Lewis is the largest of the Western Isles with beautiful sandy beaches.

Flowers for that special occasions be it a birthday, wedding or anniversary.

by Colin Scouller in “A guide to Ullapool”

Down A Minor road signposted “Rhue” branches left off the A.835 about 2.5 miles north of Ullapool and after about a quarter of a mile, bends sharply to the right. Most of the settlement, which covers four acres or more, lies on the moor above the bend.

Approximately fifty yards north of the bend is a circle of stones about forty feet in diameter, partly covered by heather, which are the remains of a round house. Its entrance was at the southeast where there is a gap in the circle, and the hearth would have been near the centre where there is now a small mound. Ten yards to the west, there are parts of what appears to be a smaller circle some 18 feet in diameter, which may have been a storage hut. Some 70 yards to the north another hut circle, about 25ft. in diameter, can be seen in the heather. To the west and east of the circles are a number of smaller heather-covered mounds, one of which is partially exposed in the bank on the right hand side of the road as you approach the bend, where it can be seen to consist of a heap of boulders and smaller stones.

The circle of stones making up the wall of the round house would originally have been about 3ft, high. The outer ends of the rafters of a conical roof would have rested on the top surface of the wall. The roof would probably have been further supported be vertical posts inside the house and thatched with heather and turf or both.

The climate at the time of the settlement would have been drier than today and little or no peat would yet have been formed. The mounds are in fact field clearance heaps, indicating that the area over which they extend was cultivated by the inhabitants, probably to grow barley and oats. They would also have engaged in stock rearing, hunting and fishing. The Strathan burn was conveniently close for supplies of fresh water.

The very few round house settlements in the north of Scotland which have been excavated produced radio carbon dates for their occupation falling between 1500 BC and 100 AD, i.e. during the Late Bronze and the Iron Ages. With no other evidence available, we can only suppose that Rhue was occupied for some time during this period. The two round houses may not have been in use simultaneously and the settlement could have lasted for several generations. It was small, probably housing just one extended family group of 20 to 30 including children.

In trying to visualise their environment, we should forget the present hillside covered with heather and peat, and think of grassland with patches of trees and scrub, a drier and sunnier climate in which the sown crops would flourish, livestock grazing on the hill above, and an abundant harvest of fish from the loch below.

Use the menu below for a walk through the past history of Ullapool. If there is anything you would like to add or if indeed you have some old photos of Ullapool and its people we would love to hear from you.

The Ship Hector and the people who sailed on her

By Henry Beer

To see some more photos of the passenger list and ship hector click here
Or visit www.townofpictou.com

Down on the shores of Pictou Harbour in Nova Scotia ship builders are painstakingly reconstructing the 18th century ship Hector. In 1773 the old Dutch ship landed there with over 170 Scottish Highlanders on board. Today, it is estimated that there are more than 140 000 descendants of the “Hector People” living in Canada and the United States. Anyone who can claim an ancestor who arrived on the Hector is endowed with the same honour as the United Empire Loyalists who emigrated to Canada during the following decade. Although they were not the first Scots to arrive in North America they were the vanguard of a massive wave of Scottish immigrants to arrive in what is now Canada. In the century following the landing of the Hector more than 120 ships brought nearly 20 000 people from Scotland to the port of Pictou. By 1879 more than ninety-three percent of the region’s rural property owners had Scottish names.

Ironically, very few of the Hector people stayed on the Pictou Plantation. They had been cruelly deceived by the shipping company that brought them out to Nova Scotia. The land was not ready for settlement as promised and supplies for the coming winter were meagre. Most of them moved on to settled parts of the province leaving an intrepid handful of their countrymen to fend for themselves in an uncultivated
wilderness.

The oldest existing document relating to those firstcomers is a ragged sheet of foolscap that has been carefully preserved by the Public Archives of Nova Scotia at Halifax. It is the list of the names of the people who boarded the ship at Loch Broom and Greenock in the summer of 1773. Many Canadians and Americans look to this document as the most important source of their family’s roots in the New World.

