■Reported Changes in the Farming System of Sutherlandshike. — A report prevails in the north that the Duke of .Sutherland has it in contemplation to make an entire change in the letting of his larger class of farms by breaking these down into smaller holdings, all combining arable with pasture ground. According to our information, the proposed changes do not involve any resort to the old cottar system, but are meant to leave the farms still sufficiently extensive for a decent maintenance to a tenant with moderate means. The leases of much of the ground proposed to be re-arranged do not expire till 1S70 and 1871, and enough of time will therefore remain to mature the new system. Such is the substance of the existing rumours, for the authenticity of which, however, wc cannotvoueh .—Inverness Adver- ON THE ECONOMIC CONDITION OF THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND. By LEONE LEVI, Esq., F.S.A., F.S.S., BARRISTER-AT-LAW, Doctor of Economic and Political Sciences of the University of Tubingen, and Professor of the Principles and Practice of Commerce in King's College, London. From the Journal of the Statistical Society of London. September, 1865. - O \ C^. vau>SE u 5 On the Economic Condition of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. By Leone Lett, Esq., E.S.A., E.S.S., of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister -at- Law, Doctor of Economic and Political Sciences of the University of Tubingen , and Professor of the Principles and Practice of Commerce in King's College, London. [Head before the Statistical Society, June, 1865.] CONTENTS: PAGE I.—Introduction . 372 II.—Geography. 373 III. —Geology . 374 IV. —Meteorology . 375 V.—Population..’.. 375 VI.—The Clearances . 377 VII.—Effect on the Employment of Land . 379 VIII.—Deer Forests . 380 IX.—Sheepwalks. 381 PAGE X.—Advantages and Disadvan¬ tages of Cultivation .... 385 XI.—Pauperism..'.. 389 XII.—Industries. 390 XIII. —Marriages and Deaths .... 392 XIV. —Crime . 383 XV.—Railways . 393 XVI.—Education. 394 XVII.—Conclusion. 395 Appendix . 396 I.— Introduction. As the season approaches when the toiled and careworn legislator, merchant, and banker, will cheerfully leave the Palace of West¬ minster, the counting house and the clearing house, for some invigo¬ rating exercise and recreation; some on the beautiful Rhine and some on the Alpine regions of Switzerland and Italy; some to wander through Britany and La Belle France, and some to enjoy the delightful scenery of England, Ireland, and Scotland; it may be, that in directing the attention of the Society to the economic con¬ dition of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, a few may be induced to visit those mountainous and romantic districts, and that some topics for thought and reflection may be afforded, which may bring forth fruitful schemes of industry and improvement. "Unhappily I cannot indulge on history or romance, on pictures of natural scenery, or even on the attractive chivalry of clanship. The labours of statists and economists are necessarily more recondite and search¬ ing, and we can only hope that what, doubtless, we lose in the aesthetic and descriptive, we may gain in depth of thought and comprehensiveness of principle. Whilst all around we have the most tangible evidence that the United Kingdom, as a whole, has for a long period of time enjoyed 373 Levj — On the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. an uninterrupted course of material prosperity, there are not a few spots within these favoured isles which are subject to many paralysing and deteriorating influences. Nature, so prodigal to some, has denied many of her gifts to other parts of the British Islands. The disparity of condition, for instance, between England and the High¬ lands and Islands of Scotland, is most remarkable. Here, are smiling corn fields, rich pasture lands, and golden deposits of mineral pro¬ duce; there, an unpropitious soil and barren mountain heath. Here, roads, canals, and railways intersect the country in all its length and breadth ; there, the means of communication are most imperfect, and the greater part of the territory is quite inaccessible. Here, not a spot but is trodden and explored, not a resource but is developed to the greatest possible extent; there, the soil is rugged, wild, and neglected, the resources unknown and unavailable, and capital, the soul of industry and commerce, is quite beyond the reach of the forlorn inhabitants. II.— Geography. Considerable difficulty is experienced in determining the territory of what are called the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, since they have in fact no precise and ascertained boundaries coinciding with the limits of any civil jurisdiction. The popular division of Scotland into highlands and lowlands, would seem to distinguish the moun¬ tainous from the flat portion of the country, and some take the Grampians as the natural separation between the Highlands and and other parts of Scotland. But all Scotland is more or less mountainous. The valley known as Strathmore, or the “ Great “ Strath,” forms perhaps a better division.* Some, again, take the Highlands to comprise the northern and western portions of Scotland, and the Lowlands the southern and eastern portions. The best guide probably would be to take the Highlands as comprising that extent of territory where the Gaelic language is still in use, but this is being gradually reduced by the inroad of English literature. The principal highland counties certainly are Argyll, Inverness, Ross and Cromarty, and Sutherland; but many parishes must be added to them in Aberdeen, Caithness, Elginshire, Banffshire, Dumbartonshire, and Perthshire. Exclusive, however, of these parishes, the four highland counties, including the Hebrides or Western Islands, 186 in number, form a large territory, comprising some 13,000 square miles out of a total area, for the whole of Scotland, of 30,685 square miles. To obtain a complete view of the economic condition of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, it would be necessary to examine * Conformably with this division between Highlands and Lowlands, there is the division of races. The Celtic area comprehends all Scotland west of Strathmore, the region of bens, and glens, and straths. Sec Hughes’ “ Geography of British “ History,” p. 481. 2d 2 374 Levi —On the Economic Condition [Sept. the condition of those parishes as well. This, however, cannot be done, because the information we possess as to area, geology, agri¬ culture, and other items, can only be obtained for each county as a whole.* And as it would be erroneous to take the whole of Perth¬ shire, Elginshire, or Aberdeenshire, as highland counties, the half, and in some cases two-thirds of them, belonging absolutely to the lowlands, in order to limit ourselves to ascertained facts, we must confine this paper exclusively to Argyll, Inverness, Ross and Cro¬ marty, and Sutherland, which are purely highland counties, and which, moreover, comprise nearly all the islands forming the Outer and Inner Hebrides. Of these four counties, Inverness and Argyllshire are the most peculiar in the formation of the land. In few other places on the surface of Europe do we see such an agglomeration of mountains, lakes, and islands, and with the sea penetrating inland through a thousand creeks. Many of the Scottish islands stand alone in the ocean, the picture of a dreary solitude. III.— Geology. The geological condition of the country is of great importance. In Nicol’s “ Guide to the Geology of Scotland,” the 31,000 square miles forming the entire area, are shown to comprise 15,500 square miles of gneiss, quartz rock, mica slate, and granite, 2,700 of trap, 1,750 of co.:l formation, 4,700 of clay slate, and 4,900 of old red sandstone. What there is of clay, coal, or even red sandstone, is only, however, in the south and centre; the northern districts having formations on which very little will ever grow. We might expect that even granite and other rocks might in time become the bed of a moderately good soil under the combined influence of air and water, but such is the elevation of the country, and the great exposure of such rocks, that whatever soil may be formed, long before it has time to increase and consolidate, it is swept away by the winds and snow storms. The mountain elevation is indeed very great. It is not so much the great height of the mountains, be it Ben Nevis (4,460 feet high), Ben Mac Dhui (4,396 feet high), or Lochnagar (3,800 feet high), or Ben Lomond (3,190 feet high), as is the frequency and number of them that gives a character to the land and its cultivation. The relation of geology to agriculture is very direct. It is known, ifor instance, that wheat in Scotland will not grow at a greater eleva¬ tion than 700 feet, the usual limit being 500 feet; while oats seldom Vipen above 1,200 feet, though cultivated in limestone soil to 1,500 met; and hence it is that in very mountainous districts, and in cold seasons, oats are a very uncertain crop, being either destroyed by rain or nipped by frost. * It is to be regretted that the Ordnance Survey is not published for any of the highland counties. 1805.] of the Highland* and Islands of Scotland. 375 IV.— Meteorology. Equally important ia the meteorology of the country. It is said, that whilst on the east side of Scotland, the quantity of rain varies from 22 to 25 inches; on the western side, and on the Hebrides, the fall is from 35 to 46 inches.* So retentive indeed is the soil of such dampness, that nothing but a very hot summer sun, which seldom makes its appearance, can remove it effectually. Professor 11 ughes, in his Atlas, gives the average temperature for the year in London, at 50*83, and in Aberdeen 49*18 ; for the summer, in London 62*95, and in Aberdeeu 59*53 ; and in winter, London 39*50, and Aberdeen 39*03. In the western and northern portion of Scotland, the crops suffer from the sea blighting them before they reach maturity, and the high winds shake the grain from the ear when ripe. Altogether the severity and uncertainty of the climate are such, as to render the labour of the husbandman comparatively barren indeed of profitable \ results. V.— Population. That a country so rugged and mountainous, so exposed and yet so inaccessible, should have but a limited population, is what we may expect. According to the census of 1 SG 1 , the population of the four counties, which include the Hebrides, were as follows:— Counties. Area in Square Miles. Population. Number of Persons to each Square Mile. Argyll . 3,255 79 - 7-4 24-5 Inverness . 4,255 88,888 20-8 Ross and Cromartv . 3,151 81,406 25-8 Sutherland. 1,886 25,246 13-3 12,547 275 . 