![]() This was never recognised in Scottish law. The eviction of tenants went against dùthchas, the principle that clan members had an inalienable right to rent land in the clan territory. The Highland Potato Famine struck towards the end of this period, giving greater urgency to the process. ![]() Tenants who were selected for this had, in practical terms, little choice but to emigrate. This is when "assisted passages" were common, when landowners paid the fares for their tenants to emigrate. The second phase involved overcrowded crofting communities from the first phase that had lost the means to support themselves, through famine and/or collapse of industries that they had relied on. Their reduction in status from farmer to crofter was one of the causes of resentment. The displaced tenants were expected to be employed in industries such as fishing, quarrying or the kelp industry. These were usually replaced with large-scale pastoral farms on which much higher rents were paid. This involved the enclosure of the open fields managed on the run rig system and shared grazing. ![]() The first phase resulted from agricultural improvement, driven by the need for landlords to increase their income – many had substantial debts, with actual or potential bankruptcy being a large part of the story of the clearances. The Highland Clearances ( Scottish Gaelic: Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal, the "eviction of the Gaels") were the forced evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860. The island was cleared of its inhabitants in 1841 and is now used only for grazing sheep. ![]() Ruined croft houses on Fuaigh Mòr in Loch Roag. ![]()
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