The Scottish Highland Clearances Project: Culmailie Page

Culmailie

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Culmailie

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The Burnings

Culmailie is a village in the Highlands of Scotland which the P6 project evolves around. It was a small farming village during the clearances. Each farmer used a crop rotation system with each cottar keeping a few animals. The richer few maybe kept a horse.
By 1800 the price of wool had risen and the absentee landowners saw a chance to make money by raising sheep. Thus heavy wool yielding Cheviot sheep were imported, they required less looking after, safely grazing land which under normal circumstances had supported numerous families. In 1800 there were 377,790 sheep in the Highlands of Scotland, by 1880 this had risen to 2 million. In contrast the population had decreased by over 200,000 people most of whom were documented cases of forced removal.

Culmailie was owned by the Countess of Sutherland who made her home in nearby Dunrobin Castle, though most of her time was spent in London. She was what is known as an 'absentee landlord'. Her factor was the infamous Patrick Sellar, known to be the cruellest factor in Scotland (a factor was the estate manager). Most of the occupants of Culmailie were turned out of their homes to make room for the more profitable sheep. Local, contemporary accounts of these evictions note them to be extremely cruelly done. The houses were burnt to the ground. The roofs were made of timber and straw and as these were in short supply this gave little chance for the crofters to rebuild. Furthermore, they had little chance to remove their possessions before the houses were burnt. Penniless, possessionless and homeless these farmers left for the city or a new life in the colonies.

Here is a picture which epitomises the demise of Highland life. It is from the "Highland Clearances Memorial Fund" leaflet. We are indebted to Steve Blamires for his help in our researches into the Highland Clearances. You can find out more information about this fund by writing to:
The Highland Clearances Memorial Fund
P.O. Box 827
Sebastopol
CA 95473
USA
or by emailing
Celtic@sonic.net

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Culmailie is a village in the Highlands of Scotland which the P6 project evolves around. It was a small farming village during the clearances. Each farmer used a crop rotation system with each cottar keeping a few animals. The richer few maybe kept a horse. By 1800 the price of wool had risen and the absentee landowners saw a chance to make money by raising sheep. Thus heavy wool yielding Cheviot sheep were imported, they required less looking after, safely grazing land which under normal circumstances had supported numerous families. In 1800 there were 377,790 sheep in the Highlands of Scotland, by 1880 this had risen to 2 million. In contrast the population had decreased by over 200,000 people most of whom were documented cases of forced removal.
	Culmailie was owned by the Countess of Sutherland who made her home in nearby Dunrobin Castle, though most of her time was spent in London. She was what is known as an 'absentee landlord'. Her factor was the infamous Patrick Sellar, known to be the cruellest factor in Scotland (a factor was the estate manager). Most of the occupants of Culmailie were turned out of their homes to make room for the more profitable sheep. Local, contemporary accounts of these evictions note them to be extremely cruelly done. The houses were burnt to the ground. The roofs were made of timber and straw and as these were in short supply this gave little chance for the crofters to rebuild. Furthermore, they had little chance to remove their possessions before the houses were burnt. Penniless, possessionless and homeless these farmers left for the city or a new life in the colonies.
Here is a picture which epitomises the demise of Highland life. It is from the "Highland Clearances Memorial Fund" leaflet. We are indebted to Steve Blamires for his help in our researches into the Highland Clearances. You can find out more information about this fund by writing to: The Highland Clearances Memorial Fund P.O. Box 827 Sebastopol CA 95473 USA or by emailing Celtic@sonic.net