him on that very point. At these 
 meetings which had been spoken to there was no doubt a good deal of 
 excitement and ill-feeling, and things were said by individuals in the 
 crowd which the rest of the people would repudiate ; and certainly noth- 
 ing had been brought home to the respondents, as having said anything 
 or done anything that could be called violent at any of these meetings.
 
 130 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 For the statements in the petition, in so far as they were concerned, 
 there was not the slightest evidence. Indeed, as to Macpherson, the 
 witnesses were not sure whether he was even in the crowd. As to the 
 alleged assault on Macdonald at Ramasaig which was the most serious 
 thing charged Macpherson and Morrison were not at Ramasaig, but 
 remained with Nicolson, the shepherd ; and Macleod, though he went a 
 little further with the crowd than the other two, was not with the crowd 
 when the alleged assault was committed. In conclusion, the Dean said 
 this was about the first time for two generations in which it had been 
 necessary in the case of Highlanders that any interdict should be granted 
 against them. It was a kind of process with which they were not well 
 acquainted. They were not well acquainted with lawyers or with 
 judges ; and their intercourse with the policeman of the district had been 
 of the slightest and most friendly kind. He could not help thinking 
 that when their Lordships considered the whole case, they would come 
 to the conclusion that there was a mixed feeling on the part of these 
 people, greatly caused by this, that while the law was being used 
 against them to produce a state of things which was perfectly legal and 
 right, but which was not usual in these townships, where there was a 
 great deal of freedom, and where they had managed to get on in the 
 same way for generations, a cause of irritation was introduced either by 
 the carelessness or want of reasonable attention to their duties on the 
 part of the petitioners' servants that these people, after being forbidden 
 to send their stock across the march, had from time to time, and in spite 
 of remonstrance, large quantities of stock thrust upon them by the 
 Waterstein servants, who knew well that it did not belong to Milovaig 
 at all. In these circumstances, he submitted, it was not a case in which 
 the Court should find these men guilty of intentional breach of the 
 interdict granted, but that their Lordships should hold that the case 
 had not been made out. 
 
 Lord Shand, in giving judgment, said My Lord, the single question 
 that is raised by the proceedings in this case is whether the respondents 
 have committed a breach of the interdict or order of this Court. That 
 interdict was granted upon the 6th July, 1882, and was duly intimated 
 to the respondents and a number of other crofters in Milovaig, as the 
 original interdict had also been duly intimated to them. The order of 
 the Court was an interdict, as has been pointed out by the complainer's 
 counsel, striking at three different acts on the part of the respondents. 
 The Court interdicted, and prohibited, and discharged the respondents 
 entering or trespassing upon the lands or farm of Waterstein. Again, 
 they were interdicted from pasturing or herding their sheep or cattle on
 
 THE TRIAL. 131 
 
 those lands or any part thereof, and from allowing their sheep, horses, 
 or cattle, to stray thereon, or on part thereon ; and, finally, they were 
 interdicted from obstructing, molesting, or interfering with the com- 
 plainers in the occupation of the lands or farm, or with their tenants, 
 dependants, or servants. I regret to say that I have come to the 
 conclusion, and come to the conclusion without the smallest difficulty, 
 that the respondents have each and all of them been guilty of a 
 violation of the order of the Court. It is necessary that reference be 
 made to some of the observations that have fallen from my friend, the 
 Dean of Faculty, to inquire what was the duty and obligation which the 
 order of this Court laid upon the respondents. Tt has been said that 
 the landlord's fences upon Waterstein ground were not in a sufficient or 
 proper condition. That element does not appear to me to have a 
 material bearing on this question. The order of the Court required, on 
 the part of the respondents, something active to be done. They were 
 required to refrain from trespassing, to take steps to prevent their sheep 
 from going upon these lands, and, again, to refrain from molesting 
 the servants the shepherds of the complainers in the performance of 
 the duty which they owed to their employers ; and it is no answer to the 
 complaint to say that obligation and duty has been neglected because 
 there was a want of fencing on the part of the landlords. It is true, if 
 the respondents had been in a position to say, "We did our best to 
 fulfil the order of the Court, but in consequence of the fences on the 
 landlord's march all our efforts were unavailing, our sheep have strayed 
 to Waterstein," of course there could be no reasonable complaint made 
 against them. But the case that is presented is not one of that kind. 
 The case presented by the complainers is that although that order of 
 the Court was intimated to the respondents, and known to them, they 
 deliberately and wilfully set it at defiance. In regard to the other two 
 branches of this interdict, of the respondents allowing their sheep to go 
 from Milovaig to Waterstein, I think the case is clearly proved as 
 against two of the respondents now at the bar I mean John Macpher- 
 son and John Morrison. There is a second matter to which I have 
 referred, and it is also of a very serious kind. The charge there is, that 
 those respondents, in conjunction with others, were guilty of interfering 
 with and obstructing the complainers' shepherds in the performance of 
 their duty. While, no doubt, that raises a separate and additional point, 
 I must observe that it enters very fully into the first point with which I 
 have already dealt, because, even if it be the fact that there was a want 
 of fencing or a deficiency of fencing, all the more was it necessary, when 
 an interdict of this kind was granted, that the persons complained against
 
 132 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 should refrain from interfering with the shepherds, because the shep- 
 herds alone could serve the purpose of keeping the sheep out because of 
 the defective fencing. Upon this branch of the case I have no difficulty 
 in holding that it has been proved there was a combination and arrange- 
 ment among a body of crofters on Milovaig ground to drive the shepherds 
 away from keeping the march with Waterstein, and, I regret to say, 
 that they succeeded in their purpose. The steps that were taken, as 
 appears in the evidence, upon repeated occasions, were not acts of single 
 individuals ; but I think on at least two occasions, if not more, it is 
 proved that when meetings took place between the crofters and the 
 shepherds, and the factor to whom the crofters addressed themselves, 
 there was generally a body of twenty, thirty, and forty men at a time. 
 The evidence, I think, clearly shows and I really do not mean to go 
 into it in detail that the three of the complainers' shepherds were, in 
 dread of personal violence, compelled to desist from the performance of 
 their duty. I cannot imagine any more distinct or overt act in defiance 
 of the order of the Court than that which I have described in reference 
 to the treatment of those different shepherds. The only question that 
 remains it being clear that these are the facts of the case is whether 
 any possible defence can be set up in reference to those proceedings. 
 It has been said on behalf of the respondents I do not know 
 whether it may represent anything beyond an explanation, or, 
 possibly, a kind of excuse that the complainers were them- 
 selves guilty of wrongful acts from time to time in allowing their 
 shepherds to drive the Borodale sheep down from the Waterstein grazing 
 upon Milovaig. At one part of the Dean of Faculty's address, I thought 
 he almost ventured to put that as a defence of this complaint, but I must 
 say, for my part, 1 cannot see how it possibly could be made a defence. 
 The Court having ordered that the respondents in this case should take 
 measures to prevent their sheep going on this ground, it would be no 
 justification of their disregard of that order that the complainers here 
 were doing something wrongful on their part. I could quite understand, 
 although I certainly could not justify, the Milovaig people saying, if 
 sheep are driven upon them which had no right to be there, they would 
 drive them back again, provided there were no interdict or injunction on 
 either side ; but in a case in which there was a direct order of the Court, 
 which the respondents were bound to obey, it would be no answer that 
 there were any illegal proceedings carried on against them. It was 
 equally open to them to resort to the law for protection. 
 
 After a few further remarks his Lordship concluded My Lords, I do 
 not mean to detain your Lordships further ; I am of opinion, on the
 
 THE MARTYRS IN PRISON. 133 
 
 evidence, that it has been proved that two of the respondents, Macpher- 
 son and Morrison, have been guilty of a breach of interdict, in allowing 
 their sheep to go on to the Waterstein pastures, and that all of the 
 respondents have been guilty of breach of interdict, in respect that they 
 interfered with and obstructed the shepherds of the complainers in the 
 performance of their duty, and that their acts in doing so were, in some 
 instances, accompanied by serious violence ; and I am of opinion that 
 the respondents should receive punishment accordingly. 
 
 Lords Mure and Deas concurred, and the Lord President, 
 after a few remarks passed 
 
 Sentence of Two Months' Imprisonment 
 
 On each of the accused, who were removed from the bar 
 amid the applause of a crowded court. 
 
 THE MARTYRS IN PRISON. 
 
 They were conveyed in a cab to the Gallon Jail, where 
 they were at first treated as common criminals, put in prison 
 garb, two of them, MacLeod and Morrison, having had 
 their hair cropped. Macpherson pleaded that his hair 
 might be left untouched until the following morning, as he 
 expected then to get out. This was agreed to, and, although 
 Macpherson was disappointed regarding any expectations 
 he may have formed as to getting out of prison, he was per- 
 mitted to retain his hair ; for the prison officials discovered 
 before morning, that they had committed a serious error in 
 treating the Glendale " martyrs " as common criminals. 
 The prison regulations provided that for Contempt of Court 
 that of which they had been found guilty they were to 
 be treated in quite a different manner. The officials could 
 not replace the hair so unwarrantably cut off on the pre- 
 vious evening, but to the mens' great satisfaction their own 
 clothes was returned to them next morning. They were 
 told that, according to the regulations, friends would be
 
 134 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 permitted to visit them ; that they might receive food 
 from outside, if they, or their friends, chose to supply 
 and pay for it ; that they could have any books and news- 
 papers supplied to them, at their own expense or at that 
 of their friends ; and that they were to take their exercise 
 separately from the criminals in the prison. Instead of the 
 hard boards, as they had for the first night, to sleep on, they 
 were supplied with excellent beds and bedding ; they were 
 placed together in a large room, and amply provided with 
 fire, and other conveniences ; while the only work of any 
 kind they had to perform, was to scrub out their own room 
 twice a week ; and this the regulations permitted them to 
 get done by others, if they preferred to pay for it. Their 
 food was suppled daily, three times a day, from a neighbour- 
 ing restaurant, by the Edinburgh Highland Land Law Re- 
 form Association, through Mr. Dugald Cowan, Secretary, 
 who also supplied them with books, magazines, and news- 
 papers, and such other little comforts as the prison regula- 
 tions admitted of. 
 
 We paid them a visit in the jail, on the 6th of April, and 
 intimated, among other items of news, that we succeeded 
 in collecting about ^20 among Inverness friends, to aid in 
 their own maintenance in prison, and the support of their 
 families at home, during their incarceration. They expressed 
 themselves extremely grateful for the interest taken by out- 
 siders in their case, and in their families, and desired 
 us to intimate to their friends that they were more com- 
 fortable in prison than they could possibly have expected ; 
 that every official was as considerate as the regulations 
 would allow ; and that they had nothing but good to say of 
 everyone connected with the prison. We found them all 
 in the same room, provided with the best bedding and a 
 good fire. They strongly urged that their friends at home
 
 PROFESSOR BLACKIE'S OPINION. 135 
 
 should not commit any act which would bring odium on those 
 who sympathised with them outside, and that they should 
 keep strictly within the law. John Morrison the eldest of 
 the three had been complaining, but he was fast recover- 
 ing, and the others were in excellent health and spirits. 
 Believing that the circumstance was not accidental, they 
 were much delighted at the enlivenment of their evenings 
 by frequently hearing the bagpipes, in the neighbourhood, 
 playing familiar airs, an arrangement by their Edinburgh 
 friends of a remarkably considerate and delicate nature. 
 The only thing they complained of was that John Mac- 
 pherson, the only one of the three who could write, had 
 been deprived of writing materials. Otherwise, they were 
 as happy and comfortable as people within a prison, de 
 prived of their liberty, could possibly be. But they were 
 much concerned about their families, and afraid that their 
 crofts might suffer from want of the necessary cultiva- 
 tion and attention to the other Spring work, during their 
 imprisonmennt. 
 
 PROFESSOR BLACKIE'S OPINION. 
 
 While the Crofters were in Edinburgh awaiting their trial, 
 Professor Blackie wrote a remarkable letter, about their 
 case, to the Scotsman, who published it, at the same time 
 making a characteristically violent and false attack on the 
 Professor and other friends of the Highland people, in- 
 cluding the present writer, an honour that of being 
 bracketed with Professor Blackie in any good cause 
 which he highly appreciates. The letter is as follows : 
 
 9 DOUGLAS CRESCENT, EDINBURGH, Feb. 27, 1883. 
 
 Sir, As your columns have always been open lo the statement of 
 adverse views, and as your tone lately seems to run somewhat sweep-
 
 136 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 ingly against the opinions entertained by myself and many members of 
 the Liberal party who have most practical acquaintance with the High- 
 lands, I crave the liberty to state our view of the Skye Crofters' case 
 with all succinctness. Our sympathies lie emphatically with the law- 
 breakers in this case, and we are strongly of opinion that the real guilt 
 lies with the law-makers that is, historically, the oligarchs of the soil 
 and the British public, who, after the abolition of the clan system in 
 1 746, made no recognition of the consuetudinary rights of the people in 
 the land, and who, from ignorance or apathy, have allowed laws to 
 remain on the statute-book the direct action of which, when not counter- 
 acted by kindly influences, is to over-ride, overwhelm, and at last ex- 
 terminate the best element of the local population. It is a matter of 
 the smallest consequence, in our view, whether the case for the crofters 
 in the present instance, be legally right or wrong. We know that this 
 Glendale outbreak is a mere symptom of a deeply-seated social disease, 
 for which the land oligarchy and the Land Laws are answerable at the 
 bar of eternal justice. We know, and thousands can rise to testify to 
 it, that there is no tyranny in Europe not even in Asiatic Turkey 
 practically more grinding than the tyranny which, under our present 
 Land Laws, the lord of the soil, with his commissioner, factor, and 
 ground officer, may, in remote Highland districts, exercise over the 
 Highland crofters. With these convictions, we have no hesitation in 
 saying that we regard the Glendale crofters as martyrs rather than 
 criminals not because they are legally in the right, or because it is in 
 any case right to break the law, but because the law is radically wrong, 
 and by its very nature instigates a healthy human conscience to the 
 violation which it condemns. When the law is just, and the devil, so 
 to speak, sits as God's vicegerent on a local throne, it is nothing won- 
 derful that rebellion should break out, and that the rebels should in such 
 cases be not seldom the very select and elect of the land. Such rebels 
 were the Milanese, who revolted against the Austrian rule in Lombardy, 
 and drew out their lives sorrowfully in the dark cells of Moravian 
 prisons. Such rebels were our gallant forefathers the men who fell at 
 Rullion Green, Aird's Moss, and Bothwell Brig, and shed their blood 
 to purchase for us liberty to breathe on our own Scottish soil, and to 
 read our own Bibles without Anglican dictation. Whatever deeds of 
 blood were perpetrated during the whole seven-and-twenty years of 
 Charles II. and his pig-headed successor were done with the sanction of 
 the law ; and on a smaller and less bloody field the extirpation of the 
 noble race of mountain peasantry that inhabited the once populous 
 Highland glens was done with the sanction of law. The law was
 
 PROFESSOR BLACKIES OPINION. 137 
 
 always in, favour of the men who had the power ; never in favour of 
 those whose natural weakness made them an easy prey to the ambition, 
 cupidity, or indifference of their superiors. The law could always be 
 used to enrich the few and to impoverish the many. Laws were made 
 with solemn show and executed with unsparing severity, to preserve 
 the game, but never to preserve the people. This is our view of the 
 matter. Instead, therefore, of hastily blaming these unfortunate people, 
 let us go to the root of the evil, and not, like quack doctors, treat a 
 skin disease with external lotions and superficial appliances, when the 
 only cure lies in reforming the whole habit of social life, and sending a 
 strong current of fresh blood through the veins. Let us unite heart and 
 hand for a radical reform of all landlord-made law ! This is my pro- 
 gramme ; and I am ready to stand by it, though it should rain laws 
 from the statute-book as thick as pike-staves upon the land. Land Law 
 Reform is the only banner under which the Liberal party can hope to 
 gain glorious victories at the present hour ; and if they should fail to see 
 their opportunity, and timidly take counsel from law cunningly confused 
 with right, and from a political economy which confounds well-being 
 with wealth, the Tories may act more wisely. They are not the worst 
 landlords in the Highlands, to my knowledge ; and if God in His Pro- 
 vidence should only send us a second Lord Beaconsfield there is no say- 
 ing what they might be educated to do. I subjoin a more succinct 
 expression of these sentiments in verse : 
 
 THE SKYE CROFTERS. 
 
 A loud voice blames the men who break the law ; 
 I rather blame who made the laws to break, 
 Who pressed the yoke so close upon the neck 
 Of the hard-driven beast, and rubbed the raw, 
 That in a fretful fit it kicked the board 
 And tossed the rider. Blame your want of skill, 
 Blind oligarchs, and your uneven will 
 To maim the peasant and to arm the lord. 
 Woe unto you, the grasping crew who join 
 Wide field to field, and house to house, that you 
 May live sole lords of earth, and rack and screw 
 The poor to trick forth Mammon's gilded shrine ! 
 God is not mocked, whose bolt their head shall smite 
 Who stamp His name on Might and call it Right. 
 
 JOHN STUART BLACKIE.
 
 138 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 The comments of the Scotsman on this letter were so 
 grossly false and unfair, that the writer was impelled to 
 apply a little good-natured criticism to the Whig organ on 
 his relation to the Highland people, which appeared in the 
 April number of the Celtic Magazine, in the form of a short 
 article, subjoined, and of which he sent the Editor of the 
 Scotsman an early proof, with the following note : 
 
 INVERNESS, March 16, 1883. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, who is honoured with a share in an article 
 in to-day's Scotsman, presents his compliments to the editor of that 
 journal, and at the same time presents him with an early proof of a 
 little free criticism which is to appear in the April number of the Celtic 
 Magazine. Mr. Mackenzie who is quite satisfied with it as a reply to 
 that and other articles in the same journal has no doubt the editor of 
 the Scotsman will accept this small compliment in the same spirit and 
 with the same satisfaction with which Mr. Mackenzie accepts the slight 
 attentions which he delights to receive occasionally from the Scotsman. 
 
 There can be no objection to the reproduction of the article, with this 
 note, and the Scotsman's criticism thereon, if the editor desires to help 
 in the laudable object of extending its circulation. 
 
 More definite and detailed information will be forthcoming if desired. 
 
 It is unnecessary, perhaps, to state that the Scotsman pro- 
 duced neither the note nor the article accompanying it, the 
 latter of which was as follows : 
 
 THE "SCOTSMAN" PROFESSOR BLACKIE, AND 
 THE HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 
 
 In a recent issue of the Scotsman, Professor Blackie published a letter, 
 which we subjoin, setting forth his views on the present agitation and 
 disturbance among the crofters in Glendale, Isle of Skye. This letter 
 the Scotsman, as the special organ of the Scottish Landocracy, could 
 not conveniently swallow, and in trying to dispose of it by a less dan- 
 gerous process, it lost its head. It has done more ; it has thrown away 
 the semblance of any ingenuousness and fair-dealing which innocent 
 people thought had yet remained to it. 
 
 Professor Blackie, speaking for himself and those who agreed with 
 him, wrote "Our sympathies lie emphatically with the law-breakers
 
 PROFESSOR BLACKIE S OPINION. 139 
 
 in this case " ; that is, with those who had broken the law in Glendale ; 
 for he says immediately after, in the same paragraph of which the above 
 quoted sentence forms a part "We know that this Glendale outbreak 
 is a mere symptom of a deeply-rooted social disease for which the land 
 oligarchy and the Land Laws are answerable at the bar of eternal 
 justice." The Scotsman, with characteristic unscrupulousness, when 
 dealing with an opponent, which no other publication in Scotland has 
 yet attained to, twists this plain statement into a charge against Pro- 
 fessor Blackie of sympathising " with law-breakers as such ". 
 
 The Professor further says, and says truly, " that there is no tyranny 
 in Europe nor even in Asiatic Turkey practically more grinding than 
 the tyranny which, under our present Land Laws, the lord of the soil, 
 with his commissioner, factor, and ground-officer, may, in remote dis- 
 tricts, exercise over the Highland crofters ". How does the Scotsman 
 deal with this carefully-qualified statement? "It is to be read," it 
 says, " as stating that this grinding tyranny is practised." It certainly 
 should have been both written and read to that effect as regards the 
 conduct during the present century of many of the class referred to. 
 Professor Blackie, however, does not go that length about any lords of 
 the soil, commissioners, or factors, but the Scotsman magniloquently 
 declares, notwithstanding, that "it is a baseless calumny to say or to 
 hint that landlords and factors are, as a -whole, guilty of tyranny and 
 oppression". [The italics in the foregoing quotations are ours.] 
 
 Who ever said or hinted any such thing as is here placed in Professor 
 Blackie's mouth. Neither in his letter to the Scotsman, nor anywhere 
 else, did he ever say anything of the kind. He has often, in our hear- 
 ing, and to the knowledge of his unfair and unscrupulous accuser, said 
 the very reverse. No .one has written more warmly in favour of good 
 landlords and considerate factors than he has done, and many good 
 specimens of both are, happily, still to be found in the Highlands. 
 
 Enough has been said to show the nature of the attack so violently 
 made upon him, but we may fairly ask what right has the Scotsman to 
 assume to itself the position which it has done on the Highland Crofter 
 Question ? At any rate it is proper in the circumstances that we give a 
 few reasons why it should not be for a moment listened to by any one 
 who has the interest of the native population of the Highlands at 
 heart, for its conductors show singular ignorance of the facts as to the 
 position and interests of the Crofters, and it has never failed to malign 
 and misrepresent them. 
 
 The Scotsman itself, conducted, as it is, under influences foreign to 
 Scotland and Scotchmen, naturally tries to encourage proceedings in the
 
 140 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 Highlands, which would obliterate and destroy all traces of Celtic na- 
 tionality ; and, to accomplish this end, it delights in fostering a system 
 by which the Southern sheep farmer and the English sportsman mono- 
 polise the Highlands, and drive the native population out of the country, 
 caring not whither they go. 
 
