ABSTRACT

First published in 1982, A History of the Highland Clearances looks at the forcible clearance of tenants from land they had farmed for centuries by landlords in the Highlands of Scotland in the early nineteenth century. It examines the general context of historical change, provides a full narrative of the clearances and offers a critical evaluation of the documentary sources upon which the entire story depends.

By placing his subject in its historical perspective and into the context of the rest of Britain and Europe, Eric Richards vividly illustrates the realities of the Highland experience in the age of the clearances.

part One|38 pages

The Wider Framework

part Two|120 pages

Before the Clearances

chapter 2|33 pages

A Region of Poverty

chapter 3|37 pages

Land and Hunger

chapter 4|30 pages

The Age of Demographic Revolution

chapter 5|18 pages

Emigrants and Soldiers

part Three|87 pages

The Pattern of Pastoralism and Clearance

chapter 6|20 pages

The Coming of the Sheep

chapter 7|28 pages

Sheep Rampant: The Late Eighteenth Century

chapter 8|37 pages

Clearances in the Nineteenth Century