Seven ill years
The Seven Ill Years, also known as the Seven Lean Years (
As documented in tree ring records, the 1690s was the coldest decade in Scotland for the past 750 years.[2][3] Failed harvests in 1695, 1696, 1698 and 1699, combined with an economic slump caused by the Nine Years' War, resulted in severe famine and depopulation.
The
Causes
Before the mid-17th century, difficult terrain, poor roads and primitive methods of transport meant there was little trade between different areas of Scotland. This became less true after 1660, with the number of rural towns authorised to hold markets increasing from 100 to over 300 by 1707, but surpluses were exported, the most significant being the lucrative cattle trade with England.[5] For various reasons, Scottish agriculture was not as productive as it should have been, a situation which persisted into the first decades of the 18th century.[6]
Most settlements depended for subsistence on what was produced locally, often with very little in reserve in bad years. Most farming was based on the lowland
The closing decade of the seventeenth century brought an end to the generally favourable economic conditions that had dominated since the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660. After 1689, Scottish involvement in the Nine Years' War led to a slump in trade with key markets in the Baltic and France, followed by failed harvests in 1695, 1696, 1698 and 1699.[10] Famine was generally widespread across Scotland from 1694 to 1699, although some regions were affected for shorter periods. However, these followed years of relatively poor harvests in the 1680s, while the impact did not entirely subside until after 1700.[11]
Across Europe, the 1690s marked the low point of the Little Ice Age, a prolonged period of colder and wetter weather that began in 15th century.[12] This lowered the altitude at which crops could be grown and in some years shortened the growing season by up to two months.[13] The massive eruptions of volcanoes at Hekla in Iceland (1693) and Serua (1693) and Aboina (1694) in Indonesia may also have polluted the atmosphere and filtered out large amounts of sunlight.[14]
Impact
The results of the climatic conditions were inflation, severe famine and depopulation, particularly in the north of the country, with eye-witness accounts indicating large numbers of people died from starvation.
The famines led to a rapid increase in the number of
The system of the
Significance
These problems were not confined to Scotland; the years 1695-97 saw catastrophic famine in present-day Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden plus an estimated two million deaths in France and Northern Italy.[26] Its historical significance and impact is partly due to the fact famine had become relatively rare in the second half of the seventeenth century, with only 1674 being one of dearth and these were to be the last of their kind.[27]
The conditions resulted in limited migration between estates and parishes in Scotland; emigration to England was limited by
To tackle the desperate economic situation, in 1695 the Scottish Parliament passed Acts allowing the consolidation of run rigs and the division of common land which drove the agricultural improvements of the eighteenth century.[31] These changes made Scottish farming highly productive and ensured people could be fed in extreme conditions, even with the population growing.[18]
Other changes included the creation of the
References
- ^ Cullen 2010, p. 14.
- ^ a b Sima, Richard. "How the Cold Climate Shaped Scotland's Political Climate". Eos.
- ^ D'Arrigo, Klinger & Newfield 2020, pp. ?.
- ^ "The Darien Scheme". Historic UK.
- ^ Smout & Fenton 1965, p. 79.
- ^ Smout & Fenton 1965, p. 86.
- ^ Wormald 1991, pp. 41–55.
- ^ Mitchison 1983, p. 82.
- ^ Cullen 2010, p. 55.
- ^ Mitchison 2002, pp. 291–292, 301–302.
- ^ Cullen 2010, p. 15.
- ^ White 2011, pp. 542–543.
- ^ Smout 2012, pp. 22–23.
- ^ Morrison 2011, pp. 99–101.
- ^ Cullen 2010, p. 19.
- ^ Cullen 2010, p. 117.
- ^ Cullen 2010, p. 87.
- ^ a b c Dingwall 2001, pp. 286–287.
- ^ Cullen 2010, p. 56.
- ^ Wormald 2005, p. ?.
- ^ Cullen 2010, p. 158.
- ^ Cullen 2010, p. 160.
- ^ Mitchison 1983, pp. 127, 145.
- ^ Cullen 2010, p. 105.
- ^ Cullen 2010, p. 153.
- ^ de Vries 2009, pp. 152–153.
- ^ Mitchison 2002, pp. 254–255.
- ^ Cullen 2010, pp. 173–174.
- ^ Smout, Landsman & Devine 1994, p. 90.
- ^ Cullen 2010, pp. 178–179.
- ^ Bowie 2012, p. 314.
- ^ Mitchison 2002, pp. 301–302.
- ^ Richards 2004, p. 79.
- ^ Mitchison 2002, p. 314.
Sources
- Bowie, K (2012). Devine, Tom; Wormald, John (eds.). New perspectives on pre-union Scotland in The Oxford Handbook of Modern Scottish History. OUP. ISBN 978-0191624339.
- Cullen, Karen (2010). Famine in Scotland: The "Ill Years" of the 1690s. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0748638871.
- D'Arrigo, Rosanne; Klinger, Patrick; Newfield, Timothy (2020). "Complexity in crisis: The volcanic cold pulse of the 1690s and the consequences of Scotland's failure to cope". Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 389: 106746. ISSN 0377-0273.
- de Vries, Jan (2009). "The Economic Crisis of the 17th Century" (PDF). Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. 40 (2): 151–194.
- Dingwall, HM (2001). Lynch, Michael (ed.). Health, famine and disease: 1500–1770, in "The Oxford Companion to Scottish History". Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199693056.
- Mitchison, Rosalind (2002). A History of Scotland (3rd ed.). Routledge. ISBN 0415278805.
- Mitchison, Rosalind (1983). Lordship to Patronage, Scotland 1603–1745. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 074860233X.
- Morrison, I (2011). Lynch, Michael (ed.). Climate The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199693054.
- Richards, Eric (2004). Britannia's Children: Emigration from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland since 1600. Continuum. ISBN 978-1852854416.
- * Smout, TC (2012). Devine, Tom; Wormald, Jenny (eds.). Land and sea: the environment in The Oxford Handbook of Modern Scottish History. OUP. ISBN 978-0191624339.
- Smout, T. C.; Landsman, N. C; Devine, Tom (1994). Canny, N (ed.). Scottish emigration in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europeans on the Move. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198204191.
- Smout, T. C.; Fenton, Alexander (1965). "Scottish Agriculture before the Improvers—an Exploration". The Agricultural History Review. 13 (2): 73–93. JSTOR 40273166.
- White, I. D (2011). Lynch, Michael (ed.). Rural Settlement 1500–1770 in The Oxford Companion to Scottish History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199693054.
- Wormald, Jenny (1991). Court, Kirk, and Community: Scotland, 1470–1625. Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0-7486-0276-3..
- Wormald, Jenny (2005). Scotland: A History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0191622435..