21-93 This gives the very small proportion of only 22 persons to each square mile, and it is singular that whilst these counties comprise more than 40 per cent, of the total area of Scotland, their population amount to less than 10 per cent. By the census of 1801 , Scotland # Prof. Symons, M.B.M.S., in his report on the fail of rain in the British Isles during the years 1860 and 1861 to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, gives the average fall of rain in the west midland counties of Scotland, including Stirling, Bute, and Argyll, at 52-278 inches for 1860 , and 63-377 inches in 1861 ; in the north western counties, including Ross and Inverness, at 44-623 inches in 1860 , and 67-306 inches in 1861 ; and in the northern counties, including Sutherland, Orkney, and Shetland, at 34-128 inches in 1860 , and 38-746 inches in 1861 . In the year 1861 , Scotland, especially the western coast, was subject to almost unprecedented rains. (“ Report of the Thirty-second Meeting of the “ British Association for 1862 ,” p. 296 .) 376 Levi— On the Economic Condition [Sept. was divided into two groups, mainland and islands. Of the total population of 3,062,294 persons on the 8th April, 1861 , there were 2,897,300 persons on the mainland, and 164,994 persons in the 186 inhabited islands which lie around it, giving a proportion of 94*61 per cent, of the population on the mainland, and 5*39 per cent, on the islands. A better idea of the limited number of people living in the highlands may be formed by comparing these counties with the other counties of Scotland itself, and with other European countries. According to the census of England and AVales, and the statistical tables relating to foreign countries published by the Board of Trade, part ix, 1864 , the proportion of population to area was as follows :— Countries. Years. Average English Square Miles. Population. Average to One English Square Mile. Belgium . 1861 11,267 58,320 98,154 207,480 4>782,Z55 20 , 061,725 21 , 920,269 37,386,313 5,798,967 18 , 491,220 A,02 <.2 20 424 England and Wales. Italy. „ 34*4 223 France . 180 Ireland... ” 32,513 107,184 36,310 18,138 190,325 178* Prussia . 172 Portugal . 1863 111 Other counties of Scot-1 land .J Spam. ’61 ’60 2 , 787,000 15 , 421,495 3 , 859,728 275,264 153 81 Sweden. ’61 168,042 12,547 23 4 counties of Iligh-l lands and Islands J » 22 * The census of Ireland, besides the proportion of population to the total area, gives the number of persons to the square mile of arable land, but in doing so it necessarily divides the rural from the civic population. It is not intended that the proportion of persons to the square mile of the total area is of itself a sufficient guide to any correct conclusions. It only represents in bold relief the density of population in any country, and leads to further inquiry. Another important fact in the population of these counties is the extremely small num ber of towns. In all these four counties there were only 57 cities, towns, and villages; 1 having a population of x 2,000 and 1 of 6,000; 4 of 2,000 to 3,000; 7 of 1,000 to 2,000; 14 of 500 to 1,000; and 29 under 500 ; the proportion being as follows:— Counties. Towns and Villages. Population. Argyll. 9 16,246 Inverness . 6 17,227 Boss and Cromarty ... 32 21,427 Sutherland. 10 6,725 67 62,625 377 1865 .] of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. This population gives a proportion of 22 per cent, living in towns and villages, to 78 per cent, living in the country part. It is a more striking fact, however, that in all these four counties, with a total area of upwards of 12,000 square miles, there were only six towns of 2,000 persons and upwards. The population of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland has indeed made very small progress in the last hundred years. Taking Sir John Sinclair’s “ Statistical Account of Scotlaud for 1755 ,” and the census of the different periods during this century, we have the following facts:— Counties. 1755. 1801. 1861. Argvll. 63,291 81,277 79,724 Inverness . 64,656 72,672 88,888 Ross and Cromarty . 47,656 56,517 81,406 Sutherland.. 20,774 23,”7 25,246 296,377 233,583 275,264 These figures show an apparent increase of about 17 per cent, in the last sixty years, but the increase for the whole of Scotland during the same period, has been 90 per cent., whilst the change is still greater when we consider the removal and emigration of the original Highlanders, and the introduction into the Highlands of a large number of Lowlanders. Within the last twenty years, however, there has been a decided decrease. In Argyllshire, in 1841 , the population was 97,371; in 1861 it was 79,724. In Inverness, in 1841 , it was 97,799; in 1861 it was 88,888. Altogether the popula¬ tion of the four highland counties, in 1841 , was 298,637, and in 1861 275,264. We should moreover observe, that between 1851 and 1861 as many as 113,000 Scotch have emigrated, a great portion of whom were Highlanders. VI .—The Clearances. To what then are we to attribute this comparative stagnation in the population of these counties ? The principal cause has certainly been the physical character of the country, as already described, which does not admit of great traffic or large resources. But a pro¬ minent secondary cause has been the reso lution in agriculture, which has greatly diminished the employment 01 labour. In olden times, when the highland chieftains were maintaining a numerous train of followers, and the value of an estate was calculated not by the produce it gave, but by the number of men it could raise, the land was occupied by tacksmen, mostly all related to the proprietor, and these held it in common, or alternate ridges, forming a kind of 378 Professor Levi —On the Economic Condition [Sept. subtenancy among themselves.* A large number then lived on the land, and though the occupiers got but a scanty subsistence from it, they were too much accustomed to privations and military life to offer any complaint. With the Rebellion, however, of 1745 , and the consequent Act for disarming the Highlands, as well as the abolition of the hereditary right of clanship, the existing relation between chieftains and dependants was broken asunder, t The object which induced the subdivision of land among a large tenantry was no longer in existence, and the attention of landlords was devoted to the purely economic question of how to extract the greatest amount of produce at the least possible expense of labour and capital. Finding, then, that as matters were, scarcely any money rent could be got from .land, that the soil and climate forbad any great extension of tillage, and that the only mode of beneficially employing the land was by converting the small holdings into extensive sheepwalks, many of the proprietors, setting aside all considerations of duty towards their tenants, disregarding all the sentimental attachment which bound such "tenants to the land which they had so long cultivated, and thinking, no doubt, that in the end they were doing their best for all parties, removed from such land their tenants and their families, destroyed their houses, and turned their fields into pasturage. The success of the enterprise attracted capital from other parts of Scot¬ land, and gradually flocks of sheep filled the place which men so unwillingly deserted. Again and again these clearances have been continued, down even to the present time; and it is impossible to read the account of such transactions without feeling sympathy for those large bands of men, women, and children, who, with their scanty household furniture, and all their lares and penates -with them, were driven out from their own soil to find shelter where best they could. J And whither did they go? Many emigrated; but many more remained at home. It so happened that all around the coasts the sea is full of fish, and the land is, to a considerable extent, capable bf cultivation. It seemed an order of Providence that, whilst the interior was better fitted for pasture land, the territory around the coast could be used for cultivation, whilst the fisheries could afford so'tne means of subsistence. And the people were encouraged to settle there. But the land thus occupied was far too limited, the soil comparatively inferior, and the majority of the people did not take kindly to fishing. Hence the overcrowding. Hence the failure. # Besides the croft land, each crofter had a right to a common on which stock was grazed, each having a right to send a certain number of cattle, horses, or Bheep. + See, in the Appendix, Sir John McNeill’s account of the relation of crofters . and proprietors. \ X Read an account of such clearances in the “ Times ” for May, 1845. 1865 .] of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. 379 And hencq jbhe starvation of certain districts side by side with the apparent prosperity of other portions of the country. VII .—HJfect on the Employment of Land. As might have been expected these clearances had a direct effect /on the employment of the land, and we have now such a division of the soil as is not probably to be seen in any other part of Europe. The leading facts are, a very small number of proprietors, a com¬ paratively very small number of acres under rotation of crop, exten¬ sive sheepwalks, and a very low valuation or rental in proportion to area and population. First, let us see how land is owned in these counties. / /V^o Under the operation of the old laws of entail and primogeniture, founded on the Bmwan law, land in Scotland is owned by very few; and some of the proprietors possess a territory greater far than is owned by many European sovereigns and princes, but very little indeed is the use they make of such large possessions. Comparing the number of proprietors, as given in Mr. Dunlop’s Return of the number of proprietors in each county in Scotland standing on the Valuation Rolls made up under the Act 17 and 18 Viet., cap. 91 (207 of 1856 ), with the extent in statute acres given in the census of 1861 , we have the following enormous average quanti¬ ties as owned by each proprietor; the two counties, Argyll and Ross and Cromarty, being widely different from the other two, Inverness and Sutherland. Counties. Number of Proprietors. Total Area. Number of Acres per Proprietor. Argyll. 180 2 , 683,126 11,570 Inverness . 1,021 2 , 723,521 2,667 Ross and Cromarty . 117 2 , 016,375 17,231 Sutherland. 272 1 , 207,188 4,437 1,590 8 , 030,210 5,037 Important, however, as is the fact, that counties so extensive are in the hands of very few, still more telling is the mode in which the land is used or appropriated. According to the Agricultural Statistics for Scotland, collected for several years by the Highlands and Agricultural Society, the land in these counties in 1 S 54-57 was apportioned as follows:— 380 Professor Levi —On the Economic Condition [Sept. '.Counties. Number of Acres under Tillage. Number of Acres in Grass. Shcepwalks. Houses, Roads, Fence. Waste. Woods. Total. In the nota¬ tion of the Farm. Perma¬ nent Pasture. Irri¬ gated Mea¬ dows. Argyll. 