Scottish Highlands

Coordinates: 57°07′N 4°43′W / 57.12°N 4.71°W / 57.12; -4.71
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Highland Line" redirects here. For the railway lines, see Highland Main Line, West Highland Line, and Highland Line (Pacific Electric).

Highlands
A' Ghàidhealtachd (
Scottish Gaelic)
Hielands (Scots)
Lowland–Highland divide
Lowland–Highland divide
SeatInverness
Population
 • Estimate 
(2019)
600,000
 [citation needed]
DemonymHighlander
Time zoneGMT/BST

The Highlands (

Western Isles and the Highlands.

The Scottish Highlands are renowned for their natural beauty and are a popular subject in art (here depicted by Henry Bates Joel
)

The area is very sparsely populated, with many mountain ranges dominating the region, and includes the highest mountain in the British Isles, Ben Nevis. During the 18th and early 19th centuries the population of the Highlands rose to around 300,000, but from c. 1841 and for the next 160 years, the natural increase in population was exceeded by emigration (mostly to Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand, and migration to the industrial cities of Scotland and England.)[2]: xxiii, 414 and passim  The area is now one of the most sparsely populated in Europe. At 9.1/km2 (24/sq mi) in 2012,[3] the population density in the Highlands and Islands is less than one seventh of Scotland's as a whole.[3]

The

Highland Council is the administrative body for much of the Highlands, with its administrative centre at Inverness. However, the Highlands also includes parts of the council areas of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Argyll and Bute, Moray, North Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire
.

The Scottish Highlands is the only area in the British Isles to have the

Scots pine forest:[4] see Caledonian Forest. It is the most mountainous part of the United Kingdom
.

History

Culture

Map of Scottish Highland clans and lowland families
Highland Hospitality, painted by John Frederick Lewis, 1832
Battle of Alma, Sutherland Highlanders
Stalking in the Highlands by James Giles, 1853

Between the 15th century and the mid-20th century, the area differed from most of the

The Hebrides. The terms are sometimes used interchangeably but have different meanings in their respective languages. Scottish English (in its Highland form) is the predominant language of the area today, though Highland English has been influenced by Gaelic speech to a significant extent.[6] Historically, the "Highland line" distinguished the two Scottish cultures. While the Highland line broadly followed the geography of the Grampians in the south, it continued in the north, cutting off the north-eastern areas, that is Eastern Caithness, Orkney and Shetland, from the more Gaelic Highlands and Hebrides.[7][8]

Historically, the major social unit of the Highlands was the

clearance of the population to make way for large scale sheep farms. Displaced tenants were set up in crofting communities in the process. The crofts were intended not to provide all the needs of their occupiers; they were expected to work in other industries such as kelping and fishing. Crofters came to rely substantially on seasonal migrant work, particularly in the Lowlands. This gave impetus to the learning of English, which was seen by many rural Gaelic speakers to be the essential "language of work".[9]: 105–07 [10]: 1–17, 110–18 [11]
: 37–46, 65–73, 132 

Older historiography attributes the collapse of the clan system to the aftermath of the

visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 and the king's wearing of tartan resulted in a massive upsurge in demand for kilts and tartans that could not be met by the Scottish woollen industry. Individual clan tartans were largely designated in this period and they became a major symbol of Scottish identity.[16] This "Highlandism", by which all of Scotland was identified with the culture of the Highlands, was cemented by Queen Victoria's interest in the country, her adoption of Balmoral as a major royal retreat, and her interest in "tartenry".[13]

Economy

Recurrent famine affected the Highlands for much of its history, with significant instances as late as 1817 in the Eastern Highlands and the early 1850s in the West.[2]: 415–16  Over the 18th century, the region had developed a trade of black cattle into Lowland markets, and this was balanced by imports of meal into the area. There was a critical reliance on this trade to provide sufficient food, and it is seen as an essential prerequisite for the population growth that started in the 18th century.[2]: 48–49  Most of the Highlands, particularly in the North and West was short of the arable land that was essential for the mixed, run rig based, communal farming that existed before agricultural improvement was introduced into the region.[a] Between the 1760s and the 1830s there was a substantial trade in unlicensed whisky that had been distilled in the Highlands. Lowland distillers (who were not able to avoid the heavy taxation of this product) complained that Highland whisky made up more than half the market. The development of the cattle trade is taken as evidence that the pre-improvement Highlands was not an immutable system, but did exploit the economic opportunities that came its way.[11]: 24  The illicit whisky trade demonstrates the entrepreneurial ability of the peasant classes.[10]: 119–34 

