Hey, I loved the video I have always wanted to hear some stories of the land clearance my clan is the MacDougalls we were forced to leave Scotland and settled in Canada in Nova Scotia and founded Inverness. The highlanders here still miss home and we all have our stories we tell at the games, I wish a situation would happen in Scotland like Israel's where if Scotland gets their freedom they will allow anyone who can prove their Scottish ancestry citizenship.
My Dad was Scottish and my Mum was English and my dad would tell me of the clearances and of course, it made me angry to hear about these injustices and you can imagine how my blood boiled when my sister researched our family tree and found out how my English ancestors were booted off the land and whole villages were destroyed on the whim of the aristocracy, often to improve the vista from their castle. It's not a Scottish V English story but a Rich V the poor. Isn't it always.
I specifically said in the video that it wasn't about nationality. I do get frustrated when folk from either direction make Clearances a Scottish English thing. They do it about Culloden as well. It's like it doesn't matter what I say in the video, people already have their preconceptions and they just replace my words with the ones they want to hear
Look at medieval history, royal and nobles waging wars to increase their possessions, ignoring the suffering and devastation that their wars brought on the lands and people.
I love the Scottish highlands. As a second generation British Indian, the violent, inhumane history of the treatment of the Highlanders deeply touches me. The first time I went to the Highlands in 2019, I was in awe of the natural beauty of the place, the wilderness, and the way of the Highlanders that remained. I was mesmerised by the remoteness and sparsely populated houses you see and then nothing for miles and miles - just desolate and empty - It made me curious, and thats when I decided to research why Highlands are a place of wilderness and emptiness. It was this curiousity that led me to the heartwrenching story of the HIGHLAND CLEARENCES, and everything started to make more sense.... I have just come back again from Scotland (this time staying in Cairngorms). and can't help but feel the connection to the place and wonder how different it would have been if people weren't inhumanely forced off their land and their way of life by the rich and powerful. It makes my blood boil everytime i think about the way people were burned just so s few could become wealthier. I visted the Highland folks museum in Newtenmore which showed how people would have lived before the burnings....as a way of keeping the memory alive of those that lived in these beautiful lands. Thankyou for this video, and showing how history is complex and interwined.
As someone who's grown up in Sutherland it's fantastic to see our history shared. Growing up in lochinver I was lucky enough to learn about the Highland clearances and the mass genocide that happened to my family. Knowing about our history has made our family more passionate about democracy and prioritise the treatment of others because no person deserves to be treated like a piece of paper that can be burned. Thank you for sharing this history and the whole of Scotland should be told of this dark history.
when william the bastard conquered england scottish royalty decided to offer land in scotland to his nobles in order to prevent scottish blood being spilt and prevent the wars going on in england. not alot of people are aware of that.
I remember in school in southern England a long time ago being taught about the highland clearances. It stuck in my mind because the teacher really conveyed the horror of it. Since then I found out my gran Mackinnons ancestors came from Skye and her grandmother banned her grandfather from speaking Gaelic in the house. So sad, I'm now learning Scottish Gaelic, it is a wonderful language.
and how my grandfather Farquhar MacRae and his mother came to America, He was 12, they came in steerage, and he went to work on the docks in New York, while she was a seamstress.
Mine was press ganged into the British army, stationed in Canada, deserted and settled in Michigan before meeting Joseph Smith. Thats how my family line comes from Utah.
My dear Scottish brother, I did so much appreciate watching this video. Being American, I have never heard about this part of your country's history. The deeds of these few men were atrocious! I really appreciated your remarks about the Native Americans and the similarities between what happened there in Scotland and the Trail Of Tears that happened in America. My grandmother was, after several years, able to sufficiently prove to the authorities that her ancestors, my ancestors, not only walked the trail of tears but surprisingly, some of them lived to tell about it and, thankfully so or I wouldn't be here! Isn't it odd though that, whenever someone or even many, who consider their wants and needs to be more important than the needs of others and has the money to accomplish whatever they choose, decide they want this or that piece of land to do whatever it is they might fancy with, it's always the poor, the sick, and/or the needy that gets pushed out of the way! Thank you, my dear Scottish brother for such a great video! This one has really hit home for me, even though regrettably, I've never had the pleasure of visiting your beautiful Scotland. Your pride and love of country shines through each and every video you make! I wish you could experience the beauty of my home as well! I'm situated close to the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and I believe you would undoubtedly enjoy the natural beauty of this place! I was also wondering if you had ever considered making videos about stories and old legends you might have heard as a child growing up in such a beautiful and culturally rich place as your Scotland? I would simply love to hear stories you learned during your childhood! Well, God bless and please keep the videos coming! You have a wonderful way of telling your stories and I can hardly wait for more!
The Irish people too know about the similar trials and tribulations of other native peoples who suffered at the same greedy hands of imperialism and colonialism and we also appreciate those who helped us in those troubled times the Choctaw nation helped us even though they had little . We also share many things like a reverence for nature and animal stories that teach. The salmon of knowledge is a good one to start with. There are stories to explain the landscape. The arrivals and wars and treaties. The warriors heroes And many animal transformation stories. in the Irish language the wolf is known as "mac tíre" which means, son of the land ! As you can appreciate that the wolf really knows the landscape. Nothing wrong with cultural appreciation
I agree. It's so heart rending. I don't live in Britain & learned about the clearings for the first time a couple of years ago. I wasn't surprised knowing about the treatment endured by the Scots in centuries past. It happened in Ireland too. The words are bad enough but when we ourselves conjure up the images the injustice becomes even more dramatic.
The pain lasted to this day for the Scots who were forced out of the Highlands. This Boat Song echoed through the fur trade mountains of Canada which lamented the ripping of their Souls from the Hebrides. My mom used to sing this to me as a child & my dad's eyes would water up. Canadian Boat Song Anonymous Listen to me, as when ye heard our father Sing long ago the song of other shores - Listen to me, and then in chorus gather All your deep voices as ye pull the oars; Fair these broad meads - these hoary woods are grand; But we are exiles from our fathers' land. From the lone shieling of the misty island Mountains divide us, and the waste of seas - Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland, And we in dreams behold the Hebrides. Fair these broad meads - these hoary woods are grand; But we are exiles from our fathers' land. We ne'er shall tread the fancy-haunted valley, Where 'tween the dark hills creeps the small clear stream, In arms around the patriarch banner rally, Nor see the moon on royal tombstone gleam. Fair these broad meads - these hoary woods are grand; But we are exiles from our fathers' land. When the bold kindred, in the time long-vanished, Conquered the soil and fortified the keep, No seer foretold the children would be banished, That a degenerate lord might boast his sheep. Fair these broad meads - these hoary woods are grand; But we are exiles from our fathers' land. Come foreigner rage - let Discord burst in slaughter! O then for clansmen true, and stern claymore - -The hearts that would have given their blood like water Beat heavily beyond the Atlantic roar. Fair these broad meads - these hoary woods are grand; But we are exiles from our fathers' land. The Spring Newsletter for CRA-Canada, 1987, states: "The Canadian Boat Song is part of our heritage. It was sung by the Scots during their long canoe trips to western Canada in the fur trading days. The author of the song is unknown but he is thought to have been a 'Norwester
@@FairnessFobe it happened in England too, but over a much longer period starting in some areas in the 12th Century. It really took off in the Tudor period, but even the Crown was, on paper, was opposed to it as it weakened the defences of the Army. I'm not aware if anyone being burnt out in England.
@@ScotlandHistoryTours There's been a study in America in the last year or two which concluded that when a person received more than $120,000 per annum they started to lose their humanity towards others. The more they received, the less humanity they had. I used the term "received" because they rarely actually earn it.
Just found out today my family went to Canada because of The Highland Clearances. I never even heard of The Highland Clearances before today. The history was never passed down. Thank you for making a video on this. God Bless.
@ I did know that Nova Scotia meant New Scotland. My Grandfather was born in Sydney. It’s just ironic that we are only taught certain bits of history and so much is left out. I’m glad I’m still learning.
I'm an American and I'm fascinated by Scotland, and I'm very glad you've taken the time to put this together, as my education sorely lacked anything about Scotland other than it being a place. Thank you.
This is an extremely thought provoking video. I'm English and have no connection to Scotland except a love of its folk music but I've spent my working life on the land and through this video I really feel the pain of these poor crofters. Thank you.