89,649 70,807 98,366 21,121 36,151 15,313 19,641 3,936 164,453 94,223 52,337 6,164 7,021 2,703 842 108 977,784 1,214,189 723,879 356,646 10,355 1,836 2,086 652 90,747 71,781 146,542 24,944 22,353 7,929 26,675 16,653 1,398,613 1,478,781 1,070,368 430,224 Inverness . Ross and Cromarty Sutherland. 279,943 75,041 317,177 10,674 3,272,498 14,929 334,014 73,610 4,377,986 Here, then, we have the important result that together with a small proprietorship scarcely one-half of the total exteut of the land is accounted for in any way. And what are the causes ? Chiefly the i nature of the soil; partly neglect; and in a great measure deer i forests. ' —— VIII .—Deer Forests. Deer forests enter largely into the economics of the Highlands. It is estimated that about 2,000,000 acres of land are so used. We may well doubt the propriety of appropriating any extensive tract of country to deer forests. It may be a manly sport—so intense is the excitement occasioned by the pursuit of the red deer ; but when we see miles and miles of land of so-called deer forests, in many cases, however, having not a single tree, yet possessing within them much land well capable of cultivation, from which the hand of man is pur¬ posely kept away, we are apt to ask, wherefore this waste ? Are the proprietors justified so to appropriate the land to the sport of a few individuals, whilst a large population have but a few acres wherefrom to derive a livelihood ? Yet it is a matter of fact that not only r large tracts of land are kept out of cultivation in order to keep them as preserves for game, but that land pr eviously u nder tillage, or laid out as sleepwalks, has been converted into~deer forests, and that extensive clearances have been made for the purpose. It might be supposed that if the land admitted of cultivation, the landowners would be more alert in bringing it under tillage, and would prefer using it in that manner rather than letting it as deer forests. But even should the rental from either mode be equal, might we not expect that preference should be given to cultivation, which would afford employment to a large number of persons ? Can we, how¬ ever, say that deer forests subserve the purpose of production—the increase of national wealth? The rent paid to the landowners represents only the amount devoted to enjoyment. It only changes hands as between sportsmen and landowners. Whilst the production of game or venison has only an exceptional market value. Are not, 1865.] of tie llighlatuts and Islands of Scotland. 3S1 moreover, the landowners bound b> natural laws to keep their land in trust for the people, for public useS, rifl'd Tor public benefit.* IX .—Sheep walks. The next important fact in the use of the land, is the large pro¬ portion of sheepvvalks as compared with tillage land. The proportion in the Highland counties was as follows:— Comities. Number of Acres under Cultivation. Number of Acres in Sheepwalks. Number of Acres of Shecpwalk to each Acre of Tillage Land. Argyll. 89 , 0-19 977,784 11 Inverness . 70,807 1,214,000 17 Ross and Cromarty .... 98,300 720,000 7 Sutherland. 21,121 356,000 10 279,913 3,270,784 12 Here we have twelve acres appropriated to sheepwalks to one appropriated to tillage,! the result as we have seen of the preference * Mr. James Loch’s “ Account of the Improvement in the Estates of the “ Marquess of Stafford, in the Counties of Stafford and Salop, and on the Estate of “ Sutherland.” London, 1820 . f A comparison has been made between deer forests and public parks. Loth, it is true, comprise land kept out of cultivation for puq>oses of enjoyment. But whilst public parks greatly promote the health and enjoyment of the masses of the people, deer forests are reserved for the sport of a few individuals. Parks are public property purposely devoted to a great economic object—the improvement of the people. Deer forests are private property, shut out from public use, and in many cases diverted from a fruitful to a fruitless occupation. Again, it has been represented that deer forests employ as many persons as foresters, as sheepwalks employ shepherds. But are foresters producers ? The same quantity of land that will maintqjn 2,000 sheep, will not give 300 deer. Of deer a large number run away, many die, and very few are killed. In truth deer forests are exclusively intended for sport and luxury, and production enters in no manner into their economics. Mr. John Stuart Mill, in his work on “ PoUticJtt'E(?OT!omy,” vol. i, p. 282 , clearly lays down the compact which exists between the landowners and the State as regards property in land, as follows :—“ Landed property is felt, c.von by j “ those most tenacious of its rights, t&ke~a. different-siting from other property ; and where the bulk of the community have been disinherited of their 5 BAF 5 oFit, P* and it has become the exclusive attribute of a small minority; men have generally ' “ tried to reconcile it, at least in theory, to their sense of justice, by endeavouring “ to attach duties to it, and erecting it into a sort of magistracy, either moral or “ legal. But if the State is at liberty to treat the possessors of land as public “ functionaries, it is only going one step further to say that it is at liberty to discard “ them. The claim of the l andowners to the land is altogether subordinate to the “.general policy of the State. The principle of property gives them no right to the “ land, but only a right to compensation for whatever portion of their interest in “ the land it may be the policy of the State to deprive them of. To that their “ claim is indefeasible. . . . But, subject to this proviso, the State is at liberty “ to deal with landed property sis the general interests of the community may “ require, even to the extent, if it so happens, of doing with the whole what is “ done with a part, whenever a bill is passed for a railway or a new street. The 382 Professor Levi —On the Economic Condition [Sept. for, and in many cases substitution of the one for the other "Whence this great preference given to sheepwalks ? Does the till age land fai l to give a proper return ? Let us examine the economics of this kind of cultivation. The portion of land now under tillage, is let out to occupiers who may be divided into two classes, viz., those whose rent is below 20/., and those whose rent is at or above that sum The agricultural statistics for 1857 take account uf the latter only, but in a Report of the Highland Society on the Agricultural Statistics of Small Holdings for Scotland for 1 S 55 (343 of 1854 ), the number of occupiers and acreage occupied by small tenants is specially given.* The returns thus combined, show the following facts:— Counties. Number of Occupiers at or above 20 /. Number of Acres. Number of Occupiers below 20 /. Number of Acres. Total Number of Occupiers. Total Acreage. Average Number of Acres per Occupier. Argvll . >.584 69.773 2.845 19,876 4.429 89,649 20 Inverness . 734 42,920 4.554 27,887 5,288 70,807 13 Ross and Cromarty 865 72,851 6,131 25,515 6,996 98,366 14 Sutherland. 1 3 7 9,960 2,657 11,161 2,794 21,121 7 i 3.320 195,504 16,187 84,429 19,50/ 279,943 ■4 Side by side, therefore, with the large tracts of land dedicated to pasture, and tenanted by very few, we find that the land under tillage is parcelled out among a small tenantry of crofters, each holding a croft which, under the best circumstances, is incapable “ community has too much at stake in the proper cultivation of the land, and in “ the conditions annexed to the occupancy of it, to leave these things to the discre- “ tion of a class of persons called landlords, when they have shown themselves unfit “ for the trust.” * For some years past there has been an increasing tendency towards the amalgamation of lands. The system of large culture is very generally upheld in this country, and even in Ireland the number of small holdings is greatly diminished. Comparing 1851 with 1861, the result given in the census report of the respective sizes of holdings was as follows :— Size of Holdings. 1851. 1861. Decrease per Cent. Increase per Cent. 1 to 5 acres. 310,436 84,463 72-8 — 252,799 183,031 176 — 15 ,, 30 ,, . 79,312 140,218 — 76-7 Above 30 „ . 48,625 157,957 — 2248 691,202 565,669 Cl do — In this classification no distinction is made of land under tillage and used for pasture. 383 1865 .] of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. of sustaining the tenant and enabling him to pay the necessary rent. This will be seen by comparing the rental with the number of occupiers, and the probable produce of the land with the total popu¬ lation. The amount of rental was given first in Mr. Lockhart’s return of the valuation of the counties of Scotland (408 of 1856 ), and secondly in Mr. Dunlop’s return of the valuations in the several parishes in every county of Scotland, of the land and heritages in each parish (113 of 1865 ). According to these returns, the relation of the occupiers to rental was as follows:— Counties. Number of Occupiers. Rental. Per Occupier. £ £ Argyll. 4,429 248,840 56 Inverness . 5,288 178,389 34 Ross and Cromarty . 6,996 169,565 24 Sutherland. 2,794 46,789 17 19,507 643 » 5 8 3 33 Is a c roft w orth 33 1. of rental on an average, capable of maintain¬ ing a family ? l a the opinion of M,r. Ramsay, of Islay, land worth at least 40/. or 50^. is needed to support a family w ho do not work ffiT wage s, or look to extraneous"sources'lof' sunnort. But take the probable produce of such land as compared wztli the population as a better indication. Assuming, as Mr. Bamsay estimated, the rental to represent one-third of the entire produce of the land, an estimate rather above than below what is actually grown, we have the following facts:— Counties. Population. Rental. Probable Total Produce. Produce per Head. Rental per Head. Argyll . 79,724 £ 248,840 745,720 £ s. 9 6 £ s. 3 2 Inverness . 88,888 178,389 535,167 6 - 2 - Ross and Cromarty 81,406 169,565 508,695 6 5 2 - Sutherland . 25,246 46,789 140,367 5 Jo 1 17 275,264 643.583 1,930,749 7 - 2 8 According to this calculation, agriculture, which is the chief occu¬ pation of the people in the Highlands, produces little more than 7 1. per annum, or less than 3s. a-week per head on an average. Is it morally possible that such an income can supply them with food, house, clothing, and other necessaries of life? With a good crop of potatoes and some supplement from the fisheries, they may succeed in 384 Professor Levi— On the Economic Condition [Sept. obtaining a precarious livelihood. But with bad crops and other mishaps, they are necessarily exposed to periodical famines.* It is to facts like these that we owe the great preference given to sheepwalks in the highlands, and hence it is that instead of a super¬ abundant population, we see an immense number of sheep. The proportion of sheep to population in these counties was as follows :— Counties. Population in 1861. Number of Sheep. Proportion of Sheep per Man. Number of Cattle. Argyll. 