History - Part III

In this portion of Jura' history we examine how the islanders fared under the Campbells of Jura after the demise of the 'Lords of the Isles' and how the population declined as the 'four-legged' Highlander, sheep, arrived to forever change the landscape, along with the rise of 'sporting' estates.

Into the west

A house at Keils, Jura from where a family emigrated.

Population decline on Jura would have begun almost immediately with the fall of the ruling 'Lords of the Isles', coupled with what  we now know were difficult times climatically speaking.   In a nutshell, Jura was hit by political, climatic-and as will be related further down in this article, agricultural turmoil.  Many islanders moved north with the MacDonalds as they were pushed out by the Campbells, or were forcibly removed to the Borders area of Scotland, a common ruse of the Scottish Crown.  While this policy was pre-dominate throughout the 1600s, as the 1700s arrived it was the sound of opportunity that islanders heard as stories of plenty from North America began to be heard.  As James Hunter, the famous Highland historian has written, it was a "Dance Called America".  Islanders emigrated to North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia in America and eastern Canada.  Their reasons would have been no different than modern emigrants, better weather, better land, better pay, and better and cheaper food. The opportunity to own their own land would have been an unbearable pull as well, particularly in a culture where landownership could virtually not be conceived of, essentially speaking.

North Carolina became the predominate location of 'Diurachs' in America between the years 1739-55 and there are more descendants of islanders in this state than anywhere else in the world.  North Carolina census statistics note that over 2 million people in that state alone claim Scottish descent; sadly, the American Civil War saw many North Carolina Scots-many of whom still spoke Gaelic-die in that conflict, thus ending a continuing story of emigration from Scotland.

An emigrant ship departed in 1775 during the American Revolution for Canada and other Diurachs are known to have shipped away during the famine era between 1830 and 1840.  Its is easy to say that poverty was the major force behind emigration, but lack of food and oppressive owners, along with land use change would have been factors as well.  More on Highanders to North Carolina?

The essential change to the agriculture of the island

The concept of land “improvement”, as it was known in the early 18^th century, was certainly the result of the agricultural scientific knowledge of the day, with the idea that any given soil could be drained or fertilized or fenced etc., to improve its capacity to produce crops or support grazing animals.  However, as the 18^th century drew to a close and the emerging concept of industrialisation began to take force, land “improvement” was coupled to an even newer concept, the market economy, which defined how economies were subject to the law of supply and demand.  One last factor intersected with these concepts to create the necessary environment for the inception of the “The Clearances”, that being British foreign policy i.e. imperialism and the Napoleonic Wars.  However, it is important to note that no “clearance” in the formal sense ever took place on Jura; it was a more subtle and insidious method of increasing debt and work loads on islanders by the Campbells that was employed on Jura.

5,000 years of agricultural use: Knockcrome Hill

The rise of Napolean Bonaparte and Imperial France forced the British foreign policy makers to embark on a policy of active interdiction, thus requiring a massive ramping up of military strength in both the land and naval forces of the United Kingdom.  Soldiers and sailors both required uniforms, which of course up until the mid-20^th century were made of wool.  The need for large quantities of uniforms required large factories that required large amounts of wool, which in turn needed large herds of sheep to produce the necessary quantities of wool.  Fortunately for the British military, and unfortunately for the fragile landscapes of the Highlands and Islands, the demand for wool soon tempted land owners to dramatically “improve” every available piece of land, even to the point of removing or inhabitants who may have lived in an area since the dawn of history.  Jura was no exception to this either as the Campbells of Jura, along with McNeil of Colonsay, whom had lands in the north of the island, embarked on a process of creating large sheep farms.  This dramatic switch away from black cattle, or Highland cows, began a process on landscape degradation that has continued today as the 'footprint' of the sheep is heavier than the Highland cow as the sheep are destructive in their eating habits, as is widely known.  Before this time, the inhabitants of Jura would have moved their black cattle into lush summer grasslands and lived in sheilings, letting the cattle roam freely, and with the by-product of them fertilising the landscape.  Women, children and older relatives predominately carried out this practice, where they lived in habitations known as sheilings, the remains of which dot the upper landscape of Jura.

More about sheilings?