Agricultural improvement reached the Highlands mostly over the period 1760 to 1850. Agricultural advisors,

Highland clearances, of many tenants and cottars. Some of those cleared found employment on the new, larger farms, others moved to the accessible towns of the Lowlands.[18]
: 1–12 

In the West and North, evicted tenants were usually given tenancies in newly created crofting communities, while their former holdings were converted into large sheep farms. Sheep farmers could pay substantially higher rents than the run rig farmers and were much less prone to falling into arrears. Each croft was limited in size so that the tenants would have to find work elsewhere. The major alternatives were fishing and the kelp industry. Landlords took control of the kelp shores, deducting the wages earned by their tenants from the rent due and retaining the large profits that could be earned at the high prices paid for the processed product during the Napoleonic wars.[18]: 1–12 

When the Napoleonic wars finished in 1815, the Highland industries were affected by the return to a peacetime economy. The price of black cattle fell, nearly halving between 1810 and the 1830s. Kelp prices had peaked in 1810, but reduced from £9 a ton in 1823 to £3 13s 4d a ton in 1828. Wool prices were also badly affected.

T M Devine points out that in the region most affected by the potato famine, by 1846, 70 per cent of the landowners were new purchasers who had not owned Highland property before 1800. More landlords were obliged to sell due to the cost of famine relief. Those who were protected from the worst of the crisis were those with extensive rental income from sheep farms.[18]: 93–95  Government loans were made available for drainage works, road building and other improvements and many crofters became temporary migrants – taking work in the Lowlands. When the potato famine ceased in 1856, this established a pattern of more extensive working away from the Highlands.[18]
: 146–66 

The unequal concentration of land ownership remained an emotional and controversial subject, of enormous importance to the Highland economy, and eventually became a cornerstone of liberal radicalism. The poor crofters were politically powerless, and many of them turned to religion. They embraced the popularly oriented, fervently evangelical Presbyterian revival after 1800.[20] Most joined the breakaway "Free Church" after 1843. This evangelical movement was led by lay preachers who themselves came from the lower strata, and whose preaching was implicitly critical of the established order. The religious change energised the crofters and separated them from the landlords; it helped prepare them for their successful and violent challenge to the landlords in the 1880s through the Highland Land League.[21] Violence erupted, starting on the

Irish Land War underway at the same time, where the Irish were intensely politicised through roots in Irish nationalism, while political dimensions were limited. In 1885 three Independent Crofter candidates were elected to Parliament, which listened to their pleas. The results included explicit security for the Scottish smallholders in the "crofting counties"; the legal right to bequeath tenancies to descendants; and the creation of a Crofting Commission. The Crofters as a political movement faded away by 1892, and the Liberal Party gained their votes.[23]

Whisky production

Oban distillery from the pier
The regions of Scotch whisky

Today, the Highlands are the largest of Scotland's whisky producing regions; the relevant area runs from Orkney to the Isle of Arran in the south and includes the northern isles and much of Inner and Outer Hebrides, Argyll, Stirlingshire, Arran, as well as sections of Perthshire and Aberdeenshire. (Other sources treat The Islands, except Islay, as a separate whisky producing region.) This massive area has over 30 distilleries, or 47 when the Islands sub-region is included in the count.[24] According to one source, the top five are The Macallan, Glenfiddich, Aberlour, Glenfarclas and Balvenie. While Speyside is geographically within the Highlands, that region is specified as distinct in terms of whisky productions.[25] Speyside single malt whiskies are produced by about 50 distilleries.[25]

According to Visit Scotland, Highlands whisky is "fruity, sweet, spicy, malty".[26] Another review[25] states that Northern Highlands single malt is "sweet and full-bodied", the Eastern Highlands and Southern Highlands whiskies tend to be "lighter in texture" while the distilleries in the Western Highlands produce single malts with a "much peatier influence".