 While the paper in question has always proved itself the inveterate 
 and uncompromising enemy of the Highland Crofters, this anti-Celtic 
 feeling has, if possible, become more intensified in recent years. 
 
 In 1878 the Scotsman sent to the Highlands and Islands a " Special 
 Commissioner " to describe the condition of the Crofters, whose main 
 purpose seems to have been, if we may judge by results, to misrepresent 
 and vilify them ; and he has taken little trouble before making his 
 ignorant aspersions, to ascertain the facts. It is capable of proof that 
 he described the whole of North and South Uist, Benbecula, and Barra 
 a district of country seventy to eighty miles long from north to south, 
 and containing a population of 12,503 souls without ever leaving the 
 neighbourhood of Lochmaddy. The same state of things can be proved 
 in the case of a wide district of the parish of Gairloch and other West 
 Coast estates. The public were led to believe all this time that the 
 " Special Commissioner" was giving the results of his personal experi- 
 ence, and of his own investigation into the circumstances and surround- 
 ings of the people ! Were the conductors of the paper cognisant of these 
 facts ? We know that letters pointing them out were refused insertion 
 by the Editor. 
 
 In February last the Scotsman sent another " Special Commissioner " 
 to the W r est, to give its readers an impartial (!) account of the disturb- 
 ances in the Isle of Skye, especially in Glendale. Those who knew 
 anything about the subject at once saw, when this Commissioner's 
 letters appeared, that they were little else than a badly- arranged hash 
 made up from Sir John Macneill's Report, the New Statistical Account 
 for the parishes of Bracadale and Duirinish, and stale stories repeatedly 
 told by the factor to ourselves, among others, before the " Special Com- 
 missioner " of the Scotsman ever visited the Isle of Skye. But this was 
 not all ! While he was supposed by the misinformed portion of the 
 public to have derived his information from independent sources, he was 
 actually found to be the guest of the factor for Glendale, from whose 
 residence, at Edinbane, nearly thirty miles from Glendale the district 
 supposed to have been described his letters were dated. Here the 
 "Special Correspondent," sent by the Scotsman to Skye when the 
 "Jackal" paid her visit to Glendale, actually found the "Special 
 Commissioner" of his journal, presumably much to his disgust and
 
 PROFESSOR BLACKIES OPINION. 141 
 
 annoyance ; for the position of affairs had been discovered by the other 
 representatives of the Scottish and English press who visited Skye on 
 that occasion, and they, with many of the natives, naturally chuckled 
 and sneered at the supposed impartiality of the information obtained and 
 published by the Scotsman under such conditions. It may be stated 
 that the "Commissioner's" recall soon followed the arrival of the 
 " Special Correspondent " at head-quarters, and it may be fairly 
 surmised that there was some connection between the one event and the 
 other. A few of the natives are wicked enough to say that some fat 
 sheep had almost simultaneously disappeared from the district, but what 
 became of them has not been clearly ascertained. It is, however, quite 
 understood that no one but the owner is in any way responsible for their 
 disappearance. 
 
 An exposure of the sources from which the Scotsman and a few other 
 newspapers receive their Skye local correspondence might prove inter- 
 esting, and it is possible we may yet feel called upon, in the interest of 
 the people of Skye, to enlighten the reader on that subject 
 
 May we not meanwhile fairly ask, Is this a paper which the Scottish 
 people ought to accept as a safe guide on any question affecting the 
 Highlanders ? Its very name has become a misnomer in recent years, 
 edited, as it is, by an English Catholic, under whose guidance the once 
 renowned and brilliant Scotsman in spirit and objects, as well as in 
 name, has become the violent antagonist of institutions the most highly 
 cheriftied and revered by Scotsmen, and whose attacks upon these are 
 only equalled by its ridicule of the Catholic Church, religion, and creed. 
 It is impossible for any good Scotsman not to feel regret for the fall in 
 recent years of a paper in which we all felt a natural pride from a posi- 
 tion in which intellectual power and marked ability were its distinguish- 
 ing characteristics to one of mere common-place, in which it is princi- 
 pally distinguished by disingenuousness of argument and personal 
 scurrility. 
 
 The support by the Scotsman of any one, under its present guidance, 
 is the surest proof that he who secures it is no real friend of the High- 
 landers. 
 
 Since the above was written, the same paper, on the 22nd 
 of March, published in large type, a sensational telegram 
 from Portree, and another from Inverness, in the first of 
 which it was stated that the Glendale " Crofters assembled 
 in numbers from the different townships, proceeded to
 
 142 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 Waterstein, and again drove the proprietor's stock off the 
 hill " ; while the one from Inverness asserted that, " There is 
 no doubt of the fact that the Qrofters of Milovaig have 
 resented the action of the Court of Session, in the case of 
 John Macpherson and the others, by a demonstration of 
 defiance of the law. . . . The horns sounded in the 
 Glen early in the forenoon, the people assembled, men and 
 lads, proceeding to the grazings of Waterstein ; they drove 
 off the stock that belonged to the trustees, and replaced 
 them with stock that belongs to themselves." These 
 statements, so circumstantially paraded before the public, 
 turned out to be absolute falsehoods, without a vestige of 
 foundation. Yet the Scotsman gave them the greatest pro- 
 minence, and wrote another lying, sensational leading article, 
 based upon them, in which the crofters and their friends 
 were ponderously abused, as the very scum of creation. 
 Next morning his Dunvegan correspondent contradicted the 
 Portree telegram of the previous day, but the Scotsman 
 published this contradiction with an editorial qualification 
 which falsely suggested, though it did not actually say, 
 that the same correspondent was responsible alike for the 
 falsehood and its contradiction. 
 
 The public sentiment regarding the trial and punishment 
 of the Glendale Crofters, and the position of the great 
 Whig Libeller in relation to the whole case of the High- 
 land people, were well stated in a leading article in the 
 Greenock Telegraph, immediately after the trial, thus : 
 
 The result of the trial of the Glendale crofters has been in strict 
 accord with the expectations of all who have studied the long and 
 sorrowful story of which this is the latest chapter. The Judges are 
 obliged to act upon statutes framed by a class in their own interests ; 
 and in the present instance it was hardly possible for them to be more 
 lenient than they have been. ] t is beyond their Lordships' province 
 to rise to the region of equity ; and the administrators of the law in
 
 ATTEMPTED EVICTION OF FOUR HUNDRED SOULS. 143 
 
 Scotland have never been known to violate its letter, except, perhaps, 
 where they had to deal with a statute passed in the interest of temper- 
 ance or to give the farmer a title to destroy the rabbits feeding upon his 
 crops. Then, as in that queer case from Kelso the other day, the 
 statute is apt to kick the beam in the interest of the public -house ; and 
 nobody needs to be told how the Court of Session drove more than the 
 proverbial coach-and-six through the Rabbits Bill, and made of no 
 account the law- that had been newly enacted at Westminster for the 
 protection of the farmer. All these things are duly noted by the 
 public, and the sentence passed on the crofters has this moral disadvan- 
 tage attaching to it that nobody thinks any the worse of the poor men 
 who are now in prison. They were loudly cheered as they left the 
 dock ; their families will be well seen to in spite of the Scotmans sneers 
 at their friends while they remain in custody ; and they will be certain to 
 get a warm welcome from the public when the day of liberation arrives. 
 It does not seem to be a desirable thing that the moral sense of the 
 community should be excited in favour of men who have been sent to 
 jail. Either that moral sense or the law with which it conflicts must be 
 defective. In the present case w do not believe that the feeling of the 
 community can be said to be at fault- 
 Referring to the treatment accorded to the Highlanders 
 generally, as described in the recently published " History 
 of the Highland Clearances," the same writer continues : 
 
 It makes our blood run cold to read of the enormities that have 
 been perpetrated, which the law has ever been ready to screen, and the 
 Scotsman to vindicate with its pretentious philosophy and its affected 
 reverence for a law to which it has always rendered abject submission, 
 except when it was mulcted in damages for defaming Mr. Duncan 
 MacLaren. In that case it took leave to speak of the law in terms 
 which it would no doubt deem most flagitious were they employed by 
 the Glendale Crofters to-day. The same tone has pervaded the vast 
 majority of the press throughout the length and breadth of the land 
 North and South. 
 
 ATTEMPTED EVICTION OF FOUR HUNDRED SOULS. 
 
 The next step taken by the Trustees was a foolish attempt 
 to serve Notices of Eviction on the already too exasperated 
 people of Glendale. It was resolved early in April to
 
 144 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 remove them ; and, on Friday, 6th of April, forty-five 
 summonses were issued and sent to Angus MacLeod, 
 sheriff-officer, Dunvegan, to have them served, upon as many 
 tenants, within the statutory period. At the same time, 
 about twenty summonses were issued against those living on 
 Dr. Martin's Estate of Husabost. These notices involved 
 the fate of nearly four hundred souls. 
 
 The sheriff-officer started on Tuesday, loth of April, for 
 Glendale, with the view of carrying out his instructions, 
 but on his arrival at Skinidin, a township a few miles on his 
 way to Glendale, he was met by a crowd of from a thousand 
 to fifteen hundred people, ready to oppose his further pro- 
 gress. Angus, realising the position of affairs, and feeling 
 that discretion was the better part of valour, decided to act 
 upon the maxim that " he who fights and runs away may 
 live to fight another day," at once turned right about, and 
 made off at full speed to Dunvegan, from whence, the 
 same afternoon, he despatched the summonses to. the Law- 
 agent of the proprietors, at Portree, intimating that he would 
 not, on any account, make a further attempt to serve them. 
 
 The people were thoroughly determined not to accept 
 service, and they made arrangements by which notice was 
 to be given to the whole of Skye, to come to their aid, by 
 the lighting of fires at night, or exhibiting flags by day, on 
 certain hills throughout the island, which could be seen the 
 one from the other, thus intimating the approach of a police 
 or military force in a few minutes to the whole island, the 
 population of which, it is now no secret, almost to a man, had 
 intimated their determination to come to the rescue of the 
 people of Glendale in the event of their aid being required. 
 This is also true of some of the neighbouring islands. Better 
 counsels, however, prevailed ; and it was wisely resolved by 
 the agents of the Trustees to send the notices of removal
 
 THE ROYAL COMMISSION AND HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 145 
 
 by post, in registered letters, in terms of the Citation Act, 
 which came into force on the first of January last. The 
 letters were, however, all refused, except three, one of these 
 being for Peter MacKinnon, -postmaster in the Glen, who 
 was, of course, obliged to receive the one addressed to 
 himself, into the Post Office, in Ills official capacity. How 
 the matter ended will have been seen in our Introduction. 
 
 THE ROYAL COMMISSION AND THE HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 
 
 A Royal Commission to inquire into the condition of the 
 Highland crofters has just been granted by the Govern- 
 ment, composed as follows : Lord Napier and Ettrick, 
 Chairman ; Sir Kenneth S. Mackenzie of Gairloch, Bart. ; 
 Donald Cameron of Lochiel, M.P. ; Charles Fraser-Mac- 
 kintosh of Drummond, M.P. ; Alexander Nicolson, LL.D., 
 Sheriff-Substitute of Kirkcudbright ; and Donald Mac- 
 Kinnon, Professor of Celtic Languages and Literature in 
 the University of Edinburgh ; with Malcolm MacNeill, 
 Colonsay, as Secretary to the Commission. A short account 
 of the way in which this concession lias been secured 
 may be advantageously placed on record. It was, for the 
 first time, proposed, by the writer of these pages, when, on 
 the i?th of October, 1877, he asked Mr. Charles Fraser- 
 Mackintosh, M.P., while addressing his constituents in the 
 Music Hall, Inverness, the following question, amid the 
 general laughter of the audience : 
 
 Keeping in view that the Government has graciously considered 
 the reputed scarcity of crabs and lobsters, and of herrings and gar vies, 
 on our Highland coasts, of sufficient importance to justify them in grant- 
 ing two separate Royal Commissions of Inquiry will you, in your 
 place in Parliament, next session, move that a similar Commission be 
 granted to inquire into the present impoverished and wretched condition
 
 146 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 and, in some places, the scarcity of men and women in the Highlands ; 
 the cause of this state of things ; and. the most effectual remedy for 
 ameliorating the condition of the Highland Crofters generally? 
 
 Mr. Fraser-Mackintosh made the following reply, which, 
 with the question, will be found in the Celtic Magazine, and 
 the local papers, at the time : 
 
 A Member of Parliament had a certain power, and only a certain 
 power. Now, the question which was here raised was a very large one, 
 and he did not think that he would have the slightest chance of getting 
 such a Commission as was referred to, unless the Government was 
 prepared for the demand beforehand, and unless the request was 
 strengthened by a general expression of feeling in its favour throughout 
 the country. If Mr. Mackenzie, who had written an able letter, on the 
 subject, which had attracted great attention, and others with him, could 
 by petition, or by deputation to the Prime Minister, pave the way for a 
 motion, he would be very glad to make it. His moving in the matter 
 without adequate support would hamper and hurt- the laudable object 
 Mr. Mackenzie had at heart. 
 
 Since that date the question has never been lost sight of, 
 and influential Highlanders extended their support in public 
 and in private to pave the way for action in the House of 
 Commons. The Gaelic Society of Inverness soon after 
 petitioned Parliament in favour of a Royal Commission of 
 Inquiry. Towards the end. of 1880, a public meeting held 
 in Inverness, and presided over by Mr. Fraser-Mackintosh, 
 M.P., petitioned in favour of it ; the Federation of Celtic 
 Societies took the matter up ; the Gaelic Society of Perth ; 
 the Highland Land Law Reform Associations of Inverness 
 and Edinburgh got up meetings, and petitioned Parlia- 
 ment ; Mr. Fraser-Mackintosh, M.P. ; Dr. Cameron, M.P. ; 
 Mr. Dick Peddie, M.P. ; Sir. George Campbell, M.P. ; Mr. 
 D. H. Macfarlane, M.P. ; and others, kept the question 
 before the House of Commons and the country ; and, on 
 the 22nd of February last, Mr, Fraser-Mackintosh got up a 
 Memorial, signed by twenty-one Scottish Members of Par-
 
 THE ROYAL COMMISSION AND' HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 147 
 
 liament, to the Home Secretary, which was forwarded, 
 accompanied by the following letter : 
 
 5 CLARGES STREET, W., zyd Feb.,. 1883. 
 
 DEAR SIR WILLIAM I have never taken up your time by letter or 
 interview before in reference to the state of the crofter and rural popula- 
 tion of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, bnt now feel constrained 
 to do so. 
 
 It is upwards of two years since I presided at a public meeting in 
 Inverness, where the position was discussed, and inquiry dtesiderated. 
 A notice on the subject was put on the paper of the House by me in the 
 summer of 1881, and again early in 1882. A formal resolution praying 
 for inquiry by Royal Commission was tabled. I was, however, never 
 lucky enough to get a first place for the discussion, and I have failed for 
 any night open prior to the ensuing Easter Recess. 
 
 In these circumstances, feeling very unhappy at the present state of 
 matters, and believing that many of my poor countrymen are looking to 
 me for Parliamentary assistance, I beg to represent to you as strongly as 
 I can that 
 
 1st. The people themselves desire such inquiry ; and on this I may 
 refer to a curious petition presented by me on Wednesday from Glen- 
 dale, to all appearance the true and unprompted views of the crofters. 
 
 2nd. The public in Scotland by numerous meetings and otherwise 
 show that they concur. 
 
 3rd. The press of Scotland, from the Scotsman downwards, may be 
 said to be unanimous. 
 
 4th. The landlords generally, and; officials in the disturbed district 5 
 are not averse ; and, 
 
 5th, and lastly. I have felt it my duty within the last two or three 
 days to ascertain the mind of the Scottish members. There are seven 
 members of Government, and one incapacited, reducing our number for 
 present purposes to 52. Several are not in town, but two are known to 
 have publicly expressed themselves in favour of inquiry, viz., Mr. Dick 
 Peddie and Mr. William Holmes. Of those to whom I have appealed, 
 21, including several Conservatives,, have signed the memorial enclosed. 
 Seven, though they hesitated to sigh, have expressed their approval of 
 inquiry. I have only found four decidedly hostile. 
 
 I may, therefore, assure you that a large majority of the unofficial 
 Scottish members are favourable ; and this, coupled with what I have 
 said in the preceding four articles, should satisfy the Government no 
 longer to delay.
 
 148 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 For my own part, I could not have believed that so soon after the 
 meeting at Inverness in December 1880, the agitation should have gone 
 to such a pitch. 
 
 I am as clear as any one that the law should be upheld, yet it will be 
 imprudent to delay till every legal point be adjusted. I fear new ones 
 will be constantly cropping up. Yours faithfully, 
 
 C. FRASER-MACKINTOSH. 
 To Sir W. Vernon Harcourt, ALP. 
 
 The Memorial, with its signatories, is as follows : 
 
 To the Secretary of State for the Home Department. 
 We, the undersigned Scottish members of the House of Commons, 
 while fully recognising the necessity of vindicating the authority of the 
 law, consider that, under existing circumstances, it is most important 
 that a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the condition of the Crofter and 
 rural population of the Highlands and Islands .of Scotland should be 
 granted by the Government without delay. 
 
 C. FRASER-MACKINTOSH. S. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 GEORGE ANDERSON. FRANK HENDERSON. 
 
 CHARLES CAMERON. R. W. COCHRAN-PATRICK. 
 
 T. R. BUCHANAN. G. ARMITSTEAD. 
 
 G. CAMPBELL. JOHN C. DALRYMPLE HAY. 
 
 J. STEWART, CLAUD ALEXANDER. 
 
 ANDREW GRANT. JAMES ALEX. CAMPBELL. 
 
 ROBERT FARQUHARSON. ARCHIBALD ORR-EWING. 
 
 ALEX. H. GORDON. G. JBALFOUR. 
 
 J. W. BARCLAY. S. D. WADDY. 
 
 PETER M 'LAGAN. 
 22nd February, 1883. 
 
 The seven members referred to in Mr. Fraser-Mackin- 
 tosh's letter to Sir William Harcourt, as hesitating to sign, 
 were, it is understood, Mr. Fender (Wick Burghs) ; Sir 
 Alexander Matheson, Baronet (County of Ross) ; Sir Donald 
 Currie (County of Perth) ; Mr. Parker (Burgh of Perth) ; 
 Mr. Bolton (County of Stirling) ; Mr. Campbell (Ayr 
 Burghs).; and Mr. Dalrymple (County of Bute). Those 
 distinctly .opposed to any inquiry were Si* T. E. Colbroke 
 (County of Lanark) ; Sir H. Maxwell (County of Wigtown) ;
 
 THE ROYAL COMMISSION AND HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 149 
 
 Mr. E. Noel (Dumfries Burghs) ; and Mr. Preston Bruce 
 (County of Fife). 
 
 Lord Colin Campbell (County of Argyll) afterwards in- 
 timated that had he been asked he would have signed the 
 Memorial to Government. None of the others were seen, as 
 they were either out of London or absent from the House. 
 
 It will be noticed, we believe, with very general regret 
 and surprise, that not a single Northern Member of Par- 
 liament, except Mr. Fraser-Mackintosh, had signed the 
 Memorial. If any proof were wanted that inquiry was 
 looked forward to by the northern landlords with disfavour, 
 and, in some instances, with dismay though they felt that 
 it had now become necessary it would be found in this 
 significant fact. It should also have convinced the Govern- 
 ment of the necessity of making the Royal Commission 
 really effective, by placing men upon it who would counter- 
 act the landlord opposition and aristocratic influence, which 
 will assuredly have to be met in the course of the inquiry, 
 on every point where. the facts are likely to tell against the 
 landlords and their agents. The other side should have 
 been strongly represented, so as to meet, on something like 
 equal terms, the power, wealth, and influence, of those whose 
 conduct throughout the country had made such an inquiry 
 necessary. As it is, it will, unless we are much mistaken, 
 only prove the commencement in earnest of an agitation on 
 on the Land Question, the end of which no one can predict. 
 
 Considering the stage which the question has now 
 reached, we feel justified in reproducing what Mr. Fraser- 
 Mackintosh, M.P., wrote to the author on 5th March 1883. 
 Alluding to the question put to him by the writer in the 
 Inverness Music Hall, in 1877, already referred to, he says 
 " I see that you put the question very broadly in 1877, 
 and you are therefore alone entitled to the full credit of
 
 150 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 initiating the movement." Whether that initiation will prove 
 a credit or the reverse, the reader will not be surprised if, in 
 the circumstances, we shall watch the proceedings of the 
 Commission with more than ordinary interest. 
 
 The Government having resolved to grant a Royal Com- 
 mission, they surely ought to have paid some deference in 
 arranging its composition, to those who have been chiefly 
 instrumental in impressing upon them the necessity for such 
 a great concession. But how have they acted ? They have, 
 in the face of many and urgent recommendations from 
 representative societies and individuals, whose position and 
 knowledge fully entitled them to proffer advice, appointed a 
 Commission which has been universally condemned by every 
 Association, every individual, and by almost every news- 
 paper throughout the country that advocated its appoint- 
 ment. In that condemnation, after the most full and careful 
 consideration, and fully alive to the responsibility involved 
 in such a step, we are compelled to join ; and we do so 
 with the greater reluctance from the high respect which we 
 entertain for all the members of the Commission as indi- 
 viduals, apart from the duties which in this case they have 
 been called upon to perform. Nothing will satisfy the 
 public short of making the cruel evictions of the past, im- 
 possible in future in the Highlands, by giving the people a 
 permanent interest in the soil they cultivate. That a 
 recommendation to that effect can emanate from a Royal 
 Commission composed as this one is, is scarcely conceiv- 
 able. Nor is it to be expected that they can rise so far 
 above the common failings of humanity as to be even 
 anxious to procure evidence which will lead to legislation in 
 that direction. Are Sir Kenneth Mackenzie and Lochiel, 
 for instance, at all likely to recommend the modification of 
 their own present rights of property, or the abolition or
 
 THE ROYAL COMMISSION AND HIGHLAND CROFTERS. 151 
 
 material curtailment of deer forests, from which they and 
 their class derive a great portion of their revenues ? If 
 they do so they will prove themselves more than human. 
 But no one would complain, if their position and interests 
 as proprietors were counterbalanced on the Commission by 
 the presence of such true representatives of the crofters as 
 Sir Kenneth and Lochiel are of the landlords and their 
 class interests. 
 