79.7-4 827,113 10 61,543 Inverness . 88,888 607,614 62 23,309 Ross and Cromarty . 81,406 304,414 3f 17,610 Sutherland. *5 »H 6 202,551 8 3,789 275,264 1,941,551 7 106,151 All Scotland, 1861. 2 , 062 , 204 . 5,683,168 ti 974,437 England and Wales, 1861 20 , 000,000 26,000,000 i£ 4,500,000 France, 186 If. 36 , 000,000 37,000,000 1 2,000,000 Australian Colonies, 1862 rii34.395 18,298,393 l6 3,575,000 f From a paper read at the Central Agricultural Society of France, it appears that of late years the number of sheep has been considerably reduced in conse¬ quence of a great mortality. * As a general proposition, says M. Say, everything else being equal, the number of men is in proportion to the quantity of production. This is a truth admitted by the greater number of economists. Consequently nothing can increase population except absolutely and permanently what favours production; and nothing can diminish population in a permanent manner but what attacks the source of production. It lias been said that a large population is always the sign of a high prosperity. It is the certain sign of a great production; but there cannot lie prosperity unless the population has abundance of the necessaries of life and some of its superfluities. There are many parts of China and India immensely peopled, which are notwithstanding wonderfully miserable; but it is not by diminishing the number of individuals that they will he better provided, since that cannot be done without also diminishing their production. What is wanted is not the diminution of the numlier of men, but an increase of the quantity of produce, which will always take place when the population is active, industrious, economic, and well governed. Whilst, therefore, as a general principle the population should ho proportionate to production, it is the amount of industry, the mother of production, which exercises a fundamental influence on the population of States. See “Stewart’s Political “ Economy,” vol. i, chap. 4; Quesnay, article “ Grain ” in the “ Encyclopaedia /Montesquieu, “ Esprit de Lois,” book xviii, chap. 10, and book xiii, chap. 10; Buffon, Bernard edit., vol. iv, p. 266 ; Forbonnais, “ Principcs et Observations,” pp. 39, 45; Hume’s “Essays,” part ii, Essay 11; Poivre, pp. 145, 146; Con¬ dillac, “ Le Commerce et le Gouvernement,” part i, chap. 24, 25 ; Count Verri’s “Reflections on Political Economy,” chap. 21; Mirabeau’s “Ami dcs hommes,” vol. i, chap. 2; Raynal’s “History of the Establishment, &c., &c.,” book xi, sec. 23; Chastcllu, “ De la Felicite Publiqnc,” vol. ii, p. 205; Necker, “ Administration “ des Finances dc France,” chap. 9, and his notes on the “ Eloge de Colbert Condorcet, “ Notes on Voltaire,” Ivehl edit., vol. x, 4, v, p. 60; Smith’s “ Wealth “ of Nations,” book i, chaps. 8 and 11; Gamier. “ Abreg 6 Elementaire,” part i. 1865.] of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. 3>5 It is a curious fact that whilst there were in these Highland counties only 22 persons per square mile, of sheep there were 154 , so that in wandering among the Highlands, if the sheep were going in units, as men do, the chance of meeting a sheep would be seven tjgae.s greater than of meeting a man. In truth the position of these four counties of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland is most unsatisfactory. On the one hand, we have an immense territory deserted or dedicated to pasture, with but few scattered individuals here and there. On the other, such small tracts of land as are under tillage, are subdivided into holdings so small that they provide very insufficient means of livelihood. How can these conflicting circumstances be in any way modified? By what means can the condition of the people be improved and yet lefc the land be used to the best advantage ? According to some, the only mode of solving the problem is by converting all the cultivable land into sheepwalks, and by stimulating the emigration of the remainder of the population. Others, who have equally at heart the wellbeing of the country, and who are as conversant with the state of the people, take a widely opposed view, and would rather see a greater portion of land brought under tillage. What they demand re conditions more favourable to the tenancy of land,—such as the ranting of leases as in the lowlands, and the investment of more japital in the way of drainage and fencing of land, good cottages, &c. Legally, of course, the landowners are quite at liberty to use their and in whatever manner they please. The only question is, which is economically the best plan ? X .—Advantages and Disadvantages of Cultivation. What regulates the employment of land and the method of cul¬ tivation in Scotland, as in any other country, is, and must always be, the amount of benefit derived from it. Land is cultivated as long as it is productive. It ceases to be cultivated when it ceases to be productive. Whether land shall be placed under tillage or let out as sheepwalks; whether the arable land shall be sown with grain or planted with potatoes, will always depend on what is likely to give the best return. It must be admitted that there are discourage¬ ments to the extension of cultivation of any kind in these northern counties. Here we have to deal with an inferior land, and with the £ chap. 3; Herrenschwand, “ De l’Economie Politique Moderne,” p. 2; Godwin, “ De la Justice Politique/' book viii, chap. 3 ; Jeremy Bentham, “ Theorie dee “ Peines et des Recompenses,” vol. ii, p. 304; Clavi&re, “ De la France and des “ Etats Unis,” 2nd edit., p. 60 and 315 ; Browne—Dignan, “ Essai sur les Principes “ de l’Economie Politique,” p. 97, London, 1776 ; Becoaria, “ Elementi di Economia “ Publica,” parte prima, caps. 2 and 3; Gorani, “ Recherches sur la Science du “ Gouvernement,” vol. ii, chap. 7; De Sismondi, “Nouveaux Principes d’ Economic “ Politique,” book vii, chap. 1; Malthus, “ On Population.” 380 Professor Levi —On the Economic Condition [Sept. greatest uncertainty as to the crops from the superabundance of rain. In some cases where attempts have been made to effect improve¬ ments, large sums have been sunk in vain. And with the low range of prices of all kinds of grain, which we have had for many years past in consequence of the beneficent o peratio n of free trade in corn, it does_not pay to bring very inferior land under cultivation. In truth, nth the chances of bad harvests every two or three years, it pro¬ bably costs more to briug a quarter of grain of home produce to market than it would to import it from Russia or Germany. As an evidence of the uncertainty of the crop, the following facts are extracted from thtTagricultural statistics Counties. Wheat per Acre. 1854. 1855. 1856. 1857. Bush. pks. Bush. pks. Bush. pks. Bush. pks. Argyll . 27 2 31 if 30 2* 31 3 i Inverness . 28 1 2+ 2 ± 28 24 — Ross and Cromarty.... 29 1 26 9 28 3f 26 2 } Sutherland . 34 - 34 if 35 — i 22 ii Oats per Acre. Counties. 1854. 1855. 1856. 1857. Bush. pks. Bush. pks. Bush. pks. Bush. pks. Argyll . 33 1 3° 3 i 34 1 34 3f Inverness .. 32 — 26 2 27 3 28 3f Ross and Cromarty ... 37 1 30 2i 37 3f 33 1 Sutherland . 37 32 2 * 37 -i 3i 2 * Potatoes per Acre. Counties. 1854. 1855. 1856. 1857. Tons cwts. Tons cwts. Tons cwts. Tons cwts. Argyll . 1 14 5 2 1 17 2 9 Inverness . 1 17 4 3 i 1 19 i 2 7 i Ross and Cromarty ... 1 7 4 I2f 2 16 J i 9 i Sutherland . 3 11 4 8 3 5f 2 at Here it will be seen that the wheat crop of Sutherland, from 1856 to 1857, fell from 35 to 22 bushels per acre, and in Inver¬ ness from 28 to 24 . The oat crop in Inverness was 32 bushels in 1854, and 26 in 1S55. Whilst the potatoe crop shows great disparity, especially in Argyll, from 1 ton 14 cwts. in 1854, to 5 tons 2 cwts. in 1855; and again, as low as 1 ton 17 cwts. in 1856. These, it must be confessed, are practical difficulties in the tillage of land, though probably not greater than exists in other parts of the country. But if grain do not pay, wool and 387 18<>5.] of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. mutton, the produce of those extensive sheep walks, have, for many years past, brought a very high price. The large increase of exports of woollen manufactures, the high price of cotton, and the large home consumption, have greatly enhanced of late the value of wool; and as for meat, we all know how high is the cost in the London market. All these, circumstances seem certainly to favour the con¬ version of land into sheepwalks. Nevertheless, there are reasons why it should seem inexpedient to dedicate such an enormous territory to one kind of culture. Prudence indeed should dictate a greater mixture of tillagoTand and sheepwalks, by which the sheepwalks themselves would be rendered more productive. Excellent as are the prospects for wool and for meat at present, we cannot say how long they will maintain their high value. It is true that the value of stock, especially sheep, is something enormous; still, ju dging from the low amount of the r enta^ it does not appe ar that as a whole the landowners derive an amount of benefit at all commensurate with the boundless extent of x laTnT'm Their possession. Moreover, if it be a fact that side by side with the inferior land there is a good deal of excellent land capable of the best cultivation, why should it not be used? Nor should we undervalue the inti mate relation of a large population to a gricul tural and nati onal prosperity. As a general rule it is certain that the more deserted a country is, the less profitable it becomes to live in it. The nearness of a large town population always imparts an additional value-to agricultural products. It would be of little use, in fact, to raise grain -where there is no demand for it, and n6 market to send it to. TfAherefore we persist in a policy_of displacement of the ent ire popula tion, the property left behind will be depreciated. Nor should we ignore altogether the feelin g of the people . Emigration may be to many the happiest deliverance from a position of difficulty and a life of suffering. And though the emigrant may leave his native soil, his friends and associates, with bitter tears and wailings, he has at least the prospect of opening for himself a future infinitely more promising and cheering in the boundless regions of Canada, the United States, and Australia. Still it is a severe trial to part with country and kindred, under moral compulsion, with the prospect of great dangers before and of absolute starvation behind. And moreover, it is only the young and the vigorous that can advan¬ tageously emigrate; and what is to become of the old and infirm ?