Lowland Clearances
Encyclopedia
The Lowland Clearances in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 were one of the results of the British Agricultural Revolution
British Agricultural Revolution
British Agricultural Revolution describes a period of development in Britain between the 17th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw an epoch-making increase in agricultural productivity and net output. This in turn supported unprecedented population growth, freeing up a significant...

, which changed the traditional system of agriculture which had existed in Lowland Scotland
Scottish Lowlands
The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....

 in the seventeenth century. Thousands of cottars
Cotter (farmer)
See also Canadian band The Cottars.Cotter, cottier or cottar is the Scots term for a peasant farmer formerly in the Scottish highlands. Cotters occupied cottages and cultivated small plots of land...

 and tenant farmers from the southern counties
Scottish Lowlands
The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....

 of Scotland migrated from farms and small holdings they had occupied to the new industrial centres of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 and northern England
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...

 or abroad.

Many small settlements were torn down, their occupants moved to new, purposely-built villages. John Cockburn
John Cockburn (Scottish politician)
John Cockburn of Ormiston, East Lothian, was a Scottish politician, the son of Adam Cockburn of Ormiston, Lord Justice Clerk. He is also known as the father of Scottish husbandry....

 of Ormiston
Ormiston
Ormiston is a village in East Lothian, Scotland, UK, near Tranent, Humbie, Pencaitland and Cranston, located on the north bank of the River Tyne at an elevation of about 276 ft....

, for example, displaced cottars to the outskirts of his new ranch. Other displaced farmers moved to the new industrial centres of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...

, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

 and northern England
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...

. In other areas, such as the southwest, landowners offered low rents and nearby employment to tenants they deemed to be respectable.

As a result, between 1760 and 1830, many tens of thousands of Lowland Scots emigrated
Emigration
Emigration is the act of leaving one's country or region to settle in another. It is the same as immigration but from the perspective of the country of origin. Human movement before the establishment of political boundaries or within one state is termed migration. There are many reasons why people...

, taking advantage of the many new opportunities offered in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 after 1776 to own and farm their own land. Others chose to remain, either by choice, out of an inability to secure transatlantic passage, or because of obligations in Scotland.

As farmland became more commercialised, land was often rented through auctions, leading to an inflation of rents that priced many tenants out of the market. Furthermore, changes in agricultural practice meant the replacement of part-time labourer / subtenants (known as cottars, cottagers, or bondsmen) with full time agricultural labourers who lived either on the main farm or in rented accommodation in growing or newly founded villages. This led many contemporary writers and modern historians to associate the Agricultural Revolution with the disappearance of cottars and their way of life from many parts of the southern Scotland
Scottish Lowlands
The Scottish Lowlands is a name given to the Southern half of Scotland.The area is called a' Ghalldachd in Scottish Gaelic, and the Lawlands ....

.

Although the causes were different, the lowland Agricultural Revolution
Scottish Agricultural Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution in Scotland began in the mid-18th century with the improvements of Scottish Lowlands farmland and the beginning of a transformation of Scottish agriculture from one of the most backward into what was to become the most modern and productive system in Europe. The...

 is being seen as the forerunner of the Highland Clearances
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and the North American colonies...

, which started around the same time but continued to the 1870s. New research (2003–04) about the destruction of Lowland culture has led historians such as Tom Devine
Tom Devine
Thomas Martin "Tom" Devine OBE FRSE FRHistS FBA is a Scottish historian. His main research interest is the history of the Scottish nation since c.1600 and its global connections and impact....

to dub this period of time the Lowland Clearances.

Further reading

  • Aitchison, Pete and Cassell, Andrew. The Lowland Clearances, Scotland's Silent Revolution: 1760–1830, 2003
  • Devine, Prof. Tom. The Scottish Nation: 1700–2000, 2001
  • Gibson, Alex, 1990. ‘Proletarianization? The Transition to Full-Time Labour on a Scottish Estate, 1723–1787’. Continuity and Change, 5 (3): 357–89.
  • Orr, Alistair, 1984. ‘Farm Servants and Farm Labour in the Forth Valley and South-East Lowlands’. In Farm Servants and Labour in Lowland Scotland, 1770–1914.

External links

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