It was genocide against the Scottish by the brittish government, tbe Irish potato famine was as if not worse as on the orders of the brittish state in Westminster they decided to go into Ireland and remove by force ALL of its potato stocks that had been allocated so the population would not starve to death. Make no mistake this was done deliberately and very knowingly of the consequences, to this day there has never been both in relation to the highland clearances (let's just call it what it is GENOCIDE) and to the Irish potato famine (GENOCIDE) an apology from the brittish state
This is a great series. I listened to a podcast from an American Gaelic Society that discussed this. Culloden was the testing ground for the French-Indian (7 Year's War). It also Anglisized the Scots and the colonists with the same mentality as you mentioned with our native Americans here, not just the Trail of Tears. Thank you for bringing this to light. Tapadh leibh Ollaimh.
Absolutely Brilliant mate. Nowadays there's much made of other landowners who near bankrupted themselves helping their tenants stay on their land till they couldn't afford it any more. Which is detracting from the worst acts of inhumanity like you're describing
Bawbag with a smartphone and a tripod! that did make me laugh...but as a fellow scot we were taught virtually nothing about our own country in secondary school. Keep up this great stuff , people need to know how we got to here.
@@aaronedwardson7043 good for you , I don’t know what era you went to school and it was state or private . But during my time from 80 to 90 , it most certainly was not. Romans , ww2 , that’s the history we got. Nothing about Scotland in secondary unless you took history as on O level, or went a read it for yourself. Same with anything like American history(which I managed to pass a mock citizenship test for lmao).
@@pvtiron same in the '60s, Romans (who barely set foot in Scotland), world wars (which England won!!! apparently!!!) and, of course, the Empire and Victoria. Thank god for Bruce 😂🤣😂👍🏴
Many of the crofters went to New Zealand and became sheep farmers.This was just before refrigeration was invented.Soon New Zealand mutton was exported to Britain and it put the likes of the Duke of Sutherlands' large sheep estate out of business
Yep a Sutherland here , My GreatGrand Parents came here to NZ with their familys (who also included on the trip were members the Mouat family - My Greatgrandmothers side) all the way from a tiny Island in Shetland (UNST) ) - NZ has many early settlers from Scotland who took a long Voyage to find better opportunities than the limited choices of say Fishing ,Shucking seashells or basket weaving. I'm gratefull they did! , Shout out to any other Scottish Kiwis ,all relatives (close or distant) decended from the terrible Highland Clearnces & a Shout out to the proud People of UNST in the Shetlands :)
You have such a way of telling a story. You can feel the passion in the words you speak. I love the Scottish. I swear it’s past life thing! 🥰🏴 I was born in Italy!🤣🤣🤣. Wish I had you in history class for a teacher, you make the past come alive,
My school taught Scottish history from about the Jacobite Rebellion onwards, but nothing about early history, and I don’t remember if the Clearances were covered (certainly not in detail). We had to learn English history too, but my sister, who lives in Gateshead (Northern England) said her children were never taught any Scottish history. The only Scot mentioned was Mary, Queen of Scots, and they were told to draw her with a dragon’s head! I’ve never heard anything so bizarre and outrageous as far as teaching goes.
My family came from up there. They used to deface the state well into 70's such is the loathing of the family of the Duke. The clearances carried on with a different guise in that crofts when the came free were never reallocated. My grandmother used to quote the locals when in ww1 the Duchess tried to inspire guilt in the locality when asking for her subjects to join the good cause, and the locals said your subjects are sheep, send as many as you want, but a family with roots like yours can't ask for loyalty and neither can a King whose family watched it all happen and turned their heads. Most of the family came to Perth with the railways as there was never any freed up land to farm on. Keep up the good work Bruce, love the videos.
This presentation added detail to my first acquaintance with the Highland Clearances from The Invention of Capitalism by the late economic historian Michael Perelman. More stories like this please! Excellent work!
I love your videos so much. My grandmother was the first person in my family to come to the United States. So, I was born in the states but half of me will always belong to Scotland. My grandmother died before I could ask her questions about where we are from so thank you for giving me a way to learn more about where I come from.
An absolutely shocking period of time and this is literally the tip of the iceberg, I've just been reading "The Highland Clearances" by John Prebble, and I had tears rolling down my face at one point. I really do not know how anyone could get away with this sort of thing, so many people (men, women and children) died due to effects of being evicted forcefully from their homes and lands that their families had grown up in for generations. I found this book truly harrowing. No wonder so many people would like to tear down the statue of the Duke of Sutherland.
The whole idea of “improving the land” is as far from the truth as it gets. Filling land full of grazers like sheep and deer destroyed land that people had previously managed. No apex predators to limit numbers just animals that decimate landscapes and remove all hope of reforestation. Another fantastic look into our history Bruce. You over the BBC lackey any day of the week.....
Good point - this is an issue in other places as well - seems as though clearing the land for sheep brought wealth for the English and they created an empire to do more of it.
@@grahamt5924 I don’t agree - I think these stories are important. Our history tells us what really happened - not a monument on the hill and a fancy castle
@@ZestySea Yes, but it is ancient history. It happened long before anyone who is alive today was born, and so long ago that it happened before the parents of anyone alive today was born. There is noone today who feels the trauma of what happened. It makes it as far away as the sacking of Rome or the destruction of Jerusalem.
Growing up in Scotland for a while and my maternal grandmother was Scottish, I knew these stories, but I love the way they are presented. Keep up the good work.
I’m am personally grateful for your videos Bruce. I’ve only recently began discovering my Scottish ancestry and I have learned so much from you. This is truly a devastating part of Scottish history I was unaware of until now…😢
Well spoken Bruce. My blood does boil when I think on these events. At present I live among the indigenous of Canada and see the same betrayal of chiefs who get enriched while the poor are grateful for the crumbs that fall off their plate. It keeps bloody going...
My forefathers on my fathers side were cleared out from Strathnaver, they fled Sutherland and headed west and the around the north and eventually settling in Caithness. They became crafters/ fishermen.
Another excellent video and history lesson. As an Englishman, it's great to see events like this presented in an evenhanded manner but I'm not proud of some of my forebears. Keep up the good work.
The English and Scottish aristocracy cleared most of England and Scotland. In England it was known as the enclosures, what had been common land since Norman times and free grazing for the peasants, was enclosed andstolen from the commons by these rouges.
It is important that our ancestor story be told. I am the 6th generation from ancestors of the Highland Clearance in 1837 who left Isle of Skye on the William Nicol. Thank you for telling their story.
@Whiskey: I agree with you. As a Deputy Commissioner of the Clan Gunn Society of North America here in Texas, I can better understand our clan motto: Aut Pax aut Bellum.
The Gunns are survivors. Always have been and always will be. My branch of the family have been in Northumberland now for about 270 years, and we're ready to come home. Aut Pax Aut Bellum
Bruce, Most of my ancestors immigrated to New England in the 1600s, but more recent Scottish ancestors came during the Clearance. Such a dreadful event. Cheers to your work Bruce, Rick
Hi Bruce! Thanks for starting this channel, I'm learning a lot. My family is of Scots extraction and I love history and the way you present it as a Storyteller.
A great insight in to what really went on, the injustice, physical and mental suffering. I hope this atrocity is never forgotten. Its a great pity that the people responsible are long dead, I hope they died haunted by what they had done.
Heartbreaking!! The chill that went down my spine when you mentioned Patrick Sellers; having read The Desperate Journey by Kathleen Fidler as a child (over 30 years ago), I can and have wept for the people so badly treated.
Really enjoying your History lessons. As an Englishman who lived near Oban I completely fell in love with the Highlands and Islands and the people. Thank you for all your hard work.
You've opened my mind and that is good enough! Inhumanity, indeed. And no matter the myriad of historical detail, rest assured Scots in the new world have an ancient longing for their Bonny homeland. 👍😎🇨🇦💜
Very emotive, and heart wrenching….. my ancestors are more from the borders, but I love the highlands… we used to fish on the River Carron by Ardgay…..at the top end of Strath Carron is the old hamlet of Croich…. In the tiny church there is a stained glass window where the prayers and fears of the cleared crofters have been scratched into the glass…. As they took shelter…. As their homes were burned.
Not many you tube videos move me to tears but this one did. It is a lesson for all ordinary people and should be taught in all uk schools as a warning that wealth concentrated in the hands of the unscrupulous will result in death and destruction.
Thank you for making this, I have been moved by all the derelict Croft homes and was curious to know the story, I had goosebumps at so many point of this, such a heart wrenching story of heartless people truly ripping the heart from the highlands 💔
The clearances were horrible. My family on both sides went to Ireland for a few generations. Some went to Nova Scotia some to The Appalachian mountains and to the Midwest. My Great grandmother who was half Choctaw. She grew up on a reservation several generations after the Trail of Tears. You made a great point that I had never thought of. I was never sure about who the people were who wanted the sheep. Great story.