* -— 1 _ * In the Appendix to the “ Seventh Report of the General Board of Commis- “ sioners in Lunacy for Scotland/’ published in 1865, Dr. Mitchell reports as follow8: “ When the Highlanders leave home for America, Australia, or New “ Zealand, as the rule only the strong and sound go. Such of their relatives or “ dependants as are aged, infirm, imbecile, idiotic, deaf, blind, or cripple, are left at “ home. This is not always so, but it is as the rule. Many leave with the inten- ” tion of sending for their unfortunate relatives as soon as they nttain positions of vol. xxvirr. part hi. 2 e 388 Professor Levi —On the Economic Condition [Sept, Are they to be driven away? As j \jr. Sismonrii pathetically said, “ Is a man to be taught first of all to place an infinite value on the t! possession of his bit of land, to devote year after year of bis tl thoughts and manhood to its cultivation, merely to learn that in “ his decline—in the evening of his life—he is to be driven forth “ into exile ? Are the affections, the feelings, the habits of those “ who have struggled so hard to extract a competence from an “ ungrateful vocation for the best and most active portion of a life “ to be overlooked ? Is the scorning of those ties without danger ? “ Is the bitter disappointment of numbers, deprived alike of past “ comfort, of present possessions, and of future hope, a contingency “ which a statesman should contemplate with complacent optimism ?” Let us remember that the Highland cottager sees as many charms in the barren heath, the silent pine, the solitary glen, the wild crag, and the stupendous rock, as the royal tenant beholds in the peopled terraces, the galaxy of beauty, the monuments of art, and the towers of Windsor. “ Dear is that shed to which his soul conforms. And dear that lull which lifts him to the storm; And as a child, when scaring sounds molest, Clings close and closer to the mother’s breast; So the loud torrent and the whirlwind’s roar But bind him to his native mountains more.” Goldsmith, The Traveller. "Whilst, therefore, we must give due attention to the physical conformation of the country, the inferiority of the soil, the uncer¬ tainty of the crops, and the advantages of pasture land, we should not forget the great evil attending the want of population and the condition and feeling of the people. Difficult indeed it is, under such circumstances, to suggest any specific course likely to produce any decided benefit. It see ms almost use less to suggest any amend¬ ment of the. law of entail and prim ogeniture! Let the” number of proprietors is far too small in proportion to the extent of territory. “ comfort and stability; but good intentions are proverbially weak, and besides, “ the emigrant’s life is often for years a very unsettled one, and full of hardships “ and troubles, so that the affectionate leave taking too frequently and too naturally “ ends in forgetfulness, indifference, and lasting desertion. Emigration, therefore, “ leads to an accumulation of the defective in the districts from which it is taking “ place; and the sum of these cannot be said properly to belong to the population “ among whom they are found- In dealing with the distribution and amount “ of insanity in Scotland, this consideration should not l>e lost sight of. Many “ serious points of political and social economy arise out of it, hut these it is not “ my province here to discuss. It appears clear that there ought to be an accumu- “ lation of defects of all kinds in any district from which there is a constant “ exodus of the sound in mind and body. I have had opportunities of convincing “ myself that what should be true, is true in fact. In the counties of Inverness, “ Argyll, Hoss, and Sutherland, emigration does actually influence the amount and “ lorm of insanity which occurs in them.” 380 18(35.] of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. k Were the proprietorship more divided, there might be greater super¬ intendence and care exercised, and probably the land would, on the whole, be more advantageously appropriated. In any case, if«£]iere be difficulties to the transfer of land, they should be removed. *?!ToukP'ftny qua nil ty' oTTanTTbeTeft unusedThrough eiiciimberrrrrcps, probably the establishment of such a court as the Encumbered Estates Court in Ireland might prove most advantageous. Then, again, it appears evident that the l and now under tillage is le t out into far too small holdings. Care, therefore, should be taken to seize the opportunitIes“for enlarging them, not however, by forced clearances, but in cases of deaths or removals. Whilst it would be idle to go against nature, in forcing the production of grain from a reluctant soil, it is not the case that the soil and climate are so uniformly opposed to tillage as to discourage it. The agricultural statistics show that t he p roductiveness of such portions as are under til lage in the H ighland counties, is quite as great as that of land in any other county. And, from all we can gather, the procesiTof con¬ version oFtfflage' land into sheepwalks has reached its maximum. Maintain, therefore, the present or even greater quantity of land under tillage, but let the occupiers be put into a favourable position for improving the land. Let th e crofters or small farmers have leases of their land; and pay a little attention to their homes and general comforts. The present difficulty is how to remedy the evils attending the over population of certain localities; and for this purpose we see no other mode than the improvement of communica¬ tion with the interior, and the affording of greater facilities for settling in other places at home. Emigration to the colonies or foreign countries is not efficient, since it necessarily benefits only a few. What iSsWanted is to open up the land, and to encourage new industries in the interior; which will speedily create towns and villages, and aSorcTbetter remuneration for the labour of the people. /erything, therefore, that can be done in the formation and improve¬ ment of roads and bridges and canals, and any other means of com¬ munication, should certainly be attempted. XI.— Pauperism. It might be supposed that the privations and sufferings of so many years should have produced a depressing influence on the physical and moral condition of the people. But it is not so. Owing to that independence of character and national manliness which distinguish the Scotch generally, and especially the High¬ landers, poor relief has never found much favour among them. There is, moreover^ in the Highlands a much less number of vagrants and casual poor than are generally found in wealthy and populous towns. Hence it is that, as it appears from the nineteenth report of the 2 e 2 390 Pbofkssor Levi —On the Economic Condition [Sept. Board of Supervision, the proportion of poor relieved in the Highland counties is actually less than the proportion relieved in all Scotland, and not materially different from the proportion usually relieved in England and Wales. The number of registered poor and their dependants, and of casual poor and their dependants relieved in the four Highland counties, in the year 1864, were as follows:— Comities. Fo] ml at ion. Nnmbcr Relieved. Per Cent. Argyll . 70,724 6,626 8*30 Inverness . 88,8&3 5.570 6 * 26 Boss and Cromarty . 81,406 5> 2 3 2 6*43 Sutherland. 25,246 i.45° 5*73 275,264 18,878 6*88 or 1 in 14* Other counties of Scotland 2,787,000 2 37,8»7 8*57 „ 1 „ 12 * England and Wales . 20,445,000 1,079,382 5*3 „ 1 „ 19 * In the “ Thirteenth Report of the Board of Supervision for Belief of the “ Poor (Scotland),” a comparison was made of poor relief in Scotland and in England, from which it appears that the ratio of paupers to population was in England 1 in 25*51, and in Scotland 1 in 24 * 18 ; but from that calculation all casual poor were excluded. Very unfavourable comparisons have been made of the pauperism of the Highland counties of Scotland with Ireland, but the systems in operation in the two countries are totally opposed, in that the latter enforces in all cases the workhouse test, whereas both in England and Scotland, out-door relief is largely granted. XII.— Industries. The great want in the Highlands is a steady and regular employ¬ ment. Two industries—the agricultural and fisheries—are the only resources at their command, but both are exceedingly uncertain, and often disappointing. Agriculture, we have already seen, gives but a scanty subsistence. The kelp industry, or the production of alkaline matter by the combustion of sea weeds, is gone since the abolition of ^dutv on salt and on Span ish barilla. In times past the~^rttrrof some farms in the Orkneys rose from 40 (. to 300 Z. a-year in consequence of the abundance of such seaweeds, and it was even proposed to cultivate the weed by placing large stones within tidemark upon sandv shores, but all this is now quite gone. Some idea, however, may be formed of the amount of labour necessary to extract any benefit from seaweed, when we mention that 22 tons of wet seaweed are required to produce 1 ton of fair average drift kelp capable of yield¬ ing (besides iodine, bromine, and mixed residuary salts), about 5 to 6 cwts. of commercial chloride of potassium, and about 3 cwts. of 1865 .] of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. 391 commercial sulphate of potassium * The cod, ling, herring, and lobster fisheries give employment to a large number of persons, and are of great importance, but they last only for a certain time of the year. In 1S61 there were cured in Scotland upwards of 600,000 barrels of herrings. The cod, ling, or hake fishery produced nearly 4 , 000,000 fishes. The number of boats employed was 13 , 300 , of an aggregate tonnage of 189,000 tons, and the estimated value of boats, nets and lines, was 875 , 000 /., giving employment to nearly 100,000 persons. The great evil of these industries is their uncertainty. The occupation of the Highlanders differ materially from that of the inhabitants of other counties in Scotland. At the census of 1861, w T hilst in all Scotland 17*67 per cent, of the men were engaged in agriculture, in the four Highland counties the pro¬ portion was nearly 40 per cent; and whilst in all Scotland there were 32 per cent, employed in industrial occupations, in the Highland counties, the number so engaged was only 12 per cent. It is not that the people are idle. One who lives among them, and who has the most practical acquaintance with the islands, the llev. Dr. Mackay, of Harris, depicted their habits and occupation as follows:— “ In the spring time the people have to labour to obtain manure “ for their miserable crofts. Men and women have to go out to the “ deep sea from week to week, and bring home boatloads of seaweed “ shorn from the rocks for manure ; and if that be not done, there is <( no crop. That season continues till about the middle of May, for “ they dare not sow their crops earlier. Certain parts of the coast “ are