g

p

VIIw—GRADUAL INCREASE IN‘

SUNDAY ARRESTS.

Beifore closing this resume'of the facts of Sunday C losing I

desire to point out, what indeed is b ut too apparent—via , the

increasing laxity in the enforcem ent of th e Ac t, both by thepol iceand the m agistrates. In the first six m onths after it cam e intooperation, the arrests were 70 7 . The next return for a completeyear, 18 7 9, gave This was followe d by 1880 , givingThen they crept upin 188 1 , to whilst last year they reached

These figures“

show what'

is going on under the absurddefini tion of the

’

bona fia’e travel ler

, prevailing in Ireland, and

under wh ich n early the whole evasions are pract ised. It is alsoWorthy of rem ark that nearly 1 of the Sunday arrests are inth e counties in which the Exempted C it ies are situate.

VII I.—CONCLUSION .

So far, then, as stat istics are concerned, these are the'

tab ulated

resu lts of the experim ent . But I am very far from bel ievingthat the Act is to b e judged by colum ns of figures only. A s theM ost R ev. Dr. Logue w isely rem arked in his recent letter— theseonly serve to show the grosser form s of the evil that have beenprevented .

W hat m ight have been had the Act not been on the StatuteBook

,is altogether another question . The one thing certainis,

that the Sunday C losers have a case against which nothing can standin Parliam en t. Passed after a great struggle, the Act was m adetemporary in its duration—in itself a direct inducem ent to its opponents to make i t unworkable. It has also had to weather thegale of aperiod of intensepol it ical excitem ent . But to-day, afterfive years

’trial, a large m ajority of the Irish m embers still standby i t. The C ath ol ic hierarchy and clergy have afresh re

newed their allegiance. The several Protestant comm unitiesm arch in its support as one man . And the only d ist inctly audiblevoice against it is that of thepubl ica

'

ns of the five large towns, wh odread its extension to them selves. A quest ion so supported i s ripefor settlement

, and this Session ought not to be al lowed to finishw ithout seeing this long-pending controversy finally and satisfac

torily closed.

THE CRO FTER QUESTION

AND

CHURCH ENDOWM ENTS

IN THE H IGHLANDS,

V I EW E D S O C I A L LY A N D P O L I T I CA L LY.

W I T H A N AP P E N D I & .

G IL BE RT BE IT H,

BALLO C H NE C K , STIRLINGSH IRE .

Thus saith th e Lord, k e ep Equ ity and do&u stice .

GLASGO W : DAVID BRYC E 8: SO N ,

ED INBURGH : M AC N IVEN W ALLAC E , AND ANDREW ELLIO T .

1884.

&Pr ice Tw opence .

THE CRO FTER QUESTIONAN

C H UR C H ENDO W M ENTS.

SO M E time ago it was my lot to spend a Sunday,in the

month of August,on the west coast of Sutherland . N oth

ing could exceed the beauty of the surrounding landscape .

All nature was bathed in sunshine . Gurgl ing moss - coloured

water from the hil ls,humming insect l ife

,and varied bleat

ings from the surrounding uplands,chanted a song of praise .

All besides was sti l l as the Sahara desert. Even w i th in

the precincts of the hotel,qu iet reigned . I t was the Sab

bath day,& and no work uncalled for by the stern mandate

of necessi ty and mercy,

& was engaged in . I learned from“ mine host that the Free Church was half a m i le

,and the

Parish Church about a mile distant,towards the west

,and

that service in both began at tw elve o’clock, the language

used in the former being Gaelic,and in the latter Engl ish .

Soon after eleven o’clock men,w omen

,and children might

be seen , singly and in groups, approaching slowly over the

crests,and from behind the huge grey boulders of the sur

rounding hil ls,as if they had risen out of the ground

,and

al l converged towards one general rendezvous . There

I concluded,would be found the Free Church

,and accord

ingly j oining leisurely in the procession ,I found myself in

a short time in Vi ew of the build ing. I t was si tuated in a

secluded spot al l but unseen from the highway ; a plain

but capacious ed ifice in the styl e of many of the earl ier

D isruption churches,wi th three low spanned roofs supported

internally by a double row of i ron pil lars,and resting

upon four plain rubble walls from fifteen to twenty feet

high . This church,which accommodated about twelve

hundred worshippers,was by twelve o’clock fi l led to over

flowing. The minister,a man in m idd le

‘

l ife,and seemingly

much impressed w ith th e responsibi l i ty of his office, w as

4

manifestly held in much esteem by the people who crowded

to hear his preaching. As I hastened away to jo in in the

English service of th e Parish Church, there burst from

the open doors and windows that remarkable cadence of

praise,so plaintive and beautifu l

,which is only to be heard

in the Scottish H ighlands . A tu rn in the road b rought me

suddenly in V iew of one of those m agnificent lochs or fiords ,everywhere indenting the western coast of Sutherland .

Along the shores,and at some points stretch ing half amile

inland,were to be seen many small thatch-covered huts

surrounded by l ittle patches of land , green w ith growing

potatoes and oats ; and , drawn up high on the beach,here and there lay a tiny fish ing

-boat. Close on my right,near to the highway

,stood the Parish Church

,a substantial

building wi th a belfry and bel l ; and about five h undred

yards nearer to the sea,situated in the centre of what

seemed to be a goodly sized and wel l stocked farm,was the

Manse, a large and comfortable mansion , look ing out upon

one of t h e fa ire st‘

\

and most enchanting prospects under

heaven . The church was closed,and fearing that service

had begun,I hastened and tried to open the door

,but found

it locked . I looked through one of the w indows, but al l

was empty and si lent w ith in . In about a quarter of an

hour a figure issued from the manse,looked at me for a

l ittle,and then retired . Half an hour later a respectably

dressed woman came along the road from the shore, ao

companied by a l ittle girl,her daughter

,and proceeded to

Open the door of the church . I approached and asked if

there would be service to-day. She repl ied,

“0 yes,sir.

