Highland Destitution of 1837

First published edition of documents relating to the major destitution in Scotland in 1837, shedding new light on its full impact and significance.

Successive harvest failures in 1835 and 1836 meant that the people of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland began 1837 with an almost total lack of food for the present and of the seed needed for the future. Severe destitution in1837 was the result - out of a population of 167,000 some 86,000 people were said to be destitute. But although the conditions experienced have been described as a "full dress-rehearsal" for the famine of 1847, the1837 crisis hasreceived little attention from historians. Indeed, it has been said that, apart from evidence given to a select committee on emigration in 1841, the destitution of 1837 is otherwise virtually unrecorded. However, there is in facta large body of unpublished source material relating to the destitution of 1837, which is presented in this book for the first time. It comprises the letters of the two agents sent by Government to examine the conditions and to administer aid, Robert Graham of Redgorton and Captain Sir John Hill, RN; memorials, petitions and resolutions seeking Government aid and subscriptions from the public; reports of the destitution committees; and official and privateGovernment letters and minutes. Together, these documents provide an essential collection for the study of the Highland destitution of 1837 and shed light on important wider issues: clearance and emigration, demography, poor lawreform, religious questions and the role of the state. They are presented here with an introduction and full explanatory notes.

John MacAskill is an Honorary Postdoctoral Fellow in Scottish History at the University ofEdinburgh. He has published articles on the economic and social history of the Scottish Highlands in the nineteenth century, and on contemporary crofting community issues.