How you bring history to life is fantastic they should use your videos in the schools wish there had been a teacher like you when I was young though my teacher did open our minds to the plight of the people of years ago thank you for sharing
another excellent video thank you I grew up in easter ross before coming to america and know the story of the clearances all too well. and have visited the castle.. my grandfather was stationed at the castle in 1914 with the seaforth highlanders --my grandmother and Mom were given quarters in golspie which we also visited
Excellent video, and so sad/reprehensible that we were not taught this at School. I’m a proud Scot watching from afar (like so many of my kin) and the passage of time does not diminish the pain and anger felt by Scots and ALL right minded peoples of the World. Never allow the truth to be buried by the rich and powerful…..keep up the great work. 🏴Alba gu bràth 🏴
Thank you , most excellent and sad. I remember visiting a wee museum in I think a place called Ford in Sutherland , it may once have been a church and it told this story too. And yes though far from solely, native Americans and Scots share a dreadful experience at the hands of the arrogant , cruel and careless. A certain somebody should take lessons.
Many victims of the Scottish clearances decided to earn a living as employees of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Many were ship hands who tortured the captives. Some even rose to being captains of slave ships. Some even progressed as far as to owning land in the Caribbean and America in which they worked captive blacks to death on slave plantations. If you do not believe just read up on the Scots in Jamaica, St Kitts, Florida, St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago. Also, take a look at all the Scottish streets named after slave traders and slave owners. And of course, do not forget the monuments across Scotland erected to honour these monsters.
Brand new to the channel, I learned about this in history at school, I’m still in shock today, you tell the stories with emotion and come from your heart, watching this gave me a tear in my eye.
Heartbreaking and yes similarities to Native American removal in the United States. I was thinking about that the whole time you were telling this story and I'm glad you brought that up. Thank you.
@@Concetta20 You should go look into the forced removal of the Chagossian peoples (formerly the llois) from the Chagos Archipelago in 1973 by the British Government at the behest of the US Government. Some things never change…
@@hogwashmcturnip8930 ... Jackson , similar to " prime minister"of Canada john a macdonald , no capitol lettering fer that genocide sanctioning wretch ... Scots and Irish , many that were assimilated , did tha same evil to each other and to First Nations people that had been done to them ..... many other Irish and Scots that lived true to their natural ways , realized they were in many ways similar to Native People , intermarried , and lived with Native people through North America ....
Bruce, this sad story continues to bring tears to my eyes. My own ancestors fled to Australia in 1840 for precisely those reasons. Coincidently, in 2017 I visited Scotland, and went to Elgin Cathedral. In the graveyard lies the carved tombstone of "the Factor Patrick Sellar". On the day I visited, his carved name was covered with a large gob of fresh spittle. It seems that someone in Elgin still remembers and detests his actions!. I'd like to meet that person and buy him/her several large whiskies.
What a brilliant video! Really engaging and very informative . At the age of 60 I'm only now learning the TRUTH about much of our 'history' through documentaries like these. I'm 'mixed race' English/AfroCaribbean and have been researching the Slave Trade, Colonisation etc as well as the atrocities on these shores. No wonder I've got high blood pressure ...
Thank you Bruce for your coverage of the duke of Sutherland's highland clearances. We think this may be your very best work and very sincerely told, of such a very tragic event. The statue should come down. From Zaynab and Fatima
Thank you for a cogent and touching presentation. Having just discovered you here on TH-cam, I will be spreading the good word about your videos and your channel here in the US.
Rick, thanks for your support and a HUGE thanks for the coffee. Please make sure that you haven't hit the wrong key there though. If not then that covers my fuel up to Sutherland and back and you're a superstar!
@@ScotlandHistoryTours There was no error, sir, only regret that it couldn't be a greater amount. I hope others will join in assisting you to continue creating such informative and entertaining content relating to Scottish history.
It is heartwrenching to read and discuss the Highland Clearances. I am a 6th cousin , once removed of the current Duke of Sutherland, Alaistair St.Clair Sutherland . On a heritage visit to Scotland, which obviously included Dunrobin, I was told , partially in jest, I believe, by a tourist guide that we, the Sutherlands were the most hated people in Northern Scotland. He was in Inverness. Too bad about the clearances, but I can understand. GEORGE LEVESSON GOWER deserved to be hated and his statue reviled. But I am proud of all the true Sutherlands that came before him. LONG LIVE SUTHERLAND "SANS PEUR"
@Nicholas Sinclair I am from the Uppat line of Sutherlands starting with Lt. Col James Sutherland 1726-1789, whose son migrated to St.Vincent in the Caribbean and became involved in the slave trade..Another dark part of our history, but one from which I am a by-product of
@@normsutherland203 Very interesting,as I am aware of Lt-Col.James Sutherland from overall FH;I am from the Lybster line of Henry Sinclair(c.1595-1614),illeg. half-brother of the notorious George 'The Wicked',5th Earl of Caithness.Henry married a Janet Sutherland,and 3-4 gens. down,a lineal cadet followed the same route as yours,ending up,as a slaveowning planter in Jamaica and started a line which returned to Britain during the Empire Windrush era! Although SIr Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun wrote disparingly about our clan,as he was a lifelong enemy of the 5th Earl of Caithness;generally the main membership of our respective clans were tolerant of each other;the main fault-lines being our leadership,ie the Caithness Earls v. (post-1513) Gordon Earls of Sutherland!😏 P.S. Note your clan leaders are split into 2 peerage titles: the present Earls/clan chiefs(rep. by the JANSON family) and the Dukes(rep. by the LEVESON-GOWER line). 👍
My ancestors were caught up in the Highland Clearances. That is how we ended up on Cape Breton Island , Nova Scotia. I remember asking my dad why the original home they built was more than a mile back from the Mira River since the better land & the river would have been better for crops & transportation. His reply was that being in the woods was safer then being exposed to government officials. In fact such officials were often scared to enter such woods.
@@ScotlandHistoryTours The rules didn't change much when those Cleared out of the Highlands came here & carved out new lives. A century later Gaelic speaking school kids were told by their teachers to stop speaking the language & were treated as backward vermin who were strapped and physically/mentally abused by the education system. My dad was stubborn and often took a strapping for talking Gaelic to his schoolmates as did they.
I've been watching for a while, but I'm giving a "like" because of the acceptance of the first 30 secs or so. Thanking you kindly (Bruce) and I'd love to give you the ,"Big lovies:" to reward the work that reveals what is shown today, and more...
My ancestors came from Scotland on the ship Alexander and settled in Cod Roy Newfoundland before sailing to Cape Breton. They were the first to settle there and named it Inverness, the harbor was named after them “ MacIsaac’s pond”
Awesome my family was one of the co-founders of Inverness and the founders of Broad Cove Banks we came in 1807, if your interested lookup History of Inverness on electric Scotland just scroll down to broad cove shore and broad cove banks it talks about the arrival of the MacIsaac's. On the page it says Murdoch son of Alexander went out west 40 years ago and never returned (not based off of current date), that was my ancestor we moved to Alberta to mine, then went out to British Columbia to continue mining. My great grand father who fought in WW1 was a coal miner in Drum Heller, Alberta and he died there. My Grandfather would wait every night for his dad to come to help him, one day he didn't come home and my grandfather fell asleep on the steps to their home. He was then awoken in the morning by men from the mine who told him the news of his fathering dying and since he was the last person he needed to identify his, he went but they didn't have much of his body he knew it was him from his shirt. Then my Grandfather who was 16 at the time went to work at the mine taking his fathers position and helped provide for his 7 other siblings and mother, he eventually left the mine to study to become a lawyer. Then WW2 happened and he volunteered to be a merchant marine when he went all the money he made was sent home to his mother, when he came home he was so messed up from the war it was hard for him to adjust and his family eventually abandoned him in his time of need and after everything he gave. So my grandfather left to BC to and my Grandmother but was disabled and couldn't keep a job because of the war and the PTSD it causes and sadly he also died when my father was 16 from his veins collapsing do to poison from smoking so much cigarettes. He was a great man, a comedian and a lover of all, he will never be forgotten and I am the last descendant of my Grandfather and my children will venerate him as I do.