&

“What hour, I rej oined .

“ Twelve o’c lock,sir. “ But it

i t now not far from one o’clock,

& I replied . 0 ,there w il l

be service, sir, was her quiet answer. I went into th e

church , and found, to my surprise, the pews, wi th the exception of one or two on either side of the pulpit, and twoimmediately in front

,covered with what seemed to be white

dust, and sitting down in one of the clean or used seats,I awaited the course of events . After some time had

elapsed the l i ttl e g i rl came running to her mother,who

stood at the door,and said in an earnest whisper

,

“ They

are coming.

& The bel l began to tol l, the sound of horses’

hoofs and wheels approaching was heard , and a large car

riage soon stopped close to the church . In a few minutes

a tall,dignified

,and handsomely dressed lady, wi th tw o

wel l-g rown daughters and one or two children , entered , ac‘companied by her husband , a vigorous look ing country

gentleman,evidently of local importance. They occupied

the seat in front of the pulpit,whilst the adjoiningpew was

taken possession of by one or two persons, apparently their

domestic servants . Soon a lady, evidently the minister’s

wife, entered w ith a son and daughter and two domestics .

These occupied the pew on the left of the pulpit. Then

followed,at intervals, two men respectably attired, and ac

companied by one or two persons . And last of al l came

the min ister,a venerable look ing old gentleman , carrying a

large Bible under his arm,and ascending the stair

,entered

the pulpit. There was no beadle and no precentor. The

service began by the minister reading,i n ful l

,one of the

Psalms of D avid,from the metrical version . Thereafter he

engaged in prayer,read at some length from the Scriptures ,

again read a metrical Psalm , and then announced his text .

The sermon,which was read w i th m uch deliberation

,oc

cupied twenty minutes. I t was elegantly composed and

thoroughly evangel ical in doctrine . Another prayer, beau ti

ful ly expressed, and the reading of a suitable Psalm con

cluded the service, which occupied , i n all , rather less than

three-quarters of an hour. The impression produced on

my m ind was that of real sympathy and pity for both

minister and congregation ; they looked so l ike strangers in

a strange land .

N ext morning,proceeding on my way south, I had to

cross an arm of the sea about three miles d istant. The

ferryman was a burly intel l igent look ing man,and desiring

to be sociable,I said

,

“The people here do not seem to go

much to the Parish Church . An emphatic No was theA 2

6

lacon ic reply . Continuing,I said

,I was there yesterday .

“You were there yesterday, he said, look ing hard at me ,and was there any person there besides ?& “ 0 yes,

& I

replied .

“O h , aye, the day was fine,

& he continued,

“ and

th e factor would be there w ith his lady and some others ,they come when it’s fine ; and the D octor would be there ,and the Exciseman would be there no doubt and the minis

ter’s family of course,but that would be all . I said ,

“We

had no singing.

& “ D id D uncan no sing ?& was the reply .

Who is Duncan ? & I said .

“ The min ister’s son ; he wou ld

not sing because you was there . & I continued ,“We had

an excel lent sermon all the same. “He wou ld read i t,

said my oarsman . I nodded assent. “ A y e , aye, one of

the old stock, and l ikely the best of them too,& muttered

the burly cynic. Continu ing, he said, “ I am an A

man,and they are stiff enough there

,but nothing l ike the

people here. All over this country,far and near

,they wou ld

j ust rather go up and be hanged than go into the Parish

Church,so they would . Very strange

,

& I said,as step

ping ashore I bade farewel l to my brusque companion .

I narrate in detai l this incident as affording a fair example

of the uncompromising attitude assumed by the people of

the northern and western counties towards the State

Church and al l connected with it. D eep-seated aversion,

and an almost passionate determination to ignore the very

ex i stence of th e Establ ished Church,i s the al l but universal

sentiment. N ow , the question corries to be, why shou ld

this be so ? What causes l ie at the root of‘&

a protest so

emphatic as this ? Everyone has,of course

,heard of the

great hold which those principles,the contravention of

which led to the D i sruption of the Church of Scotland,

have always had on the minds and consciences of the

Highland people . These principles are traditional among

them,and are associated and intertwined with their most

hal lowed memories . When,therefore

,the government in

1843 determined , in spite of vehement remonstrances, to

l SSGI‘

t the wi l l of the State over what the people believed to

be the mind and w i l l of Christ in H is church,a gross out

rage was perpetrated upon their most sacred convictions.I wi l l not pause to inqu ire into the merits of the question

,

which,on that supreme occasion

,agitated to its centre the

entire Scottish nation . The crisis which followed has had

issues of world-wide importance— issues w hich are stil l

active and must ye t have great results . Suffice it to say

that the ablest and most practical minds which Scotland

has ever produced recognized,as involved in that struggle

,

principles of vital importance affecting the honour of the

Master and the rel igious l iberties of the people,to preserve

which no sacrifice of earthly possessions and prospects was

considered too great. The people of the Highlands were

profoundly impressed w i th this View,and resolved as one

man to sever connection w ith a church which they held to

be no longer the true Church of Scotland . This resolution

was formed unhesitatingly,and for forty years has been

held to wi th characteri stic determination .

