Evictions on the Estate of Langwell Part C

EVICTIONS ON THE ESTATE OF LANGWELL FROM 1830-31 TO 1855

(To the Editor of the Dundee and Perth Saturday Post) Part C

Sir John Sinclair

"Sir John Sinclair, Bart, of Ulster, who gained European fame as an agriculturalist, was, strange to say, the originator of the deeds described above, and was succeeded in the estate of Langwell by James Horne, Esq. Whatever Sir John’s faults may have been, those under him enjoyed a considerable degree of comfort and prosperity. Herring and white fishing were carried on and encouraged by him in various creeks on the estate." 

Sir John Sinclair statue in Thurso dated to 1835 

Source: Canmore SC0117055

Donald Horne Turned Them Out

"But when the present man, D Horne, succeeded him in 1830, a very different line of conduct was pursued. His first act was to turn out two thriving villages on his estate, containing twelve families each, and who paid a rental of from £7 to £10, and possessed on an average ten head of cattle. One of these villages, Auchencraig, had a creek for fishing connected with it, where I have seen 14 boats engaged for seven weeks in the season at the herring fishing and landed and cured thousands of barrels of herring, and who carried on a considerable trade with the Moray Firth for the various commodities used in the herring trade. There were hundreds of pounds spent from time to time on the port for curing and harbour accommodation." 

Gutting Herring at Wick late 19th early 20th C 

Am Baile facebook

"Alas, where is it today? Anyone who remembered its ancient glory, visiting it now, could not fail to see the contrast. The crews of these boats were composed of the inhabitants of Auchencraig and Badbea, a village a mile to the east of Auchencraig, of which more afterwards. Kinsary, the other village treated in the same way as Auchencraig was situated on the north side of eastern Berriedale, which, after joining the western stream, empties itself into the ocean below the village of that name, the inhabitants of which engaged in the herring fishing with their neighbours at Newport, a little to the east of the river, and enjoyed equal prosperity with Auchencraig."

Looking from Ousdale up to the remains of some Auchencraig buildings and the start of the stone wall from where it runs a distance of just under 5 miles to below Langwell House.

Driven to the Four Winds

"The inhabitants of the villages were driven to the four winds of heaven, and their once comfortable habitations were demolished and used in building a five feet stone dyke around the place, which was of course converted to a sheep walk. A favoured few got patches of land at Newport and Badrinsary – waste pieces of bogs and quagmire, fit for nothing. Those at Newport got neat and comfortable houses built for them, a few hundred yards above the public road, and travellers passing by would set Mr Horne down as a model of a landlord, not knowing that the people had to pay a yearly instalment, over and above their rents, for the building of their houses."

"The district being depopulated, the fishing was discontinued, and those poor people were obliged to work for their human laird at the rate of 1s per day for full grown men, women and boys from 4d to 6d per day, and out of this pittance to support themselves and families, and pay their rents, for their crofts scarcely yielded anything. But those set down at Badrinsary were out of sight of the traveller and got leave to build themselves houses to suit themselves and right glad they were for it, as they reckoned their neighbours at Newport paid dearly for their whistle."

There are still several old buildings at Newport being used for farm or storage purposes and now with corrugated iron roofs. I don’t know if these buildings are the same as referred to by Alexander Gunn but I think it is likely they are.
A Native of Badbea To Be continued

My Comments:

The closing down of the seasonal fishing business at Auchencraig (aka Achnacraig) by Donald Horne seems hard to fathom. The fishing trade was financed and operated by independent operators. While the fishing provided desperately needed income for the poverty-stricken crofters it would not have necessarily added to the Laird of Langwell’s income – except to guarantee the rents the crofters owed him. Sir John Sinclair and both James and Donald Horne were sure that sheep farming would bring in untold wealth to them so pursued sheep no matter what. In the long run both the fishing and the sheep farming would fail. But the immediate consequences of closing down the Auchnacraig fishery to the Auchencraig and Badbea crofters were very severe and cut off a lifeline to survival. Many were evicted and left Scotland, while some moved to nearby miserable places, while yet others headed to Wick where the herring trade was still flourishing.

A good read, graphically describing the herring trade and the dangers at sea, is Neil Gunn’s 1941 novel Silver Darlings. 

Auchencraig

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

Alex Gunn continues:

There was a thriving fishing and curing carried on at Auchencraig before the people were evicted. I remember seeing 13 boats fishing at Auchencraig for Leith curers and between coopers and others engaged in the fishing, there were hundreds of pounds circulating in the district every year. There was also a thriving herring fishing carried on at Berriedale, but the laird preferred salmon fishing to herring fishing, and lest the salmon fishing should suffer he put an extinguisher on the herring fishing, thus taking away an industry which was a great advantage in the district.

Ceann Ousdale with the Auchencraig settlement
 having been on the hills in the right foreground

Remains from the old Auchencraig settlement

The late Duke of Portland purchased the estate from the Hornes for £90,000, and banished the sheep, all but a few hundred, converting the whole estate into a huge deer forest and then claimed exemption from poor rates on that account. Some of the witnesses before the Royal Commission stated that a deer forest would give employment to more people than a sheep farm, but my experience is quite different. When the sheep were on the estate, there were as already stated, 12 shepherds, and at the clipping time there would be 20 people employed for three weeks, while two or three people are all that are needed to look after the deer. There are thousands of acres in these straths, of as fine land as is in the country, and were it under cultivation it would supply the market with a very large quantity of farm and dairy products, and provide hundreds of families with comfortable homes.

The Langwell Water valley

A good track goes up the valley for about 10Km on the north side. 

This section on the south side only has deer-tracks through the wood!

My Comments:

A number of witnesses to the Royal Commission spoke out against the Poor Law Act whereby rich landowners were exempt from paying tax on their shooting grounds while small crofters were heavily taxed on various public matters.

The mention of the Leith curers is evidence that the herring business was well established at Auchencraig. The firms of curers moved around the coast of Scotland and played a central role in the herring fisheries, organising and overseeing all the associated activities. They had to ensure there was enough salt delivered on time and arrange for the barrels to be ready. Once the barrels were packed the curer firm would arrange for their export. The curers purchased the fish through a system paying a guaranteed price to the crew of the fishing boat, also having payment agreements with the gutters and packers. It seems unbelievable that such a well-established local industry could to fall prey to the whims of the laird in favour of salmon when the two could have easily existed in the same district.

Welbeck Estates, including Langwell and across to the mountains of Morven, Scraben, and Maidens Pap, is approximately 50,000 acres. It is still a sporting estate owned by the Portland family with both deer shooting and Atlantic salmon river fishing being offered to those who can afford it.

Curious deer in the Langwell Estate

Note the two-headed deer on the right!

Note: Auchencraig is also known as Achnacraig and has other variations in spelling.

To be continued...

Herring fishing at Berriedale in 1820 by Willliam Daniell