Published May 3, 2008
by dbazely
I honed the observation techniques for my PhD thesis, which was on sheep grazing behaviour, sitting on a hill in Shetland. Over the decades, I have either visited or spent extended periods of times in most of the more remote parts - Highlands and Islands - of Scotland. So, I'd like to give an alternative view of Scotland and the sunny days and gorgeous views shown in the Al-Jazeera video about land ownership.
The video, described in Rajiv's blog on Rural Scotland, is definitely worth watching. It's pretty bang on in its explanation of the incredibly archaic, feudal system of land ownership that still prevails in Scotland, and which led, among other things to the Highland clearances. At the time, the clearances were often regarded as a violation of human rights. While there WERE other contributing factors there were also many clear examples of gross mismanagement by greedy landlords who forcibly herded their tenants on to emigration ships so as to make way for sheep.
BUT, I would also point out that there is another reason for why large parts of rural Scotland continue to have a low population density. While TV shows set in Scotland, like Hamish MacBeth and Monarch of the Glen, do a good job of dramatizing rural life and issues, they also romanticize them. The bottom line about the Highlands and Islands is that it is a darned tough place to live in, and life there is hard. A colleague and I got hypothermia while doing field work on Hirta, St. Kilda in July, in spite of us having full field gear and equipment. (St. Kilda lies west of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic.) The entire population of St. Kilda was evacuated to the mainland in 1930 partly because it had become so difficult for the islanders to provide themselves with enough food. Books like the Island on the Edge of the World by Charles Maclean and The Life and Death of St. Kilda by Tom Steel tell the haunting history and tales of a lost community. The popular Scottish band, Runrig, even wrote a song about St. Kilda, the Edge of the World, which is on their Big Wheel album. I would personally like to see the next series of Survivor or one of those historical reality tv series like The 1900 House, set on St. Kilda. In fact, this may be a good recipe for on-the-job training for reducing one's ecological footprint. Check out my photos of St. Kilda:
Dawn R. Bazely
Dawn Bazely
Posted in: Blogs | IRIS Director Blog
