Highland Clearances: The 16,000 records behind the hard-fought battle by crofters for land rights
Thousands of records from the Napier Commission - run in the wake of the Highland Clearances - have been published online
They are historical records capturing the voices of Scotland’s crofters and cottars and relaying them into the corridors of power for the first time.
Now, about 16,000 entries from the landmark Napier Commission - a public inquiry held more than 140 years ago to canvass views on land agitation across the Highlands and islands - have been made available for the public to view online.
Established in 1883, the Napier Commission investigated the grievances of crofters and cottars, as those working the land fought desperately for fair rents and secure tenure following the devastation of the Highland Clearances.
Detailed returns from more than 60 estates were collected to investigate living conditions, with the records revealing how people survived and maintained traditional ways of life tied to the land.
Those accounts list the names of crofters and cottars on each estate and detail the land they held, rent paid and animals kept. The documents have now been officially published by the National Records of Scotland (NRS) online for the first time.
NRS archivist Veronica Schreuder said: "The commission captured ordinary people's voices and ensured they were heard within the corridors of power. These records are an unparalleled record of lived experiences in the Highlands and islands.
"The details captured show how communities survived. They reveal multi-generational family arrangements, support systems and women’s economic roles.
“They will help family historians, academics and social researchers alike. It's exciting to see them released online and available for people around to world to search."
The Highland Clearances largely took place between the 1770s and 1850s, when absentee landlords evicted thousands of crofters to make way for more profitable sheep farmers.
The Napier Commission tour lasted five months and included 71 meetings across the Highlands. A total of 775 people spoke as part of the process, including crofters, factors and landowners.
Among the available records is that of John Macpherson - a man known as the "Skye Martyr".
Mr Macpherson was a leader of the Glendale crofters' resistance on the Isle of Skye in the 1880s. He was jailed after the Battle of the Braes - a clash involving local crofters and about 50 policemen drafted in from Glasgow to enforce the law.
Mr Macpherson’s croft at Duirinish was valued at £4, four shillings, with three cattle and eight sheep recorded on the land.
The Victorian-era Napier Commission would prove a turning point, with the government passing the Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act in 1886.
The legislation established the Crofters Commission, which ruled on disputes between landlords and crofters. The Act also gave crofters more security through improved land rights and rents.
An account of the Commission published on the Scotland’s People website states: “In the early 1880s, the simmering discontent long felt by the crofters at their shortage of land boiled over.
“Overcrowded areas where tenants had been moved to were often bordered by large and fertile areas used for sheep farms and deer forests. Rent strikes and seizures of land began on Skye and spread throughout the crofting counties.
“Sheriff officers serving eviction notices for non-payment of rent were assaulted ... the unrest in the Highlands and Islands brought the crofter’s grievances to the attention of the public and of the parliament.”
The documents can be viewed free of charge online at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
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