At first glance the columns of names make little sense. The cramped, careful handwriting is that of an old man writing from memory, seemingly without consideration for any logical classification of the names. The list was compiled by one of the ship’s passengers, William MacKay, many years after the landing of the Hector. He wrote from firsthand knowledge of the families and individuals who survived the cruel voyage and he developed his list according to familial groupings.

How does the family historian know which names belong to their family? A genealogist has to be part historian, part sociologist, and part detective to be able to search out the past from those apparently random columns in Squire MacKay’s list.

SOLVING THE RIDDLE

In 1973 the tattered old passenger list had new life breathed into it. It was the 200th anniversary of the Hector’s landing and an appropriate souvenir was needed to commemorate the event. A photocopy of the MacKay document was turned over to Peter Little, a Montreal graphic artist. It was his task to render an exact reproduction of the original list. The process proved to be long and exacting, but the results were surprising.

Mr. Little, a native of Scotland, spent several weeks studying the faded document before attempting to restore the tight script. He practiced MacKay’s handwriting for many hours before putting his pen to the photocopy. At first the procedure was slow. With the aid of a magnifying glass Little carefully traced over the words with pen and India ink. As his task progressed he picked up the flow of MacKay’s hand and was able to complete the job within three weeks. It was during this period that several clues to the riddle were revealed.

Some of the precious names had been all but obliterated through years of handling and carelessness, but Mr. Little was able to follow the natural flow of MacKay’s writing and reconstruct the faded letters with no difficulty. In one case, nothing more than a few twisted lines were all that remained of a long-forgotten name. Someone once saw the name Janate in those scratches but Little discovered that he could not write “Janate” because MacKay’s handwriting did not fit the loop and stroke fragments that were still visible. Instinctively he wrote “Donald” to bring the loops and strokes together perfectly. A small piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.

There are other clues to help unlock the secrets of the list. Firstly, the names are presented in four main categories:

• Full passengers above 8 years old. This represented the largest group on board the Hector. Everyone in this category was required to pay full fare for the passage.
• Passengers from 2 to 8 years old. These were the children who travelled at half fare.
• Children under 2 years old. No fare was charged for these passengers.
• Full passengers from Clyde. These are the adults who boarded at Greenock. Their children are already included in categories 1 and 2 above.

PUTTING THE PIECES TOGETHER

On July 23, 1973, thousands of Scottish-Canadians and Scottish-Americans gathered at Pictou to celebrate their common ancestry. Anchored in the harbour was the schooner Bluenose II standing in for the Hector. The guests of honour included Justice William O. Douglas of the United States Supreme Court who was present to pay homage to his ancestor Colin Douglas. Throughout the day hundreds of copies of the refurbished passenger list were distributed by high school students. William MacKay’s document had been transformed into an elegant souvenir of the event. For the first time the actual list of Hector passengers was available to the general public and family historians. Genealogists would have no problem finding familiar names in the crisp, new reproduction.

To put the pieces of the puzzle together one has to start with the names of the children under 2 year old. Each child carries the name of their father. There are 27 infants listed and next to them there are 22 fathers listed. The fathers’ names also appear in the first column Full passengers above 8 years old. Married women were listed by their maiden name and were listed below their husband’s name. Helen Fraser was the wife of Colin MacKay; Jane Forbes was the wife of George Morrison; and so on.

The father of one infant “John” was William Mathewson. In the column Full passengers above 8 years old William Mathewson appears again with the name Elspa MacKenzie, his wife, directly below. Finally, in the column Passengers from 2 to 8 years old is the name Ann Mathewson. The members of this family are the parents William and Elspa and their children John and Ann. With patience and persistence one can find dozens of families using this technique.

The riddle of the list may never be fully solved. It is known that there were 189 people on board the Hector when it sailed from the Clyde, but it is not known for certain how the passengers were related to one another or which ones did not survive the horrendous nine-week voyage. Smallpox and dysentery took their toll on the infants and children on board. In all, eighteen died at sea. By the time the rotting hulk landed, people were picking at the planks to find worms to eat. To find one’s ancestors in the list of passengers, the family historian must put all their skills to the test.