But some other cause beyond,of a more mundane

character, must be found to account satisfactori ly for the

intensity of feel ing.

which I have described . That cause

is not far to seek . O n e has only to revert to the history

of the D isruption period,to the deeds that were then

done, and above al l to the men who did them,to dis

cover the secret. Who among u s i n middle l ife does not

remember the persecutions to which the H ighlanders were

subj ected in the “ site-refusing & time — how noble dukes

and great landlords wi th their factors,refused

,for months

and even years,to al low the peopl e to assemble for the

worship of God,according to their consciences

,in any house

or on any land wi thin their wide domains— how Christian

men and women were compelled,summer and winter

,to

meet for worship on the publ ic highway,or else within

highwater mark on the sea—shore. I have been shown acavern on the wi ld north-western coast

,into which , for two

S ee Appendix A , also Report , H ouse of C om m on s S e le ct C om m ittee on S ite s

for C hu rche s , S cotland , 1847 .

8

years ( 1843 the people of the d istrict were driven by

the high-handed proceedings of the landlord or his factor,

to worship the God of their fathers , —an occurrence by no

means uncommon in those days of oppression and violence.But when one comes to consider that the men who pushed

on the crisis of 1843 , and who thereafter sought to cover

their discom fiture by such acts,were the traditional

oppressors of the people,the immediate descendants of

those who in a previous generation burnt the homes of

their fathers,evicted them from their lands, and drove them

into destitution and ex i le ; and, moreover, w hen one con

siders that these men,w ith their estate offi cials and depen

dants, are now virtual ly the only adherents of the State

Church in the H ighlands ; and also that the min isters who

now enjoy the emoluments and occupy the manses and

glebes of the country are the natural successors of those who,

wi th few exceptions,in the day of bitter d istress s ided w ith

the oppressors,and for their sympathy and aid received n ew

manses and extended lands,taken in many cases from the

home steadings and farms of the evicted peasantry ; when

al l of these causes put together,are duly considered, can it

be wondered that the people of the H ighlands regard wi th

feel ing s of almost passionate aversion a Church from which

they have been so al ienated,which represents to their minds

,

not the bearer of glad tid ings of peace, but the remembrance

rather of ru ined homesteads and scattered famil ies

The Established Church question in the Highlands is a

crofters’question, bound up with the crofter lan d ques tion .

You cannot deal practical ly with the one injustice andleave the other untouched . The two questions together

,

represent a struggle for c ivi l and rel igious l iberty in which

the people have b een worsted and overthrown . I f,in

respect of rel igious privileges,the Highlanders are not now

as destitute and helpless as they are in respect of their civi l

rights as occupiers of the soil, the cause is manifest and

does not affect the question at issue . In the former case

S ee Append ix B .

9

they had for comrades in the fight their fellow-countrymen

in the south, and have participated equal ly w i th them in the

outflow of Christian benevolence, w hich i t is the great glory

of that confl ict to have el ic ited . But the injustice, viewed

social ly and pol itical ly, everywhere remains, and in the

Highlands it is immensely intensified from its connection

wi th the land question , and the aggravating circumstances

relative thereto. The claim for al l Scotland is that the

church endowments,w i th the bu ild ings and lands

,are the

property of the people, and ought not to be in possession

of one sect or section of the nation . But,tak ing

'

th e High

lands by themselves, the claim becomes immensely more

urgent. There the church funds are d isbursed for the sole

benefit of the landlords and their minions,whereas the

people,already bereft of their civi l rights as occupiers of the

soil , are also shut out from participating in any benefit

derivable from this public property. 0

I refrain from di lating upon the history of the last fifty

years in relation to this question, or upon the point and

force which that history contributes to the national claim

for justice in th is matter. N either wi l l I dwel l upon the

fact that the one church at present in possession of this

public p roperty is in close all iance al l over the country

with -the landed interest and privi leged classes,and forms

the leading outwork for defence of that pol itical party of

which these,w i th some noble exceptions

,are the sou l and

centre. And I only mention in passing what has often been

stated and requires no proof, that a j udicious redisposal ofthose publ ic funds can be effected without infl icting injury

on any ind ividual interest,and that the issue must only be

eminently beneficial to the Church herself,and to the moral

and rel igious wel l-being of the nation at large .

What I desire to emphasize as forming the basis of this

statement i s, that the church property, including teinds

(valued and unvalued), glebes, churches, and m anses,in

each parish (when these are not recent and special gifts by

individuals to the S tate Church as at present constituted),

I O

are the publ ic property of that parish or d istrict. The

teinds are held subject to being given up in whole or in

part whenever a court of law decides that they are requ ired

for the parish that yields them . The clergy have nobeneficiary right to the teinds

,but only the stipendiary

privi lege of being salaried out of them to the extent to

which commissioners who are now represented by the Court

of Teinds,may determine ; and Parl iament has absolute

power over the property thus appl ied in l iferent of State

Church ministers . &ohn Knox contended stoutly that the

teinds by God’s law do not appertain of necessi ty to the

K irkmen .

& The Court of Session and the House of Lords

have both decided that the teinds never were restored to

the Reformed Church of Scotland . The property,therefore

,

of which the State Church now derives the entire benefit is

not eccles iastical , but the publ ic possession of the nation .

Such is the general state of the case ; but I confine the

question,for my present purpose

,to the H ighlands in

particular,and claim that those funds which are the publ ic

property of the respective parishes be d isposed of for the

benefit of the people residing in those parishes . I t wi l l not

be disputed that a scandalous inj ustice is involved in the

appl ication of these funds during the past forty years, and

that the redisposa l of them in the interest of the crofterpopulation is urgently required

,i n V iew al ike of their,

destitute condition,and of the relation in which they stand

to th e State Church .

Now,i n proceeding to deal practical ly w ith

‘

this matter,

I shal l inquire— First,What do the endowment funds in

the H ighland parishes amount to ? Second,How and when

can they be made avai lable for the end contemplated ?

