Transactions of the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland

In July 2007 I acquired come volumes of this publication. It is my intention to simply pick appropriate articles from the volumes. In this way I hope to provide an interesting collection of material on Agriculture in Scotland from the last half of the 19th century.

The Society was founded in 1784 to promote the regeneration of rural Scotland, as well as the preservation of its poetry, language and music.  Today, in the 21st century, the Society is for people who value the rural areas of Scotland.  It is for people who enjoy the finest products of our land-based and allied industries.  And it is for everyone who supports the very best standards in agriculture, forestry and stewardship of the countryside, which are such an essential part of our heritage - and our future.

• July 1847 - March 1849
  • Transactions of the Society
  • On Raising Improved Varieties of Oats
  • Report on a Plantation of Fir and Larch in Sand and Bent-Covered Hillocks, at Kincorth, in Morayshire
  • On the Manufacture of Kelp
  • Report on Lord Blantyre's Improvements on the Cottages at Abbeymains, Lennoxlove Estate, in 1844 & 1845
  • Cottage Premiums
  • Report on the Improvement of Waste Land
  • Report on Spade and Fork Trenching
  • Reports on the disease of the potato crop in Scotland for 1846
    This is but a few of the many reports published in this report.
• Fourth Series, Vol. II 1869
  • Report on the Dietaries of Scotch Agricultural Labourers
  • Report on the Agriculture of Perthshire
• Fourth Series, Vol. VIII 1876
  • On the Agriculture of the County of Fife
  • On the Improvement of Waste Land on the Estate of Barbreck, Argyllshire
  • On the Reclamation of Waste Land
  • On Planting in Exposed and Maritime Situations
  • On the Soils and Subsoils suited for Planting
  • On the Cultivation of the Potato
  • On the Ayrshire Breed of Cattle
  • On the West Highland Breed of Cattle
  • On the effects produced on Trees and Shrubs by Smoke from Public Works
  • On Thinning Plantations as applicable in Practical Forestry
  • On Natural Coppice Wood, of other Species than Oak
• Fourth Series, Vol. IX 1877
  • On the Agriculture of the Counties of Edinburgh and Linlithgow
  • On the Agriculture of the Counties of Ross and Cromarty
  • Manual of Agriculture
  • On the Tree Mallow
  • On the Polled Angus or Aberdeen Breed of Cattle
  • On Implements selected for Trial
  • Agricultural Statistics of Scotland, 1876
  • Proceedings at Board Meetings
  • Proceedings at General Meetings
• Fourth Series, Vol. X 1878
  • On the Agriculture of the County of Argyll
  • On the Management of Plantations
  • The Galloway Breed of Cattle
  • On the Agricultural Colleges of America and their Adaptibility to Scotland
  • On St. Kilda and its Inhabitants
• Forth Series, Vol. XI 1879
  • On the Growth and Cultivation of Willows in Scotland
• Fourth Series, Vol. XII 1880
  • On the Agriculture of the County of Sutherland
  • Improvements on the Estate of Denbrae, Fifeshire
  • On the Cheviot Breed of Sheep
  • On the Old and Remarkable Ash Tree in Scotland
  • On the Old and Remarkable Sycamores in Scotland
  • On the different methods of Making and Curing Butter in this country and abroad
• Fourth Series, Vol. XIII 1881
  • On the Agriculture of Bute and Arran
  • On the Agriculture of the Counties of Forfar and Kincardine
  • On the Old and Remarkable Beeches in Scotland
  • On the Old and Remarkable Oaks in Scotland
  • On the Border Leicester Breed of Sheep
  • On Oyster Culture in Scotland
• Fourth Series, Vol. XV 1883
  [It should be noted that in each issue there is a list of some 2,500 members and so anyone into genealogy might find it useful to check these volumes]
  • The Physiological Distinctions in the Conditions of the Scottish Peasantry
  • The Agriculture of the Counties of Clackmannan and Kinross
  • The Old and Remarkable Elm Trees in Scotland
  • The Old and Remarkable Lime Trees in Scotland
  • Plantations of the Estates of Benmore and Kilmun, Argyllshire
  • Marine Highland Industries
  • Haymaking
  • The Best Mode of Preparing Wood for Fencing with a View to its Preservation
  • List of Members (This is a .pdf file 17Mb in size)
• Fourth Series, Vol. XVI 1884
  • The Agriculture of the Counties of Elgin and Nairn
  • The Agriculture of the County of Stirling
  • The Old and Remarkable Horse Chestnut Trees in Scotland
  • The Old and Remarkable Walnut Trees in Scotland
  • The Blackfaced Breed of Sheep by Alexander MacDonald
  • The Blackfaced Breed of Sheep by David Archibald
• Fourth Series, Vol. XVII 1885
  • The Agriculture of Lanarkshire
  • The Agriculture of Wigtownshire
  • The Woods, Forests, and Forestry of Ross-Shire
  • Scotch Cheese-making
• Fourth Series, Vol. XVIII 1886
  • The Agriculture of the County of Dumbarton
  • The Agriculture of the County of Selkirk
  • Wintering Hill Sheep
  • On Developing the Oyster Fisheries of Scotland
  • The West Coast Herring
• Fourth Series, Vol. XIX 1887
  • The Agriculture of the County of Renfrew
  • The Improvement of Hill Pasture
  • The Feeding and Management of Dairy Cows