Full permission was happly granted by Henry Beer for the above document. We are most grateful and would like to offer our thanks for letting us share a little bit of history.

Use the menu below for a walk through the past history of Ullapool. If there is anything you would like to add or if indeed you have some old photos of Ullapool and its people we would love to hear from you.

FROM OLD SCOTIA TO NOVA SCOTIA

Reported by Andy Mitchell

Photo Curtesy of www.townofpictou.com

An On a bright June morning in 1773 the old Dutch vessel, Hector was moored in Loch Broom, close to the small settlement of Ullapool, taking onboard a group of people from the Highlands. These people were joining a few others who had already joined the ship in the Clyde area. All the people had one thing in common. They wanted to find a new land where they had freedom to speak their Gaelic language, play their music and wear their cherished tartan. It was only 28 years after the Battle of Culloden and life in Scotland was hard and repressive.
189 passengers comprising 25 single men, 33 families, a piper and their agent had joined the ship and were willing to start a new free life in a new land.

The dangerous voyage took three months to complete. The ship was old and built to carry cargo; not passengers. There was sickness aboard and several passengers died. Spirits were not dampened and, in fact, raised when a healthy child was born as they were close to the North American coast.

They came ashore at the small but unhostile Indian settlement of Pictou. They arrived just as the harsh winter was setting in.

Life was hard but these people had their freedom and survived that first winter and proceeded to tame a small part of that wild continent.

They never forgot their Scottish heritage and called the new land Nova Scotia.

Today the small town of Pictou is a proud and thriving place. The Gaelic language still exists, tartan is proudly worn and Highland music is sung, played and enjoyed.

About 10 years ago an ambitious plan was launched. It was decided to rebuild an exact replica of the Hector. Money was raised by local and corporate effort and amidst great enthusiasm the vessel was rebuilt to the exact specification of the original vessel.

On Saturday 16th September 2000 the new Hector was launched as part of a great celebration.

Lochbroom FM had contacted the local Radio Station covering the Pictou area, CKEC New Glasgow to discuss possible links on the day. The management of CKEC was tremendously hospitable to our request and through their Internet service we covered the launch of the Hector live in our own area through Lochbroom FM’s transmitters on 102.2.

CKEC also asked one of our presenters, Morag Anna MacLeod, to join the CKEC team covering the event as she was already in Pictou in her capacity as Gaelic Development Officer.

We’ve both come a long way from those hard days when that old Dutch ship slipped out of Loch Broom so we should celebrate on both sides of the big pond. We owe it to these brave people to never forget their struggle for a new life.

Reported by Andy Mitchell

Use the menu below for a walk through the past history of Ullapool. If there is anything you would like to add or if indeed you have some old photos of Ullapool and its people we would love to hear from you.

By Peter Harrison in “A Guide to Ullapool”

The North West Coast has particularly outstanding scenery. The landscape you view today is the result of geologically recent surface processes acting on much more ancient underlying rocks.
The oldest rocks to be found in the Lochbroom area are at Corrie and were formed about 3000 million years ago deep down in the earth’s crust at enormous pressures and temperatures. They are called Lewsisian Gneiss and are extremely hard, which explains why the Loch is narrower here as the ice that occupied the valley found it more resistant to erosion. The gneiss often consists of bands of light and dark minerals.

There then followed a long period of erosion, and eventually the gneiss was brought to the surface about 1000 million years ago. It formed a hilly landscape with rivers flowing in valleys. Higher mountains existed where the Atlantic is today. These provided pebbles, sand and mud, which were carried by the rivers, filling the valleys and eventually burying the hills. As the sediment was deposited in layers and buried, it slowly turned in to solid rock, preserving these structures. The rock formed is called Torridonian Sandstone, which is dark red, mostly sandstone (made of sand) or conglomerate (made of pebbles and sand). About 570 million years ago, a warm sea gradually invaded the area eroding both the Torridonian Sandstone and the Lewisian Gneiss. First beach sand and then shallow sea sediment, consisting of mud and lime, were deposited along with some animal remains, which formed fossils such as trilobites. Also worm burrows are preserved as colour variations in the rocks. The lime formed limestone, which is quarried on the road to Rhidorroch and used mostly as agricultural lime, which is distributed all over the North of Scotland.