 If any evidence were wanted to justify the general feeling 
 that the Commission was one-sided and antagonistic to the 
 interests and claims of the crofters, it would be found in 
 the fact that its composition has been generally commended 
 and approved by the Scotsman, the Northern Chronicle, and 
 the Inverness Courier, three newspapers, whose position in 
 the past has been one of strong and long-sustained antagon- 
 ism and misrepresentation of the Highland peasantry, and, 
 at the same time, of powerful and steady support of their 
 oppressors and their cruel conduct. 
 
 As if the approval of these landlord organs, and the 
 general disapproval by actual condemnation in distinct 
 terms, or complete silence, of all the other newspapers in 
 the country were not sufficient, we find another distinguished 
 authority on the same side, Mr. Donald Macdonald, Tor- 
 more whose factorial reign in the Isle of Skye, and 
 especially in Glendale, had so much to do in finally secur- 
 ing for us the Commission of Inquiry declaring in a letter, 
 published in the Northern Chronicle, and in the Scotsman, 
 of the nth April, that its composition was, in all respects, 
 " unexceptionable " ; " for," he continues, " I am confident 
 the result [of the Inquiry] will not only prove beneficial to 
 my worthy, but misguided, fellow-islemen, but will also 
 vindicate many sorely-maligned proprietors and factors from 
 the charges made against them by untruthful outside agita- 
 tors, not to speak of others, who, while personally con-
 
 I2 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 versant with local conditions, have not scrupled to throw 
 out inferences which no view of the facts can justify ". 
 
 With a testimonial like this, and from such a quarter, it 
 would be a pure waste of space to say another word on the 
 composition and character of the Royal Commission to 
 inquire into the grievances of the crofters in the Highlands 
 and Islands, composed, as it is r of four landed proprietors, 
 one lawyer (who is also a landed proprietor's son), and the 
 Professor of Celtic in the University of Edinburgh, who 
 never exhibited any special interest in, or so far as known, 
 paid, any special attention to the subject of the inquiry, and 
 whose time, in the opinion of many of the subscribers to 
 the Celtic Chair Fund, would have been far better and 
 more consistently employed in the necessary preparation for 
 the important duties of his chair. 
 
 It is to be hoped, however, that the criticism so freely 
 heaped upon the Commissioners, from so many quarters, 
 may result in good, and that their conduct will show, in the 
 end, that they fully realise the responsibility imposed upon 
 them by their position in a great crisis in the history of the 
 Highlands. If so, that criticism will not have been alto- 
 gether in vain. 
 
 This account of the Isle of Skye during the most im- 
 portant period of its history for several generations in its 
 bearing on the social state of its people and those of the 
 Highlands generally, may be appropriately concluded by a 
 quotation from " St. Michael and the Preacher, a Tale from 
 Skye, by the Rev. Donald MacSiller, Minister of the [New] 
 Gospel, Portree," a satirical poem of great power, published 
 in January last. The views expressed by the author are 
 undoubtedly advanced, but they are quite justified by the 
 state of affairs which we know to exist in the island, and 
 which most assuredly will be disclosed to a still greater
 
 ST. MICHAEL AND THE PREACHER. 153 
 
 extent by the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into 
 the grievances of the Highland Crofters. 
 
 The angel, St. Michael, who visits Skye and listens to the 
 tale of misery its people has to tell, exclaims : 
 
 "Ye men of Skye ! ye heirs of woe : 
 O'er whom great tribulations flow, 
 Know that the mighty Lord designed 
 | This bounteous earth for all mankind,; 
 That they obedient to His law 
 Might from its soil their sustenance draw, 
 And reap those joys which in the strife 
 Make light their little round of life : 
 But Landlords, by their works, have driven 
 From off the earth the will of heaven : 
 
 Thus by their laws they ever stand 
 The foes of those who till the land. 
 
 Preferring brutes and desolation 
 To men, the bulwark of a nation ! 
 
 But fear not tho' your countrymen, 
 By sophistries of tongue and pen, 
 Condemn ye heedlessly because 
 Ye dare to dare a landlord's laws ; 
 These but the men who are impressed 
 With naught but what will pay them best. 
 
 O ! be ye of good cheer, the hour 
 
 Has struck the knell of landlord power, 
 
 And men arise with vatic eye, 
 
 And see the dawn of new things nigh, 
 
 And fear not to proclaim the creed 
 
 ' The land for those who sow the seed ! ' 
 
 Despair not, be united all, 
 
 Resolved for right, to stand or fall, 
 
 And should the factor's law-hounds come 
 
 To drive ye from your peaceful home, 
 
 Remember this is Freedom's token 
 
 ' Good laws are based on bad laws broken ! ' 
 
 And no great Cause is worth the name, 
 
 Without its martyrs, bonds, and shame.
 
 154 THE HIGHLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 The Preacher, in reply, insists that " Law must be rigidly 
 obeyed," when the following dialogue is continued : 
 
 "Law ! " quoth St. Michael, " Law of pelf ! 
 
 Can man make laws to suit himself? 
 
 Or is it ' Law ' when want and woe 
 
 From individual actions flow ? 
 
 Methinks men do no sin when they 
 
 ' Laws ' of this nature disobey ! " 
 
 ' ' Hold ! " quoth the Preacher, ' ' you'll agree, 
 
 That landlords must perforce be free 
 
 To value land as they may will it, 
 
 Without considering those who till it ; 
 
 This is ' the Law ' as realized, 
 
 And by the State is recognised, 
 
 Hence those who dare resist its sway 
 
 Are by the devil led astray. " 
 
 St. Michael laughed, " Ay ! Ay ! " quo' he, 
 
 "Your definition, ' Law ' may be ; 
 
 But stay, I see in it a flaw, 
 
 Say, where is Justice in your ' Law ' ? 
 
 Can Law be Law when based on Wrong ? 
 
 Can Law be Law when for the strong ? 
 
 Can Law be Law when landlords stand 
 
 Rack-renting mankind off the land ? 
 
 By ' Law ' a landlord can become 
 
 The ghost of every Crofter's home ; 
 
 By ' Law ' their little cots can be 
 
 Dark dens of dirt and misery ; 
 
 By ' Law ' the tax upon their toil 
 
 Is squandered on an alien soil ; 
 
 By ' Law ' their daughters, sons, and wives, 
 
 Are doomed to slavish drudgery's lives ; 
 
 By ' Law ' Eviction's dreadful crimes 
 
 Are possible in Christian times ; 
 
 By ' Law ' a spendthrift lord's intents 
 
 Are met by drawing higher rents ; 
 
 By ' Law' all food-producing glens 
 
 Are changed from farms to cattle pens : 
 
 This is your ' Law ' whereby a few 
 
 Are shielded in the deeds they do."
 
 SELLAR'S TRIAL.
 
 EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 THE original Report of Mr. Sellar's Trial, of which the 
 following is a verbatum reprint, was published by Mr. Patrick 
 Robertson, Junior Counsel for the accused, to use his own 
 words, " from notes taken in Court, and omits nothing 
 but the arguments of the Counsel, which are kept back, 
 least it may be supposed that this publication was intended 
 to convey anything beyond the mere facts of the case ". His 
 preface, from which we quote, Mr. Robertson might also 
 have left out, as we do; for it is nothing less than a daring, un- 
 founded, and general charge of "idleness," "violence," "riot," 
 " disaffection," " unreasonable opposition to improvements," 
 and other crimes, against a whole people, and a fulsome 
 laudation of the cruel system which the " noble Proprietrix " 
 and Mr. Sellar adopted " to secure their (the people's) happi- 
 ness and comfort " ! No other report of the Trial, 
 unfortunately, exists, and it is to be hoped that Mr. Robert- 
 son's version of it, and the remarks thereon by Judge and 
 Counsel, are given by Mr. Robertson as free from bias 
 and with as great impartiality as his preface is partial and 
 unfair. We have dealt with that curious piece of special 
 pleading as " Mr. Sellar's Junior Counsel " has dealt with 
 " the arguments of counsel," omitted it, lest we might 
 throw ourselves open to the charge of conveying "any- 
 thing beyond the mere facts," as they are presented to
 
 158 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 us by Mr. Sellar's Junior Counsel in his report of his 
 client's trial. There are, however, a few of these facts to 
 which we shall take the liberty of directing the attention of 
 the reader. 
 
 First Sheriff Mackid's evidence was objected to by the 
 Counsel for the accused, strangely departed from by the 
 Prosecutor, and commented upon by the Judge, in a manner 
 which would now neither be thought of nor listened to in 
 any Court of Law in the kingdom. 
 
 Second The letters produced and read as to character 
 would not, under the present law of evidence, be permitted 
 to be read, and no judge would allow the jury to know of 
 their existence. In this instance they were not only read, 
 but the judge dangled them before the jury as documents, 
 " which," he said, " although not evidence, must have some 
 weight with the jury," and that immediately after pointing out 
 to them that the evidence led was "contradictor}'," and that 
 " the tenants suffered damage " in consequence of the 
 destruction of their barns by the accused, though, he added, 
 " there could be no doubt of the practice in the country, of 
 retaining these barns till the crop should be threshed out ". 
 These things were, no doubt, considered by the Jury, and it 
 is right that we also should consider them before coming 
 to a final verdict in our own minds as to the merits of the 
 whole case. 
 
 Third One of the pleas of the accused was, that " the 
 ejectments were done in order of law, and under the 
 warrants of the proper Judge, issued on regular process. He 
 had brought regular actions of removing, and it was not 
 until after he had obtained decrees in these actions charging 
 the whole of the tenants to remove, and taken out precepts of 
 ejection against them, that they were, in the month of June, 
 actually removed from their lawless and violent possession " !
 
 SELLAR'S TRIAL. 159 
 
 This is no doubt, accurately stated, but what does it amount 
 to ? Only this, that Mr. Sellar. in ordering, superintending, 
 and carrying out these cruelties " in due order of law" was 
 found not guilty of any legal crime. 
 
 Fourth The witnesses for the defence were almost to a 
 man, Mr. Sellar's servants on the Sutherland estates, and 
 most of them were actually engaged in the evicting pro- 
 ceedings, setting fire, by their own hands, to the people's 
 houses. 
 
 Fifth Mr. Sellar's Counsel in his address to the Jury laid 
 down, " That the question at issue involved the future fate 
 and progress of agricultural and even moral improvements, 
 in the county of Sutherland ; that (though certainly not so 
 intended by the Public Prosecutor, whose conduct through- 
 out had been candid, correct, and liberal), it was, neverthe- 
 less in substance, and in fact, a trial of strength between the 
 abetters of anarchy and misrule and the Magistracy, as well 
 as the laws of this country." And this high-sounding and 
 alarming statement was made to a Jury composed of eight 
 landed proprietors, three or four large tacksmen or farmers, 
 two merchants and a lawyer, nearly all of whom were 
 Magistrates and Justices of the Peace, responsible for the 
 maintenance of Law and order among such a people as Mr. 
 Gordon had so eloquently maligned. 
 
 A. M. 
 
 "CELTIC MAGAZINE" OFFICE, INVERNESS, 
 April, 1883.
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 
 
 THE INDICTMENT. 
 
 PATRICK SELLAR, now or lately residing at Cul- 
 maily, in the parish of Golspie, and shire of Suther- 
 land, and under factor for the Most Noble the Marquis and 
 Marchioness of Stafford. You are indicted and accused, at 
 the instance of Archibald Colquhoun of Killermont, his 
 Majesty's Advocate for his Majesty's interest: THAT 
 ALBEIT, by the laws of this and of every other well- 
 governed realm, CULPABLE HOMICIDE, as also 
 OPPRESSION and REAL INJURY, more particularly 
 the wickedly and maliciously setting on fire and burning, or 
 causing and procuring to be set on fire and burnt, a great 
 extent of heath and pasture, on which a number of small 
 tenants and other poor persons maintain their cattle, to the 
 great injury and distress of the said persons ; the violently 
 turning, or causing and procuring to be turned out of their 
 habitations, a number of the said tenants and other poor 
 people, especially aged, infirm, and impotent persons, and 
 pregnant women, and cruelly depriving them of all cover or 
 shelter, to their great distress, and the imminent danger of 
 their lives ; the wickedly and maliciously setting on fire, 
 burning, pulling down, and demolishing, or causing and 
 procuring to be set on fire, burnt, pulled down, and
 
 1 62 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 demolishing, the dwelling-houses, barns, kilns, mills, and 
 other buildings, lawfully occupied by the said persons, 
 whereby they themselves are turned out, without cover or 
 shelter, as aforesaid, and the greater part of their different 
 crops is lost and destroyed, from the want of the usual and 
 necessary accommodation for securing and manufacturing 
 the same ; and the wantonly setting on fire, burning, and 
 otherwise destroying, or causing and procuring to be set on 
 fire, burnt, and otherwise destroyed, growing corn, timber, 
 furniture, money, and other effects, the property, or in the 
 lawful possession of the said tenants and other poor persons, 
 are crimes of a heinous nature, and severely punishable. 
 YET TRUE IT IS, AND OF VERITY, that you the 
 said Patrick Sellar are guilty of the said crimes, or of one 
 or more of them, actor, or art In part : IN SO FAR as, 
 you the said Patrick Sellar did, on the i5th day of March, 
 1814, or on one or other of the days of that month, or of 
 April and May immediately following, and on many occa- 
 sions during the said months of March, April, and May, 
 wickedly and maliciously set on fire and burn, or cause 
 and procure John Dryden and John M'Kay, both at that 
 time shepherds in your service, to set on fire and burn a 
 great extent of heath and pasture, many miles in length 
 and breadth, situate in the heights of the parishes of Farr 
 and Kildonan, in the county of Sutherland, and in parti- 
 cular in the lands of Ravigill, Rhiphail, Rhiloisk, Rossal, 
 Rhimsdale, Garvault, Truderskaig, and Dalcharrel, where- 
 by many of the tenants and others in the lands aforesaid 
 were deprived of pasturage for their cattle, and in conse- 
 quence thereof reduced to great distress and poverty; and 
 many of them were obliged to feed their cattle with the 
 potatoes intended for the use of their families, and with their 
 seed corn; particularly William Gordon, James M'Kay, Hugh
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 163 
 
 Grant, and Donald M'Kay, all then tenants in Rhiloisk 
 aforesaid ; John Gordon and Hugh M'Beath, then tenants 
 in Rhimsdale aforesaid ; Donald M'Beath, then tenant in 
 Rhiphail aforesaid ; Murdo M'Kay and John M'Kay, then 
 tenants in Truderskaig aforesaid. AND FURTHER, you 
 the said Patrick Sellar did, upon the i3th day of June, 
 1814, or on one or other of the days of that month, or of 
 May immediately preceding, or of July immediately fol- 
 lowing, together with four or more persons, your assistants, 
 proceed to the district of country above-mentioned, and did, 
 then and there, violently turn, or cause or procure to be 
 turned out of their habitations, a number of the tenants and 
 poor people dwelling there ; and particularly Donald M'Kay, 
 a feeble old man of the age of four-score years or thereby, 
 then residing in Rhiloisk aforesaid ; who, upon being so 
 turned out, not being able to travel to the nearest inhabited 
 place, lay for several days and nights thereafter in the woods 
 in the vicinity, without cover or shelter, to his great distress, 
 and to the danger of his life. As also, Barbara M'Kay, wife 
 of John M'Kay, then tenant in Ravigill aforesaid, who was 
 at the time pregnant, and was moreover confined to her 
 bed in consequence of being severely hurt and bruised by a 
 fall ; and you the said Patrick Sellar did, then and there, 
 notwithstanding the entreaties of the said John M'Kay, give 
 orders that the said Barbara M'Kay should be instantly 
 turned out, whatever the consequence might be, saying, 
 That you would have the house pulled about her ears ; and 
 the said John M'Kay was accordingly compelled, with the 
 assistance of some women and neighbours, to lift his said 
 wife from her bed, and carry her nearly a mile across the 
 country, to the imminent danger of her life : As also, time 
 last above-mentioned, you the said Patrick Sellar did forcibly 
 turn out, or cause and procure your assistants aforesaid, to
 
 164 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 turn out, of his bed and dwelling, in Garvault aforesaid, 
 Donald Monro, a young lad, who lay sick in bed at the 
 time. AND FURTHER, you the said Patrick Sellar did, 
 time aforesaid, wickedly and maliciously set on fire, burn, 
 pull down, and demolish, or cause and procure your assist- 
 ants aforesaid to set on fire, burn, pull down, and demolish, 
 a great number of the dwelling-houses, barns, kilns, mills, 
 and other buildings, lawfully occupied by the tenants and 
 other inhabitants in the said district of country; and in 
 particular, the houses,, barns, kilns, mills, lawfully occupied 
 by the above-mentioned William Gordon, James M'Kay, 
 Hugh Grant, in Rhiloisk aforesaid, and John Gordon in 
 Rhimsdale aforesaid ; As also, the barns and kilns in Rhi- 
 phail aforesaid, lawfully occupied by Alexander Manson, 
 John M'Kay, and others, then tenants or residenters there; 
 the barns and kilns in Ravigill aforesaid, lawfully occupied by 
 John M'Kay, Murdo M'Kay, and others, then tenants there; 
 and the barns- and kilns, in. Garvault aforesaid, lawfully 
 occupied by William Nicol and John Monro, then tenants 
 there : As also, the house and barn in Ravigill aforesaid, 
 lawfully occupied by Barbara M'Kay, an infirm old 
 widow, nearly fourscore years of age, and who was 
 obliged to sell three of her five cattle at an under value, 
 in order to support herself, her crop being destroyed 
 from the want of her barn : As also, the greater part of the 
 houses, barns, kilns, mills, and other buildings in the whole 
 district of country above mentioned, was, time aforesaid, 
 maliciously set on fire, burnt, pulled down, and demolished, 
 by you, the said Patrick Sellar, or by your assistance, or by 
 your orders, whereby the inhabitants and lawful occupiers 
 thereof were turned out, without cover or shelter ; and the 
 greater part of their different crops was lost and destroyed 
 from want of the usual and necessary accommodation for
 
 TRILL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 1 6$ 
 
 securing and manufacturing the same; and especially the 
 lawful occupiers of the barns, kilns, mills, and other buildings 
 particularly above mentioned, to have been set on fire and 
 destroyed as aforesaid, did sustain great loss in their crops, 
 from being thus deprived of the means of securing and 
 manufacturing the same. AND FURTHER, you, the said 
 Patrick Sellar, did, time aforesaid, culpably kill Donald 
 M'Beath, father to Hugh M'Beath, then tenant in Rhims- 
 dale aforesaid, by unroofing and pulling down, or causing to 
 be unroofed and pulled down, the whole house in Rhimsdale 
 aforesaid, where the said Donald M'Beath was then lying on 
 his sick-bed, saving only a small space of roof, to the extent 
 of five or six yards, whereby the said Donald M'Beath was 
 exposed, in a cold and comfortless situation, without cover 
 or shelter, to the weather; and he, the said Donald M'Beath, 
 in consequence of being so exposed, never spoke a word 
 more, but languished and died about eight days thereafter, 
 and was thereby culpably killed by you, the said Patrick 
 Sellar : Or otherwise, you, the said Patrick Sellar, did, time 
 and place foresaid, cruelly expose the said Donald M'Beath 
 to the weather, without cover or shelter, by pulling down 
 and unroofing, or caused to be pulled down and unroofed, 
 the greater part of the house where he then lay sick in bed, 
 to his great distress, and the imminent danger of his life; 
 and this you, the said Patrick Sellar, did, notwithstanding 
 the entreaties of the said Hugh M'Beath and others, you 
 saying, in a rage, when it was proposed that the said Donald 
 M'Beath should remain, " The devil a man of them, sick or 
 well, shall be permitted to remain," or words to that effect. 
 AND FURTHER, you, the said Patrick Sellar, did, time 
 aforesaid, wickedly and maliciously set on fire, burn and 
 demolish, or cause and procure your assistants to set on fire, 
 burn and demolish the dwelling-house, barn, kiln, sheep-cot,
 