Third,To what specific purposes ought they to be applied ?

First, Tak ing the counties interested to be O rkney and

Shetland,Caithness , Sutherland, Ross

,Inverness

,and

Argyle,

& I find that the income from all sources at present

enj oyed by the parish church ministers in these counties,

O the r districts m ight b e in cluded, such as , th e Island of Arran in th e coun ty of

Bute , and portion s of th e coun ty of Pe rth .

1 1

exclusive of payments from the exchequer,and the stipends

of ministers of government churches, amounts to nearly

a year— say a year. To this yearly sum h asto be added the free and unexhausted teinds appl icable to

the augmentation of stipends, amounting to £6000,mak ing

i n all a possible yearly income from teinds, &c .,

of

Besides,there fal ls

&

to be added an asset which I shal l not

venture to value,but which nevertheless assuredly forms

an element not to be overlooked in th is account and reckon

ing. I refer to compensation of some k ind for the forty

years’ misappl ication of the publ ic annual income of

Without adding interest,the gross sum so mis

appl ied amounts to no less than Addinginterest and compound interest

,at four per cent

,i t runs up

to the large figure of If compensation in any

form is refused in this respect,parties wi l l have to show that

good and needfu l work for the respective parishes has been

done commensurate wi th so large an outlay of publ ic

money. If this cannot be proved,or if on the contrary

i t can be shown that publ ic money to so large an amount

h as been wasted,or as good as wasted

,i s the matter to be

passed over wi thout any redress , particularly When the

pub l ic in this case i s represented by a sorely - oppressed

and impoverished people,who for two or three generations

have striven to maintain a bare ex i stence under circum

stances which are a disg race to our civi l ization ?

O n the other side of the account has to be placed com

pensation ,i n one form or another

,for the l ife- interest of

the present incumbents . Even to hin t that this should not

b e allowed in their case would be looked upon,by most

people,as savouring of confiscation

,and I do not find fault

wi th th is opinion . &ustice must be done although the

heavens should fall . But let me ask,What of the people

W h o have been ruthlessly driven from their homes andlands into destitution and misery ? There was no word of

Parliam en tary Re tu rn (M in isters'S tipends , &c . , S cotland ) to an Addre ss of

th e H ou se of Lords , da ted 29th &u ly , 1 88 1 .

12

compensation to them then,nor since. I s i t to be always

so ? I s j ustice to be done in the one case and not in the

other ? I s there to be one law for the rich and another for

the poor ? And as regards this Church Endowment Fund ,are the people to be for ever denuded of any benefit accru ing

from it ; and is no redress to be allowed by the N ation , which

is repon s ib le , for the loss already incurred ofthrough the misapplication and waste of this publ ic money ?

Second,I t is a question for statesmen and for Parl iament

to determine how and on what equitable principles the

people are to be reinstal led and compensated in this matter.

The time w h en this business is actually to be taken up and

dealt wi th practically is of more pressing importance,and

the decision,let me say, i n this respect, l ies chiefly w ith

the people themselves . N early everything depends upon a

combined and earnest expression of the popular wi l l in this

matter. When the people are thoroughly roused and in

earnest,Parl iament must and w i l l act . The time is not far

distant,let us hope

,when every householder

,whatever m ay

be his social position,wi l l possess the right of the franchise,

and be able in this practical form to assert his opinion .

The question now under consideration is a people’s ques

tion,and the people of the H ighlands must see to it that

they send to Parl iament representatives who wi l l express

their views fearlessly and well . They should,if possible

,

be men of ab i l ity and influence who have sprung from their

own ranks,and who therefore understand and have sym

pathy with their grievances,and can properly and per

s isten tly represent these in Parl iament. Let me say further,that the H ighland people should sol icit and look for the

friendly aid and support of the work ing-c lasses all over the

country. I t i s in that direction that substantial aid andsympathy i s to be obtained ; for the

“ arm - chair philan

th ropists and philosophers of the wealthier c lasses representgeneral ly an element of most d i luted potency

,and

,I fear

,

can only become an ingredient rel iab le and helpful,when the

le ad ing S co tch m e tropol i tan N ew spape r, and the s e t whom

13

i t represents,have discovered

,beyond any question, that the

people are in earnest and mean to look after themselves .

The struggle may be long— it w i l l certainly be severe,for on the opposing side are ranged “ principal ities and

powers . Victory,however

,must in the end declare for the

people,for on their side is the right .

Third,With regard to the purpose or purposes to which,

i n the interests of the respective parishes,these church

funds should be appl ied,that too i s a question to be

handled by statesmen and by Parl iament. I may,however,

be permitted to name three distinct purposes,each of which ,

under wise legislative enactment,would prove of great ad

vantage to the Highland people,and together would go far

to elevate their social and material condition .

First,FREE EDUC ATIO N ,

administered,I am disposed to

say, under a direction other than the Local School Board .

In the H ighlands,because of the physical character of the

country,the scattered and helpless condition of the people,

and the absence of any independent m iddle class to come

between the crofter population and the hosti le landlord

interest,the School Board system has not worked wel l and

does not yield satisfactory results . I t is,moreover

,very

expensive,keeping in view the slender resources of the

crofter ratepayers . The annual report by the Accountant

for Scotland to the Scottish Education Department for1883 g ives for the counties named : Fees col lected for the

year,

and rates for the same period, 5

together representing a very heavy tax upon the slender

resources of the people .