The whole area was then involved in a huge mountain building episode as two massive continental blocks ran into each other. Folds, faults and intrusions of magna were formed beneath the mountains that were produced by this continental collision. They were probably on the scale of the present day Himalayas. This movement was completed about 400 million years ago.

The story since then has been mostly of erosion, with rivers cutting valleys which were then deepened and extended by glaciers in the last half million years. This can be seen in the Lochbroom Valley itself. Changing levels of both sea and the land have formed raised beaches, two levels of which can be seen in Ullapool. The upper one, (the elder) has most of the village of Ullapool built on it and the lower has Shore Street and the caravan park. The results of some of these momentous events can easily be seen around Ullapool. Standing on Shore Street and looking southeast along the length of the glaciated valley towards its head, the narrows at Corrie can be seen and the distant mountains of Beinn Dearg and the Fannich Hills. These mountains supplied some of the ice that flowed down Lochbroom and lie on the other side of a major fault, which was formed during the mountain building episode 400 million years ago. These mountains themselves, however, were only uplifted much more recently. The valley was flooded at the end of the last ice age to form a sea loch.

The rocks immediately on the other side of the loch to Ullapool are red Torridonian Sandstone; the layers in which it was deposited are almost horizontal and are visible from here in good light. Any major vertical lines you can see are probably faults, which provide planes of weakness for erosion to exploit. Most of the older houses in Ullapool are built of this dark red sandstone.

The road cuttings on the Dingwall road towards Corrie give the opportunity to see some of the rock types mentioned. Starting in Ullapool, the red Torridonian Sandstone exists by the footpath before you reach the Four Seasons Hotel. Opposite the Four Seasons the white/grey sandstone marks the first rock deposited as the sea invaded the area 570 million years ago. Over the first bridge, this rock continues until the top of a road cutting shows a younger rusty brown mudstone formed in quieter waters. The white/pink sandstone below shows worm burrows here but the rock face is not very stable and should not be approached. The limestone appears at the bottom of the next road cutting as a grey coloured layer with a low angle fault above it, sloping at about 15 degrees eastward. This was one of the faults formed in the major mountain building episode.

Use the menu below for a walk through the past history of Ullapool. If there is anything you would like to add or if indeed you have some old photos of Ullapool and its people we would love to hear from you.

by Cathy Dagg in “A guide to Ullapool”

Although people have been living in the Ullapool area since the end of the Ice Age. About 9000 years ago, they have left little evidence to be unearthed by archaeologists. However, there are so few documentary records of life here, even for relatively recent times that we have had to depend on interpreting what little evidence there is. This often produces more questions than answers.

We know, for example, from the evidence of place names, that the Vikings were not just occasional raiders from the sea, they were in fact settled and farming in Ullapool. (Norse: Ulla-Bolstadr = Ulla’s steading). Yet the only archaeological evidence for their presence is the discovery by road workers in the 1950s of 3 steatite bowls near Braemore Junction. The Vikings used steatite (soapstone) for a variety of utensils, but complete bowls are very rare in Britain, and so are very valuable archaeologically. Unfortunately, two of the three bowls have since disappeared but the third can be seen in the Ullapool Museum.

Other chance finds of artifacts offer a view of a much richer prehistoric society in the Ullapool area than the lack of settlements would suggest: Objects such as the Late Bronze Age Bronze sword found at Inverbroom and a decorative bronze pin found near Dun an Ruigh Ruadh (now on display in the Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh). These suggest contact and trade between the north west of Scotland and the rich cultures of the Continental and Irish/Scandinavian Bronze and Iron Ages. They indicate the presence of some individuals of personal wealth and status far greater than the few settlements and forts around Ullapool would seem to merit.