appropriated to the people for the purpose of getting seaweed, “ and men and women —chiefly women , I blush to sag it —carry this “ weed on their backs to their small crofts, at considerable distances off very frequently. An amount of labour is thus performed such as I do not see performed by the inhabitants of rural districts in “ the lowlands. Then, after the seed is sown, the time comes for cutting fuel. This depends a great deal on the weather, for the “ peat has not only to be cut, but to be winded and dried. And “ then comes fishing. Now-a-days it is herring fishing, and it con- “ tinues about six Aveeks. No sooner is it finished than off the men “ go to the east coast of Scotland, and remain there till about the “ middle of September, at fishing, undergoing hardships in that “ occupation that no other portion of British subjects are at all “ accustomed to. Then come the harvest occupations, and after that “ they have reaped their small crops, comes the duty of thatching “ their houses, and of otherwise endeavouring to secure themselves “ against the inclemency of the weather. In the winter we have * See Dr. Hofmann’s report on chemical and pharmaceutical products and processes in the International Exhibition, 1862, in the reports of the Juries, published by the Society of Arts. 392 Pkofessoe Levi — On the Economic Condition [Sept. “ very frequent and heavy storms, which prevent their going to sea. “ Then they occupy themselves in repairing their nets, in putting “ together the equipments of their fishing boats. All this gives “ them a good deal of work.” AVhen we charge the Highlanders with indolence, we should remember that habits of labour and industry are contracted or lost, just as the exercise of them is constant or uncertain. The Highlanders cannot be considered idle, \o long as they fulfil what they are able to do, and what Providence assigns to them to do. Give them better opportunities ; open up for them sources of labour and industry, and they will manifest the same energy of character as the Lowlanders, if not greater. XIII.— Marriages and Births. The Highlanders are charged with entering into i mprovid ent marriages. We do not find this charge borne ouP'By facts. "ThT the seventh, or last report on “Births, Deaths, and Marriages for “ Scotland, for the Tear, 1861,” the number was given as follows:— Counties. Population. Marriages. Per Cent. Argyll. 79,724 35i 0-44 Inverness . 88,888 461 0*51 Ross and Cromarty . 81,400 426 052 Sutherland..-.. 25,216 93 0*3.7 275,264 i»33i 0*48 Other counties of Scotland .... 2,786,655 19.565 0*70 It may indeed be the case that with the present straitened resources any increase of the population, in certain districts, only adds to the difficulty. What is wanted is new outlets for labour, and new sources of employment. Let these be found and we shall hear no more of the old lamentation that the population increases faster than the means of subsistence. Nor is the state of morals very unsatisfactory; the number of illegitimate children Being in fact considerably less than in all Scotland, and even less than in England. The proportion in 1864 was as follows :— Per Cent, of Illegitimate to tbe Total Births. Argyll . 6 * i Inverness . <>*9 Ross and Cromarty..".. 3*9 Sutherland ....'.. 5*2 Average. 5*6 Other counties of Scotland . 9*55 England . 6*3 1805 .] 393 of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. XI V.—Crime. And as to crime, there does not appear to be any material difference between these counties and the rest of Scotland. In the five years, 1800-04, the number of persons committed for trial or bailed in these counties, as given in the Tables of Criminal Offenders for the year 1801 (158 of 1805), was as follows:— Counties. . Number of Persons Committed. Average. Percentage to Population. Argyll. 682 116 0-145 Inverness . 703 140 0-151 Ross and Cromarty . 275 55 0-006 Sutherland. 46 9 0-184 1,606 320 0121 Other counties of Scotland .... 16,156 3,032 0-108 X V.— Railways. A mighty innovator is, however, approaching the Highlands of Scotland—the railway. This great engine of activity and progress already penetrates some of the most sequestered quarters of the country, and is year by year making further inroad on the dreary solitude. Deeside is visited by railway. From Aberdeen the line goes now to Aboyne, and is soon to be extended to Braemar, passing the royal seat of Balmoral, and reaching nearly the foot of the mighty Lochnagar. What will become of the romantic ride along the Spittal of G-lenshee, we cannot say. Another line passes charm¬ ing Dunkeld, the wild Pass of Killiecraukie, romantic Blair Athol, and goes up to Inverness the fair capital of the north. Even far away westward, by the Caledonian Canal, a railway is about to be constructed, from Oban by the south side of Loch Etive, the north end of Loch Awe, Dalmally, Dunblane, and Callander. What wonders will these railways perform ? They will enable the llTgTr- Janders t o sell th eir timber to much greater advantage. Already contracts Imve bTerTinade with the railways, for years to come, for the transport of such material. They will impart additional value to the fisheries, bv enabling them to send up the fish fresh from Skye to London. “Me at and wool wi ll likewise come up cheaper and quicker. Beyond this the railways will increase a hundredfold the number of visitors to those healthy and charming regions, and bring the Lowlanders and Highlanders more in contact with each other. They will probably bring to light new sources of wealth, as iron ore, coals, and mineral springs: they will create towns and villages there, 394 Peofessok Leyi — On the Economic Condition [Sept. where the noise of the hammer never sounded, and the human voice itself was but rarely heard. They will accustom the Highlanders to new kinds of labour; and they will introduce among them a little of that pressure and hurry which forms the characteristic of modem / civilization, there, where time was plentiful and punctuality of no ■ moment.. , X YI.— Education. What is now wanted is the spread of a sound and liberal educa¬ tion. Hitherto the means of education in the Highland counties have been miserably deficient; whilst left isolated and forlorn, they had no means for providing themselves with schools and school¬ masters, and no one cared for them. Much is done, no doubt, by the parish schools, aided especially by the special grant of Her Majesty of 2 , 000 /. for education in the Highlands ; but had it not been for a ladies’ society, founded in Edinburgh some years ago, for the religious improvemenYftf the remote Highlands and Islands, and for the Gaelic School Society, both of which look mainly to the education of the people, ft is impossible to say what would have been the moral condition of these distant regions at this time. Yet in' vain have appeals been made to the Committee of Council on Education for some grants in favour of these districts. The reasons assigned for the refusal were, that the schools were not good, and the teachers uncertificated. But grants were wanted in order to get better schools, and to engage more efficient teachers. The condition of these schools, as described by the inspector, is, it must be confessed, deplorable. With an earthern floor, damp, and rarely more level than the ground on the outside ; with a scanty furniture, and of the most primitive descrip¬ tion, deal boards supported on stones, not unfrequently forming the benches, and a rude table the only desk; with a small supply of suitable books, and with scarcely any apparatus for teaching, what attraction can they afford? Then in most of these, the teacher remains at work only for a few months of the year, because the salary the Society can afford to give is not sufficient for the exclusive employment of any one; and the remainder of the time a substitute takes the place of the regular teacher, who makes no claim to any amount of learning or teaching faculty. Yet, notwithstanding all these deficiencies, these schools have been and are of immense benefit to the Islands, and are practically doing the very utmost to raise the population from the depth of ignorance and degradation. The present state of education in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, may best be elicited from the number of persons who signed their marriage vows by marks. The seventh detailed “ Annual Eeport of “ the Begistrar-General of Births, Deaths, and Marriages in Scot- “ land,” gives the following proportions:— 1865 .] of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. 3 ! 5 Men. Women. Percentage Percentage Percentage Percentage who Signed by who Signed their Names in who Signed bv who Signed in Mark. Pull. Murk. Full. Argyll . 16-23 83*77 26-19 73*5 1 Inverness . 31-88 68-12 52*71 47*29 Ross and Cromarty .... 42-72 57*^8 61-03 38*97 Sutherland . 11-82 88*18 23-65 76*35 Average. 29-80 70*20 46-43 53*57 Other counties of) Scotland .j 9-30 90-70 19-67 80*33 England*. 23-7 76*93 33-2 66-98 * “Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths “ and Marriages in England.” Nothing could be of greater importance than to extend among the Highlanders the blessings of education. If no dependence can be placed upon a sufficient and regular supply of food, either from agri¬ culture, fisheries, or any other industry, and emigration should become more and more an uncontrollable necessity, how important it is that the Highland youth should be early fitted for the struggle he is to encounter in the open market of the world. How important that he should be able to speak the Anglo-Saxon language, the only medium of communication in England, America, Australia, or New Zealand. The time is now past when the Highlander could place unlimited reliance on a military life; and even their athletic games and sports, their bagpipe and fancy kilts, the relics of former days, are only useful if they animate them to severer and more sober pursuits. X YII.