I love your videos. My grandfather, the then chief of the Nicolsons of Skye (Clan MacNeacail), was descended from the landless Nicolson chiefs who emigrated to Tasmania in the 1820's. He fought at the Somme as a Captain of the Australian Light Horse in WW1 and while on leave he visited his ancestral home in Skye. He was a prolific writer and wrote about the injustice of the clearances and also much about the despicable human sacrifice undertaken by the English generals at the Somme. His letters remain partly with our family and partly in the Australian War memorial in Canberra. At least at the Somme, the Scottish regiments were not used as the human cannon fodder as they were throughout much of the Colonial conquest - at the Somme, the Colonials - the Indians and the Australians - were considered expendable.
God has always favoured people who had weapons and the willingness to kill defenceless people. Every aristocrat now can trace their founders to be violent, murderous rapists.
They were cleared as you say. I know I've mentioned my father's side of the family before in comments on your videos, today you touched my Mother's the Gunn's. I've visited the ruins of a clearance village above the coastal cliffs. You have again said it true, humanity or in this case inhumanity. Thank you Bruce for continuing to make these videos even if you are just a bawbag with a smartphone and a tripod. Keep up the good work.
I started listening to you yesterday on the Jacobites and now subscribed . Excellent rendition . I got a lot of this at school in fifties but you have taken it a new dimension .How you can remember it all .......very good . Thank you for your information . Roger
When I first learned this story I was saddened and angry that these landowners had turned on the people who had worked on and probably paid them money to work on the land. It did not surprise me that it was a lawyer who 'lead the charge' but these poor souls would have turned to the church for guidance and support only for them to do the same. This whole heartless and inhumane episode is one that everyone everywhere should be aware of.
My Great Gran was part of the clearances. They moved to the Greenock Glasgow area. One of the daughters and a son left in 1920 and headed to America. The daughter was my gran. This breaks my heart.
Our Matheson/MacDonald/Gray/Mackay ancestors were evicted from their ancestral farms/homes in Straths Fleet/Carnaig near Lairg in Sutherland and likely farther north, before emigrating to Canada.I've wandered the ruins of their settlements several times and am learning Gàidhlig to honor their memory. Without their incredible strength and mental/emotional/spiritual endurance , I would not be here today. None of us would be.
Never stop making videos my friend. So Informational and well put together, I will subscribe to Paetron or anything you got to help you continue making these. Cheers and well wishes from Maryland
Great video, very informative! Love your accent btw This is how some of my ancestors wound up in Canada. They were from Sutherland specifically. It happened far back enough that I didn't even know about this part of my family history until I started doing more research on that sort of stuff, my family told me my whole life that we're part Scottish but they don't know why we came to North America or much of anything about Scotland, learning more about the history of all this has been very fulfilling Much love to Scotland from the USA, I hope one day to visit Sutherland, it'll probably just be me staring at some ruins while feeling melancholy but I'm nonetheless fascinated by the history of this place
Your point at the end about Americas first nations is spot on .... the wound was passed on by the wounded. Not an excuse but how I have pondered this x thank you for your work 💜
Great content delivered professionally, my friend.. I am from Canada and there is no teaching of history. I wish it to be known how the Scots arrived here in Canada. Scottish history is not celebrated. We are overwhelmed with the stories of recent immigration. My wish is the history of ALL Canadians is heard
Try and source a copy of "The Scotch" by Canadian Economist and Statesman John Kenneth Galbraith , it's all about his upbringing in Ontario which had been mostly populated by Scots-Gaelic speaking Highlanders . It's a great read !
Ring your nurse. My family arrived in Canada in 1790. Scottish history in Canada is more than well documented..& easy to find if you bothered...I've been reading it since I was a kid. There are more Highland Regts in Canada than Scotland. The difference is we don't endlessly go on whining & complaining, demanding apologies and cash for 275-year-old wrongs. You will never hear a Canadian of Scot's bluud, go around proclaiming that we are 6th generation ''survivors'' of Culloden & the Clearances.👶💦
So well done. My Murrays were cleared from Rogart where some of the most brutal evictions occurred. They prospered in Nova Scotia eventually and finally the States but that doesn't deny what they endured, small children in tow, forced across the sea.
This is the American experience, my husbands MacLaughlin family was cleared from the land of their rich cousins in the early days of the clearing. They first arrived in Canada with their son moving to New York State in the US. He, the son of Scottish poverty marries a direct descendant of bad King John Lackland.
That’s crazy because my ancestors were Scottish highlanders. I’m 47% Scottish, 29% Scandinavian, 7% Mongolian Siberian, 4% morrocan, and 3% native. My great great etc grandfather met his wife a cherokee woman on the trail of tears. That’s sad. Twice my family ancestors were forcefully removed from their homelands by some greedy Englishman.
Thank you for a very moving account of the Clearances. When you're next in Glasgow, make sure you visit the Lismore (Lias Mor) bar on Dumbarton Road, Partick. It has a urinal dedicated to the Duke of Sutherland and Patrick Sellar where customers are invited to pay them the respect they deserve. A fitting tribute.
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Hey, I loved the video I have always wanted to hear some stories of the land clearance my clan is the MacDougalls we were forced to leave Scotland and settled in Canada in Nova Scotia and founded Inverness. The highlanders here still miss home and we all have our stories we tell at the games, I wish a situation would happen in Scotland like Israel's where if Scotland gets their freedom they will allow anyone who can prove their Scottish ancestry citizenship.
My Dad was Scottish and my Mum was English and my dad would tell me of the clearances and of course, it made me angry to hear about these injustices and you can imagine how my blood boiled when my sister researched our family tree and found out how my English ancestors were booted off the land and whole villages were destroyed on the whim of the aristocracy, often to improve the vista from their castle. It's not a Scottish V English story but a Rich V the poor. Isn't it always.
I specifically said in the video that it wasn't about nationality. I do get frustrated when folk from either direction make Clearances a Scottish English thing. They do it about Culloden as well. It's like it doesn't matter what I say in the video, people already have their preconceptions and they just replace my words with the ones they want to hear
@@ScotlandHistoryTours Think Stephen was agreeing with you.
Ah shit, did I screw up there?
@@ScotlandHistoryTours yes I was totally agreeing with you. Love your channel
Look at medieval history, royal and nobles waging wars to increase their possessions, ignoring the suffering and devastation that their wars brought on the lands and people.
I love the Scottish highlands. As a second generation British Indian, the violent, inhumane history of the treatment of the Highlanders deeply touches me. The first time I went to the Highlands in 2019, I was in awe of the natural beauty of the place, the wilderness, and the way of the Highlanders that remained. I was mesmerised by the remoteness and sparsely populated houses you see and then nothing for miles and miles - just desolate and empty - It made me curious, and thats when I decided to research why Highlands are a place of wilderness and emptiness. It was this curiousity that led me to the heartwrenching story of the HIGHLAND CLEARENCES, and everything started to make more sense....
I have just come back again from Scotland (this time staying in Cairngorms). and can't help but feel the connection to the place and wonder how different it would have been if people weren't inhumanely forced off their land and their way of life by the rich and powerful. It makes my blood boil everytime i think about the way people were burned just so s few could become wealthier. I visted the Highland folks museum in Newtenmore which showed how people would have lived before the burnings....as a way of keeping the memory alive of those that lived in these beautiful lands.
Thankyou for this video, and showing how history is complex and interwined.
As someone who's grown up in Sutherland it's fantastic to see our history shared. Growing up in lochinver I was lucky enough to learn about the Highland clearances and the mass genocide that happened to my family. Knowing about our history has made our family more passionate about democracy and prioritise the treatment of others because no person deserves to be treated like a piece of paper that can be burned. Thank you for sharing this history and the whole of Scotland should be told of this dark history.
My family came to Canada on the Polly in 1803. In the early 1900’s the speaking of Gaelic wasn’t allowed.
when william the bastard conquered england scottish royalty decided to offer land in scotland to his nobles in order to prevent scottish blood being spilt and prevent the wars going on in england. not alot of people are aware of that.
I remember in school in southern England a long time ago being taught about the highland clearances. It stuck in my mind because the teacher really conveyed the horror of it. Since then I found out my gran Mackinnons ancestors came from Skye and her grandmother banned her grandfather from speaking Gaelic in the house. So sad, I'm now learning Scottish Gaelic, it is a wonderful language.
"not about nationality, but about humanity". Well put.
This is essentially how my family and our whole line ended up in Canada. Excellent series! 'S math a rinn thu a charaid!
and how my grandfather Farquhar MacRae and his mother came to America, He was 12, they came in steerage, and he went to work on the docks in New York, while she was a seamstress.
Mine too I’m a MacRae from Canada
Mine ended up in the states.
