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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.

You can visit their web site at http://www.rhass.org.uk/

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...

which together can help you build your own wee farm.

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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