— Conclusion. The future of the Highlands is, we trust, brighter than the past. Under the combined influence of a more humane and kinder con¬ sideration on the part of the landowners, a greater awakening among the people themselves to the claims of real life, the power of educa¬ tion and religion, and the civilising and spirit-giving activity of the railway, we hope soon to see that part of the country, once so full of life and chivalry, and withal so attractive and in many parts majestic, rise from the torpor of social decrepitude, and emit signs of new life and vigour. Their resources indeed are meagre, yet much may be made of them, and we are persuaded that the Highlander, physically strong and vigorous, active and bold, and who so often displayed in the field of battle a courage the most undaunted and a power of endurance seldom equalled, and still less excelled, will not 39G Pkofessor Levi —Cn the E:onomic Condition [Sept. be satisfied in allowing these resources to lie dormant, and his fatherland to become the land of quadrupeds. We have full con¬ fidence that a people who have furnished men so distinguished in science and literature, in administration and command, in military and naval prowess, and above all, so tenacious in their love and admiration for their own fatherland, will speedily manifest a becoming energy in rescuing their country from its apparent decadence, and will be able, notv ithstanding all obstacles, to raise her once more to a position of equality with the more fortunate portions of the sister isles. APPENDIX. Extract from Sir John McNeil’s Report on the Western Highlands and Islands, 1851 , pp. viii to x. “ The population of all of those districts consists principally of persons holding land directly from the proprietor. These tenants may he divided into throe classes, of which the most numerous is that oi ‘ crofters’ including under that designation all persons holding land directly from the proprietor, at rents not exceeding zol. a-year. In every district, the great majority of the population consists of crofters. The most considerable tenants arc the ‘ tacksmen,’ persons having * tacks,’ or leases, who generally pay rents exceeding 50/. a-year, and some of them several hundreds a-year. Intermediate between the crofters and tacksmen, there is another class, paying rents of from 20 1 . to 50/., who, not having leases, are not tacksmen, and not desiring to be classed with the crofters, call themselves * tenants.’ Besides these three classes, who hold land directly from the proprietor, there is another class, called cottars, who are numerous in some parishes and districts, and who either do not hold land at all, or hold it only from year to year as sub-tenants. The part of the population not immediately or necessarily connected with the cultivation of land is small, and consists of proprietors, clergy, professional men, innkeepers, shopkeepers, and tradesmen. There are nowhere any manufactures, except a little knitting ; and there have been none, except the manufacture of kelp, which has for some years been almost entirely abandoned. The crofters and cottars constitute the great mass of the population. “ The cottar, unless he be a tradesman, of which there are few, is altogether dependent on the wages of labour or the profits of fishing. Such as reside on the more considerable farms, and some who reside on crofts, arc allowed by the tenants to cultivate patches of ground, chiefly for potatoes; and sometimes, but more rarely, they have grazing for one or even two cows, and a few sheep. Both the use of the ground and the grazing in such cases are generally paid for by a stated number of days’ work, and are therefore merely wages paid in that form instead of in money. In some rases the cottar pays a money rent as sub-tenant of a patch of ground or of grazing for a cow ; but the money to pay the rent must be earned. In short, he must be regarded as altogether dependent on the wages of labour in some places, and the profits of fishing in others. " Until after the middle of the last century, the land appears to have been occupied exclusively by tacksmen, generally kinsmen or dependants of the proprietor, with sub-tenants, who held of the tacksmen, and by joint-tenants, who held farms in common, each having a stated share. About the time referred to, many of the farms held by tacksmen seem to have been taken directly from the proprietor by 1SG5.] oj the Highland* and Islands oj' Scotland. 3G7 joint-tenants. They grazed their stock upon the pasture in common, and cultivated the arable land in alternate ridges, or * rigs/ distributed annually, and called ‘ run rig/ By this arrangement, each got a portion of the better and the worse land; but no one had two contiguous ridges, or the same ridge for two successive years, unless by accident. Since the commencement of the present century, the arable land has, in most cases, been divided into separate portions, of which one was assigned to each of the joint-tenants or crofters, the grazing, as formerly, remaining in common. “ This division of the arable land into separate crofts immediately caused, as might be expected, a great increase of produce ; and districts which had formerly imported food annually, now produced enough to support the population, then com¬ paratively small. But the change also led to evils which had not been foreseen. While the farms were held by joint-tenants, no one of them could subdivide even his own share without the consent of his partners, which was rarely obtained; but on the division of the arable land, the crofters, who had lived in hamlets or clusters of cottages, now generally established themselves separately on their crofts. Their houses, erected by themselves, are of stone and earth or clay. The only materials they purchase are the doors, and, in most cases, the rafters of the roof, on which are laid thin turf, covered with thatch. The crofter’s furniture consists of some rude bedsteads, a table, some stools, chests, and a few cooking utensils. At one end ot the house, often entering by the same door, is the byre for his cattle; at the other, the barn for his crop. His fuel is the peat he cuts in the neighbouring moss, of which an allotted portion is often attached to each croft. His capital consists of his cattle, his sheep, and, perhaps, one or more horses or ponies; of his crop, that is to feed him till next harvest, provide seed and winter provender for his animals; of his furniture, his implements, the rafters of his house, and generally a boat, or share of a boat, nets, or other fishing-gear, with some barrels of salt herrings, or bundles of dried cod or ling for winter use. Of fresh fish he can almost always command a supply, for in those districts there are few crofts that are far from the coast. While his croft supplied him with food and great part of his clothing, and his annual sales of cattle sufficed to pay his rent, he lived in a rude abundance, with little labour, and knew nothing of the unremitting daily toil by which labourers in other parts of the country gain their livelihood. “ When the lands of each farm were divided into separate crofts, a rent was fixed for each, varying according to the extent and quality of the arable land, the grazing being in common and of equal value to all. These rents have generally been determined by professional surveyors or valuators for a whole farm, and the amount distributed over the crofts it contains by the crofters themselves, in concert with the proprietor or his factor. In some cases the rent for each croft was fixed before its occupant was known, and the crofts at predetermined rents were distri¬ buted by lot. The rent of the croft, once fixed, remains unchanged, unless in the event of a general increase or reduction of all the rents on the property, or part of the property, in which it is situated; and in all cases that rent includes the liill-grazing which is almost always attached to it. Once established in his small farm, the crofter’s name is entered on the rent-roll, and so long as he pays his rent, he does not expect to be removed, unless as a punishment for delinquency. On some of the old hereditary properties, the occupation of the croft has by custom become hereditary, the son, if in a condition to take a croft, succeeding to his father’s as a matter of course; and this custom has generally been respected by persons who luive recently acquired large properties where it was established. But where estates have been much divided, and especially where small properties have been purchased on speculation, or acquired by persons not previously acquainted with the custom, it has not been so generally regarded. “ As originally allotted, in the islands at least, the crofts appear to have been quite sufficient to afford the maintenance of a family and the means of paying the established rent; but when kelp was largely and profitably manufactured, when potatoes were extensively and successfully cultivated, when the fishings were good and the price of cattle high, the crofter found his croft more than sufficient for his 398 Pkofessou Levi— On the Economic Condition [Sept. wants; and when a son or a daughter married, he divided it with the young couple, who built themselves another house upon it, lived upon the produce, and paid a part of the rent. Thus, many crafts which still stand in the rent-roll in the name of one occupant, who is held responsible for the whole rent, are, in fact, occupied by two, three, or even, in some cases, four families. On some properties an effort was made to prevent this subdivision. The erection of an additional house on any croft was prohibited, and the prohibition was enforced; hut the evil was not thereby arrested. The married son or daughter was received into the house of the original occupant; and if the land was not actually divided, it was not the less required to support two or more families. Attempts were, in some eases, made to put an end to this practice, but it was found to involve so much apparent cruelty and injustice, and it was so revolting to the feelings of all concerned, that children should he expelled from the houses of their parents, that the evil was submitted to, and still continues to exist. The population was progressively increasing, and a large part of the increase was accumulated upon the crofts, in addition to the original occupants. Other circumstances contributed to the same result. The manufacture of kelp, which at one time brought to the proprietors in those districts a revenue equal to that derived from the land, gave employment to a great number of the inhabitants; hut as that employment was for only six weeks or two months, and it was necessary to provide for the manufacturers the means of living during the whole year, small crofts were assigned to many persons in situations favourable for the manufacture, which were not alone sufficient to maintain a family, hut which, with the wages of the manufacturer, were sufficient. When a change in the fiscal regu¬ lations destroyed this manufacture, the people engaged in it were thrown out of employment, and had they not been separated by habits and language from the majority of the population, they would no doubt gradually have dispersed and sought other occupations; hut having little intercourse with other parts of the kingdom, which were to them a foreign country, they clung to their native soil after the manufacture in which they had liccn engaged was abandoned; and the crofts they occupied were then insufficient to afford them subsistence. Emigration took place from time to time, and somewhat retarded the increase of numbers; hut the emigrants were the more prosperous of the * tenants’ and crofters, not the persons who had difficulty in finding subsistence at home,—and as the proprietors became uneasy at the amount of population accumulating on their properties, and their revenues were reduced by the destruction of the kelp manufacture, they became desirous to check the one and to increase the other. The lands vacated by emigration were let to tacksmen, who, profiting by the advantages of sheep farming, then first introduced on a large scale into those districts and being possessed of larger capital, were enabled to give a higher rent for the land than crofters could pay, at the same time that these rents were collected at less cost, with less trouble, and more certainty. These advantages led the proprietors to take every opportunity of converting lands held by crofters into large farms for tacksmen, and to establish fishing crofts, and crofts on waste land for such as, from failure to pay their rent, or because of the emigration of the other crofters on the same farm, or from other causes, it became desirable to remove to make room for tacksmen. The crofters who had replaced the original tacksmen, thus came in their turn to he replaced by another race of tacksmen.” 