Mine was press ganged into the British army, stationed in Canada, deserted and settled in Michigan before meeting Joseph Smith. Thats how my family line comes from Utah.
I'm still trying to trace mine back to Scotland. Unfortunately I am a descendant of one of the many Alexander MacRae's in Scotland in the 1800's lol
My dear Scottish brother, I did so much appreciate watching this video. Being American, I have never heard about this part of your country's history. The deeds of these few men were atrocious! I really appreciated your remarks about the Native Americans and the similarities between what happened there in Scotland and the Trail Of Tears that happened in America. My grandmother was, after several years, able to sufficiently prove to the authorities that her ancestors, my ancestors, not only walked the trail of tears but surprisingly, some of them lived to tell about it and, thankfully so or I wouldn't be here! Isn't it odd though that, whenever someone or even many, who consider their wants and needs to be more important than the needs of others and has the money to accomplish whatever they choose, decide they want this or that piece of land to do whatever it is they might fancy with, it's always the poor, the sick, and/or the needy that gets pushed out of the way! Thank you, my dear Scottish brother for such a great video! This one has really hit home for me, even though regrettably, I've never had the pleasure of visiting your beautiful Scotland. Your pride and love of country shines through each and every video you make! I wish you could experience the beauty of my home as well! I'm situated close to the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains and I believe you would undoubtedly enjoy the natural beauty of this place! I was also wondering if you had ever considered making videos about stories and old legends you might have heard as a child growing up in such a beautiful and culturally rich place as your Scotland? I would simply love to hear stories you learned during your childhood! Well, God bless and please keep the videos coming! You have a wonderful way of telling your stories and I can hardly wait for more!
I've thought about similarities with Native peoples, too.
Big cringe
The Irish people too know about the similar trials and tribulations of other native peoples who suffered at the same greedy hands of imperialism and colonialism and we also appreciate those who helped us in those troubled times the Choctaw nation helped us even though they had little . We also share many things like a reverence for nature and animal stories that teach. The salmon of knowledge is a good one to start with. There are stories to explain the landscape. The arrivals and wars and treaties. The warriors heroes And many animal transformation stories. in the Irish language the wolf is known as "mac tíre" which means, son of the land ! As you can appreciate that the wolf really knows the landscape. Nothing wrong with cultural appreciation
@@quantumblurrrif you don't have anything nice to say, respect others and stay quiet.
Very touching. Made me cry.
You can literally feel the pain of these poor souls, heart wrenching.
It must’ve been horrific. It's ghe inhumanity of those on charge I can't get my head round
I agree. It's so heart rending. I don't live in Britain & learned about the clearings for the first time a couple of years ago. I wasn't surprised knowing about the treatment endured by the Scots in centuries past. It happened in Ireland too. The words are bad enough but when we ourselves conjure up the images the injustice becomes even more dramatic.
The pain lasted to this day for the Scots who were forced out of the Highlands. This Boat Song echoed through the fur trade mountains of Canada which lamented the ripping of their Souls from the Hebrides. My mom used to sing this to me as a child & my dad's eyes would water up. Canadian Boat Song
Anonymous
Listen to me, as when ye heard our father
Sing long ago the song of other shores -
Listen to me, and then in chorus gather
All your deep voices as ye pull the oars;
Fair these broad meads - these hoary woods are grand;
But we are exiles from our fathers' land.
From the lone shieling of the misty island
Mountains divide us, and the waste of seas -
Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland,
And we in dreams behold the Hebrides.
Fair these broad meads - these hoary woods are grand;
But we are exiles from our fathers' land.
We ne'er shall tread the fancy-haunted valley,
Where 'tween the dark hills creeps the small clear stream,
In arms around the patriarch banner rally,
Nor see the moon on royal tombstone gleam.
Fair these broad meads - these hoary woods are grand;
But we are exiles from our fathers' land.
When the bold kindred, in the time long-vanished,
Conquered the soil and fortified the keep,
No seer foretold the children would be banished,
That a degenerate lord might boast his sheep.
Fair these broad meads - these hoary woods are grand;
But we are exiles from our fathers' land.
Come foreigner rage - let Discord burst in slaughter!
O then for clansmen true, and stern claymore -
-The hearts that would have given their blood like water
Beat heavily beyond the Atlantic roar.
Fair these broad meads - these hoary woods are grand;
But we are exiles from our fathers' land.
The Spring Newsletter for CRA-Canada, 1987, states: "The Canadian Boat Song is part of our heritage. It was sung by the Scots during their long canoe trips to western Canada in the fur trading days. The author of the song is unknown but he is thought to have been a 'Norwester
@@FairnessFobe it happened in England too, but over a much longer period starting in some areas in the 12th Century. It really took off in the Tudor period, but even the Crown was, on paper, was opposed to it as it weakened the defences of the Army. I'm not aware if anyone being burnt out in England.
@@ScotlandHistoryTours There's been a study in America in the last year or two which concluded that when a person received more than $120,000 per annum they started to lose their humanity towards others. The more they received, the less humanity they had. I used the term "received" because they rarely actually earn it.
"Maybe I'm just a bawbag with a smartphone and a tripod.". The commentary is absolutely brilliant.
😜
Just found out today my family went to Canada because of The Highland Clearances. I never even heard of The Highland Clearances before today. The history was never passed down. Thank you for making a video on this. God Bless.
french canadian here, I never understood why it was a majority of Scots who immigrated to Canada after the Treaty of Paris. Now I know
20 thousand scots moved to Canada after that ..nova scotia us new Scotland
@ I did know that Nova Scotia meant New Scotland. My Grandfather was born in Sydney. It’s just ironic that we are only taught certain bits of history and so much is left out. I’m glad I’m still learning.
I'm an American and I'm fascinated by Scotland, and I'm very glad you've taken the time to put this together, as my education sorely lacked anything about Scotland other than it being a place. Thank you.
Bruce, masterfully done.
My entire bodies worth of hair stood on end. This inferno of rage burns inside every scot, if only they hear the story.
I thank you sir
This is an extremely thought provoking video. I'm English and have no connection to Scotland except a love of its folk music but I've spent my working life on the land and through this video I really feel the pain of these poor crofters. Thank you.
you know it happened in England too
@@ajrwilde14 Oh yes.
It was genocide against the Scottish by the brittish government, tbe Irish potato famine was as if not worse as on the orders of the brittish state in Westminster they decided to go into Ireland and remove by force ALL of its potato stocks that had been allocated so the population would not starve to death.
Make no mistake this was done deliberately and very knowingly of the consequences, to this day there has never been both in relation to the highland clearances (let's just call it what it is GENOCIDE) and to the Irish potato famine (GENOCIDE) an apology from the brittish state
This is a great series. I listened to a podcast from an American Gaelic Society that discussed this. Culloden was the testing ground for the French-Indian (7 Year's War). It also Anglisized the Scots and the colonists with the same mentality as you mentioned with our native Americans here, not just the Trail of Tears. Thank you for bringing this to light. Tapadh leibh Ollaimh.
This is a heart wrenching story that is never less so each time I hear it and always brings a tear to my eye. The haves never give a toss.
Plus ca change
Absolutely Brilliant mate. Nowadays there's much made of other landowners who near bankrupted themselves helping their tenants stay on their land till they couldn't afford it any more. Which is detracting from the worst acts of inhumanity like you're describing
Bawbag with a smartphone and a tripod! that did make me laugh...but as a fellow scot we were taught virtually nothing about our own country in secondary school. Keep up this great stuff , people need to know how we got to here.
I'm from caithness. We got taught all about the clearances in primary school.
@@aaronedwardson7043 good for you , I don’t know what era you went to school and it was state or private . But during my time from 80 to 90 , it most certainly was not. Romans , ww2 , that’s the history we got. Nothing about Scotland in secondary unless you took history as on O level, or went a read it for yourself. Same with anything like American history(which I managed to pass a mock citizenship test for lmao).
I went to school 90s until 2000. But I have noticed that my kids currently in school haven't been taught about it.
@@pvtiron same in the '60s, Romans (who barely set foot in Scotland), world wars (which England won!!! apparently!!!) and, of course, the Empire and Victoria. Thank god for Bruce 😂🤣😂👍🏴
@@pvtiron Same ... High School from 88-94 .. WW2 & The Roman Empire.
Pretty sad tbh.
Many of the crofters went to New Zealand and became sheep farmers.This was just before refrigeration was invented.Soon New Zealand mutton was exported to Britain and it put the likes of the Duke of Sutherlands' large sheep estate out of business
Now that’s Karma.
