Am Bratach No. 189
July 2007
editor@bratach.co.uk

View from the Croft
by John MacDonald

By the time that you read this it will be once again clipping sheep and getting the grass harvest secured. This will be closely followed by a succession of agriculture shows and Highland games. And then we will be well on our way to another winter.

I can see some of my leisure intentions being once again put on the back burner. The fishing rod has not so far come down from the rafters, even though I had, all winter, nice anticipation of venturing onto some lochs never previously tried. Some years I am put off by the weather. But this year that is no excuse. The waters look fine and our rivers and burns have a decent flow in them.

The trouble with a crofter taking time off for something like a fishing trip during May or June is that his mind will still be on the croft and what job could have been accomplished by now if he had stayed at home; he can just imagine the fat yowe lying flat on her back.

Much of the last month has been taken up by a matter I would much rather not have had to face. But sometimes life takes a turn and a stand needs to be taken.

In some strange way I have found myself facing a situation very similar to that experienced by a group of crofter from this parish in 1886, about the very time that the Napier Commission were undertaking their inquiry into crofting and when the crofting acts came into being.

The granting of security of tenure to crofters was the great advance resulting from this legislation. And perhaps the crofting culture of today should reflect and appreciate its significance and not undermine the whole structure of crofting in the quest for individual, short-term gain. But that is another matter.

The issue which brought me some anxiety was when I, and one or two other crofters, put our cattle out for their traditional summer grazings. By some strange quirk, this pasture of some eighty acres was never taken under the crofting acts. It was estate land and has remained in use much as was recorded in 1886: “From the Duke of Sutherland to sundry small tenants for horses and cattle.”

Every year since Father started crofting here in 1941, our cows have gone onto this pasture. It is just at the bottom of our croft and very convenient. I suppose that is one reason that it was given to the crofters of this part of our parish, their croft size being very small, only five acres and a little bit of hill outrun. Somewhere that the cows and horses could summer on was of great value.

The manner of its operation has remained pretty unaltered during my lifetime. A local crofter rents it from the estate and takes on nearby animals for a summering fee.

For years it was my neighbour who “had the park”. And when he retired some years ago, I was offered it and took it on. It was ideal for the few of us still keeping cattle. We could run our breeding cows together and we took in a Department bull. Things worked fine. But last year the estate once again changed hands. The previous proprietors were Continental, perhaps French or something, and really they did not trouble the crofter, being rather lax in management and very seldom here. Some crofters, especially those bothered with foxes, complained that there was no keeper. Other crofters did not think this was a bad thing.

But our new proprietors seem to be acting out of character. They do not fit into the genial old buffer type who liked to shoot a few things and then retire for a stiff gin. Nor are they like the Continental contingent that would come along and become very excited about being able to walk about firing at everything in sight, especially rabbits, and then joined the locals in the pub. No, these new proprietors, having bought all these acres, have decided that they want to keep animals. But as with many wealthy people, ignorant of what crofting is all about, have discovered that having lots of acres which are under crofting tenure means that there is not a lot which you can do, except exercise your shooting rights. So, unfortunately for us, they have tumbled to the fact that the only bit of land available to them not under the acts is the bit round their lodge and our summering pasture.

We have been ordered off. Letters from factors, visits from new keeper. All demanding our vacation immediately. From one point of view they are correct, as this land is rented on an annual basis. But on the other hand, it is land which was given over for the use of the crofters and had been used in this manner every year, at least since 1886. So we see ourselves as having some claim to it by tradition. We are still on the land.

In 1886, the small tenants of Muie put their animals on to graze what used to be part of their summer pasture but which had recently been added to the neighbouring large sheep farm. Eleven of them were taken to court and charged with breech of interdict and invading the land of this sheep farm. Their defence was “We were always under the impression that the land belonged to ourselves”. This did not cut much ice with the sheriff who sentanced some of them to one month in Dingwall jail. They are remembered to this day as the “Muie Martyrs” and there is a song about them.

So if my bit does not appear in this month’s magazine, you will know why. It would be rather nice if they made a song about us. As one man to whom I spoke during my quest to seek guidance commented, “Nothing changes”. One thing which it took home to me was just what it must have felt like for the people evicted from land, theirs by tradition and natural inheritance, if not strictly so in law. It is upsetting enough just to experience it over a pasture right. How much more was the trauma and stress when your whole home and existence was at stake?