A Factoid-free Zone?
1) “ Factoid “ is a word coined by the eminent landscape historian Oliver Rackham, to describe an idea which has become accepted as fact, without anyone actually bothering to assess what evidence there was for that idea in the first place. Factoids still used in the Highland context include “ devastated and degraded “, which was, I think, first used by Frank Fraser Darling, and about which I have written elsewhere. Along with it, I have occasionally heard “ centuries of destruction “……
2) In a recent conversation about a Highland landscape, the person to whom I was speaking, did use just that last phrase. When challenged, he went on to refer to “ overgrazing “, which is another phrase you may hear quite often in the context of the Highland landscape. Of course, there are areas of the British Isles which may legitimately be described as “ overgrazed “, (whether by cattle, sheep, ponies or deer): large parts of the New Forest come into this category. But in the context of the historic Highland landscape, there are definitely places where reference to past “ overgrazing “ is, I believe, another factoid; a statement without justification.
3) Such generalisations are, I accept, dangerous, so I will consider the case of the landscape I know best, as I have known it, loved it, studied and lived in it (off and on) since boyhood. It is the landscape dominated by the lovely mountain of Quinag in Assynt. It is also an area for which we do at least have some reasonable glimpses into the past, both recent and back before the Clearances. It is a fine and varied landscape, overlooked by the peaks -domes, towers and ridges- of the mountain itself; sweeping slopes of rock and moorland, deep glens, often wooded, running down to a long broad fjord to the east, or sheltered inlets to the north.
4) In the Survey of Assynt written (and mapped) by John Home of Edinburgh, we have a pretty clear picture of the whole Parish in 1774. This survey was for the Sutherland Estates, and was done in order to assess what potential the area had; the lochs, woods and areas of agricultural activity were mapped, the population counted and listed.
5) A surprising number of people lived around Quinag in 1774. “ My own “ glen, Glenleraig, had then 90 inhabitants, and neighbouring Ardvar also totalled 90. Kerracher does not seem to be listed, but nearby Reintraid had 10. Again I find no reference to Torgawn, but Unapool appears to have 58. Along Loch Assynt, Home notes ‘Edrachalda ‘ pastures, (probably as far west as the current Loch Assynt Lodge) so their total of 13 should be included here. This makes a total of 261 folk living around Quinag, and, crucially, living off the land.
6) It is generally accepted that in this pre-Clearance period, (which was one largely of subsistence, small-scale agriculture), comparatively few animals were over-wintered; keeping them alive through the winters this far North was difficult. If there had, anywhere, been prolonged ‘overgrazing’ , it is fair to assume that Home’s sharp eye would have noticed it.
7) In fact, his general tone seems to be approving: Ardvar’s “ extensive natural woods …..abound with grass “. The farm is “ excellent for grazing “. Ederahalda (spelling seems to vary!) is “ well accommodate “ with some “ fine sweet grass “. In Glenleraig, the “ haugh along the burn “ has “ rich black soil “, the woods have “ choice grassy pasture “, and there is “ good meadow grass along the burn below Quinack Hill”. Reintraid’s woods have “ excellent grass and shelter “, while (significantly) the “ Byre of Quinack makes a large summer sheeling “. And the cornlands of Unapool are “ remarkably fertile “ ; the woods have “ extensive good pasture and fine shelter “. While there were definitely worries about famine in the years before this, it seems clear to me that Home does not ascribe it anywhere to poor husbandry; indeed he seems pretty optimistic about the future of the inhabitants of Assynt.
8) (In case any reader is feeling that Home is seeing everywhere through ‘rose-tinted glasses’ I offer another comment, this time on Ledmore: in one area, there is grass growing “ on the remains of a natural wood “, another area is “ good for nothing being all wet fogged moss “ ).
9) My view is that the comments listed above suggest that stock-levels on the ‘farms’ around Quinag in 1774 had not caused any signs of “ overgrazing “. It should be noted here that the sheiling system which was still a critical part of this pre-Clearance economy, allowed all grazing to be removed from the infield and the neighbouring wood-pastures, for some months each year. And it must be noted that even when up on the sheilings, all stock were herded, exactly in order to avoid over-heavy use of any particular area. Herding was necessary, in any case, as some of the sheilings, according to Home, were that year “ in corn “. one on Ardvar, two in Glenleraig, and in the latter case, Home remarked that the large sheiling east from ‘Loch-an-Loith’, (Loch an Leothaid under the west cliffs of Quinag ) “ might easily be converted into corn lands “. One sheiling (in two parts) was in corn at Unapool. Some sheilings also grew hay…….
10) The author of the Scottish History Society’s volume of Home’s Survey comments thus: “ the coastal farms ……relied on their arable ground for subsistence, and on small stocks of black cattle for the payment of rent”.
11) The significance of the above comments is clear and crucial; there could be no fences or banks in 1774 which would offer protection against the depredations of red deer, and by no means all shielings show signs of significant walls or banks of any height. And if the “ Byre of Quinack “ was a good grassy sheiling, deer numbers on and around the mountain must have been significantly controlled, presumably at this date simply by the local inhabitants themselves. ‘Ach-an-Loith’ could not have been suitable for conversion to corn if it were subject to regular depredations by deer.
12) Be it noted, in passing, that Home did remark on other areas of ground: his observations on ‘Auchamore’ include; “ Westward all around Quinack Hill being very barren “. This is exactly as it appears now; being quite high and exposed in the Assynt context, and consisting mostly of Cambrian Quartzite and Torridonian Sandstone, this is really all one could ever expect……..
13) When I studied the woods of Assynt for the Assynt Crofters’ Trust, I compared the areas of woodland mapped by Home in 1774 with those that I was seeing in 2000.
The period between these two dates is extremely important in the history of Highland Land Use, as it includes the Clearances themselves, and the subsequent development of extensive sheep farms and sporting estates which saw significant increases in the number of red deer. If ever the Highlands would be subject to “ overgrazing “, this must be the critical period.
14) The most noticeable change I could ascertain between 1774 and around 1970, was that significant areas of former inbye land, especially in Ardvar and Glenleraig, had disappeared under trees. This new growth seems mostly to have been of birch (with aspen also notable in places), but I was unable to decide when that regeneration had begun; it must have been some time after the Clearances took effect, which here was in 1812. The only conclusion which can be drawn is that the carefully herded flocks of sheep which were tended on Ardvar Sheep Farm and the crofting township of Nedd, (which divided up the Glenleraig farm ), were light enough in their impact to allow considerable regeneration of birch. There must have been ‘waves’ of such regeneration; I grew up along with wee trees of one such wave that must have begun around 1950. There has been at least another such significant wave since…….
15) ( Other changes observed in the same exercise, were that woodland had retreated from the exposed shore of Meallard (between Lochs Nedd and Ardvar) as well as the high ground behind Loch an Leothaid, and the good grass which Home had noted along the burn above the Ruigh Dorcha sheiling and on his “beautiful green hill “ of Gorm Cnoc -(on Nedd ground)- had totally disappeared. This, I think, must be due to climatic change, an onset, presumably, of wetter and windier weather. That these wooded areas were cut seems very unlikely; wherever you started from, you would pass lots of woodland to get to the Meallard shore in particular, and it must surely have been scrub in the first place. And large areas of old in-bye land had disappeared under a deep sea of bracken, with rushes in wetter places).
16) Other areas in the Highlands may well have fared differently; I am sure they did. It must, however, be clear that the area around the mountain of Quinag, gives NO evidence for historical “overgrazing “ up until 1970, probably later. What has happened since then lies beyond the scope of this paper, and seems, now, to be hopelessly controversial.