Lol im from NZ
Yep a Sutherland here , My GreatGrand Parents came here to NZ with their familys (who also included on the trip were members the Mouat family - My Greatgrandmothers side) all the way from a tiny Island in Shetland (UNST) ) - NZ has many early settlers from Scotland who took a long Voyage to find better opportunities
than the limited choices of say Fishing ,Shucking seashells or basket weaving. I'm gratefull they did! ,
Shout out to any other Scottish Kiwis ,all relatives (close or distant) decended from the terrible Highland Clearnces & a Shout out to the proud People of UNST in the Shetlands :)
John Graham are you not the Marquess of Montrose 🤔
You have such a way of telling a story. You can feel the passion in the words you speak. I love the Scottish. I swear it’s past life thing! 🥰🏴
I was born in Italy!🤣🤣🤣. Wish I had you in history class for a teacher, you make the past come alive,
Just when you think you've heard it all. How bloody cruel can it get? Thanks Bruce.
As you know our history is not taught in our Schools and its a great pleasure to absorb the pictures you paint of Scotlands proud history .Thank you.
My school taught Scottish history from about the Jacobite Rebellion onwards, but nothing about early history, and I don’t remember if the Clearances were covered (certainly not in detail). We had to learn English history too, but my sister, who lives in Gateshead (Northern England) said her children were never taught any Scottish history. The only Scot mentioned was Mary, Queen of Scots, and they were told to draw her with a dragon’s head! I’ve never heard anything so bizarre and outrageous as far as teaching goes.
How true.My husband was born and raised in Wishaw and the only history he learned was the glories of the Empire.
My family came from up there. They used to deface the state well into 70's such is the loathing of the family of the Duke. The clearances carried on with a different guise in that crofts when the came free were never reallocated. My grandmother used to quote the locals when in ww1 the Duchess tried to inspire guilt in the locality when asking for her subjects to join the good cause, and the locals said your subjects are sheep, send as many as you want, but a family with roots like yours can't ask for loyalty and neither can a King whose family watched it all happen and turned their heads. Most of the family came to Perth with the railways as there was never any freed up land to farm on. Keep up the good work Bruce, love the videos.
This presentation added detail to my first acquaintance with the Highland Clearances from The Invention of Capitalism by the late economic historian Michael Perelman. More stories like this please! Excellent work!
Deep. Thank you saying it like it is and not sugar coating it. The powerful hard hearted have been repeating this behavior since the dawn of time. 😢😥
Excellent piece on what was a terrible time for our country, a time that some among us who crave English favour seek to deny.
I love your videos so much. My grandmother was the first person in my family to come to the United States. So, I was born in the states but half of me will always belong to Scotland. My grandmother died before I could ask her questions about where we are from so thank you for giving me a way to learn more about where I come from.
An absolutely shocking period of time and this is literally the tip of the iceberg, I've just been reading "The Highland Clearances" by John Prebble, and I had tears rolling down my face at one point. I really do not know how anyone could get away with this sort of thing, so many people (men, women and children) died due to effects of being evicted forcefully from their homes and lands that their families had grown up in for generations. I found this book truly harrowing. No wonder so many people would like to tear down the statue of the Duke of Sutherland.
The whole idea of “improving the land” is as far from the truth as it gets. Filling land full of grazers like sheep and deer destroyed land that people had previously managed. No apex predators to limit numbers just animals that decimate landscapes and remove all hope of reforestation. Another fantastic look into our history Bruce. You over the BBC lackey any day of the week.....
@@johndoe-ss9bz it's all ancient history now.
@@johndoe-ss9bz thet did it in England as well Cumbria and Northumberland were massively depopulated. To say nothing of the enclosures
Good point - this is an issue in other places as well - seems as though clearing the land for sheep brought wealth for the English and they created an empire to do more of it.
@@grahamt5924 I don’t agree - I think these stories are important. Our history tells us what really happened - not a monument on the hill and a fancy castle
@@ZestySea Yes, but it is ancient history. It happened long before anyone who is alive today was born, and so long ago that it happened before the parents of anyone alive today was born.
There is noone today who feels the trauma of what happened. It makes it as far away as the sacking of Rome or the destruction of Jerusalem.
Growing up in Scotland for a while and my maternal grandmother was Scottish, I knew these stories, but I love the way they are presented.
Keep up the good work.
Love you Bro 😎 keep our families story alive!
I’m am personally grateful for your videos Bruce. I’ve only recently began discovering my Scottish ancestry and I have learned so much from you. This is truly a devastating part of Scottish history I was unaware of until now…😢
I’m an American Scot who uses your videos to learn about my heritage. Thanks for the hard work.
Brilliant
Well spoken Bruce. My blood does boil when I think on these events. At present I live among the indigenous of Canada and see the same betrayal of chiefs who get enriched while the poor are grateful for the crumbs that fall off their plate. It keeps bloody going...
Ty for all the work you do. I am Amerian of Scottish descent. I have learned so much about Scotland and my ancestors thu your videos.
My forefathers on my fathers side were cleared out from Strathnaver, they fled Sutherland and headed west and the around the north and eventually settling in Caithness. They became crafters/ fishermen.
That really struck home. You are so good at what you do. As always, Bruce, keep up the good work and thank you for sharing. 🌞
Thanks Ray
Another excellent video and history lesson. As an Englishman, it's great to see events like this presented in an evenhanded manner but I'm not proud of some of my forebears. Keep up the good work.
The English and Scottish aristocracy cleared most of England and Scotland. In England it was known as the enclosures, what had been common land since Norman times and free grazing for the peasants, was enclosed andstolen from the commons by these rouges.
It is important that our ancestor story be told. I am the 6th generation from ancestors of the Highland Clearance in 1837 who left Isle of Skye on the William Nicol. Thank you for telling their story.
As a descendant of Clan Gunn I now understand much more of the reasoning behind our choices at that time. Thank you for the history lesson.
@Whiskey: I agree with you. As a Deputy Commissioner of the Clan Gunn Society of North America here in Texas, I can better understand our clan motto: Aut Pax aut Bellum.
The Gunns are survivors. Always have been and always will be. My branch of the family have been in Northumberland now for about 270 years, and we're ready to come home. Aut Pax Aut Bellum
Gunn on me Ma's side...Macpherson on my Da's
Bruce, Most of my ancestors immigrated to New England in the 1600s, but more recent Scottish ancestors came during the Clearance. Such a dreadful event. Cheers to your work Bruce, Rick
Hi Bruce! Thanks for starting this channel, I'm learning a lot. My family is of Scots extraction and I love history and the way you present it as a Storyteller.
I have read Scottish History since the eighties, and I am so greatful for yourself and others who continually add to my knowledge.
Ah thanks Calum
A great insight in to what really went on, the injustice, physical and mental suffering. I hope this atrocity is never forgotten. Its a great pity that the people responsible are long dead, I hope they died haunted by what they had done.
Heartbreaking!! The chill that went down my spine when you mentioned Patrick Sellers; having read The Desperate Journey by Kathleen Fidler as a child (over 30 years ago), I can and have wept for the people so badly treated.
Really enjoying your History lessons. As an Englishman who lived near Oban I completely fell in love with the Highlands and Islands and the people. Thank you for all your hard work.
You've opened my mind and that is good enough! Inhumanity, indeed. And no matter the myriad of historical detail, rest assured Scots in the new world have an ancient longing for their Bonny homeland. 👍😎🇨🇦💜
Very emotive, and heart wrenching….. my ancestors are more from the borders, but I love the highlands… we used to fish on the River Carron by Ardgay…..at the top end of Strath Carron is the old hamlet of Croich…. In the tiny church there is a stained glass window where the prayers and fears of the cleared crofters have been scratched into the glass…. As they took shelter…. As their homes were burned.
Great, heartfelt video. Astute comparison to Native Americans being driven from their lands. Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
So the family home of the Sutherlands is called
‘Done Robbing’.
Says it all really.
Unbelievable irony
those ppl werent real Sutherlands, they married in or like the Gordons killed their way into the seat of the house of Sutherland.
Not many you tube videos move me to tears but this one did. It is a lesson for all ordinary people and should be taught in all uk schools as a warning that wealth concentrated in the hands of the unscrupulous will result in death and destruction.
Wow, my Real History Binge has just started, Thank you very very much!
No, thank you for getting on board
Me too. I'm from Cymru and am loving this , thanx.