The most visible prehistoric sites in the landscape are Iron Age forts. The centuries around the time of the Roman pacification of Britain were times of great unrest in the north of Scotland, and all along the coast people built fortifications to protect themselves and their livestock from seaborne raiders. There are four such defended sites close to Ullapool. On the shore of Loch Broom opposite to the village are Dun Lagaidh and Dun Ruigh Ruadh. The former is a semi-broch, an incomplete circle making use of a natural cliff to complete its defences, and the latter is a multi-period site, which has been rebuilt several times from the early Iron Age to Mediaeval times, on top of a small isolated ridge.

A few miles north of Ullapool are Dun Canna and Langwell Dun. Both are now ruinous, with little of their original structure visible, but are worth visiting for their impressive locations; Langwell Dun perched over a ravine and Dun Canna on a promontory tucked under the dramatic cliffs at the foot of Ben Mhor Coigeach.

In more peaceful times, Bronze and Iron Age farmers lived in small round houses, or hut circles. There are many of these hut circles to be seen in the Achiltibuie area, and there is one good example of two round houses and their associated fields, approximately three miles north of Ullapool on the road to Rhue.

More recently, archaeological techniques have been applied to recording and interpreting the settlements of the past few centuries, as the traditional way of life in the Highlands passes in to history. The wilderness areas around Ullapool were once filled with small townships, summer shielings, grazings and drove routes, until famine and hardship or deliberate clearances forced the people to abandon them. The old township at Inverlael, the settlements at the far end of Loch Achall, even the “street” of houses on Morefield Brae, are all worth visiting as evocative reminders of past lives.

Use the menu below for a walk through the past history of Ullapool. If there is anything you would like to add or if indeed you have some old photos of Ullapool and its people we would love to hear from you.

The Clearances in Loch Broom and Coigach

An ancient Act of 1585 legally permitted the laird to evict tenants or sub-tenants provided he gave them 40 days notice. If they failed to comply he could bring in troops to evict them. By the end of the 18th Century several of the old Mackenzie family estates had to be sold for financial reasons. Throughout the 19th Century in Lochbroom as in other parts of the Highlands & Islands much distress and hardship was caused by the new breed of lairds clearing whole communities from fertile land that their families had occupied for many years to make way for sheep farmers from the south who could afford to pay high rent for the land.

James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, recalled seeing crops left unharvested in the field of Strathnasealg, a lovely glen behind An Teallach, after it was cleared. (He toured these parts in the early 1800s). There was a population of 30 or 40 families in Strathnasealg and Glen Gruinard, before the Clearances. Hogg records how the Dundonnell laird, George Mackenzie of the 1st Mackenzie dynasty hesitated to clear people off his land although it would be to his financial advantage to do so. Ground Officers and factors showed no compassion to these poor destitute families (apart from the laird, minister and school master – if there was one – no-one had cash “in those days”). Theirs was a frugal existence, living on what they grew. If rent had to be paid it was paid “in kind”. For people living near the sea, fish was plentiful. No provision of food or shelter awaited evicted families when they found a safe place to settle.

In 1820 about 55 families were evicted from Inverlael and Braemore. Inverbroom and Achindrean were also cleared pre – 1850. Other evictions took place here and there including some in Coigach – one attempt to evict there was unsuccessful because the officers with the warrant were attacked and humiliated by a band of irate women. By 1836, Dundonnell Estate was sold by the trustees to Murdo Munro Mackenzie of Ardross. This family had come over from Australia (after the death of the old Geo. Mackenzie of the 1st MacKenzie dynasty, a son, Kenneth, took over the estate. He died young and even before his death the estate was burdened with debts and in the hands of trustees). Under this Mackenzie of Ardross there were heartless clearances from Kildonan circa. 1840 and Keppoch, Dundonnell. Twenty families (128p) were sent to settle on strips of poor rocky soil described in the Napier Report as mostly black moor and heather. They had to bed down in the heather in an exposed site until they could construct some sort of shelters for their families (there were many children) and animals, against the elements.

To bring the soil into a state suitable for growing corn, hay and potatoes, it was necessary for the families to make dangerous trips in open boats to the Summer Isles 10 miles away to cut boatloads of seaweed for fertiliser and shell sand to improve the peaty soil. They had a 50 yard stretch of beach to gather seaweed from, and as seaweed takes 3 years to grow they had no way of getting adequate supplies near home.

