Highland ‘mob’ opposed plans to remove them from their homes
By Jennifer Johnstone, Highland Archive Centre
This week we move our focus on to the Parish of Kincardine in Ross and Cromarty.
Kincardine is situated in an area west of the Dornoch Firth.
“The bounding parishes are Edderton on the east, Rosskeen, Alness, Fodderty and Contin on the south, Assynt on the north-west and Creich (Sutherland) on the north and north-east.” - 3rd Statistical Account of Scotland Vol. XIII
A census taken in 1755 gave the population as 1743, and this number fluctuated over the following century, rising to a high of 2108 in the 1841 census. The population then declined so sharply that by 1951 only 743 people resided in the parish.
The 2nd Statistical Account of Scotland describes the character of the people of Kincardine as: “The people here are generally moral in their lives, and, when occasion requires, of unremitting industry. In common with most Highlanders, they are hospitable, of quick parts, great agility, inquisitive and fond of information, and extremely patient under hunger, cold, and other distresses from which their southern neighbours would shrink. They still retain a sacred regard for the clan or family they are sprung from.”
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In 1820, Munro of Novar made moves to remove tenants from his estate in Culrain, in the Parish of Kincardine, to make way for a sheep farm. It led to an incident called the Culrain Riots.
Within the Novar Estate collection are various documents relating to the resistance put up by tenants on the lands of Culrain in response to orders to remove them from their homes. The graphic detail of the account reports of people rebelling against the authorities, which really stokes the imagination of an early 19th century riot. Of particular note is the number of supposedly armed crofters and cottars involved, lined up regimentally, as though they were pitching for battle.
In a letter written from London, Munro of Novar shares his concerns at news of the “ultra-radical manner” in which the people of Culrain had acted on his estate and noted that he had tried to help them in offering passage to the Cape of Good Hope. He talks of using the clergy to encourage the tenants to consider other plans he has to help them.
A letter from Donald Macleod of Geanies reports on the number of militia and constables, over 70 in total, sent to quell the resistance in Culrain. This first-hand account alleges they were “opposed by an infuriated mob of women, with about 40 or 50 men amongst them, and on a height a few hundred yards behind them there appeared to be about 200 men drawn up, and many if not the whole of them armed with muskets” supposedly claimed from a shipwreck on the west coast.
The militia was forced to retreat after being met with a volley of stones and missiles. Donald makes note, while escaping in his carriage, “several stones darted in thro’ the window”. He described it as an Act of Rebellion andsaid a force of 500 plus some field artillery pieces would be necessary to overpower the rioters.