Thank you for making this, I have been moved by all the derelict Croft homes and was curious to know the story, I had goosebumps at so many point of this, such a heart wrenching story of heartless people truly ripping the heart from the highlands 💔
The clearances were horrible. My family on both sides went to Ireland for a few generations. Some went to Nova Scotia some to The Appalachian mountains and to the Midwest. My Great grandmother who was half Choctaw. She grew up on a reservation several generations after the Trail of Tears. You made a great point that I had never thought of. I was never sure about who the people were who wanted the sheep. Great story.
How you bring history to life is fantastic they should use your videos in the schools wish there had been a teacher like you when I was young though my teacher did open our minds to the plight of the people of years ago thank you for sharing
another excellent video thank you I grew up in easter ross before coming to america and know the story of the clearances all too well. and have visited the castle.. my grandfather was stationed at the castle in 1914 with the seaforth highlanders --my grandmother and Mom were given quarters in golspie which we also visited
Excellent video, and so sad/reprehensible that we were not taught this at School. I’m a proud Scot watching from afar (like so many of my kin) and the passage of time does not diminish the pain and anger felt by Scots and ALL right minded peoples of the World. Never allow the truth to be buried by the rich and powerful…..keep up the great work. 🏴Alba gu bràth 🏴
Grateful for the chance to re=watch this. Keep well, Bruce.
Christ Bruce, I felt this one. Thank you for the deeply personal accounts and eloquent narrative.
Thank you , most excellent and sad. I remember visiting a wee museum in I think a place called Ford in Sutherland , it may once have been a church and it told this story too.
And yes though far from solely, native Americans and Scots share a dreadful experience at the hands of the arrogant , cruel and careless.
A certain somebody should take lessons.
Aye, but they say the reason history repeats itself is because people don't listen😢
Many victims of the Scottish clearances decided to earn a living as employees of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade. Many were ship hands who tortured the captives. Some even rose to being captains of slave ships. Some even progressed as far as to owning land in the Caribbean and America in which they worked captive blacks to death on slave plantations. If you do not believe just read up on the Scots in Jamaica, St Kitts, Florida, St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago. Also, take a look at all the Scottish streets named after slave traders and slave owners. And of course, do not forget the monuments across Scotland erected to honour these monsters.
@@haatpraat2993
You forgot the thousands who were indentured.
@@rpm1796 Many of whom volunteered their services to the continued the enslavement of blacks once they themselves were set free.
@@haatpraat2993 Let us also not forget that the slave trade is alive and well today.
Brand new to the channel, I learned about this in history at school, I’m still in shock today, you tell the stories with emotion and come from your heart, watching this gave me a tear in my eye.
Welcome aboard!
Heartbreaking and yes similarities to Native American removal in the United States. I was thinking about that the whole time you were telling this story and I'm glad you brought that up. Thank you.
😥
Also the forced removal by the government of the mountain communities in the Blue Ridge to create Shenandoah National Park.
Andrew Jackson, the guy behind the 'Trail of Tears was the son of a Scots father and Irish mother. Just saying
@@Concetta20 You should go look into the forced removal of the Chagossian peoples (formerly the llois) from the Chagos Archipelago in 1973 by the British Government at the behest of the US Government.
Some things never change…
@@hogwashmcturnip8930 ... Jackson , similar to " prime minister"of Canada john a macdonald , no capitol lettering fer that genocide sanctioning wretch ... Scots and Irish , many that were assimilated , did tha same evil to each other and to First Nations people that had been done to them ..... many other Irish and Scots that lived true to their natural ways , realized they were in many ways similar to Native People , intermarried , and lived with Native people through North America ....
Bruce, this sad story continues to bring tears to my eyes. My own ancestors fled to Australia in 1840 for precisely those reasons.
Coincidently, in 2017 I visited Scotland, and went to Elgin Cathedral. In the graveyard lies the carved tombstone of "the Factor Patrick Sellar". On the day I visited, his carved name was covered with a large gob of fresh spittle. It seems that someone in Elgin still remembers and detests his actions!. I'd like to meet that person and buy him/her several large whiskies.
Great stuff mate, love from a Scot now living in Vietnam.
Hey, I love it when a new country gets added to the list. Welcome on board
What a brilliant video! Really engaging and very informative .
At the age of 60 I'm only now learning the TRUTH about much of our 'history' through documentaries like these. I'm 'mixed race' English/AfroCaribbean and have been researching the Slave Trade, Colonisation etc as well as the atrocities on these shores. No wonder I've got high blood pressure ...
Learning is always good
I've been binge watching this channel i love these vids
Thank you Bruce for your coverage of the duke of Sutherland's highland clearances. We think this may be your very best work and very sincerely told, of such a very tragic event. The statue should come down. From Zaynab and Fatima
Thank you for a cogent and touching presentation. Having just discovered you here on TH-cam, I will be spreading the good word about your videos and your channel here in the US.
Rick, thanks for your support and a HUGE thanks for the coffee. Please make sure that you haven't hit the wrong key there though. If not then that covers my fuel up to Sutherland and back and you're a superstar!
@@ScotlandHistoryTours There was no error, sir, only regret that it couldn't be a greater amount. I hope others will join in assisting you to continue creating such informative and entertaining content relating to Scottish history.
Thanks for posting this.
You cannot hide the truth.
🏴✂️🇬🇧
It is heartwrenching to read and discuss the Highland Clearances. I am a 6th cousin , once removed of the current Duke of Sutherland, Alaistair St.Clair Sutherland . On a heritage visit to Scotland, which obviously included Dunrobin, I was told , partially in jest, I believe, by a tourist guide that we, the Sutherlands were the most hated people in Northern Scotland. He was in Inverness. Too bad about the clearances, but I can understand. GEORGE LEVESSON GOWER deserved to be hated and his statue reviled. But I am proud of all the true Sutherlands that came before him. LONG LIVE SUTHERLAND "SANS PEUR"
Are you of the Duffus or Forse branches?
@Nicholas Sinclair I am from the Uppat line of Sutherlands starting with Lt. Col James Sutherland 1726-1789, whose son migrated to St.Vincent in the Caribbean and became involved in the slave trade..Another dark part of our history, but one from which I am a by-product of
@@normsutherland203 Very interesting,as I am aware of Lt-Col.James Sutherland from overall FH;I am from the Lybster line of Henry Sinclair(c.1595-1614),illeg. half-brother of the notorious George 'The Wicked',5th Earl of Caithness.Henry married a Janet Sutherland,and 3-4 gens. down,a lineal cadet followed the same route as yours,ending up,as a slaveowning planter in Jamaica and started a line which returned to Britain during the Empire Windrush era!
Although SIr Robert Gordon of Gordonstoun wrote disparingly about our clan,as he was a lifelong enemy of the 5th Earl of Caithness;generally the main membership of
our respective clans were tolerant of each other;the main fault-lines being our leadership,ie the Caithness Earls v. (post-1513) Gordon Earls of Sutherland!😏
P.S. Note your clan leaders are split into 2 peerage titles: the present Earls/clan chiefs(rep. by the JANSON family) and the Dukes(rep. by the LEVESON-GOWER line). 👍
@@MrSinclairn You know your stuff. Excellent.
Thanks
@@normsutherland203 👌👍
thank you for telling this story, Bruce. it's not one we always here about here in the U.S.. none the less, it should be told.
My ancestors were caught up in the Highland Clearances. That is how we ended up on Cape Breton Island , Nova Scotia. I remember asking my dad why the original home they built was more than a mile back from the Mira River since the better land & the river would have been better for crops & transportation. His reply was that being in the woods was safer then being exposed to government officials. In fact such officials were often scared to enter such woods.
😃😄
@@ScotlandHistoryTours The rules didn't change much when those Cleared out of the Highlands came here & carved out new lives. A century later Gaelic speaking school kids were told by their teachers to stop speaking the language & were treated as backward vermin who were strapped and physically/mentally abused by the education system. My dad was stubborn and often took a strapping for talking Gaelic to his schoolmates as did they.
I've been watching for a while, but I'm giving a "like" because of the acceptance of the first 30 secs or so.
Thanking you kindly (Bruce) and I'd love to give you the ,"Big lovies:" to reward the work that reveals what is shown today, and more...
