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Post by ChrisDoak on May 16, 2007 10:50:14 GMT -6
In 1884 ,the United Kingdom Government commissioned a Royal Enquiry into the condition of crofters and cottars in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.This Enquiry came about as a response to crofter and cottar demonstrations against high rents,lack of security,and eviction from their land.Of the five Commissioners appointed,one was Sir Donald Cameron of Lochiel. For the first time,all 4058 pages of the Report are now available for viewing on the Internet.It can be accessed,with thanks to the Lochaber College in Mallaig,at www.highland-elibrary.com. A must for serious scholars,or those just wanting to dip in randomly to understand life and conditions in the Highlands in the late nineteenth century. |
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Post by houndofthearrows on May 16, 2007 12:11:43 GMT -6
Thank you, Chris, for sharing this with us, and of course Lochaber College. I just finished reading volume one and it is all rather interesting. Even though I have yet to read the rest it truly paints a vivid picture of the life and times of the people. I'm off to read some more. Thanks again.
Aonaibh Ri Cheile
Sean H. Chambers
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Post by ChrisDoak on May 23, 2007 11:06:06 GMT -6
The Napier Report contains many first-hand accounts of the hardship and tragedies surrounding the evictions in the Highlands during the early 1880s,but in opening this thread,it gives me the opportunity of relating the story of one of the big unsung heroes of the Cameron Clan:
A 217 ton passenger and cargo carrier ship,"Lochiel",was built on the River Clyde in 1877,for the shipping company of David Hutcheson and Company (the predessesors of today's Caledonian MacBrayne).Initially employed on the Stornoway,Isle of Lewis,mail run,and then on the West Loch Tarbert to Islay route,she was chartered in the winter of 1884 to take a force of Police to the Isle of Skye to assist in the eviction and clearance of Crofters there - reputedly the first expeditionary force to the Island since the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 - 6.
By a mere co-incidence,the Master of the "Lochiel" was one Captain Cameron,who refused to allow the Police to board his ship.This act of solidarity with the Crofters of Skye,and his outrage at the immoral justice of the evictions,earned Captain Cameron not only his removal from his ship,but also the loss of his job.
Cameron earned the admiration of his fellow Highlanders back then,and I'm sure you will agree,he still does.I'll need to see if I can track down exactly who he was (there might be something buried in the Napier Report),but any information on him would be gladly accepted.
Chris.
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