18G5.] of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. 399 Progress of the Population in the Highlands. Progress of the Population in each Parish of the Four Highland Counties, 1801 to 1861; Amount of Rental or Valuation of Land let, and Proportion of Rental per Head to the Population of 1861. AEGYLL. 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. Rental. Rental I&. £ £ S. 4,829 5,151 5,422 5,669 5,581 5,446 4,700 14,087 2 19 4,520 4,645 5,527 5,566 5,397 5,235 4,272 7 ,o 62 . I ■ i 2,051 2,061 2,214 2,133 2,285 2,229 2,095 1,501 1,453 1,452 1,475 1,233 1,144 949 4*965 5 4 904 826 901 892 873 756 618 2>74‘ 4 8 3,293 3,400 4,583 4,05 4 4,700 4,711 4,457 9,882 2 4 1,716 1,720 1,913 2,137 2,223 2,178 2,519 4,878 I 18 2,401 2,184 2,654 2,583 2,170 1,666 1,327 5,2 73 3 17 2,050 3,131 3,966 4,822 4,505 4,142 3,436 1,543 1,679 2,001 2,207. 1,756 1,4131 3,969 2,781 2,956 3,777 4,898 4,026 3,469 J ► 1,990 2,269 2,427 3,065 3,315 3,310 2,956 — 556 511 573 534 550 547 463 2,168 4 1 3 2,520 2,934 3,306 2,866 2,402 2,219 1,890 11,320 5 19 1,825 1,869 2,004 2,120 L,594 1,406 1,274 10,280 8 13 7,093 7,807 9,016 9,472 9,634 9,381 8,149 20,108 2 9 799 819 859 926 816 791] 1,277 5GI9 968 1,166 1,332 1,226 967 713 J 4 I 2,952 2,265 2,511 2,495 2,460 2,170 2,302 8,523 3 13 1,432 1,382 1,839 2,004 1,816 1,695 1,891 5> 8i 5 I 1,750 2,130 2,177 2,416 4,211 4,518 5,461 9,172 1 13 626 552 651 596 699 474 424 3,088 7 5 502 622 731 648 567 500 433 3,546 8 3 433 440 502 450 464 3971 872 646 689 702 633 622 518 J 5,263 6 680 604 694 585 573 4461 702 465 468 436 611 445 388 I 6,397 .9 1,850 1,743 1,936 1,806 1,644 1,450 1,307 11,899 9 j 1,478 1,415 1,663 1,650 1,461 1,525 1,381 1 5 18 893 873 831 770 960 788 729/ 1 2,423 1,854 821 1,908 804 1,946 727 2,109 602 2,171 5521 2,579 j 2,962 6,75° 2 5 566 626 591 851 553 494’ ! 486 426 480 615 390 282 r 61o 4,345 7 I 1,173 611 685 647 553 449] 800 — 372 401 425 343 265 J 4>32i 5 7 2,278 2,327 2,644 2,833 2,602 2,375 1,859 5,25i 2 l6 3,243 3,407 4,103 4,365 4,193 4,097 3,595 13,513 3 15 1,764 2,114 2,288 1,889 1,616 1,361 1,380 6,887 5 2,083 1,883 1,995 2,137 1,774 4,335 1,547 1,226 3,304 2 17 3,601 4,064 4,357 4,830 3,954 3,433 7,201 2 4 3,174 3,205 3,967 3,819 4,113 3,054 2,518 5,500 2 9 5,163 5,419 5,4-15 5,769 5,833 4,818 3,998 4,757 I 3 1,543 1,547 1,620 1,005 993 916 567 697 1 4 Parishes. Lrdnamurclian . Cilmnllie. nverary and Glenary jKilmartin . praignish . teilinichael-Glassary .... South Knapdale. Sforth „ . Kilchoman. Eilnicny. Bovvmore or Kilardow iildalton . Tligha and Cara. Killean andKillchenzie Southend. V&mpbeltown. addel kipness. illcalmonell.1 ilberry. j ilfinan . lunoon and Kilmun... dnverchaolain. ‘Julmodan . Strachlachlan and .... 1 ptrachur.J Jjochgoilhead and 1 $£ihnorich. .J iGlenorchy . Ardchattan. Vluckavin . “Tilmore . iulbri.de . Kilchrenan and .I palavich..J Kilninver and. \ tftilmelford.J Kilbrandon and Kil-1 chattan .J :1 Bismore and Appin .... itorosay . ■Morvern. Hvilninian and Kilmore 'Kilfiniclien PTyree . doll. Small Isles y Argyll.—E xtensive emigration has taken place from this county, which will account for the decrease of nmmla- Jion in various parishes shown by the returns, especially in Ardnamurcbau, Kilmurtin, Craigr.ish, Kilmeny, Killean j.vjuthend, Saddel, Kilfiuan, Kilmodan, Strachlnchlan, Loch goi I head, Ardclmttan, Kilmore, Torosay, Morvern, and g^nmll Isles. 400 Puoi’ESson Levi —On the Economic Condition [Sept. INVERNESS. Parishes. Ardersier Cawdor . Croy . Petty . I n verness Pores . Paviot and Dunliehity Moy and Delarossie ... Duthel. Croiudale . Alvie . Kingussie and Insli .... Boleskinc and Aber -1 tarff./ Laggan . ICilmonivaig . Urquhart and Glen -1 moriston./ Kirkhill . Ur ray. Kilmorack . Kiltarlity . Glenelg . Sleafc . Strath. Portree .. Bmcadale Purnish . Snizort. Kilmuir . Harris. North Uist... South „ ... Barra Island 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. Rental. Rental per Head. 1,041 1.287 1,387 1.268 1,219 1,241 1,042 £ i.73<> £ 1 , 9 . 13 1,175) 1,091 1,120 1,184 1,150 1,202 1,239 3.543 2 16 1,001 1,456 1,538 1,664 1,684 1,777 1,873 3,802 2 1 1.585 1,615 1,758 1,826 1,749 1,784 1,671 6,^98 3 18 8,732 10,757 12,264 L4,324 15,418 16,496 16,162 11,809 *” ■4 1,314 1,573 1,736 1,745 1,650 1,506 5,9 1 3 3 18 1,818 1,63 1 1.750 1,788 1,681 1,857 1,741 6,025 3 9 L,355 1,483 1,332 1,089 967 1,018 1.026 5, 26 7 5 2 1.378 1,613 1,739 1,895 1,769 1,788 1,928 3,415 I 15 2,187 2,010 2,897 3,234 3,561 3,990 3,943 4,279 I 2 1,058 961 961 1,092 972 914 833 3,630 4 6 1,306 1,981 2,004 2,080 2,047 2,201 2,033 7,886 3 17 1,658 1,402 2,096 1,829 1,876 1,997 1,7-13 8,225 4 >4 1,333 1,254 1,234 1,196 1,201 1,223 986 8,204 8 6 2,541 2,107 2,842 2,869 2,791 2,583 2,276 H,223 6 4 2,633 2,146 2,786 2,942 3,104 3,280 2,911 7,489 2 I I 1,582 1,477 1,572 1,715 1,829 1,730 1,757 6,917 3 1 9 2,083 2,649 2,731 2,668 2,716 2,621 2,355 8,592 3 12 2,366 2,528 2,862 2,709 2,694 3,007 2,852 9,221 3 4 2,588 2,601 2,129 2,715 2,869 2,965 2,839 7,160 10 2,834 2,611 2,807 2,874 2,729 2,470 1,843 9,984 5 8 1,903 1,936 2,608 2.957 2.706 2,531 2,330 2,968 I 5 1,748 2,107 2,619 2,962 3,150 3,243 2,664 3,392 l 5 2,216 2,729 3,174 3,4-41 3,574 3,557 3,159 3,32.< i 7 1,865 1,869 2,103 1,769 1,824 1,597 1,335 <(,096 3 16 3,327 3,361 4,147 4,765 4,983 5,330 4,775 4,55° >9 2,144 2,555 2,275 2,7S9 3,487 3,220 3,101 2,639 4,063 I 10 2,752 3,387 8,415 3,625 3,177 2,846 3,636 I 5 2.996 3,569 3,909 3,900 4,424 4,250 4,183 4,003 29 3,010 3,863 4,971 4,603 4,428 3,918 3,959 4, 1 55 I 4,595 4,825 6,038 6,890 7,333 6,173 5,358 5,423 I - 1,925 2,114 2,303 2,097 2,363 1,873 1,853 1,662 ' 17 Inverness. —Extensive emigration lias taken place from this county since 1811, which will account for the decrease of population in various parishes as shown by the returns, especially Ardersier, Petty, Paviot, Moy and Durossio, Kincardine, Alvie, Kingussie, Laggan, Kilmonivaig, Kirkhill, Glenelg, Sleat, Bracadalc, Kilmuir, and North Uist. In some islands there was an increase attributed to the sub¬ division of farms. 1SG5.] of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. 401 ROSS AND CROMARTY. Rental 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1811. 1851. 1801. Rental. per Head. £ £ S. Glenshiel . 710 728 708 715 745 573 485 4.092 8 8 Kintail . 1,038 1,058 1,027 1,240 1,108 1,009 890 4,381 4 17 Lochnlsh.. 1,000 2,034 2,492 2,438 2.597 2,299 2,413 4,1 c 8 I i.l ■Loclmrron . 1,178 1,485 1,932 2,130 1.90O 1,012 1,592 2,980 I 17 Applecross.. 1,890 2,297 2,793 2,892 2,801 2,709 2,544 1,548 - 12 G airlock. 1,437 2,755 4,518 4,445 4.880 5,102 5,449 8,017 I 9 Lochbroom. 3,533 •$, 754 4,510 4,615 4,799 4,813 4,862 8,713 I 15 Contin. 1,941 1,844 1,930 2,023 1,770 1,562 1,509 1 L95 2 7 l 8 Fodderty. 1,789 1,900 1,952 2,232 2,137 2,342 2,247 7,216 3 4 Dingwall. 1,418 1,500 2,031 2,124 2,100 2,364 2,412 — Killieman . 1,131 1,390 1,371 1,479 1,043 1,794 1,494 5>°79 3 7 'Knockbain . 1,859 1,700 1,973 2,139 2,505 3,005 2,485 6,950 -» 1 6 | Avocli. 1,470 1,500 1,821 1,956 1,931 2,029 1,788 4>43 6 2 to • Rosemarkie. 1,289 1,312 1,571 1,799 1,719 1,776 1,545 4,400 2 16 Urquhart and Logie .... 2,820 2,004 1,490 1,591 1,764 2,109 2,158 7,ii5 3 6 ■ Kiltearn . 1,525 1,552 1,454 1,605 1,436 1,538 1,634 6,606 4 — s Alness. 1,072 1,038 1,270 1,437 1,209 1,240 1,178 5,060 4 5 Cromarty . 2,208 2,413 2,649 2,901 2,662 2.727 2,300 — Rcsolis.. 1,007 1,168 1,201 1,470 1,549 1,551 1.508 4,207 l 13 Rosskeen . 2,074 2,390 2.581 2,910 3,222 3,699 3,700 8,931 2 7 Kilmuir Easter . 1,703 1,559 1,381 1,551 1,486 1,437 1,295 4,464 3 9 Logic Easter . 1,031 928 813 934 1,015 905 932 4,029 4 6 Nigg . 1,443 1,349 1,430 1,404 1,426 1,457 1.253 4,974 3 17 , Fearn . 1,528 1,508 1,054 1,695 1,914 2,122 2,083 6,272 3 - ' Tarbat . 1,343 1,379 1,625 1,809 1,820 2.151 2,209 4>73i 2 5 i Tain . 2,277 2,384 2,801 3,078 3,128 3,574 3,294 8,908 2 14 | Edderton . 899 846 915 1,023 975 890 836 2,803 3 7 v Kincardine . 1,805 1,000 1,811 1,887 2,108 1,896 1,746 2,803 I 6 iUig . 2,080 2,500 2,875 3,041 3,310 3,209 2,878 2,956 I - j Lochs . 1,875 1,927 2,609 3,007 3,053 4,256 4,901 3,3^5 - 15 Barvas . 2,233 2,1G5 2,508 3,011 3,850 4,189 4,009 2,127 - 9 ^Stornoway . 2,974 3,500 4,119 5,122 6,218 8,057 8,008 3,478 - 7 : Ross and Cromarty.— The decrease in different parishes in this countv was attributed in the census report to t emigration and enlargement of sheepfarms, especially in Glenshiel, Lochalsii, Contin, Avocli, Kiltearn, Alness, and ' Kilmuir Easter. The increase in other parishes was ascribed to the success of the herring fishery. SUTHERLAND. 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. 1861. Rental. Rental per Head. Criech. 1,974 1,969 2,354 2,562 2,582 2,714 1,886 £ 2,968 £ s. 1 11 Assynt . 2,395 2,479 2,803 3,161 3,178 1,699 2,989 3,178 1,641 4,226 i 6 Eddrachillis . 1,253 1,147 1,229 1,965 1.57 6 3.785 * 5 Durness . 1,208 1,155 1,004 1.153 1.109 1,152 1,109 3.793 3 8 Tongue . 1,348 1,493 1.736 2,030 2,041 2,018 2,077 2,922 1 8 Lairg . 1,209 1,354 1,094 1,045 913 1,162 901 t.otto 3 3 Rogart. 2,022 2,148 2,681 1,986 1,805 1,501 1.535 1,439 2,890 2 - Dornoch. 2,362 3,100 3,380 2,714 2,981 2,885 4,591 1 11 Golspie . 1,616 1,891 1,036 1,149 1,214 1,529 1,025 2,333 1 8 Clvne . 1,643 1,639 1,874 1,711 1.705 1,933 1,886 2,842 1 10 Loth .. 1,374 1,330 2,008 2,214 2,526 640 010 2,142 3 11 Kiidonan. 1,440 1,574 565 257 250 2,288 2,132 2,103 6,215 2 18 Farr . 2,408 2,408 1,994 2,073 2.217 2,203 5 >° 3 2 2 8 Reay . 8G5 861 1,057 1,013 1,007 1,073 2,470 — — Sutherland.—T he decrease of population in Eddrachillis, Durness, Tongue, Lairg, Rogart, Dornoch, Golspie, KildonainandFarr^was ascribed to the removal of small tenants and the establishment of sheepfarms. LONDON : PRINTED BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN’S LANE.