 1 66 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 and other buildings, then lawfully occupied by William 
 Chisholm in Badinloskin, in the parish of Farr aforesaid, 
 although you knew that Margaret M'Kay, a very old woman 
 of the age of 90 years, less or more, and who had been bed- 
 ridden for years, was at that time within the said house ; and 
 this you did, notwithstanding you were told that the said old 
 woman could not be removed without imminent danger to 
 her life ; and the flames having approached the bed whereon 
 the said Margaret M'Kay lay, she shrieked aloud in Gaelic, 
 "O'n teine," that is to say, "O the fire," or words to that 
 effect; and was forthwith carried out by her daughter, 
 Janet M'Kay, and placed in a small bothy, and the blanket 
 in which she was wrapped was burnt in several places ; and 
 the said Margaret M'Kay never spoke a word thereafter, but 
 remained insensible from that hour, and died in about five 
 days thereafter, in consequence of the fright and alarm ; 
 and, in particular, in consequence of her removal, as afore- 
 said, from her bed into a cold and uncomfortable place, 
 unfit for the habitation of any human being ; and the said 
 Margaret M'Kay was thereby culpably killed by you, the 
 said Patrick Sellar ; or otherwise, you, the said Patrick 
 Sellar, did, time and place foresaid, cruelly turn, or cause 
 to be turned, out of her bed and dwelling-place, the said 
 Margaret M'Kay, by setting on fire, burning, and demolish- 
 ing, or causing and procuring to be set on fire, burnt, and 
 demolished, the said house and other buildings, in manner 
 above mentioned, to her great distress, and the imminent 
 danger of her life. AND FARTHER, all the persons 
 whose houses, barns, kilns, mills, and other buildings, were 
 burnt and destroyed, or caused and procured to be burnt 
 and destroyed, by you, the said Patrick Sellar, all as above 
 described, did sustain great loss in their moss wood, and 
 other timber, which was broken and demolished, and de-
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 167 
 
 stroyed by fire and otherwise, at the same time, and in the 
 same manner, with the buildings as aforesaid ; and also in 
 their furniture and other effects, all their lawful property, or 
 in their lawful possession at the time : And, in particular, 
 the said Barbara M'Kay in Ravigill, aforesaid, lost her door 
 and door-posts, and timber of her house and barn, her meal- 
 chest, and several articles of furniture, all her property, or 
 in her lawful possession, which were then and there des- 
 troyed, or caused to be destroyed, by you, the said Patrick 
 Sellar, as aforesaid ; and the greatest part of the furniture 
 and timber belonging to the said William Chisholm, together 
 with three pounds in bank notes, and a ridge of growing 
 corn, all the property, or in the lawful possession of the said 
 William Chisholm, in Badinloskin aforesaid, were then and 
 there destroyed by fire, and otherwise, by you, the said 
 Patrick Sellar. And you, the said Patrick Sellar, having 
 been apprehended and taken before Mr. Robert Mackid, 
 Sheriff-Substitute of Sutherland, did, in his presence, at 
 Dornoch, on the 3ist day of May, 1815, emit and subscribe 
 a declaration ; which declaration, together with a paper, 
 entitled " Notice given 'to the Strath naver tenants, 15 Dec., 
 1813," being to be used in evidence against you, at your 
 trial, will be lodged in due time in the hands of the Clerk of 
 the Circuit Court of Justiciary, before which you are to be 
 tried, that you may have an opportunity of seeing the same : 
 AT LEAST, time and places above-mentioned, the said 
 heath and pasure was wickedly and maliciously set on fire 
 and burnt, or caused and procured to be set on fire and 
 burnt, to the great injury and distress of the said tenants and 
 others; and the said persons were violently turned, or 
 caused and procured to be turned, out of their habitations, 
 and deprived of all cover and shelter, to their great distress, 
 and the imminent danger of their lives ; and the said
 
 1 68 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 Donald M'Beath and Margaret M'Kay were culpably killed 
 in manner above mentioned, or were cruelly turned out 
 of their habitations as aforesaid; and the said dwelling- 
 houses, barns, kilns, mills, and other buildings, lawfully 
 inhabited and occupied by the said persons, were mali- 
 ciously set on fire, burnt, pulled down, and demolished, 
 or were caused and procured to be set on fire, burnt, 
 pulled down, and demolished, and the inhabitants and 
 lawful occupiers thereof turned out as aforesaid ; and the 
 greater part of their different crops was lost or destroyed, 
 from want of the usual and necessary accommodation for 
 securing and manufacturing the same ; and the growing 
 corn, timber, furniture, money, and other effects, the pro- 
 perty, or in the lawful possession, of the said persons, were 
 wontonly set on fire, burnt, and otherwise destroyed, or 
 caused and procured to be set on fire, burnt, and otherwise 
 destroyed : And you, the said Patrick Sellar, are guilty of 
 the said crimes, or of one or more of them, actor, or art and 
 part. ALL WHICH, or part thereof, being found proven 
 by the verdict of an assize, before the Lord Justice-General, 
 the Lord Justice-Clerk, and Lords Commissioners of Justi- 
 ciary, in a Circuit Court of Justiciary to be holden by them, 
 or by any one or more of their number, within the burgh of 
 Inverness, in the month of April, in this present year, 1816, 
 you, the said Patrick Sellar, OUGHT to be punished with 
 the pains of law, to deter others from committing the like 
 crimes in all time coming. 
 
 H. HOME DRUMMOND, A. D. 
 
 MR. SELLAR having pleaded NOT GUILTY, the following 
 defences were read : " ist, The panel objects to the 
 relevancy of various parts of the libel. 2nd, In so far as
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 169 
 
 the libel is relevant, the panel denies its truth ; the whole 
 of the charges are utterly false, in so much so, that the 
 Prosecutor is not only unable to bring any sufficient evidence 
 in support of his own accusations, but the panel will bring 
 positive proof against them. The panel will prove, that 
 the ejectments which have given rise to this trial, were done 
 in due order of law, and, under the warrants of the proper 
 Judge, issued on regular process. Farther, he will prove, 
 that great indulgence was shown to the tenants, even after 
 they had resisted the regular decrees of the Judge; that 
 nothing was done on his part, or with his knowledge or 
 approval, either cruel, oppressive, or illegal : That he com- 
 mitted no acts of homicide ; and, on the whole, he will 
 prove, that throughout every part of this affair, he (the 
 panel) has been the victim, not only of the most unfounded 
 local prejudices, but of long continued and active defamation, 
 on the part of certain persons, who have made it their busi- 
 ness to traduce the whole system of improvements introduced 
 into the Sutherland estate, and to vilify the panel, by whom, 
 they have been pleased to suppose, that these improvements 
 have been partly conducted. He rejoices, however, in the 
 first opportunity, which has now been afforded to him, of 
 meeting these calumnies and prepossessions in a Court of 
 Justice, and relying, as he does, with implicit confidence on 
 the candour and dispassionate attention of a British Jury, 
 he has no doubt whatever of being able to establish his 
 complete innocence of all the charges now brought against 
 
 him. 
 
 " Under protestation to add and eik. 
 
 " J. GORDON. 
 
 " H. COCKBURN. 
 
 " PAT. ROBERTSON."
 
 17 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 MR. ROBERTSON opened the case on the part of the 
 panel. The object of addressing the court at this time 
 was to state such observations as occurred on the relevancy 
 of the indictment, and to give a general view of the line of 
 defence. On the former, he remarked, that various object- 
 tions did occur to the relevancy of the charges, particularly 
 to the second and fourth branches of the indictment. With 
 these, however, he did not mean to trouble the Court, as 
 Mr. Sellar was so conscious of his innocence, that he courted 
 investigation, being unwilling that any part of his conduct 
 should be left uninvestigated. No objection was, therefore, 
 made to the relevancy of any part of the indictment, so far 
 as it charged any specific crime against which the panel 
 might be prepared to defend himself. But, certainly, he did 
 object to those parts of it which contained general charges, 
 of destroying "a number of houses," injuring "a number of 
 tenants," &c., unless these were understood merely as intro- 
 ductory to the specific crimes mentioned. He also objected 
 to the last charge, if meant as anything more than matter of 
 mere aggravation. 
 
 On the merits, he gave a short sketch of the causes which 
 gave rise to the present trial, alluded to the clamour which 
 had been raised in the country the prejudices of the people, 
 the disgraceful publications in a newspaper called the 
 Military Register, and the pains which had been taken to 
 circulate these false and mischievous papers through Suther- 
 land and the adjacent counties. The general line of defence 
 he stated to be, That, as to the ist charge, of heath-burning, 
 this was done with the express consent of the tenantry, and, 
 as could be proved, to their positive advantage. As to 
 the removings, the defence was quite clear. The lands 
 mentioned in the indictment were advertised to be set 
 on the 5th of December, 1813, at the Inn of Golspie,
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. I"Jl 
 
 and Mr. Sellar was preferred as the highest offerer. 
 Before Whitsunday, 1814, he brought regular actions of 
 removing, and it was not until after he had obtained decrees 
 in these actions, charged the whole of the tenants to remove, 
 and taken out precepts of ejection against them, that they 
 were, in the month of June, actually removed from their 
 lawless and violent possession. These facts were established 
 by the decrees and precepts in the hands of the Clerk of 
 Court. As to the demolition of the houses, no houses 
 were pulled down till after the ejections had been completed, 
 and the property had become Mr. Sellar's. No furniture 
 was destroyed by him, or by his orders, no unnecessary 
 violence was used, nor any cruelty exercised, but everything 
 was done in due order of law, and without oppression of 
 any kind. The charges of culpable homicide were quite out 
 of the question, and Mr. Sellar defied the Public Prosecutor 
 to prove them. Upon the whole, it was not doubted, that 
 if truth and justice were to prevail over malice and con- 
 spiracy, Mr. Sellar would obtain an honourable and trium- 
 phant acquittal. 
 
 THE Advocate-Depute having here stated that he did not 
 mean to insist on any charges, excepting those which were 
 specially and articulately mentioned in the indictment, Lord 
 Pitmilly said : 
 
 " It would be improper for me to enter at present into 
 the origin of the prosecution, or the nature -of the defences. 
 Neither shall I say anything of the publications which have 
 been alluded to, except that they appear to be of the most 
 contemptible nature, and the only prejudice which I can 
 entertain is the other way; that is, against the cause 
 requiring such aid. I have no doubt as to the relevancy of 
 the libel." 
 
 12
 
 172 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 The Jury was composed of the following gentlemen 
 
 James Fraser, of Belladrum. 
 
 William Fraser, of Culbockie. 
 
 William Mackintosh, of Balnespcck. 
 
 Duncan Fraser, of Fingask. 
 
 Alexander Smith, merchant in Inverness. 
 
 John Gillanders, of Highfield. 
 
 William Reid, of Muirtown. 
 
 William Mackenzie, of Strathgarve. 
 
 George Falconer Mackenzie, of Allangrange. 
 
 Robert Uenham, tacksman of Dunglass. 
 
 George Kay, residing at Tannachy. 
 
 Bailie Robert Joss, merchant in Elgin. 
 
 John Barclay, writer, Elgin. 
 
 John Collie, farmer at Alvas. 
 
 John Smith, tacksman of Greens. 
 
 THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE WAS LED FOR 
 THE CROWN. 
 
 THE first witness proposed to be adduced was 
 
 Mr. Robert M'Kid, Sheriff-Substitute of Sutherland, to 
 whom it was OBJECTED, That the proposed witness has 
 evinced malice or partial council, or both, against the 
 panel, in so far, as he imprisoned him, without a complainer, 
 upon an illegal warrant, which the Court of Justiciary 
 quashed ex facie of itself, refused bail, struck him off 
 from the roll of procurators without a complainer, a trial, or 
 any previous notice, and afterwards wrote an inflammatory 
 and false statement of the pretended circumstances of this 
 case to the Marquis of Stafford, and stated to various
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 173 
 
 persons, that the panel ought to be hanged that Botany 
 Bay was too good for him ; and that they, though willing to 
 find bail for him, ought to have nothing to do with him. 
 
 ANSWERED by the Advocate-Depute : That if it be true 
 that the panel was imprisoned without a regular complaint, 
 it was only an irregularity in the proceedings ; and that the 
 Court of Justiciary stated, in their finding on the petition for 
 liberation, irregularity as a ground for allowing bail : That 
 the prisoner was committed for a capital offence ; and but 
 for their irregularity in point of form, he could not have been 
 bailed : That the mere circumstance of the panel being 
 struck off the roll of procurators, if true, is no. ground of 
 malice, and may have been justified in the circumstances 
 of the* case: That the relevancy of the statement sent 
 to the Marquis of Stafford, must depend on the expressions 
 it contains, of which the prosecutor is totally ignorant : 
 That the expressions condescended upon, do not infer such 
 deadly malice as to render the witness inadmissible : That 
 the only point on which the prosecutor proposes to examine 
 Mr. M'Kid, is as to the practice of Sutherland, with respect 
 to the rights of out-going tenants, to retain possession of 
 their barns until the term of removal from the arable 
 ground, as to which he conceives him the fittest person to 
 speak as Judge Ordinary of the bounds. 
 
 The Court having allowed a proof of the objections ; 
 
 Mr. M'Kid himself was examined in initialibus. Witness has no 
 malice, or ill-will against Mr. Sellar ; remembers that he imprisoned 
 that gentleman in the jail of Dornoch ; the warrant proceeded on a 
 petition from the tenants of Strathnaver to Lord Gower, transmitted to 
 witness by his Lordship ; there was no other complaint to witness 
 personally, before the warrant was granted. Witness refused to grant 
 bail, as Mr. Sellar was imprisoned for a capital crime. Witness 
 remembers having taken a precognition in Mr. Sellar's case ; he had 
 not the assistance of the Procurator-Fiscal, as at the time that gentle-
 
 174 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 man was from home. Witness removed Mr. Sellar from his office of 
 procurator before his own Court, without any complaint being made 
 against him. Witness never said that Mr. Sellar ought to go to Botany 
 Bay, or be hanged, or that this would be the case ; he never said to Mr. 
 Young, Lady Stafford's commissioner, that that gentlemen should have 
 nothing to do with Mr. Sellar ; Mr. Young never offered to give bail. 
 Witness wrote a letter to Lord Stafford, in regard to the crimes of 
 which Mr. Sellar was accused, after the precognition ; and which letter 
 being shewn to the witness, was identified. Witness never said, at 
 least has no recollection of saying to Mr. Ross, that if he could, he 
 would ruin Mr. Sellar ; he has seen the Military Register, but has no 
 connection with the paragraphs in that paper, relative to Mr. Sellar ; 
 he has seen the Crown Agent's letter to the Minister of Farr ; the 
 publishers of the Register did not get a copy of it from the witness. 
 Cross-examined Witness wrote to Mr. Cranstoun, the Sheriff-Depute, 
 on the 8th of May, 1815, when he committed Mr. Sellar. The letter 
 was then read, as follows : 
 
 TO LORD STAFFORD. 
 / 
 
 KIRKTOWN P. GOLSPIE, y)tk May, 1815. 
 
 MY LORD, I conceive it a duty I owe to your Lordship, to address 
 you upon the present occasion, and a more distressing task I have 
 seldom had to perform. 
 
 Your Lordship knows, that in summer last, an humble petition, 
 subscribed by a number of tenants on Mr. Sellar's sheep farm in Farr 
 and Kildonan, was presented to Lady Stafford, complaining of various 
 acts of injury, cruelty, and oppression, alleged to have been committed 
 upon their persons and property, by Mr. Sellar, in the spring and 
 summer of that year. 
 
 To this complaint, her Ladyship, upon the 22nd of July last, was 
 graciously pleased to return an answer in writing. In it, her Ladyship, 
 with her usual candour and justice, with much propriety observes, 
 " That if any person on the estate shall receive any illegal treatment, 
 she will never consider it as hostile to her, if they have recourse to legal 
 redress, as the most secure way to receive the justice which she always 
 desires they should have on every occasion ". Her Ladyship also 
 intimates, "That she had communicated the complaint to Mr. Sellar, 
 that he may make proper enquiry and answer to her ". 
 
 It would appear, however, that Mr. Sellar still refused, or delayed 
 to afford that redress to the removed tenants, to which they conceived
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 175 
 
 themselves entitled, which emboldened them to approach Earl Gower 
 with a complaint, similar to the one they had presented to Lady 
 Stafford. 
 
 To this complaint his Lordship graciously condescended, under date 
 8th February last, to return such an answer as might have been expected 
 from his Lordship. His Lordship says, that he has communicated the 
 contents to your Lordship and Lady Stafford, who, as his Lordship 
 nobly expresses himself, ' ' are desirous, that the tenants should know, 
 that it is always their wish that justice should be impartially adminis- 
 tered ". His Lordship then adds, that he has sent the petition, with 
 directions to Mr. Young, that proper steps should be taken for laying 
 the business before the Sheriff-Depute ; and that the petitioners would 
 therefore be assisted by Mr. Young, if they desired it, in having the 
 precognition taken before the Sheriff-Depute, according to their 
 petition. 
 
 Soon after receipt of Earl Gower's letter, it would appear that a copy 
 of the petition, with his Lordship's answer, had been transmitted to the 
 Sheriff-Depute by the tenants. Mr. Cranstoun, in answer, upon 3Oth 
 March last, says, "that if the tenants mean to take a precognition 
 immediately, it will proceed before the Sheriff-Substitute, as my 
 engagements will not permit me to be in Sutherland until the month of 
 July." 
 
 In consequence of these proceedings, of an express injunction from 
 his Majesty's Advocate-Depute, and a similar one from the Sheriff- 
 Depute, I was compelled to enter upon an investigation of the 
 complaints. 
 
 With this view I was induced to go into Strathnaver, where, at 
 considerable personal inconvenience and expense, and with much patient 
 perseverance, I examined about forty evidences upon the allegations 
 stated in the tenants' petition ; and it is with the deepest regret I have 
 to inform your Lordship, that a more numerous catalogue of crimes, 
 perpetrated by an individual, has seldom disgraced any country, or 
 sullied the pages of a precognition in Scotland ! ! ! 
 
 This being the case, the laws of the country imperiously call upon me 
 to order Mr. Sellar to be arrested and incarcerated, in order for trial, 
 and before this reaches your Lordship, this preparatory legal step must 
 be put in execution. 
 
 No person can more sincerely regret the cause nor more feelingly 
 lament the effect, than I do ; but your Lordship knows well, and as 
 Earl Gower very properly observed, "Justice should be impartially 
 administered ".
 
 176 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 I have, in confidence, stated verbally to Mr. Young my fears upon 
 this distressing subject, and I now take the liberty of stating my senti- 
 ments also to your Lordship, in confidence. 
 
 The crimes of which Mr. Sellar stands accused, are : 
 
 1. Wilful fire-raising ; by having set on fire, and reduced to ashes a 
 poor man's whole premises, including dwelling-house, barn, kiln, and 
 sheep cot, attended with most aggravated circumstances of cruelty, if 
 not murder ! ! ! 
 
 2. Throwing down and demolishing a mill, also a capital crime. 
 
 3. Setting fire to and burning the tenant's heath pasture, before the 
 legal term of removal. 
 
 4. Throwing down and demolishing houses, whereby the lives of 
 sundry aged and bed-ridden persons were endangered, if not actually 
 lost! 
 
 5. Throwing down and demolishing barns, kilns, sheep cots, &c., to 
 the great hurt and prejudice of the owners. 
 
 6. Innumerable other charges of lesser importance swell the list. 
 
 I subjoin a copy of Mr. Cranstoun's last letter to me upon this subject, 
 for your lordship's information, and have the honour to be, &c. 
 
 (Signed) ROBx. M'KID. 
 
 (LETTER SUBJOINED.) 
 
 "EDINBURGH, \$th May, 1815. 
 
 " I am extremely sorry that you have so disagreeable a duty to per- 
 form, and would willingly have relieved you of it, if the commencement 
 of the Session had not rendered my presence in Edinburgh indispens- 
 able. I feel the embarrassing nature of your situation, but am confident 
 that you will extricate yourself with your usual ability and good sense. 
 
 " Proceed with the precognition, then take Sellar's declaration, and 
 if there is ground for a criminal proceeding, commit afterwards," 
 &c., &c. 
 
 The following witnesses were then called in further 
 evidence of the objections. 
 
 1st, Mr. Hugh Ross, was Procurator-Fiscal for Sutherland in 1815; 
 knows Mr. M'Kid ; conversed with him in July, 1813, about Mr. Sellar ; 
 M 'Kid repeatedly said, or the witness inferred, that he should be happy 
 to have it in his power to injure Mr. Sellar if he could ; witness warned 
 Mr. Sellar of this. Cross examined. Cannot swear to the specific
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 177 
 
 words ; cannot mention the species of injury intended. Witness had 
 never any dispute or difference with M 'Kid. 
 
 and, William Young, Esq. Witness remembers when Mr. Sellar was 
 imprisoned ; went to Mr. M 'Kid to offer bail ; M'Kid refused, and said the 
 crime was not bailable ; was advised by him to have as little to do with 
 Mr. Sellar as possible. Witness asked him his opinion as to what would 
 happen to Mr. Sellar, to which Mr. M'Kid answered, I am sorry to say, 
 if he is not hanged, he will certainly go to Botany Bay. 
 
 Mr. Cockburn then addressed the Court very forcibly in support of 
 the objection ; Mr. Urummond answered, and Mr. Gordon replied. 
 Lord Pitmilly went over the grounds of objection, and the Court pro- 
 nounced the following interlocutor : " Lord Pitmilly having heard the 
 evidence in support of the objection, and having likewise heard the 
 counsel for the parties on the import thereof, repels the objection, and 
 allows the evidence of Robert M'Kid to be taken cum nofa, recom- 
 mending it, however, to the Advocate-Depute to pass from the evidence 
 of the witness in the circumstances of the case. " 
 
 The Advocate-Depute, in respect of the recommendation of the Court, 
 then declared that he passed from the evidence of Mr. M 'Kid. 
 
 Mr. Ross, Sheriff-Substitute of Ross-shire, was then sworn as inter- 
 preter, many of the witnesses being unable to speak English, and the 
 following persons were adduced. 
 