Religion

Loch Long

The

Franciscan missionaries from Ireland, who regularly came to celebrate Mass. There remain significant Catholic strongholds within the Highlands and Islands such as Moidart and Morar on the mainland and South Uist and Barra
in the southern Outer Hebrides. The remoteness of the region and the lack of a Gaelic-speaking clergy undermined the missionary efforts of the established church. The later 18th century saw somewhat greater success, owing to the efforts of the SSPCK missionaries and to the disruption of traditional society after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. In the 19th century, the evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly, appealing much more strongly than did the established church.[27]

For the most part, however, the Highlands are considered predominantly Protestant, belonging to the

Free Church of Scotland. The church maintains a noticeable presence within the area, with church attendance notably higher than in other parts of Scotland. Religion continues to play an important role in Highland culture, with Sabbath observance still widely practised, particularly in the Hebrides.[29]

Historical geography

Inverness, the administrative centre and traditional capital of the Highlands
Ben Nevis from the path to the CIC Hut alongside the Allt a' Mhuilinn

In traditional Scottish

Nairnshire, Morayshire, Banffshire and Aberdeenshire are often excluded as they do not share the distinctive geographical and cultural features of the rest of the Highlands. The north-east of Caithness, as well as Orkney and Shetland, are also often excluded from the Highlands, although the Hebrides are usually included. The Highland area, as so defined, differed from the Lowlands in language and tradition, having preserved Gaelic speech and customs centuries after the anglicisation of the latter; this led to a growing perception of a divide, with the cultural distinction between Highlander and Lowlander first noted towards the end of the 14th century. In Aberdeenshire, the boundary between the Highlands and the Lowlands is not well defined. There is a stone beside the A93 road near the village of Dinnet on Royal Deeside
which states 'You are now in the Highlands', although there are areas of Highland character to the east of this point.

A much wider definition of the Highlands is that used by the Scotch whisky industry. Highland single malts are produced at distilleries north of an imaginary line between Dundee and Greenock,[30] thus including all of Aberdeenshire and Angus.

Inverness is regarded as the Capital of the Highlands,[31] although less so in the Highland parts of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Perthshire and Stirlingshire which look more to Aberdeen, Dundee, Perth, and Stirling as their commercial centres.[32]

Highland Council area

Main articles:
Highland Council

The

island council areas of Orkney
, Shetland and the Western Isles.

Highland Council signs in the Pass of Drumochter, between Glen Garry and Dalwhinnie, say "Welcome to the Highlands".

Highlands and Islands

Isle of Skye

Much of the Highlands area overlaps the

Western Isles and most of the Argyll and Bute and Moray local government areas. Highlands and Islands has, however, different meanings in different contexts. It means Highland (the local government area), Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles in Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service. Northern, as in Northern Constabulary
, refers to the same area as that covered by the fire and rescue service.

Historical crossings

There have been

Cairnamounth.[34]

Courier delivery

Although most of the Highlands is geographically on the British mainland, it is somewhat less accessible than the rest of Britain; thus most UK couriers categorise it separately, alongside Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and other offshore islands. They thus charge additional fees for delivery to the Highlands, or exclude the area entirely. While the physical remoteness from the largest population centres inevitably leads to higher transit cost, there is confusion and consternation over the scale of the fees charged and the effectiveness of their communication,[35] and the use of the word Mainland in their justification. Since the charges are often based on postcode areas, many far less remote areas, including some which are traditionally considered part of the lowlands, are also subject to these charges.[35] Royal Mail is the only delivery network bound by a Universal Service Obligation to charge a uniform tariff across the UK. This, however, applies only to mail items and not larger packages which are dealt with by its Parcelforce division.

Geology

Liathach seen from Beinn Eighe. With the Munro "Top" of Stuc a' Choire Dhuibh Bhig 915 m (3,001 ft) in the foreground and the two Munro summits in the background.
The main ridge of the Cuillin
The main geographical divisions of Scotland

The Highlands lie to the north and west of the

Torridon Sandstone form mountains in the Torridon Hills such as Liathach and Beinn Eighe in Wester Ross
.

