Show THE HIGHLAND CROFTERS Wa lemans account or of the same name and the lie idea Inia lied THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD CLAN tough 11 time for the iho crock tha clo and relentless cles clear r ancee A De populated country fair adjustment or of vitente orm twists aa tin tim atso scotland sept 29 WO to the tb average american the lio 11 crofter has always been a dim legend of the ihn isles and of scotland though the crofter question has for over half ft a century been the irish question quo tion of scotland and has had much to do in electing affecting certain important land reforms in the kingdom the boes woes of poor donald though thouR has as sail sad arid and hopeless as those tho of tho the iris h peasant have agitated scotland exclusively inclusively clu rather dball america Anier lc largely AS in tho the latter fatter case their remoteness have kept them from our universal ken and to that dearbo that thai while people of scotch descent in the united states and nil canada have bavo heart been keenly alivo alive to measures tor for the crofters relief there them aro are many ordinarily wen well anfor informed med americans quite unable to oil 1 you yon tho the real difference between a croft and a loft or a crofter and claymore DEFINING CEO ITEn 11 jamieson in his bis scottish dictionary defines croft craft land as a land of superior quality which was still cropped chamberss Cham borst borss encyclopedia remarkable like 11 ko most for deepening ignorance and intensifying longing for exact information tays says a croft craft Is a piece of land connected with a humble bumble kind of dwelling whose hose Inba inhabitant bitant the lh renter of the land Is called a crofter 11 lord colln colin campbell assorts that the term 11 crofter was waa unknown la in the seventeenth century although in old tacks and leases of that period the word craft Js is of common occurrence lie he further states slates that in the tack lack or temporary given by sir john campbell of to a well oil bo be louto servant in 1530 besides the lour four markland markla iid of Kinc rakin there wore were the craft 0 of I 1 and tho the croft craft that nicea mcewan ia was wont to tio have in the twelfth century english char charters bers in latin the word is ia often u used upa PA in tact fact it Is an anglo saxon word meaning simply a field at the end arid of the eighteenth century tho the tenants of the tha I 1 smallest scotch divisions of land la in distinction from froia tenants holding from five to acres and up upwards wardi were em first called crofters crof tArs that Is acro ao m men med or crofters crofter in those days the crofters had the same relation to highland tenants of the important class who A he cultivated something like farms as ar the cot coaters tem of iho t he present day do to irish and nd english small farmers anti anil the still smaller farmer or crofter of the and the scottish crofter of today to day Is simply that relic of the ancient high lancer ln ir who depala oil all efforts of the owner of great northern and we western storn highland estates to extirpate him absolutely starves along whore the bones of his ancestors lie ott on one hundredth as aa much land as on the average Is fit devoted to the rearing and killing of one rw rod door TRE CHIFF AND TIM antin thu th lon of af tho the woebegone wo crofter of today to day from tho oldo oldon olden n match bravo warrior warnor of the abo north and wart Is briefly SR follows alawa ho was long abo sri n integral portion of the clan system cen 1 Is vj gaelic word meaning child 11 the clansman waste was in the ihn kenw tin child of his chief tho the clan system in 1 the family fri feel on an a larger scale all clAn cla nimen quinn were brethren in a common family and institutional preference for ahn prom of nied beads and could coald not abolish equall equality ty in every other respect and particular the absolute loya loyally UY to the chief to the limit nf freely giving life it in dofan def eixe ot or nr aggression wits was tribute tri buiu of nf fealty to family and tribal relations rather than to the lb ah in of individual authority each cla clanigan clann nIman nan had absolute anti and undeniable ande share in the territory oreB plen plod hy by the entire elan clan it if ho he paid tribute tri blite to the ibo head of the clan it could never have been in the form of rent to an individual owner for temporary mccu becu pancy it was practically aselt impo imposed od and freely bestowed taxation for public purposes cornmon common off offen enzo fl or de defense defence fenRe common betterment the common good under abi this system the result was agricultural competency pastoral simplicity and pleasure and mir surpassing paRing military valor and virtu virtues eq the lanteen clansman clansmen lant clans men wove their own cloth forged their own tools and weapons tilled their own soli soil tod fed and grayed their own sheep and cattle and posse possessed ed inalienable rights to their own benjes and the soil sary to sustain them ile he perforce possessed habits of liardi hardihood boad his healthy life of the mountaineer mado made him strong slid and brave the of if stations gave him shrewd craft in all exigencies n doing everything with his own hands ho he became perfected in expedients