For the privilege of living on these barren 3-acre crofts, the laird demanded 9 days free labour in lieu of rent. Later this was extended to 21 days at times and in weather suitable to do the laird’s spring work, peat cutting and harvest work. To get to his place meant a 12-mile walk over a rocky mountain. For 40 years these people had to provide their own lunch “pieve”, When they went to do the lairds work. The Mackenzie of Ardross was also responsible for ousting a large number of families from Mungasdale. Some of them settled in Badlurach. He wanted to give the land to a daughter who was to marry a Mr. Cotton (Eatton)

The Leckmelm evictions were the last on the Scottish mainland. In 1880 an Aberdeen industrialist cleared about 100 people from their homes and fields. He had great plans for improving his estate and buildings etc. His actions got widespread publicity and adverse criticism. The Free Church minister championed the people’s cause and it was after this that a Commission was set up to enquire into crofting grievances. The Crofting Act 1886 gave crofters certain rights including security of tenure and compensation for the outgoing tenants for improvements e.g. buildings and reclamation of land.

Some members of evicted families got assisted passages to Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where as a rule, they prospered although the going was very hard at first. Often they would have to clear land, felling giant trees, the wife in the cabin meantime anxiously listening to see if the axe would start again.

There are well authenticated incidents connected with the harshness of the Clearances e.g. people seeing their houses on the shores of Gruinard Bay going up in flames as they walked home from church, or the Ground Officer coming to evict a teenage orphan girl and her brothers taking the potato pot boiling on the fire outside to the grass while he set fire to her house.

One of the most poignant tales in oral tradition tells of a man in Scionaiscaig (cleared 1810) who carried his father on his back from their burning home, to Culnacraig.

” This article was written by a local lady whose knowledge has been handed down through the generations” in “a guide to Ullapool”

Use the menu below for a walk through the past history of Ullapool. If there is anything you would like to add or if indeed you have some old photos of Ullapool and its people we would love to hear from you.

Isle Martin Near Ullapool

The Location

Isle of Martin is situated at the mouth of Loch Broom, some three miles northwest of Ullapool in Wester Ross. The nearest mainland is less than a mile away at Ardmair. This strategic location has been important in both the commercial and cultural history of the island.

Early History

There is little in the way of documented history of Isle Martin prior to the late 18th century, although the island must have been an important place for many years prior to that. It is probable that the island has been inhabited off and on for several thousand years. The only specific, but anecdotal, references are to a St. Martin who is reputed to have established a monastery on the Island, probably around 300-400 AD and after whom the island is named.

The British Fisheries Society

By the 18th century there was an important and active trade in fish from the island, and a John Woodhouse, from Liverpool, established a herring station and associated customs house. This closed in 1813 after successive years of failing catches. During this period there were probably around a hundred people living on the island.

Crofting and Agriculture

The island has probably been farmed since people first lived there, and agriculture and fishing must have been the mainstays of the island economy for most of its history. During the 1820’s the island was divided into crofts, and crofting tenure. It would have been predominantly used for cattle and sheep grazing, with some limited arable land at the southern end near the main settlement.

Flour Mill

A flourmill was operated between 1939 and 1948 on the old herring station site. Wheat was imported by ship, and flour supplied to bakeries across the north. Most of the mill workforce was brought by ferry from Ardmair on a daily basis.

R.S.P.B

The last private owner of the island ceased further sheep grazing in 1969. A small herd of Highland cattle was then maintained until 1979, when Mrs. Monica Goldsmith gifted the island to the R.S.P.B and since then no domestic stock have grazed the island.

Isle Martin Now

The R.S.P.B gifted the island on May 3 1999 to a charitable trust formed by the communities of Lochbroom and Coigeach. Residents, together with people having close local connections, are eligible to join the Trust. Plans for the early island years have been published but decisions on these and all future developments entirely lie with Trustees elected from and by, members and the expressed wishes of Members and Friends of Isle Martin, (those who live out with the parish but have joined the trust).