’K As an example of the un satisfac

tory nature of some results under the present School Board

system,as appl ied to these districts

,I may state that it i s

no uncommon case in a purely Gael ic-speak ing d istrict to

find a teacher,W ho does not know a word of Gaelic, set

over a school in which the children attending do not know

a word of English . The latter,which is the only language

taught, i s acquired by rote ; and the children , aided by their

S e e Appendix C .

14

natural quickness and good memories,pass the government

inspection wi thout possessing any practical knowledge of

what they have been examined upon . For many reasons

which need not be mentioned I bel ieve it would be in the

interest of the Highlands that the education of the people,

unti l al l are possessed of the franchise,should be directed

by commissioners named by the department,men who

know the H iglands , and have sympathy wi th the people. I t

i s of the first importance to the Highland people that they

should everywhere be provided with FREE SC H O O LS supplying good practical education— primary and also secondary

if desired ; and l ikewi se schools for technical instruction ,situated in one or two of the more important centres . The

funds requ ired,so far as the proportion of rates and school

fees derivable from the crofter and cottar population are

concerned,may wel l be taken from the Church Endowment

Fund ; but everything beyond should remain , as at present ,a burden upon land . In any case a j ust re -disposal of this

publ ic fund,now so urgently cal led for

,might readi ly and

wel l bestow upon the Oppressed and helpless people of the

H ighlands the inestimab le boon of a first-class education

in al l the branches, f ree of c/za rg e .

Second,LAN D LEG ISLATIO N , having for its object the

appl ication to the Highlands of the I rish Land Act, in all

i ts leading features,with this addi tion

,that land - owners be

compelled,under j ust provisions

,to supply suitable land

when required , at a fair rent, in quantity sufficient to enable

a family,by honest industry

,to acquire a comfortable l ivel i

hood . It i s not needful that I should state the case in

language more definite . The land question in the High

lands cannot any longer be trifled w ith . Happily the true

state of the case is now pretty wel l understood al l over the

country,in Eng land as well as in Scotland ; and the mind

and conscience of the nation w i l l not much longer consent

to have things remain as they are . The principles which

should guide and control legislation on the land question,are at present in the H ighlands

,even more that in England ,

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

16

a half- starved,oppressed, and helpless people procure such

appliances ? If those friends who talk so gl ibly of the laz i

ness of the Highland people were themselves placed insimilar circumstances

,they would beyond any question d is

cover that a half- starved and helpless man need not be ex

pected to attack and overcome insuperable difficulties . Topursue wi th success the deep- sea fisheries, Harbours of

R efuge on the northern and north- eastern coasts are indis

pensable. Proper appl iances for prosecuting the industry

are also wanted,particu larly on the western coast

,and l ike

w ise faci l ities for ready access to the larger markets. There

is reason to bel ieve that the government have in contem

plation l egislative action in this respect, and every leg itimate means should of course be used to press i ts importance

upon their attention .

I do not say that the great public fund, to which I have

been referring,would be most su itably appl ied in furtherance

of this obj ect ; i t is enough to know that the fund ex ists as

the property of the people, and this fact should , and no

doubt w i l l , encourage Parl iament when cal led upon to deal

with the case of the H ighland crofters,to do so compre

h e ns ive ly and thoroughly. Let us hope that the day is not

far distant when a b en efice n t course of legislation in the

d irections I have indicated wi l l have wiped out for ever a

blot and scandal upon our civi l ization which has been too

long permitted to remain,and that this most interesting

Highland country,no longer disfigured by the action of un

j ust laws and a dominant landocracy,wi l l add to i ts many

natural attractions the presence of a contented,prosperous,

and Christian people.

I have been blamed b y friends of the Highland Associa

tion,whom I can only respect

,for bring ing up this burning

Church question in connection wi th the Crofters’land ques

tion . In the foregoing pages I have endeavoured to show

that in the circumstances of the Highlands the two' ques

tions are inextricably united . I t is vain to th ink of deal ing

practically wi th the one injustice and leaving the other un

l 7

touched . I regret that offence should be given . But no

one individual interest can suffer by the course proposed .

Good only,to al l concerned

,must resul t, and a scandal

most damaging to the Establ ished Church herself,and dis

graceful to the nation,would be removed and buried out of

sight.

APPEND I& A .

In the 1472726115 of tke D isruption, Part I I I ., pages 1 to 41,cases of oppression are stated

,al l confirmed by evidence

given before the House of Commons Committee on S ites,1847 . I give two extracts only. A nna/s

,pag e 8 . Reporton S ites

,ii .p. I I I

, 4. 3 674 seg; i i i .p. 9 , g. 4442 seq ; i i i .pp.

23 , 24, 44. 4440—445 9; i i .p. I I I

, 4. 3 684.

“At the hamlet of Paible,in N orth U i st

,the c ircumstances are

given in greater detail. The people had se t about ere cting a rudeshelter of turf and stone (within which to meet for worship) on whatwas called a common

,where the ground was of little value. The

factor, after warning them in vain, came personally on the scene, gottogether the carts belonging to members of the Establi shed Church

,

and removed the materials to a distance. W hen the next term came,he summoned out of their lands all the crofters who had taken part inthe erection

,actually ejected nine of the more prominent, and imposed

fines of from £1 to £2 on those who were suffered to remain .

The poor I slemen,however

,did not fl inch . In March, 1847 , when

Dr. Macintosh Mackay came to preach at Paible,he had

,owing to th e

state of the weather,to stand w ithin the door of a cart-shed in order

to get some protection . The congregation stood all round on a levelpiece of ground sheltered by the walls of the houses on one side. I twas a stormy day

,and there were heavy showers of sleet and rain. ’

Afterwards they met under the shelter of a peculiar jutting rock nearthe hamlet . ‘ I could compare it to nothing but what i s sometimesseen on the quarter-deck of a vessel— an oval skylight.’ In all statesof the weather it was poss ible to get some shelter by going round tothe point opposite to that from which the wind blew.

