The Crofting War
01/02/2010
Crofting on the Isle of Skye has been greatly romanticised over the years. For those who exchange an urban existence for a slice of island life, many are drawn to the idea of self-sufficiency and Skye’s captivating setting: the beauty of the Cuillin, the atmospheric Quiraing and the lonely pinnacle known as The Old Man of Storr. However, for the generations who have toiled on the land, grappling with the elements and limiting legislation, the crofting side of life is far removed from its glossy, picture postcard iconography.
The story of crofters and crofting on Skye is one which has navigated a difficult path through landownership, the clearances and war. What was once a shared livelihood, vital for the survival of community, has become a part - time existence stifled by rules and bureaucracy. Any romantic notions of crofting as comparable to ‘the good life’ were dispelled by one crofter who remarked, ‘a croft is a small piece of land surrounded by a great deal of regulations.’ However the story of crofting has had its triumphs as well as its disappointments over the centuries, teaching valuable lessons about resourcefulness and the power of community.
In a bid to save the memories of Skye and Lochalsh’s oldest citizens, part of the crofting story has been given a platform within ‘Their Past Your Future Scotland’, an initiative to bring young people and older generations in the local community together, to capture oral histories that focus on the Second World War and all subsequent conflicts.
Led by Museums Galleries Scotland and funded by The Big Lottery, Their Past Your Future Scotland will culminate in 2010 with the launch of a website which will feature some 300 online mini – exhibitions.
Using audio, video and still images, the website aims to pass on a wealth of information from the oldest generations to the young. While the majority of exhibitions will look at the lives of those who fought, the Skye and Lochalsh project will give more prominence to the unsung heroes who worked at home during World War Two. Mothers, children and the elderly continued to manage the crofts while the young and able were at war, and these stories are an intricate part of Skye and Lochalsh’s rich oral history. Supported by the Museum of the Isles at Armadale in Sleat, the ‘Crofters and the War’ project will give the oldest generation a place for their memories to be accessed and enjoyed through exhibitions, a CD and a book.
In order to fully understand some of the collected memories, the story of crofting can be better understood within the context of the clearances. From the end of the 18th century up to the middle of the 19th century, the indigenous people of Skye battled for secure land ownership. The lack of access to land combined with innumerable eviction notices resulted in famine, illness and depopulation. Crofters were voiceless and marginalised, and the famous ‘Battle of the Braes’ in North Skye was a furious retort to years of oppression and poverty. Harbouring feelings of injustice and anger, around 100 men, women and children from Braes fought against 50 police officers from Glasgow as they demonstrated against eviction notices. This event was a strong catalyst in the creation of the Napier Commission in 1884 and then the Crofter’s Act of 1886. The Crofting Act allowed secure tenure for crofters for the first time, ushering in a form of land management which knitted communities together and created security for crofters through the right to hand a croft on to their heirs.
Returning to Braes and the neighbouring communities of Heatherfield and Penifiler, this beautiful corner of Skye has been home to crofting since around 1832. At this time the community was divided into six crofts which could barely support a single cow; there were no common grazing rights and summer grazing came at a fee which was paid to the local crofting clerk. Before the use of horse and plough, producing a crop of potatoes was slow, back- breaking work which was done by hand. The women typically carried creels piled high with seaweed for manure, while the spade and cas chrom or foot plough were the tools in which to harvest the crop. Thankfully over time more efficient methods of crofting came into practice and it was common to see the figures of Clydesdale horses peppered across the land. Indeed, many crofters would make the journey over to Uist in search of a powerful horse which was suited to the task of ploughing.
One of Penifiler’s oldest residents, John Nicolson, is no stranger to hard work, and was the last person to use horse ploughs in Penifiler. A well known figure in crofting circles, John served as an apprentice in the Black Isle towards the end of the Second World War and brought home many skills which would benefit the local community. He recalls the camaraderie of communal potato planting, the wooden cranachan for making butter and the pulling together of resources during the bleak years of war torn Britain. Over the six years of war, Skye’s population fell dramatically due to the exodus of young people who left for war service. The running of the croft was largely left to women, children and the elderly and sometimes the lack of manpower was apparent. The 1943, October edition of the Oban Times states:
‘Gales of wind and rain has been almost of daily occurrence. Some of the crofter’s corn is still standing uncut on the fields and will be rendered useless, if not completely lost. Field labour is hardly available, except for very old people – the young folk being all away in the services.’