The changing church

The church on Jura was certainly established by members of the evangelistic Celtic missionaries during the Columban era, as was related in the previous articles.  As with land use changes, cultural changes swept through Jura as well during the Reformation, which, although we have no firm evidence, probably resulted in the destruction of some early church structures, such as the original Chapel of Kilearnadale.  The 'modern' church', at any rate was constructed in 1766 and it was noted by Thomas Pennant during his famous 'Voyage to the Hebrides'.

Jura Church today in 2005.

The church appears to have fallen on hard-times as by 1808 it was noted that most of its windows were broken and the minister's manse was also in a less than acceptable state.  Apparently, it was not until 1842 that major repairs had been carried out. The church was renovated in 1933 after being taken in by the Church of Scotland.  The present day manse was built in 1844, superceding the original manse that was located and built on the same site in 1774; this was also the focus of a tremendous struggle between the church and the Campbell of Jura.   More on the early church and religion in general on Jura?

Interestingly, in 1843 a religious schism known as the Disruption occurred in Scotland, the results of which reverberated in Jura with the creation of the 'Free Church'.  The 'Free Church' endeavoured to free itself from government influence and interference by landowners. The present-day holiday home at Leargybreac that looks like a church, was the 'Free Church'.  It was constructed in 1864.  There was also a manse built with a small schoolhouse, a certain indicator of a larger population than now.  This church closed in 1964. 

The shrinking education system

We don't know what type of education was carried out on Jura during the period of the 'Lords of the Isles' (c. 1156-1506 AD), but the arrival of the Campbells and centralised governmental control meant that enforced and systematic education was begun; Gaelic language was apparently tolerated in the early schools, but by the 19th century English only was probably tolerated in the classroom.  At any instance, the school at Burnside, Knockrome, built by the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge was one of the first in the 'modern' era. It was built in 1741.  The largest number of students recorded by this school was 79, seven times the current student population for the entire Isle of Jura. 

The ruins of Burnside School in 2003

Carrying the point about a shrinking population further, in 1845, when the island's population was at its highest in recorded history (we don't know the population during previous times), there were approximately 1,400 people and there were 8 schools and 347 students.  So there were twice as many students on the Isle of Jura as there are presently full-time residents!  More on education today in Jura?

Change houses

Lagg

In Gaelic culture, one of the great and accepted precepts was that when travelling, people could expect to be taken in and cared for by both relatives and strangers alike.  It was not an inconvienence and the practice was ended only with the issue of edicts by the Scottish and British Crown (from the 1600s up until and after the Jacobite revolt of 1745), which precluded the practice.  The government's theory was that it would be easier to monitor the travel and activities of potential threats to the Crown by this practice.  Following on, a law was enacted to order the construction of 'Change-houses", also known as inns, where cheap housing, food and change-horses for carriages, could be obtained.  Feolin Ferry, the present day Jura Hotel, Corran House and Lagg were all change houses originally. Travellers could stay at these houses but could also obtain a change of horse and continue their journey with little delay if in a hurry.  More on change-houses in the Highlands?

Crofters and estates

Crofters are similar to the American sharecropper, in that they have tenant status on the land they work. While crofting is perceived as an ancient and timeless way of life, it has actually on existed since the beginning of the 'Clearance' period and the first extensive uses of 'crofting' were actually in the Borders region of Scotland, followed by the more well known county of Sutherland. Crofting began as a sop to the government and local peoples in order to house people unable or unwilling to move and to allow them subsistence means of living-while still working for the landowner.  However, as emigration spun out of control, crofting began to be seen as a means of enticing Highlanders to remain on the mainland and on the islands as well.

By 1836, the southern area of Jura had 47 recorded crofts and the average rental was around £9 pounds.  It should be noted that the crofter and his family had to perform almost a month of 'free labour' for the Laird of Jura every year.  This work could be repairing the roads, building drystane dykes or repairing the ferry slips and piers from Kinuachdrachd to Feolin Ferry.

Today, there is obviously no compulsory work by crofters and they are able to buy their crofts and all the estates on Jura are now 'sporting estates', i.e. directed towards deer-stalking. The rise of the large-scale 'sporting estate was the greatest trend on Jura as the 19th century turned into the 20th'.  However, the great conflict of World War I would bring more changes as well, which will be discussed in the final article, 'History of Jura Part IV.  More about crofting on Jura today?

History of Jura IV

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