&

A m i a ls,Pa r t I V.

,pag e 5 1 . Dr. Begg visited Applecross in 1845 ,

and reports Here was another scene. The tent (pulpit) was placedamid the naked rocks on the sea-shore

,the sound of the Psalms

l iterally mingled w ith the roar of the waves of the Atlantic . Thetent was fastened down with strong ropes to prevent its being upset,and there were gray -headed men sitting uncovered in the cold ,

18

and several of them w ith tears streaming down their cheeks,whilst

M r. G lass preached to them the blessed Gospel in their native tongue.Every new spectacle I witnessed deepened my impression of astonishment. These poor H ighlanders must face all the storms of winter onthe bare sea-beach

,denied a single inch of land on which to erect a

place of worship . S a en a s ta te of m a tter s in I r e land w ou ld sna lee tne

empire, and it i s Christian principle alone which has borne it someekly. &c. &c. &c. &c . &c .

APPEND I& B .

As it is more than probable that many who are interestedin the Scottish H ighlands are not famil iar w ith the historyof the wrongs of th e Highlandpeople , I append , in corroboration of statements in the foregoing pages which may seemextreme

,extracts from authentic writings on the subj ect .

M r. Alexander Mackenzie of Inverness, in a volume entitledThe H zgnlana

’C lea rances , has compiled a valuable collee

tion of these writings,which I commend to the notice of

those who desire information in a concrete and methodical

form on the H ighland question . I t should be borne in

mind that the H ighland peasantry were not evicted because

they fai led to pay rents,but that the landlord might obtain

higher rents by turning the lands into sheep- farms of im

mense extent,and into deer-forests .

E&TRAC TS .

SUTHERLAN D .— D ona lel M aeleod

’s

“Gloomy M em or ies,p . 27 , 28.

“At this period (18 14- 16) a great majority of the inhabitants weretenants-at-will

,and therefore liable to ejectment on getting regular

notice ; there were, however, a few who had still exi sting tacks (althoughsome had been wheedled or frightened into surrendering them), andthese were

,of course

,unmolested until the expiration of their tacks ; they

were then turned out like the rest ; but the great body of the tenantrywere in th e f orm er condit ion . M eantime

,the factors

,tak ing advantage

of the broken spirit and prostrate state of the people— trembling attheir words or even looks— betook themselves to a new scheme tofacilitate their intended proceedings

,and this was to induce every

householder to sign a bond or paper containing a promise of removal;and alternate threats and promises were used to induce them to do so .

Th e promises were never realiz ed,but

,notwithstanding the people’s

compliance,the threats were put in execution . In about a month

after the factors had obtained thi s promise of removal, and thirteen

19

days before the May term,the work of devastation was begun. They

commenced by setting fire to the houses of the small tenants inextensive di stricts— part of the parishes of F arr

,Rogart

,Golspie

,

and the whole parish of Kildonan . I was ‘ an eye—w itness of thescene. This calam ity came on the people quite unexpectedly. Strongparties for each district

,furnished with faggots and other combustibles

,

rushed on the dwellings of thi s devoted people,and immediately com

m en ced setting fire to them,proceeding in their work w ith the greatest

rapidity t ill about three hundred houses were in flames & The cons tern ation and confusion were extreme ; l ittle or no time was given forremoval of persons or property— the people striving to remove the sickand the helpless before the fire should reach them— next

,struggling to

save the m ost valuable of their effects . Th e cries of the women andchildren— the roaring of the affrighted cattle

,hunted at the same time

by the yelling dogs of the shepherds amid the smoke and fire

altogether presented a scene that completely baffles description ; i trequired to be seen to be believed . A dense cloud of smoke envelopedthe whole country by day

,and even extended far on the sea ; at night

an awfully grand but terrific scene presented itself— all the houses inan extensive district in flames at once & I myself ascended a heightabout eleven o’clock in the evening

,and counted two hundred and fifty

blaz ing houses,many of the owners of which were m y relations, and

all of w hom I personally knew ; but whose present condition , whetherin or out of the flames

,I could not tell. The conflagration lasted six

days,t ill the whole of the dwellings were reduced to ashes or smoking

ruins .&

P . 3 3 , 34. In reference to the new allotments,General Stewart says

W hen the valleys and higher grounds were let to the shepherds thewhole population was driven to the sea—shore

,where they were crowded

on small lots of land to earn their subsistence by labour and by sea-fishing, the latter so little congenial to their former habits .& He goes on toremark, in a note, that these on e or tw o a ere lots are represented as

improved system.

“ In a country w ithout regular employment andwithout manufactures a family is to be supported on one or twoThe consequence was and continues to be

,that

,

“ over the whole ofthis district

,where the sea-shore i s accessible

,the coast i s thickly

studded with wretched cottages,crowded w ith starving inhabitants .

S trangers “w ith capital & usurp the land and dispossess the swain .

Ancient respectable tenants,who passed the greater part of life in the

enj oyment of abundance,and in the exerci ses of hospitality and charity,

possess ing stocks of ten,twenty

,and thirty breeding cows

,with the

usual proportion of other stock,are now pining on one or two acres of

bad land,with one or two starved cows ; and for this accommodation

a calculation i s m ade,that they must support their families and pay

the rent of their lots,not from the produce but from the sea. W hen

the herring fi shery succeeds they generally satisfy the landlords,

20

whatever privations they may suffer ; b ut when the fishing fails theyfall in arrears and are sequestrated

,and their stock sold to pay their

rents, their lots g iven to others, and they and their families turnedadrift on the world .