rather than the dwarfed one sided man resultant from later day infinite dis fon of labor and thusa thus alien lien his bis sad day of elf patria tion came these scottish ailigh landers gave gava to the united states to canada and to australia Austra lift the most grandly self elf sustaining colonists they ever knew indeed his bis many 11 splendid characteristics proved his own ruin to III scotland triz sow DOME SPIRIT no 10 men living barring perhaps his bis no to less as unfortunate brethren the arl irish h colts ever displayed such consummate 10 loe a of 0 home environment kindred and chief 11 II is bons bens lochs stra stratha and glens provided an all consuming nature wor ship his big ancestry and the traditions of his lineage became him exultantly sung epics his chief and the deeds deed of his clan were adored with almost the passion of idolatry ilia devotion to the stuarts train from time to prince charlie was wait sublime in its desperate loyalty sud furnish some of the most thrilling pages in history hut but being too tar far from edinburgh london and parts to know the political time of day ho be alvia always fought for a lost cause nato atu rally littly mercy was shown him or his more dangerous chiefs yon can today to day still a see ao o ilia die tremendous walls of fort william fort augustus augusta vort fort george and kings house the trans furles established after tho the first rebellion of 1715 to to awe him into submission ion their english names dames breaking his spirit greater than tho the men and arnid they housed then after culloden clr bo b o ull ill his hia hopes were blasted in tho the utter ruin of the house of stuart came the right to bear arms in his eyes to manhood and immediately on tho the heels of this fol followed loed that most demeaning of all highland humiliations the interdict against hla his beloved kilt and tartan balich tor for years made him skulk and hid bids in 10 bai b mountain borne a pitiful object of contumely arid and dl digran gran TIM the downfall of the stuarts caused a complete disruption of it the clan sy etem then followed tire tha abolition of heritable jurisdiction the th power of the chieffa chief ft good or bad was transferred to lawyer adventurers sent into the north from glasgow and edinburgh the highlander I 1 riders brgan began to loathe their own country and the chief lost til all interest in tho the welfare of their people important emigration resulted lessening products product and revenues many great clan territories changed hands new kew landlords landlord or dispirited anil and bankrupt former chiefs be kan to look upon the th highland pens peas entry simply as chattels to bo be bought and sold said as mere slaves then in the latter part of the last and the first part of ahn present century as the tors lors of estates abandoned all morey mercy to a people with mith inherent rights to in the soil sell front from which they sprang and taking refuge finder the absolutism vested in the powers granted tinder the old scottish feudal laws which by successive encroachments encroach buiestt ments had transformed the the original authority of suzerain into absolute private ownership came the barbarous or forcible evictions 0 ot f glen dossary Ih nory Cian ranald and glen clen awry following this and front from 1807 to 1839 1829 wore were perpetrated the llie atrocious sutherland clearances the most ot of tho the entire shire of sutherland then belonged arid and still bolong belongs to the noble house of sutherland and stafford related by intermarriage inter marriage the then living of obese alii se liable families conceived the idea that sheep cheep were more profitable than highlanders High landers that was before british o let the highland landlords know that doer deer and grouse could be made more booro profitable than either but bul in the th period named practically tho the entire shire one of the largest in scotland and coin comprising pris an area of nearly 2 was de populated the helpless apless mountain ears eor wore were driven from their own homes home and these leveled to the ground by fire are hundreds perished front fright exposure and brutal treatment the those who had the means mcana of 0 flight or I 1 a hose moods friends in canada or the states mates could furnish them tho the tame same emigrated to america the remainder were huddled in vile cabins along the seashore sea shore ebore and forced to a escape actual starvation by gathering kelp and mus mussels gels this poor shift being finally denied thorn or in braving tho the dangers of the sea in fishing a mode of life to which they were as duji a stranger as aa your own tenderly cared for child there Is dot to bo found in all history a moro more scandalous loas page of ingenious and supreme human cruelty and yet it was wa set down dovd by economic writers of the time as a great benefit to society at large as it cost the noble liable houses of stafford over OOOO and in the unbiased history of scottish arid and english and aus ai a i a notable improti improvement emont of the tae high lands D the sa makind of improvements in bained rc in vogue though on it A losser leaser scale under sanction of abose old scottish laud arid laws up to a very recent date in 13 babir ariff figlo nairn inverness ross and argyll shires and