 3rd, William Chisholm, residing in Badinloskin, sworn and examined 
 on the part of the panel in initialibus. Witness promised, two years 
 ago, to contribute part of the legal expenses to be incurred in bringing 
 Mr. Sellar before the Circuit Court, or the Criminal Court in Edin- 
 burgh. Witness's wife, Henrietta M 'Kay, also promised to contribute. 
 Examined in causa, on the part of the Crown : Witness remembers, 
 that in June, 1814, Mr. Sellar, in company with 20 men, besides four 
 Sheriff-officers, came to Badinloskin, pulled down, and set on fire the 
 house and barns ; some corn was also burnt, and three twenty-shilling 
 notes were consumed. This happened a little after ten on a Monday 
 morning. Witness's mother-in-law was in the midst of the fire, and no 
 person would dare to take her out till his sister-in-law, Janet M 'Kay 
 came. His mother-in-law was 100 years old, and confined to bed from 
 her age, but was not sickly. Sellar did not come up till about an hour 
 after the arrival of the officers, and when he arrived, witness heard him 
 desire the tenants to carry the old woman out to a sheep cot. Witness 
 speaks no English, but understands it a little. The house was not set
 
 178 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 on fire till Sellar came up, and he gave instructions to put fire to it 
 immediately. Sellar himself was active in putting sticks on the fire. 
 One of the men, George M 'Leod, was ordered by Sellar to take out the 
 old woman ; but he said he would not attempt it, even though they 
 should take off his coat, as he would not be accessary to murder. 
 Sellar desired the woman to be taken out, although she should not live 
 one hour after. It was in about two minutes after this that witness's 
 sister-in-law came and took out the old woman. The blankets in which 
 she was wrapt were burnt, and the bed was going on fire before she was 
 taken out. She said. "God receive my soul ; what fire is this about 
 me ?" and never spoke a word more. At the time she said this she was 
 in bed ; lived till the following Sunday, till which time she remained 
 insensible. Before this period she was sensible enough, and could 
 speak rationally. After she was taken out, the bed and clothes were 
 burnt. She was carried to a small sheep cot, covered with turf. It 
 had no door or window, was 6 feet in length, and 5 in width ; could 
 only hold a small horse. The woman was not personally injured by the 
 fire, but the alarm and removal caused her death. The three notes, 
 which were lost, and one shilling, were in a chest, of which witness's 
 wife had the key ; she was not at home at this time, but returned in the 
 evening. Interrogated, Why they did not remove the furniture and 
 woman in the hour that intervened before Mr. Sellar came ? Witness 
 answered, because he was prevailed on not to do so. in expectation that 
 Mr. Sellar would not remove them when he came. The furniture was 
 burned, and the growing corn, which was destroyed, was in extent 
 equal to what would have been 12 sheaves in harvest, and the fire was 
 communicated to it from the house. There was wind, and it burned 
 with extreme vehemence. The timber of the house, being of moss fir, 
 belonged to the witness. The wood was thrown down before it was 
 set fire to, and Sellar said, "There's a bonfire for you". By the 
 practice of the country, the outgoing tenant is entitled to carry away 
 the timber belonging to the house, unless the incoming tenant pays for 
 it. Immediately after the fire, Mr. Sellar gave witness three shillings, 
 but 20 would not have been sufficient compensation. Sellar did not 
 tell him that this money was given for the wood. Robert M 'Donald 
 also gave him other three shillings from Mr. Sellar, as he said, for the 
 timber, which witness took, saying it was no compensation the wood 
 and workmanship of the house, independent of the furniture, was worth 
 ,20. The house was made of feal and stone. The kiln was not burnt, 
 nor the sheep cot. The kiln was loo yards from the house, but the 
 house, barn, and byre, were close to each other ; there were altogether
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 179 
 
 sixteen couples in the house and byre, which were under the same roof. 
 Witness has lived there nine years against next Whitsunday. He took 
 the house from Mr. Falconer, then Lady Sutherland's factor, and at 
 first paid a rent of five shillings, but latterly he paid five guineas. He 
 held of the sub-tenants, and the five guineas were paid to James 
 Gordon, who collected for behoof of the rest. Cross-examined 
 Witness was first a smith, then a tinker. The ^3 belonged to the old 
 woman, and was intended to buy whisky to be used at her interment 
 The chest was usually locked, his wife had the key, and some money of 
 hers was in the chest. Witness and some of his neighbours saw the 
 money that day, before his wife went from home, which was about 
 seven o'clock in the morning, on the Sunday before Sellar intimated 
 that witness would be ejected ; and it was about six o'clock of the 
 morning of the ejection that he went to see that the money was in the 
 chest, in case it should be destroyed by the fire, which he expected. 
 
 4th, Henrietta M 'Kay, wife of the preceding witness, left Badinlos- 
 kin early in the morning of the ejection from that place, and returned a 
 little after 12 o'clock noon ; when she came within a mile's distance of 
 the house, saw it going on fire, and she fell down, being afraid that her 
 mother was burnt. She was very weak and came slowly home, and 
 said she would complain of nothing if no lives were lost. One of the 
 children met her, and told her that her mother was alive. She found 
 her mother speechless in a small house, without a door ; part of the 
 roof of which was spoiled. The house was not a sheep cot, but kept for 
 a small horse. Her mother never spoke to her, and died on Saturday 
 thereafter, the fifth day, in the same small house. The blanket in which 
 she had been wrapt was burnt in two or three places. She was weak and 
 sickly, but spoke to those about her that morning before witness left 
 her, and was 92 years of age. The chief part of the furniture had been 
 removed ; no chest whatever was burnt. There were three pounds in 
 the house, but whether they were burnt or taken away, the witness 
 knows not. These three notes were deposited by her six weeks before 
 in a hole in the wall, and there was a shilling, which had been picked 
 up by one of the hens. Witness never looked whether the three pounds 
 remained, as she was under no apprehension about it, no person know- 
 ing it was there. She had no key that day, and there was no lock or 
 key for any chest in the house. 
 
 5th, John M'Kay, in Achafrish of Rossal, remembers going to Badin- 
 loskin, a little past II o'clock on the day of the ejection ; Sellar came 
 up a little past 12 o'clock ; the officers having been there before him,
 
 l8o THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 but after the witness ; he had no watch. Witness came there, being 
 told by Mr. Sellar, at Auchness meeting-house, to meet him there, for 
 the purpose of removing William Chisholm, and that one out of every 
 house of the tenants of Rossal must come. Witness said there was a 
 woman lying sick in the house who could not be removed, Sellar said 
 that she must be taken away. Witness saw the old woman next day, and 
 her daughter speaking to her, before the ejection, but the old woman 
 could make no answer ; witness did not know what her daughter said, 
 but she asked her something or another ; this was before Sellair came. 
 He heard the sound of her voice, when they were taking her out ; she 
 said, "O teine," or "O the fire!" Mr. Sellar and John Burns came 
 together, and the tenants of Rossal met them at a small house near 
 Chisholm's, where they remained in conversation for a good while. 
 The tenants were for keeping the house whole, but Sellar sent for the 
 officer, and said, "put fire to the house immediately". Fire was put not 
 long, after, and then the woman's daughter brought her out ; the house 
 was burning, before the woman was brought out. There was a heck 
 lying near the house, and Sellar said, there is a nice thing for carrying 
 out the woman ; but they were not for meddling with her at all, as she 
 was so low in body. This conversation about the heck took place before 
 the fire was- actually put to the house, but after it was ordered. The 
 house to which the woman was removed was a small place, not fit for a 
 person to live in. Cross examined The officers came after eleven 
 o'clock, and were there about an hour before Sellar arrived ; there was 
 a byre adjoining to the house, and under the same roof, and Margaret 
 M'Kay was in the byre when the witness came, and it was from the byre 
 that the woman was removed. There was no calf in the byre ; witness 
 was there almost half-an-hour before the men had arrived ; he was in 
 the house, and saw the woman lying in bed in the byre. Witness is a 
 tenant of Mr. Sellar, but has been warned out. Sellar was about 50 
 yards distant when he ordered the house to be set fire to ;. Margaret 
 M'Kay was quite sensible before the ejection ; she used to lie in the 
 other end of the house, but had been removed to the byre. There was 
 a fire in the byre, but no fire-place. By the Court On the Monday 
 before, and before orders were given to put fire to the house, witness and 
 most of the tenants remonstrated against the removal of the old woman ; 
 but Sellar said she must go. Witness does not know whether any 
 furniture was destroyed, but saw a ridge of growing corn, about two 
 inches in height, blackened. 
 
 6th, Hugh M'Beath, at Kenakyle. Witness remembers that some 
 heather, belonging to him, was burnt by John M'Kay, Mr. Sellar's
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. l8l 
 
 shepherd, and another man ; but he was not present, being at his 
 mother's funeral ; he saw no houses burnt. It is the practice in Suther- 
 land for the outgoing tenant to retain his barns till he shall thresh out 
 his crop. Witness had one barn ; his farm was Rhimsdale. Witness's 
 father died about ten days after the houses were pulled down ; his 
 father was in a corner of the house, and was left there till he died ; the 
 whole house was taken down, except a small space above his father's 
 bed. Witness began to pull down the house himself, hearing that the 
 party were pulling down the other houses, and destroying the wood. 
 Witness took off the divots, and left the couples and the side trees 
 standing, as he was obliged to go away to his good-mother's burial, and 
 did not return for four days. On his return he found the couples cut 
 with an axe, and his father in the house. There was a clay partition 
 standing between his father and the weather, but this was not entire, 
 and the wind was coming in. Witness cannot say that this occasioned 
 the state in which he found his father ; witness went to Langdale on the 
 Saturday, before the houses were pulled down, to request, that Mr. 
 Sellar would allow his father to remain as he was weak and lying ill in bed. 
 Mr. Sellar refused, and said that they must remove by Tuesday or 
 Wednesday well or ill. His words were, "De'ila aneofthem shall 
 remain". Witness's father-in-law said to Sellar, "That is rather 
 cruel" ; to which he rejoined, " It's no business of yours ". Sellar then 
 asked his name, and put it down in his pocket-book, to look after him. 
 Cross-examined Did not see Sellar when they were pulling down the 
 house. Witness's father was in bed long before this, as he had a large 
 sore on his eye, which had begun five years before. 
 
 yth, George Ross, in Skelpick, saw Barbara M 'Kay's house pulled 
 down, but does not know whether she had a barn ; knows nothing 
 about her cattle ; the house was pulled down by the Sheriff-officer and 
 party. 
 
 8th, James M'Kay, in Skale, knows Donald M'Kay in Rhiloisk, 
 who was turned out of, or left his house, in June, 1814 ; saw him sitting 
 or lying in the woods sometime after this. There was no house in 
 which he could find shelter, as they were all pulled down, except the 
 one occupied by Mr. Sellar's shepherd. Witness proposed to take 
 Donald to his house, but he gave him no answer. Donald was infirm 
 before this, by reason of old age. There were houses on the other side 
 of the river Naver, but witness does not know if Donald M'Kay was 
 able to go over. The nearest house was about an English mile distant,
 
 1 82 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 but witness does not know whether the man could go or not. Witness's 
 furniture had not been carried off that day, but lay in front of the house ; 
 he does not know whether Donald M'Kay was turned out or not. 
 Witness had a barn which was broken down ; he was told that it was 
 done by Sellar's party, but he did not see this done ; he lost part of his 
 crop from the want of his barn, but he does not know how much ; 
 the greatest part was threshed in the open air, and part of it was 
 destroyed by cattle. There was only one barn left for the three tenants 
 in Skale, and they had not room in the barn. William Gordon and 
 Hugh Grant also sustained loss for want of their barns. There was a 
 kiln also pulled down, but witness did not see this done ; the kiln was 
 common to all the tenants ; considerable inconvenience arose from the 
 want of it ; they were obliged to carry their grain over the river to a 
 kiln on the other side. Gordon had two barns ; one was pulled down 
 one was allowed to stand. The outgoing tenant, by the custom of 
 the country, had the use of the kiln and barn till he manufactured his 
 waygoing crop. Cross-examined The quantity of land in Skale 
 belonging to the witness, was adequate to the sowing of three bolls of 
 black oats, half a boll of barley, and a portion of potatoes ; the rent 
 was 305. ; William Gordon had more crop ; tenants were thirled to the 
 mill of Langdale. 
 
 gth, William Gordon, in Bettyhill ; three of his barns were destroyed 
 in June, 1814 ; witness thereby suffered damage. By the custom of the 
 country, the outgoing tenant keeps the barns till he threshes out his 
 crop, except the hay barn. The loss sustained by the witness was 
 occasioned by the want of his barns, and by the neighbours using the 
 one that was left ; there was only one barn left to five tenants ; witness 
 was at a distance in Caithness ; witness's crop was damaged by sheep 
 breaking into his yard. Cross-examined The tenants in Bettyhill were 
 thirled to the mill of Langdale, and had nearly as much meal in the 
 year 1814 as in any other year. Witness paid about that time nearly $ 
 of rent, and the other tenants about 2 los. ; the new allotments were 
 ready for the people some days before the ejections took place, and the 
 tenants were to be allowed to remain till the allotments were ready. 
 
 loth, John Gordon, at Skelpick, examined in initialibus on the part 
 of the panel. Witness subscribed to bring Mr. Sellar to trial ; was 
 collector at a meeting assembled to carry on the subscription, and every 
 body there paid something. Money was paid into the hands of the 
 witness ; he spent it in going to Caithness to employ Mr. Henderson, a 
 man of business, for the purpose of prosecuting Mr. Sellar. Examined
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 183 
 
 in causa for the Crown : The barns in Rhimsdale were pulled down ; 
 only one barn was left ; it is not the custom to remove the outgoing 
 tenant from the barns ; Mr. Sellar and his party destroyed them. Sellar 
 said he would give the people time to cut down the roofs, so that the 
 wood might be of more use to them. Witness lost the whole of his 
 crop. It is the custom to build the corn in small ricks and enclose it in 
 a yard. The sheep destroyed the corn, the fence being taken down by 
 the shepherds for fire wood, and thus the sheep got in ; the straw 
 belonged to Mr. Sellar as incoming tenant. 
 
 nth, Alexander Manson, in Skale ; witness knows that it is the 
 custom for the tenants in Sutherland to keep their barns till their crop 
 be manufactured. He knows that some of the barns in Rhiphail were 
 destroyed by Mr. Sellar's orders and by his party ; he had some con- 
 versation with him about the barns, and Sellar said that they were his 
 own, and he might do with them what he pleased. According to the 
 rule of the country, the tenants put their furniture into the barns, but 
 this was ordered out by Mr. Sellar. Witness had no barn in Rhiphail. 
 There were nine tenants in Rhiphail and nine barns, three of these barns 
 were left and six were taken down. There was land in this place equal 
 to bear about 24 bolls sowing ; the tenants suffered loss in their crop, 
 from the want of their barns ; the sheep injured it ; the crop would have 
 been in the barns, if they had not been taken down. 
 
 1 2th, John M'Kay, in Rhinovie, examined in initialibus. He never 
 subscribed any money for the purpose of prosecuting Mr. Sellar, but he 
 collected some, and went into Caithness for the purpose of soliciting 
 subscriptions. He does not remember hearing any part of the Military 
 Register read to him, but knows that a letter was sent to Mr. Cranstoun, 
 requesting that he would bring Mr. Sellar to justice. This witness 
 having been objected to, on the ground of undue and busy interference 
 and agency ; Lord Pitmilly said. No agency has been proved, and no 
 prosecution has taken place in consequence of the subscription which had 
 been raised ; I therefore cannot reject this witness as inadmissable ; but 
 the Jury have heard the objection, and will give what credit to the 
 witness they think he deserves. 
 
 John M'Kay was then examined in causa : There were ten tenants in 
 Ravigill, of whom he was one ; by the custom in Sutherland, the out- 
 going tenant retains his barn till he gets his crop threshed. There were 
 ten barns in Ravigill ; eight were taken down, two left ; and there were 
 three kilns, two of which were taken down and one left ; the custom 
 is the same as to the kilns. The tenants lost a good deal of
 
 184 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 their crop in consequence, because they were in the habit of 
 putting most of it into the barns. Cross-examined These barns 
 were of feal and stone, and had some holes in them by way of windows 
 and doors ; he is certain there were not five barns left. Witness took 
 down his barn himself, as he preferred doing this to allowing Mr. Sellar 
 take it down, which he said he would do, if not done by witness. On 
 Saturday he heard of the allotments for the tenants being ready, and 
 was to remove on the Tuesday, as Mr. Sellar would allow him to 
 remain no longer. Witness did not leave his house till it was taken 
 down on Thursday, on which day his wife, who was unwell, fell 
 through the roof of the house. At this time Mr. Sellar was not present ; 
 when witness saw him with the party, he thought that the law of the 
 country was changed. 
 
 1 3th, Murdo M'Kay, in Rhinovie : The barn, house, and kiln in 
 Ravigill, belonging to the witness were thrown down in June, 1815 ; 
 there were eight or nine barns, and as many houses demolished in Ravi- 
 gill ; one kiln and two barns were left at desire of Mr. Sellar. John 
 M'Kay, Hugh M'Kay, Charles Gordon, ^Adam M'Kay, Donald 
 M'Kay, as well as the witness, sustained loss in their crops, in conse- 
 quence of the want of their barns. By the custom of the country, 
 these bams belong to the outgoing tenant till he thresh out his crop. 
 
 Some other witnesses were called, but rejected in respect that they 
 were erroneously described in the list served on the panel. 
 
 I4th, The Reverend David M'Kenzie, minister of Farr, identified the 
 notice given to the tenants in Strathnaver, at the set in December, 
 1813, founded on in the indictment. Witness explained it to the people 
 in Gaelic. He was employed by William Gordon to write Mr. Young 
 about the allotments for the tenantry, but does not know whether this 
 was before or after the term day. Mr. Sellar was in company with the 
 witness in the house of Robert Gordon of Langdale ; they talked of the 
 tenants, and Mr. Sellar simply observed they were dilatory in removing, 
 to which the witness rejoined that the allotments were not ready on the 
 very day of Whitsunday, and this prevented them from removing. 
 
 1 5th, William Young, Esq., identified the notice to the tenants in 
 Strathnaver, which was explained to the people, at the set in Decem- 
 ber, 1813, in Gaelic, by the preceding witness. It was the intention of 
 the witness to have had the allotments ready early in spring, as 
 mentioned in the notice, but the plan of proceeding is this : The number 
 of the tenants to be removed is first ascertained before the allotments are
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 185 
 
 laid off, and then a land-surveyor is employed to examine the ground. 
 Accordingly, a surveyor arrived about the aoth of April, and he intended 
 immediately to set out for Strathnaver, but that gentleman received a 
 letter, stating that his wife was unwell, and requesting that he would 
 return home ; to this the witness consented, and the surveyor was to 
 come back to Sutherland as soon as he could. On the 2oth of May he 
 did return, and went to Strathnaver. He was employed till the 3 1st of 
 May, in laying off the allotments. By the 4th of June every thing was 
 ready for the reception of the people, and between the 3ist of May and 
 that day, they were all present, and every man informed of his allot- 
 ment. The houses were to be built by the tenants themselves, but there 
 were barns to which the people might have removed if they chose, and 
 these barns were at least as good as the houses which they left. Cross- 
 examined Witness knows of no tenant who got notice to remove who 
 was disappointed. There were twenty-seven removed at Whitsunday, 
 1814, and there were allotments for every person, and 123 barns and 
 byres into which the people might have gone. Some of them, particu- 
 larly Hugh Grant, George M'Leod, and John M'Kay refused allotments, 
 and Chisholm, the tinker, got none, because, for two years back com- 
 plaints had been made against him as a worthless character. By the 
 Court The new allotments were so near the places from which the 
 tenants were removed, that they might easily have carried away their 
 corn ; but they had no right to take away the straw, as it belonged to 
 the incoming tenant. 
 
 Here the notice to the tenants in Strathnaver was read by the clerk, 
 as follows : 
 
 " NOTICE is hereby given to the tenants of Strathnaver, and others 
 on the old estate of Sutherland, whose farms are to be set at Golspie 
 this day. 
 
 "That Lord and Lady Stafford have directed that all the grounds 
 from Curnachy on the north, and Dunvieddan on the south side of the 
 river, down to its mouth, including Swordly and Kirktomy, with a 
 sufficient quantity of pasture, is to be lotted out among them, and in 
 which every person of good character will be accommodated. 
 
 ' ' And such of the tenants on both sides the water of Brora as may be 
 dispossessed, will also get allotments on the south or north sides of the 
 water of Brora, which includes Knockarthur, Scotlary, and others down 
 to Ledmore plantation on the south, and Askorlmore, Askorlbeag, and 
 other low lands on the north side of the Brora water ; and these lands
 
 1 86 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 will be lottd off early in spring, so that the tenants may enter to 
 possession at Whitsunday first. 
 
 (Signed) "WILLIAM YOUNG." 
 
 GOLSPIE INN, > 
 Dec. 5, 1813. J 
 
 GOLSPIE INN, December 15, 1813 
 
 The within, after having been read by Mr. Young, in presence of the 
 people, was explained to them, in Gaelic, by me. 
 
 (Signed) DAVID M'KENZIE. 
 
 The Counsel for Mr. Sellar having admitted that the declaration by 
 that gentleman, in presence of the Sheriff-Substitute, was freely and 
 voluntarily emitted, it was read as follows : 
 
 At Dornoch, the ^\st day of May, 1815, and within the Ordinary Court- 
 Room there, 
 
 In presence of ROBERT M'KiD, Esq., Sheriff-Substitute of the Shire of 
 Sutherland. 
 