&

P. 36, 3 7 .-“ I have already mentioned that the clergy of the Estab

l ish ed Church (none other were tolerated in Sutherland) , all but Mr.Sage were consenting parties to the expulsion of the inhabitants

,and

had substantial reasons for th eir readiness to accept woolly and hairyanimals— sheep and dogs— in place of their human flocks . The kirks andmanses were mostly s ituated in the low grounds

,and the clergy hitherto

held their pasturage in common with the tenantry; and this state ofthings

,established by law and usage

,no factor or proprietor had power

to alter w ithout mutual consent . Had the ministers maintained thoserights they would have placed in many cases an effectual bar to theoppressive proceedings of the factors ; for the strange sheep-farmerswould not bid for or take th e lands where the minister’s sheep and

cattle would be allowed to commingle with theirs. But no & Anx iousto please the ‘powers that be

,

’and no less anxious to drive advantageous bargains wi th them, these reverend gentlemen found means to gettheir lines laid ‘ in pleasant places

,

’and to secure good and convenientportions of the pasture lands enclosed for themselves : many of thesmall tenants were removed purely to satisfy them in these arrangements . Their subserviency to the factors in all things was not fornought. Besides getting their hill pasturage enclosed their t illagelands were extended

,new manses and offices were built for them

,and

roads made specially for their accommodation , and every arrangementmade for their advantage. They basked in the sunshine of favour

,

they were the bosom friends of the factors and new tenants (many ofwhom were soon m ade magistrates) , and had the honour of occasionalvisits at their manses from the proprietors themselves . They werealways employed to explain and interpret to the assembled people theorders and designs of the factors ; and they did not spare their collegepaint on these occasions .&

H ug h M i l ler , p . 179, in hi s powerful writings on th e Sutherlandclearances

,quotes the following passage from the F rench write r S is

mondi I t i s by a cruel abuse of legal forms— it i s by an unjustusurpation— that the tacksrnan and the tenant in Sutherland are cons idered as having no right to the land which they have occupied for somany ages . A count or earl has no more right to expel fromtheir homes the inhabitants of his county

,than a k ing to expel from

his country the inhabitants of his kingdom .

&

RO SS-SH I RE .—E 7/ietion of tne Rosses , p. 222

,223 . Commenting

on thi s incredible atroc ity committed in the middle of the nineteenthcentury &Donald Macleod says truly th at z— It was so horrifying ands o brutal that he did not wonder at the rev . gentleman’s delicacy in

2 1

speaking of it,and directing h is hearers to peruse M r. Ross’s pamphlet

for full information . Mr . Ross went from G lasgow to Greenyard allthe way to investigate the case upon the spot

,and found that M r.

Taylor,a native of Sutherland

,well educated in the evicting schemes

and murderous cruelty of that county,and Sheriff-substitute of Ross

shire,marched from Tain upon the morning of the 3 I st March, at the

head of a strong party of armed constables,with heavy bludgeons and

firearms,conveyed in carts and other vehicles

,allow ing them as much

ardent drink as they chose to take before leaving and on their march,

so as to qualify them for the bloody work which they had to perform ;

fit for any outrage,fully equipped

,and told by the sheriff to show no

mercy to anyone who would oppose them,and not allow th emselves to

be called cowards,by allow ing these mountaineers v i ctory over th em .

In this exc ited half-drunken state they came in contact with the nufortunate women of G reenyard

,who were determined to prevent the

officers from serving the summonses of removal upon them,and keep

their holding of small farms where they and their forefathers lived anddied for generations . But no time was allowed for parley ; the sheriffgave the order to clear the way

,and

,be it said to his everlasting dis

grace,he struck the first blow at a woman

,the mother of a large family

,

and large in the family way at the time,who tried to keephim back ;

then a general slaughter commenced ; the women made noble resistance until the bravest of them got their arms broken

,then they gave

way. This did not allay the rage of the murderous brutes ; they continned clubbing at the protectle ss creatures until every one of themwas stretched on the field

,weltering in their blood

,or w ith broken

arms,ribs and brui sed limbs . In this woeful condition many of them

were hand-cuffed together,others tied with coarse ropes

,huddled into

carts,and carried prisoners to Tain . I have seen myself

,in the

possession of M r. Ross , G lasgow, patches or scalps of the skin, w iththe long hair adhering to them

,which was found upon the field a few

days after this inhuman affray. Mr. D onald Ross placed the wholeaffair before the Lord Advocate for Scotland

,but no notice was taken

of i t by that functionary further than that the majesty of the law wouldneed to be observed and attended to .

&

INVERN ESS .

— Gleng ar ry C learances , p . 267 , 268.—“The tenants

of Knoydart, l ike all other H ighlanders, had suffered severely duringand after the potato famine in 1846 and 1847 , and some of them got intoarrear w ith a year

,and some w ith two years’rent ; but they were fast

clearing it off. M rs . Macdonell and her factor determined to evict everycrofter on her property

,to make room for sheep . In the spring of 185 3

they were all served w ith summ onses of removal,accompanied by a mes

sage that S ir j ohn Macneil, chairman of the B oard of Supervision, hadagreed to convey them to Australia. I t was afterwards found notconvenient to transport them to Australia

,and it was then intimated

22

to the poor creatures,as if they were nothing but common slaves to be

disposed of at w ill, that they would be taken to N orth America, andthat a ship would be at I sle O rn say, in the I sle of Skye, in a few days ,to receive them, and that they m a st go on board . The S i l lery soonarrived . Mrs . Macdonell and her factor came all the way from Edinburgh to see the people hounded across in boats

,and put on board thi s

ship whether they would or not . An eye-w itness who described theproceeding at the time

,in a now rare pamphlet

,and whom we met a

few years ago in N ova Scotia,characteriz es the scene as heart-rending.