My ancestors came from Scotland on the ship Alexander and settled in Cod Roy Newfoundland before sailing to Cape Breton. They were the first to settle there and named it Inverness, the harbor was named after them “ MacIsaac’s pond”
Awesome my family was one of the co-founders of Inverness and the founders of Broad Cove Banks we came in 1807, if your interested lookup History of Inverness on electric Scotland just scroll down to broad cove shore and broad cove banks it talks about the arrival of the MacIsaac's. On the page it says Murdoch son of Alexander went out west 40 years ago and never returned (not based off of current date), that was my ancestor we moved to Alberta to mine, then went out to British Columbia to continue mining. My great grand father who fought in WW1 was a coal miner in Drum Heller, Alberta and he died there. My Grandfather would wait every night for his dad to come to help him, one day he didn't come home and my grandfather fell asleep on the steps to their home. He was then awoken in the morning by men from the mine who told him the news of his fathering dying and since he was the last person he needed to identify his, he went but they didn't have much of his body he knew it was him from his shirt. Then my Grandfather who was 16 at the time went to work at the mine taking his fathers position and helped provide for his 7 other siblings and mother, he eventually left the mine to study to become a lawyer. Then WW2 happened and he volunteered to be a merchant marine when he went all the money he made was sent home to his mother, when he came home he was so messed up from the war it was hard for him to adjust and his family eventually abandoned him in his time of need and after everything he gave. So my grandfather left to BC to and my Grandmother but was disabled and couldn't keep a job because of the war and the PTSD it causes and sadly he also died when my father was 16 from his veins collapsing do to poison from smoking so much cigarettes. He was a great man, a comedian and a lover of all, he will never be forgotten and I am the last descendant of my Grandfather and my children will venerate him as I do.
Thank you so much for your work, I enjoy your presentations. My great grandmother's line was cleared from there. I would love to visit again.
Do it!
Fabulous video, tragic story.
Man's inhumanity
I love your videos. My grandfather, the then chief of the Nicolsons of Skye (Clan MacNeacail), was descended from the landless Nicolson chiefs who emigrated to Tasmania in the 1820's. He fought at the Somme as a Captain of the Australian Light Horse in WW1 and while on leave he visited his ancestral home in Skye. He was a prolific writer and wrote about the injustice of the clearances and also much about the despicable human sacrifice undertaken by the English generals at the Somme. His letters remain partly with our family and partly in the Australian War memorial in Canberra.
At least at the Somme, the Scottish regiments were not used as the human cannon fodder as they were throughout much of the Colonial conquest - at the Somme, the Colonials - the Indians and the Australians - were considered expendable.
I'll maybe see you in Tasmania when I do the Hobart gig in Feruary 2025
You're good at this stuff. All the best.
😎Thanks. Spread the word
Aw Bruce. fabulous stuff, your sign off on this one made me cry. Keep on making your videos with your ‘smart phone & tripod’ we love them ! 🏴
Glad you enjoyed it
I've always marvelled at the fact that God, regardless of domination always seemed to be on the side of the rich and powerful.
True
God has always favoured people who had weapons and the willingness to kill defenceless people. Every aristocrat now can trace their founders to be violent, murderous rapists.
Yep.
Depends which god 2Cor 4.4
They were cleared as you say. I know I've mentioned my father's side of the family before in comments on your videos, today you touched my Mother's the Gunn's. I've visited the ruins of a clearance village above the coastal cliffs.
You have again said it true, humanity or in this case inhumanity. Thank you Bruce for continuing to make these videos even if you are just a bawbag with a smartphone and a tripod. Keep up the good work.
I've got a camera noo 😎
@@ScotlandHistoryTours it's still a good line to throw in though Bruce.
Cracking video Bruce, never could understand how that monument still stands 😇 oh, and you forgot the 'hair flick' and the vacuous stare ........
Aye, but I'm still learning 😃
Aye, would be real shame if it suffered a mishap
I started listening to you yesterday on the Jacobites and now subscribed .
Excellent rendition . I got a lot of this at school in fifties but you have taken it a new dimension .How you can remember it all .......very good .
Thank you for your information .
Roger
Welcome aboard Roger!
When I first learned this story I was saddened and angry that these landowners had turned on the people who had worked on and probably paid them money to work on the land. It did not surprise me that it was a lawyer who 'lead the charge' but these poor souls would have turned to the church for guidance and support only for them to do the same. This whole heartless and inhumane episode is one that everyone everywhere should be aware of.
This is another fantastic history lesson, you are my new companion as I drive around in my car, sending this to my Gunn friend💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Stay legal on the roads now😁
My Great Gran was part of the clearances. They moved to the Greenock Glasgow area. One of the daughters and a son left in 1920 and headed to America. The daughter was my gran. This breaks my heart.
Aye, a sad part of our history
Our Matheson/MacDonald/Gray/Mackay ancestors were evicted from their ancestral farms/homes in Straths Fleet/Carnaig near Lairg in Sutherland and likely farther north, before emigrating to Canada.I've wandered the ruins of their settlements several times and am learning Gàidhlig to honor their memory. Without their incredible strength and mental/emotional/spiritual endurance , I would not be here today. None of us would be.
Never stop making videos my friend. So Informational and well put together, I will subscribe to Paetron or anything you got to help you continue making these. Cheers and well wishes from Maryland
Hey, that's great. You're a star. I have a Patreon page at www.patreon.com/ScotlandHistoryTours
Great video, very informative! Love your accent btw
This is how some of my ancestors wound up in Canada. They were from Sutherland specifically. It happened far back enough that I didn't even know about this part of my family history until I started doing more research on that sort of stuff, my family told me my whole life that we're part Scottish but they don't know why we came to North America or much of anything about Scotland, learning more about the history of all this has been very fulfilling
Much love to Scotland from the USA, I hope one day to visit Sutherland, it'll probably just be me staring at some ruins while feeling melancholy but I'm nonetheless fascinated by the history of this place
Big thumbs up for the poke at N.O. at the end mate.
Who's Neil Oliver? ...Doh !
@@ScotlandHistoryTours Aye? If so fair enough. He confuses me.
Your point at the end about Americas first nations is spot on .... the wound was passed on by the wounded. Not an excuse but how I have pondered this x thank you for your work 💜
Oof, nice wee dig at the end there on a certain somebody. 😂
I did it for you 😜
@@ScotlandHistoryTours I'd love to know?
@@johnbinnie5697 Google Neil "Bawbag" Oliver, Highland Clearances.
The difference it makes when you're bribed - sorry, I mean - paid by the BBC!!!
Oliver did a talk in my hometown in Ireland. He got grilled on his stance on independence. I was delighted
Clan Gunn was mentioned, my ancestors get so few, love you're work Bruce
Great content delivered professionally, my friend.. I am from Canada and there is no teaching of history.
I wish it to be known how the Scots arrived here in Canada. Scottish history is not celebrated. We are overwhelmed with the stories of recent immigration. My wish is the history of ALL Canadians is heard
Aye, I have in mind to do some Scots in Canada stuff in future. If I'm able to make the channel permanen I'm sure I'll get round to it
Dude. Go to Nova Scotia and cape breton
I just did a Family Research for a Canadian Family tracing back their Scottish Heritage.... Itssss sooooooo interesting
Try and source a copy of "The Scotch" by Canadian Economist and Statesman John Kenneth Galbraith , it's all about his upbringing in Ontario which had been mostly populated by Scots-Gaelic speaking Highlanders . It's a great read !
Ring your nurse.
My family arrived in Canada in 1790.
Scottish history in Canada is more than well documented..& easy to find if you bothered...I've been reading it since I was a kid.
There are more Highland Regts in Canada than Scotland.
The difference is we don't endlessly go on whining & complaining, demanding apologies and cash for 275-year-old wrongs.
You will never hear a Canadian of Scot's bluud, go around proclaiming that we are 6th generation ''survivors'' of Culloden & the Clearances.👶💦
So well done. My Murrays were cleared from Rogart where some of the most brutal evictions occurred. They prospered in Nova Scotia eventually and finally the States but that doesn't deny what they endured, small children in tow, forced across the sea.
This is the American experience, my husbands MacLaughlin family was cleared from the land of their rich cousins in the early days of the clearing. They first arrived in Canada with their son moving to New York State in the US. He, the son of Scottish poverty marries a direct descendant of bad King John Lackland.
Where in new York did you live I'm from upstate new York
In tears , good man . Keep up the good neutral HONEST
work.
That’s crazy because my ancestors were Scottish highlanders. I’m 47% Scottish, 29% Scandinavian, 7% Mongolian Siberian, 4% morrocan, and 3% native. My great great etc grandfather met his wife a cherokee woman on the trail of tears. That’s sad. Twice my family ancestors were forcefully removed from their homelands by some greedy Englishman.
Thank you for a very moving account of the Clearances. When you're next in Glasgow, make sure you visit the Lismore (Lias Mor) bar on Dumbarton Road, Partick. It has a urinal dedicated to the Duke of Sutherland and Patrick Sellar where customers are invited to pay them the respect they deserve. A fitting tribute.