 Compeared Mr. Patrick Sellar, present prisoner in the tolbooth of 
 Dornoch, who being judicially examined and interrogated, declares, 
 That, for about four years and a half past the declarant has acted as 
 under factor for the Marquis and Marchioness of Stafford ;* that is, the 
 declarant has a factory for collection of the rents, and for carrying 
 into effect the arrangements made by William Young, Esq., of Inver- 
 ugie, upon the noble proprietors' estate in Sutherland, and particularly 
 the department of outputting and inputting tenants, in fulfilment of such 
 arrangements. That the declarant's place of residence is at Culmaily, 
 in the parish of Golspie, and shire aforesaid. Declares, That he knows 
 a set of certain parts of his constitutents' lands were made at Golspie, 
 upon the I5th day of December, 1813, in consequence of previous ad- 
 vertisements ; that the declarant was present at the said set, at least 
 during the greater part of the time, and he knows that a paper was read 
 by Mr. Young to those assembled upon the occasion, and also explained 
 in the Gaelic language by Mr. David M'Kenzie. That the import of 
 the said paper was, that Mr. Young was to lay off allotments in the 
 lower part of the country for the removed tenants. That about the 
 beginning of harvest, 1813, the declarant, who farms about 400 arable 
 
 * N.B. This must have crept in by mistake. Mr. Sellar is factor, and never was 
 "under factor over Lady Stafford's estates".
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 187- 
 
 acres in the low country, in the parish of Golspie, mentioned to his 
 constituents, that it would be of much importance to him to possess a 
 pasturage farm to be wrought in connection with it. That Lord and 
 Lady Stafford directed the declarant to offer at the set for any farm he 
 chose a few pounds beyond the highest offerer ; and they directed Mr. 
 Young, on his so offering, to prefer him. That the declarant 
 accordingly made offer for the farms of Rhiloisk and Rossal, near the 
 sources of the rivers Naver and the Helmsdale, in the parishes of 
 Kildonan and Farr. That this farm was offered for by the declarant 
 over the previous biddings of Mr. John Paterson in Sandside, and was 
 taken out by the declarant on the arrangement fixed by his constituents. 
 That it comprehended the places of Rhiloisk, Rossal, Rhiphail, Ravi- 
 gjll, Rhimsdale, Garvault, and Truderskaig. That Mr. Young asked 
 the declarant, after the farm had been set to him, if he would allow any 
 of the people to remain for a season upon the grounds. That the 
 declarant readily answered he would, and he informed the people who 
 were present at the inn, that he would allow as many of them remain 
 on the farm for one year as he possibly could. That it was not in his 
 power then to specify who were to remain, and who were to be 
 removed into allotments, but he would meet them at the counting, and 
 be able to explain fully to them upon that occasion. That the counting 
 happened on the I5th of January, 1814, at the house of John Turnbull, 
 shepherd in Suisgill, in the parish of Kildonan ; and the declarant, in 
 consequence of a previous notice to the inhabitants to meet him and pay 
 the rents, met, among others, the people on his own farm, and he 
 selected those who should remain, made a bargain with them, as he 
 believes, rather under a fair proportion of his average rent on the 
 duration of his lease ; and he explained, that to the remainder of the 
 ground, he must have access at the Whitsunday following, as his flocks 
 and shepherds would then be in preparation. That at the counting, 
 the declarant expressed a wish that the tenantry would allow him to 
 burn part of the heath in the ensuing spring : lie has always understood, 
 that after the month of March comes in, the old heath is of very little 
 use until burnt. That the Alpine herbage, mixed among the heath, 
 comes up in a few days after burning ; and in the latter end of March, 
 April, and May, is, after burning, a most valuable pasturage. That 
 the declarant, therefore, conceived, and he believes the people were 
 of the same opinion, that the allowance of burning part of the heath 
 was no great favour, and they readily consented to it. That the 
 declarant believes that John Dryden, his principal shepherd, was 
 present upon this occasion; and he understands that Dryden, in the 
 
 13
 
 1 88 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 month of March ensuing, burnt several parts of the muir pasturage 
 belonging to the farm. Declares, that the declarant was not personally 
 on the farm from the said month of December until the term of Whit- 
 sunday ; that he perambulated a considerable part of the farm 
 after the Whitsunday, along with Dryden, who pointed out spots 
 that he had burnt, and it was then full of herbage, and the 
 inhabitants' cattle and horses were pasturing upon it ; some hundreds of 
 cattle and horses being kept by the tenants on the declarant's ground 
 from the said term of Whitsunday up to the time when possession was 
 got by the strength of the Sheriff's warrant. Interrogated, Whether 
 the declarant gave orders, either to the said John Dryden or to John 
 M'Kay, another of his shepherds, to burn the spots of heather before 
 declared to? Declares, in answer, that John M'Kay was a young lad 
 under the direction of Dryden ; and the declarant rather thinks that he 
 had no conversation with him on the subject ; that if Dryden asked the 
 declarant any questions on the subject, he certainly must have told him 
 to burn what was proper, as the inhabitants had already consented to 
 the measure ; and he knows it was no injury, but a benefit to them ; 
 and it was besides a small portion of the flows that was necessary to be 
 burnt for the purpose of the shepherds. That although the declarant 
 has every wish to answer explicitly to each interrogatory, he really can- 
 not say that he recollects of any conversation he had with Dryden on 
 the subject ; but this he does frankly allow, that in so far as Dryden 
 was the declarant's servant, the declarant is answerable for any damage 
 he might thereby have done the people, if they are entitled to any 
 damages. Declares, that he knows that regular processes of removing 
 were brought at the instance of the proprietors against all the principal 
 tenants ; and the conclusions of the libels were, that the defenders should 
 " compear before the Sheriff-depute, &c., on the i8th March and 4th 
 April, to hear and see themselves decerned and ordained, by decreet and 
 sentence of the Sheriff-depute or his substitute, to flit and remove them- 
 selves, wives, bairns, families, servants, sub-tenants, cottars, dependents, 
 and whole goods and gear, forth and from the possession of the said 
 lands and others, at the term of removal after mentioned, viz., from 
 the houses, gardens, grass, and mills, at the term of Whitsunday next, 
 1814, and from the arable lands under crop at the separation of crop 
 1814 from the ground:" That the declarant, as agent for the pursuers, 
 called the actions regularly in court, and obtained decreet of removing 
 in terms of the libels. That in the beginning of the month of May the 
 declarant extracted the decreets, and caused charge the defenders in 
 terms of the decreets ; that he thereafter obtained precepts of ejection,
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 189 
 
 and after waiting till about three weeks after the term, he was under the 
 unpleasant necessity of putting the warrants into the hands of the officers 
 of court, and employing them to make the premisses void and redd. 
 And being asked who were the officers and party employed upon this 
 occasion? Declares that he does not pointedly remember, but he 
 believes they were Alexander Sutherland, in Backies, and Alexander 
 M'Kenzie, Sheriff-officer in Rogart, and also Kenneth Murray, in Iron- 
 hill, as he thinks : Declares, That he knows that the officers, under 
 these warrants, made void and redd, Rhiloisk, Rhiphail, Ravigill, 
 Rhimsdale, and part of Garvault ; the four former places were there- 
 after in the declarant's occupation, and the last in the occupation of 
 Roderick M 'Kay, whom the declarant left there, as he thought him the 
 most decent man in it ; and it was necessary, as he had the rent of it to 
 pay at Martinmas, that he should be put into possession as near the term 
 of Whitsunday as the declarant could. That there was a small part of 
 Rhiloisk in the midst of a morass, occupied by a tinker, of the name of 
 Chisholm, and he also was ejected, to make room for the people of 
 Rossal and Truderskaig, in favour of whom the declarant had subset 
 that part, and he was ejected on the I3th of June, to the best of the 
 declarant's recollection. That all the people were removed, excepting 
 some persons in Rhimsdale, who were represented to have sickness in 
 their families, and some women in Ravigill. That it was the declarant's 
 intention that the tinker in the upper part of Rhiloisk should be com- 
 pletely removed from his premisses, as he was represented by the people 
 to the tieclarant, to be a vagrant, who had come there without any 
 authority. That he had married, and lived in family with a second 
 wife in the lifetime of the first, who had lately visited him, in company 
 with some other tinkers, and that he was reputed a thief. Declares, 
 That all the houses, with the exception of Rhiloisk House, now in the 
 declarant's occupation, consisted of birch couples and roof, intermixed 
 with a few posts of moss-fir filled up with turf. That at the removal of 
 the tenants, the birch and other natural wood in the houses, is the pro- 
 perty of the entering tenant, in respect they were cut in the natural 
 woods on the property of the Marquis and Marchioness of Stafford ; but 
 if he wish the moss-fir, he must pay a value for it by comprisement, 
 unless where the matter is regulated by a lease. That in all the other 
 cases of the removings above noticed, excepting that of the tinker and a 
 house in Rhimsdale, and another in Ravigill, that were necessary for the 
 temporary accommodation of the declarant's shepherds, the declarant, 
 the entering tenant, made the removing tenantry a present of the natural 
 wood in the houses they had lately occupied, and allowed them a fort-
 
 1 90 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 night, as he thinks, after the middle of June, for removing any part left 
 behind them at the period of the ejections. That a few of the sub- 
 tenants, who were to have entered to the place in the occupation of the 
 tinker, went out there on purpose to bring in the woman he lived with 
 into the Strath at the time of the ejection. That the declarant was not 
 present at the first part of the ejection, but he arrived there on his way 
 to the low country, in the afternoon ; and on his Teaching the place, he 
 found that the officers had already ejected the man's furniture, such as 
 it was, and that the house was nearly unroofed, but that there was 
 another small house fronting the east end of the dwelling-house ; that 
 it was untouched, and that the tinker's wife was employed removing 
 their things from the green into it. That the declarant mentioned to 
 the entering sub-tenants that they had better take the woman and her 
 family, and such furniture as was there, into the Strath with them, but 
 they informed him, that there was an aged person there who could not 
 then be removed such a distance ; that she was the mother of the 
 tinker's wife, and it was necessary that this woman should be left there 
 to assist her. Declares, that the declarant is not positive, but he under- 
 stands that the old woman had been removed by this time, by her 
 daughter, into the small house above mentioned, to be opposite the 
 east end of the dwelling-house ; and his reason for thinking so is, that 
 he did not see her at all, and the dwelling-house or hut was by this time 
 unroofed. That the declarant asked the tinker if he would make off 
 with himself, but he indicated that he would not do so ; and as he was 
 considered to be a lawless man, who would rebuild his house, and 
 settle again there, in the face of the Sheriff's decreet of removing, the 
 declarant thought it proper to purchase the moss-fir part ; and all the 
 timber being thus the property of the entering tenant, that he would 
 prevail on the sub-tenants above mentioned to remove it along with him: 
 That for the purpose of appreciating the moss timber, the officer's party 
 and people separated it from the other timber, and having valued it a 
 few shillings, the declarant paid the amount to the tinker before all 
 present, and the sub-tenants took a part of it. That there was a very 
 considerable part, however, which they left, and the declarant consider- 
 ing it to be his property ; ordered the party to collect it in the place, and 
 to burn it along with the parcel of turf which had been thrown off the 
 house, in the demolishing of it. And thereafter, the declarant proceeded 
 on his journey, leaving the tinker's family in the small house into which 
 they had removed. That the entering sub-tenants promised to the declarant 
 that they would remove the woman and her family into Strathnaver, 
 as soon as her mother might be better ; but the declarant has afterwards
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 1 91 
 
 heard, that the tinker presently set to work to find more timber, erected 
 a new hut equal to that which was demolished, and that he lives there 
 at this day ; that the name of the place, the declarant has heard, is 
 Badyloskin, and it is a pendicle of Rhiloisk. Interrogated, If the 
 declarant knows there was a kiln and bam at Badyloskin, and that they 
 were set fire to separately from the dwelling-house ? Declares, That 
 there was a turf hut opposite, nearly to the west end of the house ; that 
 the declarant supposes it may have been the man's barn ; that the moss- 
 fir was taken out of it, in like manner as out of the other house, and it 
 was valued over to, and paid for by the declarant. And thereafter the 
 wood of it was burnt ; but the declarant does not recollect if it was 
 mixed with the wood of the dwelling-house, or separately by itself. In- 
 terrogated, If he knows there was a small field of growing corn burnt at 
 the back of Chisholm's house, upon the occasion referred to ? Declares, 
 That he remembers perfectly there was a small field of corn near the 
 house, it might have been about a fourth-part of an acre and at that 
 season of the year, and in that climate, was at that time perhaps from 
 an inch and a half to three inches high. That it was not burnt upon 
 that occasion, nor was any corn burnt, to the declarant's knowledge. 
 Declares, that along the one side of this field, there was a small broken 
 fence of the moss turf. That the fire communicated for a yard or two 
 from the wood, along this fence, and the declarant assisted at putting it 
 out ; and it was extinguished. Interrogated, If the declarant knows, or 
 was informed by any person, that there were $ sterling in bank notes, 
 deposited in a hole in one of the gables of Chisholm's house, and that 
 they had been burnt along with the rest? Declares, That the de- 
 clarant knows that the wood was fairly separated from the house, 
 and the effects of the former occupants to all appearance fully re- 
 moved from the premises, before the comprisement of the timber, 
 and the burning of it, above declared to. That the declarant does 
 not believe that there was ten shillings worth of property of any 
 sort, either in or out of the house at any time. That the furniture 
 consisted of birch boughs, made rudely with an axe or knife, into 
 the form of stools, &c., and he apprehends there was no money in 
 it. That after the ignorant people had been stimulated by artful and 
 designing men to complain of oppression, the declarant heard that it was 
 reported by the tinker or his wife, that there had been money burnt in 
 the fire ; but he put no dependence on their veracity. Interrogated, If 
 he knows the name of William Chisholm was in any of the precepts of 
 ejection, which the Sheriff-officer had in his possession upon the occasion 
 before declared to ? Declares, That the officers were possessed of pre-
 
 192 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 cepts of ejection against the tenants of every place in Strathnaver. 
 That the declarant does not at present recollect if the name of William 
 Chisholm was in the precept or not ; but if it was not, then the names 
 of the principal tenants of the grounds were ; and to the best of the 
 declarant's recollection, it is a pendicle of Rhiloisk, on the wadset 
 of Langdale ; and all the tenants on the wadset were regularly warned 
 out, and their names contained in the precepts before declared to. 
 Interrogated, Whether the declarant had any conversation with 
 Chisholm at the Mission-house of Farr, called Achness, in presence of 
 Mr. Gordon of Langdale, and Mr. Gordon of Bracachy, upon the 
 Sunday immediately preceding the day on which the declarant went to 
 Chisholm's house ? Declares, That the declarant attended a Divine 
 worship at the Mission-house of Achness, on a Sunday preceding the 
 ejection of Chisholm ; That he was in company with the Mr. Gordons 
 above alluded to ; and being informed among others, by them that 
 Chisholm was of bad repute, he asked them to point him out among 
 the people. That on his being pointed out, the declarant intimated to 
 him, that he was not to be allowed to remain on the declarant's farm ; 
 and that the officers would certainly throw him out if he did not 
 peaceably remove of his own accord ; but he does not recollect that the 
 Mr. Gordons were present when he made this intimation, although it is 
 very possible they might have been so. Interrogated, If the declarant 
 ordered the officers and party to demolish a mill at Rhimsdale, upon 
 the occasion before declared to ? Declares, That the declarant 
 did not know that there had been any mill at Rhimsdale ; there is little 
 or no corn land near it, as it lies in the middle of a very wide hill ; but 
 his directions to the officers were, that they should lawfully eject the 
 tenants ; and that after ejecting, they should remove the roof of every 
 house in Rhimsdale, excepting those occupied by the families wherein 
 sickness was mentioned to have been, and the barns necessary for the 
 harvesting of the little crop. Declares, That the declarant was not 
 present at the ejections at Rhimsdale, as he understands they happened 
 on the I4th or I5th day of June ; and the declarant was under the 
 necessity of leaving them on the I3th, as his duty called him to other 
 parts of the estate. Interrogated, If the declarant was along with the 
 officers and party at the towns of Garvault, Ravigill, Rhiphail, and 
 Rhiloisk, when the precepts of ejection were put in execution ? 
 Declares, That after repeated promises by the tenants, that they 
 would peaceably obey the Sheriff's decreet, and after they repeatedly 
 failed in implementing their promises, the declarant was under the 
 necessity, as already mentioned, of directing the officers to execute
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 193 
 
 their warrants. That he was present at the first part of the ejec- 
 tions ; but after they had ejected from a few houses, and had un- 
 roofed these, the tenants of the others in the neighbourhood yielded 
 obedience to the warrant, and removed of themselves. That it was 
 impossible for the declarant to remain always with the officers ; but his 
 directions were, that they should eject from the houses where the 
 inhabitants were not yielding obedience to the decreets only, or were 
 making an appearance of removing, in order to put off the time, and 
 weary out the declarant and the party. Interrogated, If the declarant's 
 orders to the officers and party, also, were not to throw down the 
 couples and timber of the different dwelling-houses, barns, kilns, and 
 sheep-cots, at the respective places before mentioned ? Declares, That 
 the declarant directed the officers (where the tenants did not obey the 
 decreets by removing of themselves, as they ought to have done), to 
 remove the tenant's property and effects from the premises ; and there- 
 after unroof the huts, to prevent them from retaking possession after the 
 declarant should leave that part of the country ; but although by law 
 and the force of the warrants, he considered himself entitled to remove 
 from, and take possession, as entering tenant, of all the houses or huts 
 at the term of Whitsunday, he left the removed tenants in possession of a 
 barn each, as he believes, for every seven acres of arable land under crop ; 
 and as already mentioned, he made them a present of all the timber of 
 the houses, excepting Rhiloisk House, one turf hut on Ravigill, one on 
 Rhimsdale, and the tinker's on Badyloskin, before mentioned. Inter- 
 rogated, If the declarant remembers to have seen any of his party, or his 
 shepherd, John Dryden, forcibly carry away from the house of a Barbara 
 M 'Kay, at Ravigill, the door of her dwelling-house, with lock, hinges, 
 and door posts ? Declares, That he has no recollection of any such 
 circumstance, nor did he see any locks or hinges, unless some made of 
 wood among the huts. All which he declares to be truth. 
 
 The Advocate- Depute here declared the proof for the prosecution 
 concluded.
 
 EVIDENCE IN EXCULPATION. 
 
 IT was stated on the part of the panel, that Mr. Sellar meant to 
 have adduced, as witnesses to his character, Sir George Abercromby of 
 Birkenbog, baronet, Sheriff-Depute of the county of Elgin and Nairn ; 
 George Fenton, Esq., Sheriff-Substitute of that county; and James 
 Brodie, Esq. of Brodie ; but that these gentlemen were unfortunately 
 unable to attend from bad health ; and regular medical certificates of 
 the inability of Messrs. Brodie and Fenton had been transmitted. It 
 was therefore proposed to read letters which these three gentlemen had 
 written, containing their opinion of Mr. Sellar's character for humanity, 
 which, although not regular evidence, were usually received in the 
 practice of the Criminal Court, in relation to points of character. To 
 this proposal the Advocate-Depute made no objection ; and the fol- 
 lowing letters were then read : 
 
 LETTER JAMES BRODIE, Esq. of Brodie, to Mr. JAMES 
 ROBERTSON, Writer to the Signet. 
 
 BRODIE HOUSE, 2oth April, 1816. 
 
 SIR, Having received a citation, at the instance of your client, Mr. 
 Patrick Sellar, as a witness on his trial, I am truly sorry that my state 
 of health is such as puts it totally out of my power to obey it ; and I 
 have therefore been obliged to send a certificate for that purpose. 
 
 As, I presume, the only motive for calling on me, must have been to 
 bear witness to his character, I sincerely regret that I am prevented 
 from doing him that act of justice. I have known him intimately from 
 his infancy ; and he was for many years, while he resided in this 
 country, my man-of-business. I always considered him a person of the 
 strictest integrity and humanity, incapable of being even accessary to 
 any cruel or oppressive action. I am, &c.
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 195 
 
 LETTER SIR GEORGE ABERCROMBY of Birkenbog, Bart., to 
 JAMES GORDON, Esq. 
 
 FORGLEN HOUSE, 2ist April, 1816. 
 MY DEAR SIR, 
 
 I received your letter of the igth yesterday. Indisposition 
 prevents me from attending the Circuit Court at Inverness at present. 
 This I very much regret, on account of the circumstance you mention, 
 as I should have been glad to have given my testimony in person to the 
 good opinion I have always entertained of Mr. Sellar. Mr. Sellar I 
 have known from a boy. He acted as an agent before the Sheriff court 
 of Elgin for several years, very much to my satisfaction, and was 
 appointed procurator-fiscal. I have always thought him a young man 
 of great humanity, and I think him incapable of being guilty of the 
 charges brought against him, and trust, upon trial, they will turn out 
 to be unfounded, and put a stop to that clamour which was so dis- 
 agreeable. I am, with great regard, 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient Servant, 
 
 GEORGE ABERCROMBY. 
 
 LETTER GEORGE FENTON, Esq., to Mr. GORDON. 
 
 ELGIN, 2oth April, 1816. 
 
 SIR, As I understand you are employed as counsel for Mr. Patrick 
 Sellar, indicted to stand trial at the ensuing Circuit Court of Justiciary 
 at Inverness, and I having got a citation as an exculpatory witness, 
 which, I presume, is for the purpose of bearing testimony to Mr. 
 Sellar's character. I have unfortunately been unwell for some time 
 past, that prevents my attendance, as will appear, from a certificate I 
 have transmitted by the Sheriff-Substitute of the county of Nairn, or 
 otherwise I would readily have obeyed the summons, and done that 
 justice to his good character I consider him entitled to. I have known 
 Mr. Sellar from a boy ; for many years an agent before the Sheriff- 
 court, where I presided as Sheriff-Substitute, and I never, in the course 
 of his practice, knew him to do an oppressive act, or one likely to do so, 
 and I have always known him to be a man of sympathy, feeling, and 
 humanity. While in this county, he was considered as a most respect-
 
 196 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 able agent, employed by his Grace the Duke of Gordon, the family of 
 Grant, now the Earl of Seafield, the Earl of Moray, and the greater 
 part of the landed proprietors and most respectable inhabitants of this 
 county. 
 
 I therefore consider it due to Mr. Sellar's character to communicate 
 to you my sentiments of him, as I cannot personally attend myself, and 
 I have the honour to be, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient Servant, 
 GEO. FENTON. 
 
 Thereafter the following witnesses were called and sworn. 
 
 1st, Thomas Gilzean, Esq., Sheriff-Substitute for the county of 
 Inverness. Witness has known the panel from his boyhood. He has 
 borne a most respectable character, and is known to witness to be of a 
 humane disposition. Witness conceives him incapable of doing any- 
 thing cruel or oppressive. 
 
 2nd, Archibald Dunbar of Northfield, Bart. Witness has known 
 the panel from his infancy. He is a young man of respectable character, 
 and of a good heart ; and witness believes him to be incapable of doing 
 a cruel or oppressive action. 
 
 The several decrees of removing, and warrants of ejection against 
 the different tenants were then produced in evidence. 
 
 It was next stated on the part of the panel, that although it was 
 understood from the Public Prosecutor that he had, among many other 
 charges, deserted the second charge in the indictment, yet it was 
 thought advisable to lead evidence in regard to the injury, charged in 
 the indictment to have been sustained by Donald Monro in Garvault, 
 as what passed on that occasion would afford a specimen to the Jury 
 of what had been the actual conduct of the tenantry in general during 
 these proceedings. 
 
 Lord Pitmilly observed, that he gave leave to the panel's counsel to 
 bring forward evidence as to that charge in the libel, if they thought 
 proper. 
 
 3rd, Robert Gunn, fox -hunter in Tongue. Witness knows Donald 
 Monro in Garvault ; remembers the removings at that place. They 
 were executed on the 8th of June, and on the 26th and 27th May. 
 Monro was in company with the witness, apparently in perfect health.
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 197 
 
 Witness saw him again on the 7th June at a fox-chase ; left him that 
 day about sunset, and at that time witnesss saw nothing whatever the 
 matter with him. 
 
