Impact of economic change on Sutherland, 1755-1851

Abstract

By looking at Sutherland between 1755 and 1851, the subject is a peripheral area of Scotland at the time of the Industrial Revolution. By restricting the use of data to sources available up to 1851, events can be regarded in terms of contemporary sources. A brief survey of the different experiences of Caithness and Sutherland suggested that there is a need to look at specific areas rather than the Highlands as a whole when studying the impact of the Industrial Revolution on areas outwith the main centres of industrial growth.

The data which came to light on the different aspects of life in Sutherland allowed study of changes in the distribution of settlement, the organisation of land, employment, social conditions and out - migration. However, the findings suggested by the available data are at variance with the arguments for and against change suggested by the review of literature. The argued benefits of change for the tenantry failed to be lasting, while the arguments of critics seem to have been set on a basis of doubtful fact.

The reorganisation of the economy of Sutherland, with its move to more specialised organisation of land and efforts to apply the principles of division of labour, reflected the climate of economic opinion at that time. The basic vehicle for reorganisation was a major shift in the distribution of settlement and this allowed the formation of the new organisation of land. The encouragement of fishing as a major source of employment reflected the shift of people to coastal locations, while the inland and littoral vacuums were filled by large scale farming. However, the substitution of fish for black cattle as the major source of income for the tenantry only furthered uncertainty in income. The continued incidence of famine and the persistence of out -migration were consistent features of life in Sutherland between 1755 and 1851. Both features indicate the failure of employment schemes for resettled tenants to alter patterns established before reorganisation.

The case of Sutherland is an illustration of unfulfilled rural hopes in a period of growing urban- industrial power.[.pdf temorarily unavailable > LAC store]