in the hebrides it if a landlord wished to transform his great holdings into sheep walks or game preserves it was soon bruited bruised about that the tha district was iron congested 11 then crofters were cleared a out t entirely or summarily removed to wretched patches of uncultivated land an d to begin anew a life of starvation under increased conla burdens and environment aside from froin the thio there re heartless cruelties cruel ties it seems as though the mot moat devilish in ext and humiliations were also imposed after tho the new croft craft wm was improved at the termination of the usual al nineteen year laase isaac additional rental wait waa demanded if not paid tho the croft craft tented or leased to new tenant the terrified crofter rather than became bom homeless pless attempted tho the new burden struggled along u under rider arrears slid and was finally evicted securing no compensation cow p whatever hat ever for his Im improvements provia it if hi he entered enter edthe the pren of the factor or agent with with his hat on his hands in his pocket packets or left the door open lie was fined the rent of every t tenant on an an estate hia has oton often been ralpd because tho the first arst tenant railing calling with his money was a few moments late sons on attaining their majority could only remain upon the estate on tho the written of the proprietor crofter rs were liable to proRe prosecution cution tor for using any road or loot foot path not prescribed by the proprietor an entire page of this paper raight might bo be filled with a truthful recount of similar tyrannizes tyrannies tyr annies and grievances rut but organized agitation in behalf of the crofter crafter similar to that th adopted by the lite land league for ireland irelan t at last secured the concession of a royal boyaj commission of inquiry into the condition of the highlands although from the fear of reprisals by landlords and d rn factors not one halt half the wrongs of th these people were made known a condition of f things was wait brought to light wiloh which c shocked the country it must also b be homo borne in mind that the constitution of that commission was conservative nut but these 0 disclosures had a salutary 1 affect in 1886 paril parliament amont passed pa qed w what hat is popularly known know r I 1 a as th J h crofters act this lives files by a royal co commission in m isslyn whose abos me members ber travel from point to polut point receiving evid evidence enco and making adjudications what are called 11 fair rents rent s to which both proprietor and crofter tenant aro are bound in all cs cawa ot of crofters paying an annual rental ol 01 of 30 or less ilia 1 lin commission also has power to deal with arrears raib PAM adjustments the tha terrible odds against which abe o helpless people for more than a century fought lor for mere eil stence la Is clearly shown by tho the outcome of tho the annual proceedings of this crofters commission in july of the present year ou on the tho estate of kelse near wick the crofters secured an average reduction of 34 per con cadt 4 while 76 per par cent of their arrears were canceled in the Iq island landof of stroma lying in the pentland firth opposite john ogreata house the same sama reduction redaction and cancellation were made on one estate in reductions have been as great as CO 50 per cent v A bile DD per cent ot of arrears have been canceled perhaps one halt half of the entire territory ot of tho the northern and western highlands has been already adjudicated upon by the tha commission on onan an average fair rents have been established at a reduction of 40 per cent the infamous iniquity and injustice of former ormer years have been illustrated and partially atoned lor for by tho the commission la in an alit olitta cancellation of more then than one fourth of existing arrears and a loa or cancellation of tully fully 75 percent per cent of the remainder A far greater good has elan also been bee accomplished am under the crofters act 11 poor donald 11 Is today to day pretty nearly a free man mail Und ertho old conditions ho he could never pay his bis rent 1 it wi wag not expected ho he would a factor confided to roc me ho was more inore manAge manageably ablo vt hen you could hint of a notice and removal in other words landlords while certainly rapacious toe for the last farthing that c bo be pinched out of the crofter in c cold 0 id blood actually calculated upon a certain percentage of arrears piling up against tho the terrified crofter so that all slavish commands were quickly assented to and ad burdens were Im without protosio prot outrages under this form of 0 durw war wern but under fit llin Crof crofter tees act the crofter Is 1 absolutely bol ulry independent of or factor as conr as he aft pays paya the fair rent flied blied by the iha commission ile may veto as aft ito hf 1 plea pl earNi pay hta bill rent with his ht ll hat 11 on ilia 11 child ren my may remain at home or plea ul marr rry without fita ali written co se n t and adi marvel of land law pro arem hn my at the the rree or at a catholic harch without I 1 ho he vengeance of a bigot master over or taking lal ann him liap TOO TAM all this in degree li is hopeful and rood good but I 1 fear bell harlp haa ram crime to tho the too tea IAK bile they |