Presently uninhabited and having no facilities, the island provides the opportunity to wander and to view the developing woodland, the ruinous fishing villages, both ancient and “modern”, and see St. Martin’s Cross and what is thought to be either a post Reformation chapel or session house. There appears to be evidence of an earlier building running east west, south of the existing roofless building. In the nesting season visitors to the island are required to avoid the areas shown on the Isle Martin leaflet. An endearing feature and lasting memory of the island, in its setting of hill and loch, lies in the sense of tranquillity that now pervades the ancient site.

Use the menu below for a walk through the past history of Ullapool. If there is anything you would like to add or if indeed you have some old photos of Ullapool and its people we would love to hear from you.

Crofting: History and Present

by George Campbell in “A guide to Ullapool”

Crofting is a unique form of land tenure, and though there are similarities with other small farming systems throughout Europe, it has no exact replica.

The History of Crofting

Crofting as we know it today, is located in the peripheral areas representing some of the poorest and most disadvantaged agricultural land in Europe. However, the crofting communities did not inhabit these areas by accident, but rather by a series of events which culminated in what today are known as the “highland Clearances.”

The demise of the traditional land ownership structure was closely linked to the destruction of the clan system after the defeat of the Jacobite rising. The dismantling of the clan system led to problems such as over-population, due primarily to excessive subdivisions of holdings. These man-made problems were exacerbated by natural disaters such as the potato famine, which resulted in mass emigration to Canada and Australia.

These voluntary emigrants were often accompanied by whole communities who had been forcibly cleared off their land to make way for more profitable or desirable enterprises such as sheep farming and sporting estates. Towards the end of the 19th Century there were a number of noted battles involving crofters against landlords who were attempting to deny them their traditional rights. The land battles, often involving women and elderly people, attracted attention and public concern was such that a Commission was appointed to look into the whole issue of crofting.

The resulting Napier Commission report made a number of recommendations, the most important of which was a need for new legislation, which would give crofters security of tenure. Thus the first Crofting Act was passed in 1886 and essentially gave crofters security of tenure and also the right of compensation for any improvements carried out by them. The first crofts were created in 1886 but there was still an immense demand for land, and land raids (the forcible acquisition of land) continued until after the Second World War. So throughout the first half of the 20th century further crofts were created, mostly on land acquired by the Department of Agriculture. So the legal definition of a croft as opposed to a smallholding is that it must have been registered as a croft under the 1886 or subsequent Crofting Acts. But what is the practical difference?

Crofting Today

There are 17000 registered crofts in the Highlands and Islands and these are concentrated on the North and West coasts and the Islands which lie in that seaboard such as Shetland in the North to Mull and Tiree in the South. There is no specific size for a croft – it very much depends on the physical nature of the landscape of the area in which any one crofting township is located. However, despite these differences all crofts have similarities in that they are operating in the most physically disadvantaged areas, with atrocious weather conditions coupled with distance from markets etc. Most crofting agriculture is based on the production of store sheep and cattle, which are then sold on to be finished elsewhere in the U.K.

Crofting is as much a way of life as an economic or physical activity. The Crofting Township is unique because it is both collaborative and individualistic. The township committee allocates common grazings, sets dates for communal shearing and dipping of sheep, arranges for the visit of the bull and may share the costs of a new piece of equipment. But individual’s manage the croft as a sole tenant and may try new ideas or dispense with old ones according to what they wish for themselves and their families. Without collaboration the communities could not survive – without individualism they would not want to. But, cofting, both individually and collectively, is constrained by external factors because crofting is not full-time agriculture – it was never intended to be. The principle constraint is the availability of additional income.

There are some full-time crofters earning their entire living from agriculture, but these are the minority. Most crofters require another occupation, sometimes several part-time occupations, and sometimes just one main job.

Thus we see in the delicate balance of crofting, not only its dependence on the agricultural economy, but even more importantly on the health of the
wider Highland economy.

Use the menu below for a walk through the past history of Ullapool. If there is anything you would like to add or if indeed you have some old photos of Ullapool and its people we would love to hear from you.