“The wail of the poor women and children,as they were torn away

from their homes,would have melted a heart of stone .& Some few

families . principally cottars, refused to go, in Spite of every influencebrought to bearupon them ; and the treatment they afterwards receivedwas cruel beyond belief. The houses

,not only of those who went

,but

of those who remained, were burned and levelled to the ground . TheS trath was dotted all over with black spots

,show ing where yesterday

stood the habitations of men . The scarred,half-burned wood

couples,rafters

,and cab ars— were strewn about in every direction .

Stooks of corn and plots of unliftedpotatoes could be seen on all s ides,but man was gone . N 0 voice could be heard .

‘

Those who refused togo aboard the S i l lery were in hiding among the rocks and caves, whiletheir friends were packed off like so many African slaves to the Cubanmarket. &

ARGYLE .—M or 7/ern

,p . 3 58, 3 59.

— The Rev . D onald Macleod,

editor of Gooa’W ora’s,describing the death of the late Dr. j ohn Mac

leod,for fifty years the parish minister of M orve rn , says -

“His lateryears were spent in pathetic loneliness . He had seen his parish almostemptied of its people . Glen after glen had been turned into sheep-walks,and the cottages in which generations of gallant H ighlanders had livedand died were unroofed

,their torn walls and gables left standing like

mourners beside the grave,and the little plots of garden

,or of cult ivated

enclosure allowed to merge into the moorland pasture. He had seenevery property in the parish change hands

,and though

,on the whole

,

kindly and pleasant proprietors came,in the place of the b ld families

,yet

they were strangers to the people,neither understanding their language

nor their ways . The consequence was that they perhaps scarcely realiz edthe havoc produced by the changes they inaugurated .

‘At one strokeof the pen

,

’he said to me,with a look of sadness and indignation, ‘ two

hundred of the people were ordered off. There was not one of these whomI did not know

,and their fathers before them ;and finer men and women

never left the H ighlands .’ He thus found himself the sole remaininglink between the past and present —the one man above the rank of apeasant ‘ who remembered the old days and th e traditions of the people .The sense of change was intensely saddened

,as he went through his

parish and passed ru ined house s here, there, and everywhere .‘There

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24

i t i s necessary to place s ide b y_

s ide with the cost of the schools theposit ion and the expense of the Established Church in those counties .In th e greater part of the thirty- seven parishes in O rkney and Shetlandthe churches of the Establishment are almost entirely empty. Thepublic money spent in maintaining a sinecure clergyman in each parishi s more than wasted

,and

,if properly directed

,the sum would go a great

way to provide free education for all the children . In looking over theli st of Parliamentary returns, in Ross- shire we find one parish mini sterwhose Sunday audience consists of hi s s ister and domestic s ; anotherwho

,having no w ife or s ister to manage hi s household affairs

,has an

audience limited to his servants ; a third who has never had a singlehearer

,though personally liked by the parishioners ; a fourth in a similar

position,who is neither esteemed nor liked. W ould it not be better

both for the interests of religion and the general welfare of the countryif the salaries of these ministers were devoted to the support of theteachers who are instructing the rl sm g generation in the knowledge oftheir duties and training them to be useful members of soc iety ? InApplecross

,where the Sunday congregation in the Established Church

usually consists of five persons, the school rate i s one shilling a pound ,and the annual cost of the schools is £670 . In Lochcarron

,where the

audience on spec ial occasions reaches a doz en,the rate is I s . and

the expenditure£1826 a year . In Gairloch,one of the largest parishes

in Scotland,the minister claims thirteen adherents

,the rate is a shilling

,

and the total cost £13 10 a year. In Portree,the chief town of

Skye,W here the Establi shed Church musters forty-nine adherents

,the

school rate i s 2s . a pound,and the total cost £1423 . S n iz ort

,w ith

twenty- three adherents, i s assessed at 1s . 8a’. per pound

,and pays £1682

for education . Kilmuir,which made no return of members

,i s rated at

2s . per pound ; and Harris, at 2 5 . 7d . a pound,has to meet an expendi

ture of £6828 a year for education . But “ in the lowest depth a lowerdeep still opens .& The I sland of Lewi s exhibits the neplns n l tra ofthi s system . Th e / E stab l ish ed Church can scarcely be said to haveeven a nominal ex i stence there. In the Parliamentary return the comm un icants in the parish of Lochs are set down at s ix— the school rateis

/4s . and the annual expense of the schools i s In Barvasthere are said to be seven adherents of the Establishment— the

‘

schoolrate i s 6s . 8d . per pound, and the total educational expenditure is £5 7 32a year. The instances we have given are fair specimens of the stateof matters, eccles iastical and educational, in the H ighlands and I slands N o candid and impartial person w i ll deny that the largesums of money thus uselessly spent in maintaining ministers who haveno congregations and pastors w hohave no flocks would be laid out tomuch greater advantage in maintaining a system of education of whichthe whole nation

,w ithout distinction of class or sect or creed

,could

avail themselves , and which would bring the blessings of free education within reach of th e whole community.

&

O N BEH ALF O F

PRO M O TERS O F TH E BILL,

B E F O RE TH E S E LE C T C O M M I TTE E

O F TH E

H OUSE O F LORDS ,

201 11,

AND 22ND M AY, 1884.

HIS GRACETHEDUKEOF RICHMONDANDGORDONINTHE CHAIR.

PRINTED F O R TH E PRO M OTERS

BY M ACKIE AND C O LIM ITED , LONDON , LIVERPOOL, AND W ARRINGTON .