These foundations are interspersed with many

Skye and Applecross reflect the complex underlying geology. They are the original source of much North Sea oil. The Great Glen is formed along a transform fault which divides the Grampian Mountains to the southeast from the Northwest Highlands.[36][37]

The entire region was covered by ice sheets during the Pleistocene ice ages, save perhaps for a few nunataks. The complex geomorphology includes incised valleys and lochs carved by the action of mountain streams and ice, and a topography of irregularly distributed mountains whose summits have similar heights above sea-level, but whose bases depend upon the amount of denudation to which the plateau has been subjected in various places.[38]

Climate

The region is much warmer than other areas at similar latitudes (such as

Cfc", "Dfc" and "ET
" at higher altitudes.

Places of interest

Gallery

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scottish Highlands.

Notes

  1. ^ It has been estimated that only 9% of the land in the Highlands is suitable for cultivation.[11]: 18 

References

  1. ^ "Highlands | region, Scotland, United Kingdom". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-1-78027-165-1
    .
  3. ^
    The Highland Council
    . Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  4. ^ "Taiga | Plants, Animals, Climate, Location, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  5. ISBN 978-0-415-01035-1
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-7486-0754-9
    .
  7. ^ "The Highland Line". Sue & Marilyn. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  8. ^ "Historical Geography of the Clans of Scotland". Electricscotland.com. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  9. ISBN 0-7486-1034-0
    .
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7190-9076-9
    .
  11. ^
    ISBN 978-0-241-30410-5
    .
  12. ISBN 978-1-902930-29-9
    .
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-3-638-81651-9
    .
  14. ISBN 978-0-8387-5526-6
    .
  15. ISBN 978-0-7486-1071-6
    .
  16. ISBN 978-1-899820-79-5
    .
  17. ISBN 978-0-7099-2259-9
    .
  18. ^
    ISBN 1-904607-42-X
    .
  19. ISBN 978-0-7126-9893-1
    .
  20. ISBN 978-0-670-88811-5
    .
  21. ^ James Hunter (1974). "The Emergence of the Crofting Community: The Religious Contribution 1798–1843". Scottish Studies. 18: 95–116.
  22. ^ Ian Bradley (December 1987). "'Having and Holding' – The Highland Land War of the 1880s". History Today. 37 (12): 23–28. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  23. doi:10.1093/ehr/cei124
    .
  24. ^ "Highland Distilleries – Whisky Tours, Tastings & Map". www.visitscotland.com.
  25. ^ a b c Osborn, Jacob (13 August 2019). "A Comprehensive Guide to Scotland's Whisky Regions". Man of Many.
  26. ^ "Whisky Distilleries in the Highlands". VisitScotland. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  27. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9809.1990.tb00647.x
    .
  28. ^ Gerard Seenan (10 April 2006). "Fury at ferry crossing on Sabbath". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  29. ^ Cook, James (29 March 2011). "Battle looms in Outer Hebrides over Sabbath opening". BBC News. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  30. ^ "Whisky Regions & Tours". Scotch Whisky Association. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  31. ^ "Inverness: Capital of the Scottish Highlands". Internet Guide to Scotland. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  32. ^ "Scottish Highlands Landscape and History – Scotland Info Guide". www.scotlandinfo.eu.
  33. ^ C Michael Hogan (22 November 2007). "Elsick Mounth – Ancient Trackway in Scotland in Aberdeenshire". The Megalithic Portal. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  34. ^ W. Douglas Simpson (10 December 1928). "The Early Castles of Mar" (PDF). Proceedings of the Society. Retrieved 8 March 2013.[dead link]
  35. ^
    The Scottish Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux
    – Citizens Advice Scotland (Scottish charity SC016637). 25 January 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  36. ISBN 978-0-00-710353-9
    .
  37. ^ William Hutchison Murray (1973). The islands of Western Scotland: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. Eyre Methuen.
  38. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Highlands, The". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 455–456.

Further reading

  • Baxter, Colin, and C. J. Tabraham. The Scottish Highlands (2008), heavily illustrated
  • Gray, Malcolm. The Highland Economy, 1750–1850 (Edinburgh, 1957)
  • Humphreys, Rob, and Donald Reid. The Rough Guide to Scottish Highlands and Islands (3rd ed. 2004)
  • Keay, J. and J. Keay. Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland (1994)
  • Kermack, William Ramsay. The Scottish Highlands: a short history, c. 300–1746 (1957)
  • Lister, John Anthony. The Scottish Highlands (1978)

External links

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