A couple of books in adobe reader format will supply additional information on the agriculture of Scotland.

"Field and Fern" by H. H. Dixon 1868 in two volumes.

North (35Mb) |  South (25Mb)

General View of the Agriculture of the Hebrides by James MacDonald (1818)

Download the Book here! (35Mb)

The Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Condition of Crofters and Cottars in the Highlands and Islands.

The commission was set up as a response to crofter and cottar demonstrations against excessively high rents, lack of security of tenure on land that had been in families for generations and the forced evictions of crofters.

The demonstrations started in Wester Ross and Lewis in the 1870's, and by the early 1880's had moved to Skye. Local police forces were called upon by the landlords to enforce what they believed to be their rights. However, with limited resources, the police found it difficult to cope with the increasing demands put upon them. Therefore, it became an issue needing the attention of Prime Minister Gladstone’s government and he ordered the appointment of the commission.

Under the orders of William Gladstone, and backed by Royal approval, the commission was appointed in 1883, by the Home Secretary, Sir William Harcourt. Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier, was selected as chairman, with five other members -   Sir Donald Cameron of  Locheil; Sir Kenneth MacKenzie of Gairloch; Charles Fraser – MacIntosh MP; Sheriff Alexander Nicolson of Kicudbright and Professor Donald MacKinnon of Edinburgh university – making up the panel.

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) gathering evidence from crofters, landlords and others who were familiar with the plight of the indigenous population.

The final report was hastily published in 1884 and led obliquely to the 1886 Crofters’ Holding Act.

The Napier’s Report is a valuable piece of documentary evidence from the Highlands and Islands (including Orkney and Shetland) in 1883, presenting facts and information on the population, as well as the political, historical and social climate of the time.

These volumes can be downloaded here!

I am personally interested in how to manage small tracts of land that can lead to making yourself self sufficient by growing your own vegetables, fruit, crops as well as animals.  There is an old series of books...

• Productive Vegetables
• Productive Bee-Keeping
• Productive Dairying
• Productive Swine
• Productive Orchard
• Product Horse Husbandry
• Productive Plant Husbandry
• Productive Poultry
• Productive Sheep

which together can help you build your own wee farm.

• Highland Croft Cultivation

10 Acres Enough
What Jethro Tull did to improve tillage, the author of "Ten Acres Enough" did to prove that intensified agriculture on small areas could be made not only to support a family, but to yield a hand­some profit, and health, freedom and happiness as well. It has taken two centuries for the most advanced farmers to appreciate Tull and his teachings. It has taken nearly half a century in this progressive age to appreciate and to put in practice, in a feeble way, the fundamental principles which underlie all our dealings with Mother Earth as set forth in this modest volume of two hundred pages.

The Crofter in History
By Lord Colin Campbell, son of George, 8th Duke of Argyll (1885)

Edible Wild Plants
By Oliver Perry Medsger (1939)

General View of the Agriculture of the country of Fife (1800) (pdf)

An Account of the System of Husbandry
Adopted in the more Improved Districts of Scotland b\y Sir John Sinclair, Bart. (1812)

The Capercaillie in Scotland
By J A Harvie-Brown (1888)

The Book of the Farm
Detailing the Labours of the Farmer, Farm-Steward, Ploughman, Shepherd, Hedger, Farm-Labourer, Field-Worker, and Cattle-Man by Henry Stephens, 4th Edition (1889)

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