 4th, John Dryden, shepherd in Rhiloisk. Witness saw Donald 
 Monro in Garvault at a fox-chase on the 7th of June in good health, 
 and on the 8th, witness saw him come out of the house in which he 
 lived at Garvault, and Monro was apparently well and laughing. 
 
 5th, Duncan Ross, ground-officer of Farr. Witness was at Garvault 
 at the removings in June ; knows Donald Monro. His mother said that 
 he was sick, but when witness came up, he saw Monro leap out of bed 
 with his clothes on, and in perfect health. Witness was present at the 
 ejections. The warrant was first read, and then the furniture was 
 removed from the house. Nothing was destroyed and no damage of 
 any kind was sustained by the tenants. Mr. Sellar gave strict instruc- 
 tions to hurt nothing belonging to the people. He told the officer to 
 do his duty, and after everything was out of the houses, the party, in 
 the gentlest manner, took out the pins and let the couples fall. The 
 people were all out at this time. Witness was at Rhimsdale, and a 
 man having made application to Mr. Sellar for three persons who were 
 sick, Mr. Sellar ordered the best end of the house to be reserved for 
 them, and permitted them to remain. There was one barn left at 
 Rhiloisk, three left at Rhiphail, three at Ravigill, two at Garvault, 
 and one at Rhimsdale, and these were permitted to remain for a whole 
 year. 
 
 6th, Andrew Ross, carpenter. Witness has been many years 
 appraiser for the family of Sutherland. Remembers the removings in 
 1814 ; was employed by Mr. Sellar to comprise the value of the wood. 
 The party went first to Garvault, aud took out the furniture. Witness 
 comprised the moss-fir, and after everything was out of the houses, they 
 took out the pins, and let the couples down. The moss-fir was fairly 
 comprised, and Mr. Sellar paid the people the value of it. The party 
 went to Rhimsdale ; there only one house was taken down, and three 
 houses, where there were said to be sick people, were allowed to remain. 
 Mr. Sellar bought the moss-fir here also, and paid for it, and no objec- 
 tion was made. They next went to Rhiloisk, and comprised the houses 
 and offices. Here also only one house was taken down, in the same 
 manner as the rest. No injury was done to the furniture. They then 
 proceeded to Rhiphail. Some of the people there were employed in 
 taking down their own houses, and others promised to take them down
 
 IQ THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 that day ; and, upon this, they left them to do so. Next they went to 
 Ravigill, where they met Charles Gordon, who said that he would pay 
 ten pounds, if the houses were not down next day. They did nothing 
 here but comprised one of the houses for Mr. Sellar's shepherd. 
 During all these removings, he knows of no injury done by Mr. Sellar, 
 or by his orders ; saw no instance of cruelty, and no damage was done 
 to the furniture. Value was allowed for the moss-fir, which, on an 
 average, formed about the tenth part of the wood in the house, as. by 
 the practice of the country, it belongs to the out-going tenant ; but 
 nothing was given for the birch wood, as this belongs to the proprietor. 
 
 7th, Alexander Sutherland, in Backies of Golspie ; was a witness to 
 the removings. The party met first at Badinloch ; they went to Gar- 
 vault ; the warrant was read, and the furniture then turned out, no 
 injury being done to it. They next went to Rhiloisk, and proceeded 
 in the same manner there ; they received orders not to do any injury ; 
 they then went to Rhimsdale. Mr. Sellar said, that he had a letter 
 from the minister of Farr, stating, that there were sick people in that 
 place, and therefore that they must not proceed in the ejections. Then 
 they went to Badinloskin ; they arrived there on the Monday forenoon. 
 Chisholm had taken part of the divots off his house ; witness saw an 
 old woman ; she was lying on the floor of the byre on a shake-down, 
 and she had been removed from the house-end to the byre-end ; there 
 was a fire close to her on the floor of the byre. Mr. Sellar had not 
 arrived at this time, having stopped with his shepherd. On his arrival 
 near the place, he asked witness if he had seen an old woman, and 
 witness answered she was in the bothy. Neither Chisholm's house nor 
 byre were set fire to till a considerable time after the old woman had 
 been removed. The bothy was thirty yards or so distant from the 
 house and byre. Witness heard no cruel expressions from Mr. Sellar 
 as to the old woman. The house, barn, &c., were worth about twenty 
 shillings. Fire was not put to the house till after the comprisement 
 had been made. Cross-examined Witness saw the old woman brought 
 out by her friends, and heard her utter some cry. Part of the house 
 was taken down before the woman was brought out, but this was done 
 by Chisholm. The house end was taken down by the party before the 
 woman removed from the byre-end. Mr. Sellar was at this time at a 
 distance. Chisholm's furniture was all out before the fire began, and 
 he said nothing of bank notes. Before the woman was brought out, 
 there was a smoke, but this seemed to arise from the divots falling 
 from the roof on the fire. Some growing corn, at the back of the house,
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 199 
 
 was blackened accidentally by the fire. By the Court Witness did not 
 observe that the blanket which was round Margaret M'Kay was burnt, 
 though he saw it when she was passing. 
 
 8th, John Burns, farmer in Auchavurrisdale, in Caithness. Witness 
 was at Badinloskin on the day of Chisholm's ejection, having accom- 
 panied Mr. Sellar there ; arrived in the forenoon. When they came in 
 sight of Chisholm's house, part of it was already unroofed ; they stopped 
 at about seventy yards' distance from the house. When Mr. Sellar 
 came here, the people met him, and asked him not to destroy the 
 house ; Mr. Sellar answered, that he could not avoid doing so, for if 
 he did, the tinker would not go away. He sent for the tinker and 
 spoke to him, and Mr. Sellar said he would turn him out, pile up the 
 wood, and burn it. The officer then came up, and Mr. Sellar desired 
 him to go on with his business. The people said that they could not 
 carry away an old woman who was there. Mr. Sellar advised them to 
 take her to Rossal ; he said there was a truck, and they might easily 
 make a bed of it for her, and take her out. The people, after this, 
 observed, that there was fire coming from the house. Mr. Sellar, upon 
 this, started up ; he desired the people immediately to take out the fir- 
 wood, for it belonged to the tinker. The men said that the woman 
 had been previously removed to a small house. The woman was 
 removed before Mr. Sellar and witness came up, and before Sellar 
 ordered fire to be set to the house. There was no complaint of 
 furniture, or bank notes, being burnt that day. 
 
 9th, James Fraser, residing at Golspie ; was a witness to the 
 removings ; came to Badir.loskin about one o'clock ; the party came 
 from Langdale, and met Mr. Sellar at Badinloskin. Chisholm was 
 unroofing his house when the witness came ; Mr. Sellar came about an 
 hour after ; when about sixty yards distant from the house, he called 
 for the officer, and gave orders that the furniture should be removed 
 with as little damage as possible ; he then paid for the moss-fir. 
 Before they arrived, witness heard that there was an old woman there, 
 and he himself saw her removed by her daughter-in-law to a small house 
 at a little distance ; this was before Mr. Sellar came up. Witness saw 
 no burning then, the old woman was on a shake-down in the byre-end 
 of the house ; she was removed, and all the furniture also, before the 
 burning took place ; there was no unnecessary cruelty ; the tinker took 
 the money for the moss-fir, and made no objection. The value of the 
 house, &c., was nearer twenty shillings than twenty pounds. Witness
 
 200 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 saw Donald M 'Death at Rhimsdale ; he was affected with a sore eye ; 
 Mr. Sellar said he would allow the dwelling end of his house to remain, 
 but would destroy the byre to prevent the people from keeping cattle 
 there. Cross-examined The tenants from Rossal were brought up by 
 Mr. Sellar to assist in removing the people. Part of the house was 
 taken down before the woman was removed ; the witness afterwards 
 assisted in setting fire to the house, as Mr. Sellar gave orders to do so. 
 
 It was then represented for the panel, that a vast number of 
 additional witnesses in exculpation were in attendance ; but that the 
 Counsel conceived that it would be altogether superfluous to detain the 
 Court and Jury longer. 
 
 MR. DRUMMOND addressing the Jury on the part of the 
 Crown, stated, that he gave up all the charges except the 
 one which regarded the ejections from the barns, and that 
 of real injury in the case of the old woman at Badinloskin. 
 He certainly did not think the evidence in this last case 
 was sufficient to establish culpable homicide ; but he 
 argued, that the circumstances proved were sufficient to 
 authorise the Jury in finding a verdict of guilty to the 
 extent of an injury, as she had been removed at the risk of 
 her life, which he maintained to be contrary to law. As to 
 the barns, he contended that the conduct of Mr. Sellar was 
 irregular and illegal, and consequently oppressive, the out- 
 going tenants being entitled, by the custom of Sutherland, 
 to retain them as long as the arable land. 
 
 MR. GORDON addressed the Jury on the part of the 
 panel, and replied to the arguments used on behalf of the 
 prosecution. He entered at great length into the history 
 and objects of the prosecution; the preconcerted plan on 
 which certain persons had instigated the people of Strath- 
 naver to complain at first, and to persist afterwards; the 
 views they entertained of successfully opposing the improve- 
 ments of Sutherland, by affecting the noble persons to whom
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 2OI 
 
 the property belonged, through the sides of Mr. Sellar, as a 
 convenient medium of succeeding ; the disgraceful measures 
 to which these persons had resorted, with a view to affect 
 the channels of justice, the impartiality of Jurymen, and the 
 purity of evidence. He attacked the measures and conduct 
 of Mr. MacKid in the most pointed terms ; exposed the 
 characters of the evidence of Chisholm and others, and 
 dwelt on the clear evidence of the total innocence of Mr. 
 Sellar, and on the points of law which applied to the parti- 
 cular charges as criminal charges, at considerable length, 
 and with reference to various law authorities ; and finally, 
 concluded by maintaining to the Jury, that this was not 
 merely the trial of Mr. Sellar, but in truth, a conflict 
 between the law of the land and a resistance to that law : 
 That the question at issue involved the future fate and 
 progress of agricultural, and even moral improvements, in 
 the county of Sutherland; that (though certainly not so 
 intended by the Public Prosecutor, whose conduct through- 
 out has been candid, correct, and liberal), it was neverthe- 
 less, in substance, and in fact, a trial of strength between the 
 abettors of anarchy and misrule, and the magistracy, as well 
 as the laws of this country. 
 
 LORD PITMILLY, after having stated the law as applicable 
 to this case, summed up the evidence in a very clear and 
 able manner. His Lordship stated, that it was unnecessary 
 for the Jury to consider any of the charges, excepting the 
 one in regard to the old woman at Badinloskin. As to the 
 first, there could be no doubt of the practice in the country, 
 of retaining these barns till the crop should be threshed 
 out; neither could it be doubted, that Mr. Sellar had not 
 left the whole of the barns for the use of the out-going 
 tenants, and in consequence of this, the tenants suffered
 
 202 THE SUTHERLAND CLEARANCES. 
 
 damage. But in point of law, as the Court of Session had 
 decided in a similar question, Mr. Sellar was not bound by 
 any such practice, but was entitled to proceed in the ejections. 
 In regard to the injury charged to have been done to 
 Margaret MacKay, his Lordship directed the attention of 
 the Jury to the evidence of Chisholm. This witness, 
 although contradicted in some particulars by his wife, was 
 confirmed by John MacKay, whose testimony his Lordship 
 also laid before them. On the other hand, he brought 
 under their view, the evidence of Sutherland, Fraser, and 
 Burns, and stated, that it was the duty of the Jury to 
 balance betwixt these two sets of witnesses. His Lordship 
 also said, that if the Jury were at all at a loss on this part of 
 the case, they ought to take into view the character of the 
 accused; for this was always of importance in balancing 
 contradictory testimony. Now here there was, in the first 
 place, real evidence, from the conduct of Mr. Sellar, in 
 regard to the sick, for this, in several instances, had been 
 proved to be most humane. And, 2ndly, there were the 
 letters of Sir George Abercromby, Mr. Brodie, and Mr. 
 Fenton, which, although not evidence, must have some 
 weight with the Jury; and there were the testimonies of 
 Mr. Gilzean and Sir Archibald Dunbar all establishing 
 Mr. Sellar's humanity of disposition. 
 
 The Jury having retired for a quarter of an hour, returned 
 a viva voce verdict, unanimously finding Mr. Sellar NOT 
 GUILTY. 
 
 Lord Pitmilly observed that his opinion completely con- 
 curred with that of the Jury, and in dismissing them after so 
 long a trial, he was happy to say they had paid the most 
 patient attention to the case, and had returned a verdict 
 satisfactory to the Court. 
 
 The verdict having been recorded,
 
 TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR. 203 
 
 The Advocate- Depute declared that he thought it fair to 
 the panel, and that it would be satisfactory to the Jury, to 
 state his conviction, that if those witnesses who were re- 
 jected on account of errors in their designations, had been 
 examined, the result of the trial would have been the same. 
 
 Lord Pitmilly then addressed Mr. Sellar. 
 
 His Lordship said, " Mr. Sellar, it is now my duty to 
 dismiss you from the bar ; and you have the satisfaction of 
 thinking, that you are discharged by the unanimous opinion 
 of the Jury and the Court. I am sure that, although your 
 feelings must have been agitated, you cannot regret that this 
 trial took place, and I am hopeful it will have due effect on 
 the minds of the country, which have been so much, and so 
 improperly agitated." 
 
 The Court then pronounced an interlocutor, in respect of 
 the verdict of the assize, assoilzieing the panel simpliciter, 
 and dismissing him from the bar. 
 
 The trial lasted from ten o'clock on Tuesday, till one 
 o'clock on Wednesday morning, and the Court-Room was 
 crowded to excess.
 
 WORKS PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. MACKENZIE. 
 i 
 
 Just Published, 
 
 THE HISTORY - 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HIGHLAND CLEARANCES, 
 
 From the Battle of Culloden to the present time ; containing a reprint of 
 Donald Macleod's " Gloomy Memories of the Highlands" (now not fro- 
 curable for any money), with a full Account of the Glengarry, Knoydart, 
 Strathglass, Kintail, Glenelg, Skye, North and South Uist, Barra, Rum, 
 Coigeach, Strathconan, Glencalvie, Leckmelm, Glendesseray and Loch- 
 Arkaig, Breadalbane, Rannoch, Athol, Morvern, Mull, Lochcarron, and 
 several other evictions throughout the Highlands of Scotland. 
 
 Also a full Account of "The Battle of the Braes," and a complete State- 
 ment of all the proceedings in the ISLE OF SKYE DURING 1882, 
 
 with a Verbatim Report of the 
 
 TRIAL OF THE BRAES CROFTERS, 
 
 At Inverness, in May, 1882, with the subsequent proceedings in the Braes 
 and in Glendale to the date of publication. 
 
 By ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot., Editor of the "Celtic 
 Magazine". 
 
 The -work is printed on fine thick toned paper, crown 8vo, and extends to 
 528 pages. 
 
 Price 75. 6d. ; by Post, 8s. 3d. 
 
 ORDER FROM THE PUBLISHERS 
 A. & W. MACKENZIE, Celtic Magazine Office, Inverness. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 '' Burning indignation takes the place of regret, as one comes to know 
 the ruthless savagery with which the Highlands were cleared, and the 
 people driven forth from the lands that were their own. It is indeed a 
 fearful and shameful story that Mr. Mackenzie's pages tell, and he may 
 well print on his title-page the words, Truth is stranger than fiction. . . .
 
 2 WORKS PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. MACKENZIE. 
 
 Mr. Mackenzie could not have published his book at a more opportune time. 
 People who want to know what is wrong with the Highlands will find in its 
 pages what they seek. . . . The production of this history must have 
 involved much patient labour, but it has been a labour of love. No man 
 was better fitted to undertake the task than Mr. Mackenzie, and we are 
 glad to congratulate him on the completeness of his success. Every High- 
 lander, every lover of his country, should read and read again this ' Tale 
 of what Rome once hath borne of what Rome yet may bear '.'' Daily 
 Review. 
 
 " There have been few contributions to the Literature of the Land Laws 
 of late years more striking and important, . . . the only authentic and 
 consecutive work upon the history of this subject . . . To those who 
 wish to know the oppression they [the Highlanders] have groaned under 
 for countless years, we must recommend Mr. Mackenzie's fascinating 
 pages. " Dundee Advertiser. 
 
 "Apart from this valuable republication [Donald Macleod's 'Gloomy 
 Memories'] the volume before us deserves a careful study at the hands of all 
 our politicians." Liverpool Mercury. 
 
 " Contains a series of tables showing the population of the counties of 
 Perth, Argyll, Inverness, Ross, and Cromarty, Sutherland, and Caithness, 
 at each decennial period from 1801 to 1881, both inclusive, with a tabulated 
 statement showing the population of the parishes within those counties in 
 1831, 1841, 1851, and 1881 ; and in the case of Sutherland, the population 
 is given for each decade since 1801. These tables will be found of much 
 value by those engaged in the study of the causes which have led to the 
 decrease of the rural population in the Highlands during the present 
 century." Edinburgh. Courant. 
 
 " Mr. Mackenzie has produced a volume that ought to be in the hands 
 of every member of the Legislature, and which is simply indispensable to 
 all who would rightly understand the problem now awaiting solution. Him- 
 self the son of a crofter, he has rendered a service to that class which will 
 secure for his name an enduring place in the annals ef Scottish patriotism." 
 The author of '' Literary Notes," in the Daily Mail. 
 
 "The story from first to last of the unjust usurpation of which the 
 Highland tenants and crofters have been the victims, as unfolded in a 
 volume of encyclopsediac fulness, published this week by the able and 
 patriotic editor of the Celtic Magazine, is one of the saddest that was ever 
 told concerning a patient, God-fearing, and in every way most deserving 
 people." Kilmarnock Standard. 
 
 " Mr. Mackenzie's book appears opportunely for those Members of 
 Parliament who are interested in the motion [for a Royal Commission] on 
 the position of the Highland Crofters. A considerable portion of the work 
 is taken up with ... a description of the present state of the High- 
 lands, a survey of the position held by the Braes Crofters, and by statistical 
 tables that give sad confirmation to most of Mr. Mackenzie's statements. 
 The narrative throughout is deeply, often painfully, interesting." Leeds 
 Mercury.
 
 WORKS PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. MACKENZIE. 3 
 
 " Mr. Mackenzie's book is well got up, and forms a handsome volume." 
 Inverness Courier. 
 
 '' In a remarkably opportune volume, invested with a higher than a mere 
 literary interest, Mr. Mackenzie supplies ample materials for arriving at a 
 judgment on the subject of the Highland Clearances. . . . We thank 
 Mr. Mackenzie for his volume ; it is one of the most seasonable that was 
 ever issued from the Scottish press, and we have no doubt that it will 
 speedily be in the hands of every Member of Parliament who is desirous 
 of doing his duty." Christian Leader. 
 
 " It has been the task of Mr. Mackenzie to publish in a collected form 
 much of the floating literature upon this subject, and to bring down the sad 
 story of eviction to our own day. His fluent style makes his book eminently 
 readable, and his extensive knowledge of Celtic affairs at home and abroad 
 ensures accuracy in his statements. . . . The tale is a tragical and 
 moving one, putting to shame the wildest vagaries of romance." People's 
 yournal. 
 
 " Of the materials at his disposal Mr. Mackenzie has made excellent use, 
 and not only that, but he shows commendable courage in publishing it at 
 the present time. . . . It is the only publication that attempts to give 
 anything approaching a full account of the desolation of the Highlands, 
 and the expatriation of the Highlanders. It is thus a valuable addition to 
 the historical literature of the Gael ; and no one can form an intelligent 
 opinion on the present agitation in the Highlands, and the general condition 
 of the people, which finds expression in periodical mendicancy, without 
 first studying the facts which Mr. Mackenzie has so fully, and so well, 
 placed before the public in the handsome volume before us a volume 
 which we cordially recommend to the attention of our readers." Aberdeen 
 Daily Free Press. 
 
 " Your book supplies a decided desideratum in the economical history of 
 the country, and I will lose no opportunity of pressing it on the attention 
 of intelligent readers." Professor John Stuart Blackie. 
 
 The Prime Minister's secretary writes: "I am directed by Mr. Glad- 
 stone to thank you for sending him your ' Highland Clearances,' and to say 
 that he will examine it with interest. " 
 
 "The book has made its appearance at an opportune moment. The 
 relation of the Highlanders to the lords of the soil forms one of the burn- 
 ing questions of the day ; and here we have a complete history of that 
 question, and a collection of facts amply sufficient to enable every unbiassed 
 mind to arrive at just and sound conclusions regarding it. , . . We 
 are certain that it will do important service in hastening the enlightened 
 settlement of a question regarding which hitherto much ignorance as well 
 as much indifference has prevailed." Northern Ensign. 
 
 " No friend of the Crofter should be without this book, and the land- 
 lords will be all the better of ordering it for their libraries. , . Mr. 
 Mackenzie has spared no trouble to make it a thoroughly reliable work. 
 His temerity in publishing details . . is on a par with the justness 
 with which he metes out merit and demerit to the actors in what few will
 
 4 WORKS PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. MACKENZIE. 
 
 say were necesssary proceedings. . . . One thing the book has as- 
 sisted to do to make capricious evictions in the Highlands in future im- 
 possible." Oban Times. 
 
 "There are few tales more pathetic than that of the thousands of 
 Sutherland Crofters who were driven from their native soil and turned out 
 of the homes to which they had a better claim than those who expelled 
 them." Athenaeum. 
 
 "The events which are transpiring in Skye and other districts in the 
 North of Scotland render this volume one of great national interest, and 
 one which should be in the hands of all who desire to have an intelligent 
 acquaintance with the important questions involved. A great part of the 
 work deals with the events of past years, but these events are so closely 
 linked to the present that they may be held to be of the most vital and 
 pressing interest, . . . No one who shuts his eyes to the facts which are 
 here recorded can claim to speak with any authority upon the land question 
 in the Highlands of Scotland." Perthshire Constitutional. 
 
