Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands 1883 Part A

Braes Protest

In 1881 crofters from Braes on the Island of Skye banded together and protested angrily against forced rent increases, loss of pasture rights, lack of security of tenure on land and the forced eviction of crofters, some of whom had been on the same land for generations, to make way for large scale sheep or deer farms. Troops and a gunboat were called in to curb the angry demonstrations.  They landed at Glendale’s Meanish Pier and assisted police to make arrests.

Meanish Pier and Slipway by Gordon Hatton

Napier Commission

The agitation continued and as a response to the demonstrations, in 1883 William Gladstone’s Liberal Government appointed the Napier Commission, with Francis Napier, 10^th Lord Napier, as its chairman, and five other members. Known officially as the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands, this was a royal commission and public inquiry into the condition of crofters and cottars in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.  

Francis Napier 10th Lord Napier

• Note: The terms crofter and cottar were not well defined but in general a crofter was a person who occupied a smallholding. A cottar was a tenant who worked on the croft/farm and lived in the farm cottage.

Braes Hall

The Braes village hall at Upper Ollach where the Napier Commission sat to begin their investigation into crofters' grievances following the "Battle of Braes" in 1882.

The Commission began its work in Braes on the Island of Skye and travelled the length and breadth of the Highlands and Islands (including Orkney and Shetland). 

Crofters, landlords, factors, church ministers and others who were familiar with the plight of the indigenous population gave evidence. The factors and landlords often tried to discredit the evidence of the crofters and ministers.

Caithness

Napier was reluctant to include Caithness which he regarded as not inhabited by the Celtic race and not having a history of Gaelic-speaking landlords or clan chieftans. But in the 1880s many Caithness croft tenants were still Gaelic speaking. In the end Caithness was included and the Commission sat in Lybster on 4 October 1883. In Lybster there was also some discussion of the local fishermen’s rights. 

The Report

The Report of Her Majesty’s Commissioners of Inquiry Into the Condition of the Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, was hastily published in 1884. Most groups who had been involved were not happy with the report. 

The Crofters' Holding Act 1886

But in1886 the Crofters’ Holding Act was passed. This established the Crofters’ Commission to guarantee fair rents, security of tenure and some compensation for land improvements. The legislation did not solve all the problems over land rights, with disputes continuing for decades, but the report did have an important influence on how the land reform movement in the Highlands developed.

The Napier report is now a valuable piece of documentary evidence from the Highlands and Islands in1883, presenting facts and information on the population, and the political, historical and social climate of the time. 

West Highland College Research

Research on the Napier Commission was carried out in 2001 by Lochaber College, now West Highland College UHI. Records of the examination of witnesses and the final report are available in PDF form on their website. They make extraordinary reading. 

https://www.whc.uhi.ac.uk/research/napier-commission 

http://www.whc.uhi.ac.uk/napier-commission/highlands-and-islands-commission-volume-3 

Volume III has the Caithness transcripts.

Mr Alex. Gunn

Alexander Gunn aka A Native of Badbea who was such a prolific writer on Clearance issues, prepared a statement for the Commission. I can imagine him waiting with a group of other men for his turn to be examined. Unfortunately the Commission had only allowed one day at Lybster and they ran out of time and adjourned the examination and went on to Helmsdale. What a huge disappointment for those who had spent much time preparing their evidence. 

I would have relished reading an examination of Alexander Gunn who was so knowledgeable and had been publicly writing for years about the terrible treatment of Badbea crofters. 

A few weeks later the Northern Ensign published a number of statements intended to be read before the Crofting Commission but which there had been no time to hear. I have a copy of Alex Gunn’s statement and will blog it over the next few weeks.

But first I will give a brief review of the Lybster witnesses. Part B to follow.