Flora Grant from Harlosh recalls her mother’s attempts at single-handedly managing the croft.
‘My father had left to work in a munitions factory in Fort William. I was at home then and called up, but I couldn’t go as my mum couldn’t do the croft herself…. Then I went away to service in Glasgow, but my mum was in distress again and I had to go back to help. I didn’t like it back on the croft.’
With children to raise, crops to grow and animals to feed, the women had to find the strength and energy to multi-task within the home and out in the fields. What were once typical male tasks such as scything and ploughing were now shared amongst the women, elderly and children. Margaret Mackenzie from Heatherfield who was 13 when war broke out recalls having a very active role on the croft.
‘Children helped with cattle, peats, hay and hens. Water was drawn from the well two or three times a day and kept in pails in the kitchen. Cutting the peat took place in May, and Autumn was the time for making cruachan feoir , (haystacks) and cruachan arabhar, (corn stacks). We always worked through the holidays, so there was no time for boredom!’
Young teenage boys became men overnight as their fathers and brothers left to fight in foreign lands. John Mackenzie of Glen Conon recalls being sent to stay with an old crippled aunt as she couldn’t manage the croft herself. As a boy of 14, he became popular with the old spinsters who would ask him to scythe vetch and hay; ‘enough hay in one day to last three or four cows.’ Of course doing a man’s job deserved a manly reward and John would feel proud to receive a warming dram for his efforts. Although life on the croft during the war years was physically demanding, food was generally not scarce and the crofting families knew that they were lucky compared to the poorer city folk. After all, powdered eggs and powdered milk were not coveted rations when there was a cow and hens scratching at the back door.
When the war ended in 1945 the sight of the horse and plough began to fade from the Highland horizon, and the purr of the small grey Ferguson tractor became a familiar sound. Hired out by the Board of Agriculture, crofters from all over the Highlands could now plough the land more quickly for a small fee. In the post-war years the Highland Development Board in Glasgow would later issue grants so that crofters could own their own tractor and help increase the nation’s farming output.
It was during the 1950s that crofting faced new stipulations and Common Grazing Committees were elected to enforce these rules. The number of cows and horses was controlled, with one horse being equivalent to two cows. As war ravaged Britain’s wounds were healing, the 1960s brought about a more buoyant economy. This in turn led to financial support for crofting in the 1970s in the form of subsidies. Although crofters had more security in crofting, production did not focus so much on market demand, therefore the subsidies brought about an increasing list of stipulations which have continued to grow up until the present day.
Today, the Isle of Skye is home to around 2,000 crofts, some of which are embracing demand and finding a niche within specialist markets such as the organic food industry. Examples of such crofts are The Lusta Fungi farm in Waternish which is known nationally for its organic Shiitake and King Oyster mushrooms, Gillian Barrett in Braes who produces salad leaves and flowers, Glendale Salads which offer fancy leaves, herbs and soft fruit, and Skye Berries in Edinbane which produces blueberries, raspberries and brambles. The list goes on and the demand for organic fruit and vegetables supports around a dozen specialist growers on Skye.
Traditional crofting methods have not been entirely replaced, although only around 100 crofts on Skye are large enough to enable a crofter to earn a livelihood entirely from the land. One community which has the potential to become a model for modern day crofting is Camuscross in the south of Skye. An air of resurgence lingers over this area which has seen a marked population growth in recent years. A report compiled by crofter Susan Walker and researcher Iain Mackinnon has revealed the willingness of local crofters to embrace more traditional crofting models and shown there to be a growing demand from young crofters to keep the tradition alive. The report promotes crofting as a cohesive activity which could continue to benefit the area both ecologically and socially. However, it also states that action is now needed in order for these changes to be implemented, and that the neglect and culture of absenteeism which has steadily rooted itself in crofting communities has to be addressed. The initiative taken by the residents of Camuscross can be seen as a push towards crofting’s growing status in the community, keeping it in the broader spectrum of interest. It could be argued that by involving crofting in the area’s long term development plans, this ancient tradition could have a great stabilising effect on the people of Skye and Lochalsh. Therein would lie its success. When it comes to the importance of crofting on Skye, it’s not just soil and rocks that are at stake, but a respect for community life and the generations who have toiled to keep their own land.
To learn more about ‘Their Past Your Future’ online visit www.RememberingScotlandAtWar.org.uk
As reported in:
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Scottish Memories (Feb issue)