 "We heartily commend Mr. Mackenzie's volume of 528 closely-printed 
 pages as a valuable storehouse of information to all who are interested in 
 the grievances of the Highland Crofters. . . . We would especially 
 advise those who have derived their ideas of the crofters' grievances from 
 the grossly one-sided and sensational statements of the Scotsman, to read 
 the plain, unvarnished tale of Mr. Mackenzie, who has studied the question 
 on the spot, and has n personal interest to serve in misleading the public." 
 London Echo. 
 
 Just PublisJied, in Paper Covers, price One Shilling, 
 
 THE TRIAL OF PATRICK SELLAR, 
 
 FACTOR ON THE SUTHERLAND ESTATES 
 
 (From 1810 to 1818), 
 FOR THE CRIMES OF 
 
 CULPABLE HOMICIDE, REAL INJURY, AND OPPRESSION, 
 
 Before the Co-art of Justiciary, held at Inverness on the 2jrd 
 of April, 1816. 
 
 By the HON. DAVID MONYPENNY, Lord Pitmilly. 
 
 The original Report, published in 1816, has long been very rare, and 
 when a copy turns up it realises a very high price. The present issue is 
 limited. 
 
 A. & W. MACKENZIE, "Celtic Magazine" Office, Inverness.
 
 (ESTABLISHED IN 1875), 
 WRITTEN ALMOST ENTIRELY IN ENGLISH, 
 
 Ana devoted to the Literature, History, Antiquities, Folk-Lore, Traditions, 
 and the Moral and Material interests of the Celts at Home and Abroad, 
 
 Conducted by ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A. Scot., 
 
 Has been again ENLARGED and otherwise much improved. It is now printed 
 on Thick Paper, on a new fount of clear and bold Old-faced Type. 
 
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 PUBLISHERS A. & W. MACKENZIE, INVERNESS. 
 
 Among the past and 'present Contributors to the "Celtic Magazine" are the 
 following well-known and popular writers : 
 
 Principal Shairp ; Professor Blackie ; His Grace the Duke of Argyll ; Rev. 
 Alexander Stewart, F.S.A. Scot., " Nether-Lochaber ; " Charles Fraser- 
 Mackintosh, M.P., F.S.A. Scot; Rev. Thomas Maclauchlan, LL.D., 
 F.S.A. Scot. ; late Rev. Alexander Macgregor, M.A. ; late Archibald 
 Farquharson, Tiree ; late Rev. George Gilfillan ; late Dr. Buchan ; late 
 John Cameron Macphee, President, Gaelic Society of London ; late D. C. 
 Macpherson, Advocates' Library ; late Alexander Fraser, Registrar ; Rev. 
 P. Hately Waddell, LL.D. ; Patrick Macgregor, M.A., Author of "The 
 Genuine Remains of Ossian "; Hector Maclean, Islay ; Nigel Macneil ; H, 
 Gaidoz, Editor Revue Celtique, Paris ; Rev. John Macpherson, Lairg ; 
 William Jolly, Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools ; William Allan ; Mary 
 Mackellar ; Evan MacColl; Charles Mackay, LL.D.; D. Macgregor Crerar, 
 New York; Neil Macleod ; Rev. And. D. Mackenzie, M.A. , Kilmorack ; 
 Lachlan Macbean ; William Mackenzie, Secretary of the Gaelic Society of 
 Inverness ; Rev. John Darroch, M.A. ; James Barron, F.S.A. Scot , Editor 
 of the Inverness Courier ; Rev. A. C. Sutherland, B.D. ; Rev. John Dewar, 
 B.D., Kilmartin ; John Mackay, C.E. ; Rev. Alex. Cameron, Brodick ; 
 Lachlan Macdonald of Skeabost ; John Mackenzie, M.D., ex- Provost of 
 Inverness; K. Macdonald, F.S.A. Scot., Town-Clerk of Inverness; H. C. 
 Macandrew, F.S.A. Scot. ; Charles Innes, Chairman of Inverness School 
 Board; Thomas Stratton, M.D., R.N. ; Alex. Mackay, Edinburgh; Wm. 
 Brockie, Sunderland ; J. S. Terram, M.A., Oxon. ; late James Macknight, 
 W.S. ; Rev. Allan Sinclair, M.A. ; Rev. John Sinclair, B.D. ; Angus Mac- 
 phail ; A. C. Cameron, M.A. ; Alex. Mackintosh Shaw, Author of "The 
 History of Clan Chattan ;" J. E. Muddock, Author of "The Wingless 
 Angel," &c. ; George Cuppfes ; " M. A. Rose ; " Rev. Archibald Mac- 
 donald ; Major James D. Mackenzie of Findon ; Colin Chisholm, ex- 
 President of the Gaelic Society of London ; Major-General A. Stewart Allan, 
 F.S.A. Scot. ; Captain Colin Mackenzie, F.S.A. Scot. ; Donald Macleod, 
 M.A. ; Rev. A. Maclean Sinclair, Nova Scotia; Farquhar Macdonald, the 
 Poet ; Donald Ross, Nova Scotia; George Miller Sutherland, F.S.A. Scot.; 
 late Angus Macdonald, the Gaelic Bard ; Rev. Archibald Clerk, LL.D. ; 
 Rev. Donald Masson, M.A., M.D. ; Mary f. MacColl ; John Campbell, 
 Ledaig ; W. A. Sim ; Alex. Logan ; Charles Ferguson ; Rev. A. Macgregor 
 Rose, and many others. 
 
 The Magazine is conducted entirely apart from Politics in Church and State, 
 and Genealogy of Highland Families are leading features. [OVER.
 
 WORKS PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. MACKENZIE. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 This magazine, having a specific character, and illustrating the history 
 and. additions of the Highlands, occupies a place which no other magazine 
 can supply. The Editor may be congratulated on the success it has 
 attained. J.t has already made for itself a position in periodical literature. 
 Inverness Courier. 
 
 The continued supply of piquant and attractive papers proves that in 
 Gaelic legendary and historical lore there is a valuable vein which will repay 
 the working, and which augurs well for the future volumes of this well-edited 
 and specially interesting periodical. Glasgow Herald. 
 
 Evsy Scotsman and scientific inquirer into language, early literature, and 
 antiquities must wish it success. Edinburgh Daily Review. 
 
 Ably conducted by Alexander Mackenzie, F.S.A., an enthusiastic High- 
 lander, who thoroughly understands the traditions, habits, and desires of 
 the Celtic people. It appeals to all who take an interest in matters literary, 
 scientific, or social, pertaining to the North. That it has taken hold of the 
 public mind is evident. The letterpress is of a high character .... 
 The writing is altogether vigorous and sensible, and bespeaks even a larger 
 measure of success for the Magazine. Dundee Advertiser. 
 
 We cut and read the pages of this, the enlarged series, with a feeling of 
 admiration for the enterprise of the Editor, mingled with doubt as to the 
 wisdom of giving such a quantity of excellent matter on paper of the best 
 quality and type of the "aged portion" fount for the low price of this 
 Magazine. The Celtic is fast becoming a national periodical, and the 
 present number should tend to double its constituency. It is the best we 
 have read, and that is saying a good deal Oban Times. 
 
 The contents are rich both as to variety of subject and quality. Its 
 success has transcended .the most hopeful expectations of its most sanguine 
 friends .... Mr. Mackenzie, the laborious Editor, exhibits tact and 
 industry of a high order in the production of a work which, to the uninitiated 
 Lowlander, might seem to have a limited basis ; but perusal will convince 
 the reader that Gaelic literature is not by any means so restricted in its 
 range as might ignorantly be supposed. Greenock Telegraph. 
 
 The Celtic Magazine is certainly the representative journal of Scotland 
 and Scotsmen. To Gaelic-speaking people, and to those who do not speak 
 that language, it possesses attractions of a high order. Being greatly en- 
 larged and otherwise improved, the journal should receive a great accession 
 of popularity. Greenock Advertiser. 
 
 It is now more worthy than ever of being recognised as the representative 
 literary organ of the Scottish Celts. Northern Ensign. 
 
 With all the marks of robust strength and vigorous efficiency. Limerick 
 Reporter. 
 
 The Editor seems determined, if possible, to improve the contents of his 
 publication. We are far from saying that they were in need of being im- 
 proved. . . . It is full of splendid articles. Invergordon Times.
 
 WORKS PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. MACKENZIE. 7 
 
 In a flourishing state both at home and in the colonies. Perthshire 
 Constitutional. 
 
 As usual the contents are valuable and interesting, not only to those 
 specially concerned with the language, literature, and antiquities of the 
 Highlands, but to all classes of readers. ... In its new form we hope 
 the Celtic Magazine will meet with the appreciation it so richly deserves. 
 Perthshire Advertiser. 
 
 The articles are all of a most readable description, and most of them refer 
 to the leading questions of the day. Caithness Courier. 
 
 " This popular and ably-conducted Magazine appears in a form con- 
 siderably enlarged and improved. . , . warranted from the continued 
 success which has attended it from the first a success which must be highly 
 gratifying to all Highlanders and lovers of Celtic literature. The subjects 
 are treated in a manner which entitles the Celtic to be ranked among the 
 leading Magazines of the day." Rothesay Express, 
 
 " A very able monthly periodical. Peculiarly interesting and instructive. 
 There is a continued supply of piquant and attractive papers." Coleraine 
 Chronicle, 
 
 "Of all our most valued exchanges, none receives a warmer welcome 
 than the Celtic Magazine. No one can open its pages without finding 
 something of pleasure, profit, or instruction." American Scotsman. 
 
 " Deserves an extensive escalation amongst those interested in the wel- 
 fare of the Highlands and Islands." Aberdeen Herald. 
 
 "The articles are those in which the Highlanders take delight, and are 
 treated in an able and painstaking manner." John o' Groat Journal. 
 
 " It is well conducted, and should meet the approval of every Highlander 
 possessed of a spark of patriotism." Leith Herald, 
 
 "In affording a means of interchange of opinion among students of 
 philology and admirers of Celtic literature, the Magazine is doing a good 
 work, deserving of all the success it has attained. All the articles are well 
 written." Newcastle Chronicle. 
 
 " Its general excellency has exceeded our expectations." Buteman. 
 
 "We have sincere pleasure in commending this able, interesting, and 
 instructive Magazine to all who take an interest in the literature and 
 language of the GaeL" Oban Telegraph. 
 
 " We are glad to see this well-edited Magazine conducted with all the 
 vigour and freshness which characterised it from the beginning. The Editor 
 displays great care and judgment in the selection and arrangement of his 
 materials, and it forms a real storehouse of quaint and out-of-the-way 
 information on Celtic matters." Huntly Express. 
 
 " We are glad to find that h has secured a very large circulation." /- 
 vergordon Times.
 
 WORKS PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. MACKENZIE. 
 
 Just Published, Price 2$/ and 42/, 
 
 THE HISTORY OF THE MACDONALDS AND 
 LORDS OF THE ISLES, 
 
 WITH 
 
 AUTHENTIC GENEALOGIES OF THE PRINCIPAL 
 FAMILIES OF THE NAME, 
 
 By ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot, 
 
 Editor of " Celtic Magazine," 
 Author of " The History and Genealogies of the Clan Mackenzie," 
 
 " The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer," 
 
 " The Historical Tales and Legends of the Highlands," 
 
 "The Highland Clearances," &c., &c. 
 
 The Work is published in One Volume ^534 pages, Demy %vo, 
 printed in clear, bold, old-faced type, on thick toned paper, Roxburgh 
 binding, top gilt, uniform with " The History and Genealogies of the 
 Clan Mackenzie," and the issue is limited to 425 copies, Demy 8vo, at 2S/, 
 and 75, Demy 410, at 42/ : only a small number of which now remain 
 unsold. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS, 
 
 " This is, beyond all question, Mr. Mackenzie's chef-d'oeuvre in 
 every sense the completes! and best clan history that has ever been 
 written. If Mr. Mackenzie, instead of the great deal that he has other- 
 wise done for Celtic literature and the elucidation of folk-lore, had done 
 no more than give us this history of one of the best and bravest of High- 
 land clans, he would, by this work alone, have richly merited the grati- 
 tude and goodwill of every generous and genuine Celt at home and 
 abroad. If the reader has not already supplied himself with a copy of 
 this work, we would take leave to hint that his library, whatever else it 
 may contain, is to be considered very largely incomplete until he has 
 added to it Mackenzie's ' History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the 
 Isles'." " Nether- Lochaber " in the Inverness Courier. 
 
 " The author deserves credit for the industry and research which he 
 has employed in tracing the respective pedigrees of the three great High- 
 land families of Sleat, Glengarry, and Clanranald, from 'the Royal 
 Somerled ' of the twelfth century down to the present day. If there is 
 a good deal of disputable matter in his pages there is also much solid 
 and interesting information. . . . The work is one which no future 
 historian of Celtic Scotland will be in a position to overlook." Scots- 
 man. 
 
 " Shows deep research into family annals."- Glasgow News.
 
 WORKS PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. MACKENZIE. 9 
 
 " Although it has involved enormous work, it is well worth all the 
 labour bestowed on the part of the writer and his patrons. The history 
 of the Clan Macdonald has been traced most searchingly, and a collec- 
 tion of most valuable information has been obtained, and has been pre- 
 sented as attractively, we dare say, as could be possible under the 
 circumstances. All the clan are under a debt of obligation to Mr. 
 Mackenzie for his painstaking and skilful work. The book is got up in 
 a substantial and handsome style." Daily Review. 
 
 " ' The History of the Macdonalds and Lords of the Isles ' is a per- 
 fect example of what a genealogical work should be. . . . The 
 labour involved in preparing such a work can only be adequately appre- 
 ciated by those who have been engaged in similar pursuits ; yet though 
 we have tested the genealogies given by Mr. Mackenzie rather severely 
 we have found them invariably correct. His discrimination in bringing 
 his vast stores of knowledge to bear upon his subject has enabled him to 
 make his work authoritative. Those acquainted with his literary style 
 know that he has the rare art of making dry topics interesting and 
 cloudy points luminous ; and the many thrilling and pathetic anecdotes 
 of his heroes which he weaves into the history serve to transform what 
 would otherwise be a musty genealogy into an entrancing ' tale of the 
 days of other years '. From Somerled, the celebrated Thane of Argyll, 
 he traces the descent of the family of Macdonald in all its branches to 
 the present date. His work is certain to become the foundation of all 
 future writings upon this subject." Dundee Advertiser. 
 
 " A monument of laborious investigation. . . . The three chief 
 houses of the clan Sleat, Glengarry, and Clanranald with their cadet 
 offshoots, will find their respective pedigrees and histories given in a 
 fuller and fairer manner in this book than in any other single work. 
 . . . It is a valuable contribution to the rapidly accumulating of 
 Gaelic history written in English." Northern Chronicle. 
 
 "Gives evidence of a great deal of care and research, the best 
 authority in existence on the subject. It is highly interesting, most 
 carefully written, exhaustive, and the best that was ever written." 
 Northern Ensign. 
 
 " Not less painstaking, accurate, and exhaustive than its predecessor. 
 . . . The History of the Macdonalds, like its predecessor, is char- 
 acterised by a painstaking fullness and lucidity of statement that leave 
 nothing to be desired. Mr. Mackenzie seems to have overlooked no 
 source of information ; and he knows how to use the abundant materials 
 which his painstaking industry has accumulated." Greenock Telegraph. 
 " Those who have followed this history must have been struck by the 
 careful research and literary ability displayed by the author, and when 
 completed it will take its place among the standard works relating to 
 the History of the Highlands. . . . The patient historical research 
 and literary ability which has previously characterised it is again con- 
 spicuous, a list of the authorities quoted showing the enormous amount 
 of labour which must have been bestowed upon its compilation." 
 Invergordon Times. 
 
 " Mr. Mackenzie has already shown that he is well able to grapple 
 with the perplexing details of Clan history, and in the work before us
 
 io WORKS PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. MACKENZIE. 
 
 he presents the results of his investigations in a way that is so full, clear, 
 and interesting, that the book at once takes its position as the leading 
 
 authority on the subject It is a work which must have 
 
 cost enormous labour, but Mr. Mackenzie seems to have entered upon 
 'his task with true Celtic enthusiasm, and he has accomplished it in a 
 way that will add considerably to his reputation as a writer of Clan 
 Histories. " Perthshire Constitutional. 
 
 " The work is most creditable, and the Large Paper Edition an 
 ornament." Charles Fraser- Mackintosh, F.S.A., Scot., M.P. 
 
 Just Published, price 7/6, Issue limited to 150 Copies, 
 
 ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., SCOT., 
 
 Editor of the "Celtic Magazine," Author of "The History and Genea- 
 logies of the Clan Mackenzie," " The History of the Macdonalds and Lords 
 of the Isles," " The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer," " The Historical Tales 
 and Legends of the Highlands," "The Highland Clearances," etc., etc. 
 
 INVERNESS : A. & W. MACKENZIE. 
 MDCCCLXXXI. 
 
 Just Published, price 7/6, Issue limited to 150 Copies, 
 
 THE MACDONALDS 
 
 OF 
 
 GLENGARRY, 
 
 BY 
 
 ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., SCOT., 
 
 Editor of the "Celtic Magazine,' Author of "The History and Genea- 
 
 1 ogies of the Clan Mackenzie, " ' ' The History of the Macdonalds and Lords 
 
 of the Isles," "The Prophecies of the Brahan Seer," " The Historical Tales 
 
 and Legends of the Highlands," "The Highland Clearances," etc., etc. 
 
 INVERNESS : A. & W. MACKENZIE. 
 MDCCCLXXXI.
 
 WORKS PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. MACKENZIE. Jr 
 ONLY 30 COPIES REMAINING PRICE 10/6. 
 
 HISTORY AND GENEALOGIES OF THE 
 MATHESONS; 
 
 INCLUDING THE 
 
 FAMILIES OF BENNETSFIELD, ARDROSS AND LOCHALSH, 
 ACHANY, AND THE LEWIS, IOMAIRE, &C., &C. 
 
 BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 TTie Issue is limited to 250 copies, Demy Svo, same type, binding, &c. , 
 as the " Mackenzies " and the " Macdonalds ". 
 
 Orders to be sent to 
 
 A. & W. MACKENZIE, INVERNESS. 
 
 Second Edition, Just Published. Price 3/6 ; by post, 3/9, 
 
 THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF FLORA 
 MACDONALD. 
 
 GIVING A FULL ACCOUNT OF HER YOUTH ; EDUCATION ; RESCUE OF 
 PRINCE CHARLES ; HER MARRIAGE ; HER EMIGRATION TO AMERICA ; 
 
 RETURN TO SKYE ; HER DEATH AND FUNERAL. 
 By the Late Rev. ALEX. MACGREGOR, M. A., Inverness. 
 
 With an APPENDIX, giving Flora Macdonald's Descendants, their 
 Marriages, Professions, &c., &c. ( and a Life of the Author. . 
 
 By ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A. Scot., Editor of Celtic Magazine, &c. 
 
 "A pleasantly written and most interesting volume, the only really 
 authentic and trustworthy history of Flora Macdonald in existence. . . . 
 Stripped of every shred of sensational fiction, and yet more interesting to 
 the thoughtful reader, and even more genuinely romantic as a simple 
 narrative of well authenticated facts, than if presented to our attention with 
 all the embellishments of ballad, poetry, and romance " Nether Lochaber. 
 
 "The very noblest romance in all our history is the story of Flora 
 Macdonald." Greenock Advertiser.
 
 12 WORKS PUBLISHED BY A. AND W. MACKENZIE 
 
 third Edition, uniform -with " Flora Macdonald and Prince Charles" 
 Price 2s. 6d., by Post 2s. qd., 
 
 THE PROPHECIES OF THE BRAHAN SEER 
 
 (Coinneach Odhar Fiosaiche), 
 By ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, F.S.A., Scot., Editor of the Celtic 
 
 Magazine, &c., &c. 
 
 With an Appendix of 66 pages, on " Highland Superstition, Second Sight, 
 Fairies, Hallowe'en, Druidism, Witchcraft, Sacred Wells and Lochs, &c., 
 &c.," by the Rev. ALEXANDER MACGREGOR, M.A., Inverness. 
 
 A. & W. MACKENZIE, Celtic Magazine Office, Inverness. 
 
 OPINIONS OF THE PRESS^^TrHE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 "May be safely commended to the lovers of the marvellous as a 
 sweet morsel." Scotsman. 
 
 " Welcome with avidity this brochure." Edinburgh Courant. 
 
 " Remarkable prophecies. . . . A curious and readable book. " 
 Glasgow Herald. 
 
 "A weird prediction foretelling the downfall of the Seaforths." 
 Chambers' s Journal. 
 
 " A clump of wonders." Dundee Advertiser. 
 
 " Most wonderful fulfilment." People's Friend. 
 
 "Very singular and interesting." Northern Ensign. 
 
 "Remarkable utterances exact fulfilment hard nuts to crack." 
 Greenock Telegraph. 
 
 " If you wish to know all about the story of Seaforth, which is told 
 with a terrible realism, get this book." People's Journal. 
 
 "It is certain that such a prediction was prevalent before its fulfil- 
 ment. . . the coincidence was remarkable. " Inverness Courier. 
 
 "A very interesting book." Ross-shire Journal. 
 
 " Most curious. " Huntly Express. 
 
 "Most remarkable." Invergordon Times. 
 
 "Most wonderful." Coleraine Chronicle. 
 
 "One is not a little startled at the apparent fulfilment of many of 
 the predictions." Leith Herald. 
 
 "One of the strangest accounts of by-gone times and beliefs." 
 Inverness Advertiser. 
 
 "If the Editor of the Celtic Magazine had done no other work 
 ... he would have deserved well of his country. " Highlander. 
 
 FIFTY COPIES are printed on Large Paper, Crown Quarto, fine 
 thick quality, giving a handsome margin, uniform with the Large Paper 
 edition of" The Life of Flora Macdonald". 
 
 Price 7/6 ; by Post, 8/3. 
 PUBLISHERS : A. & W. MACKENZIE, INVERNESS.
 
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