Highland Potato Famine facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Highland Potato Famine Gaiseadh a' bhuntàta
Cross-section of a blighted potato tuber
Country	United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
Location	Scotland
Period	1846–1856

The Highland Potato Famine (Scottish Gaelic: Gaiseadh a' bhuntàta) was a tough time in Highland history. It lasted from 1846 to about 1856. During this period, communities in the Hebrides and western Scottish Highlands faced a big problem. Their main food, the potato crop, kept getting ruined by a plant disease called potato blight.

This famine was part of a larger food crisis across Northern Europe in the mid-1840s. The most famous example was the Great Irish Famine. However, the Scottish famine was much smaller. It affected fewer people (never more than 200,000). Also, fewer people died because of quick and large help from other parts of the United Kingdom. But even with help, many people still faced poverty and poor health.

A government study suggested that the only quick fix was for people to move away. Many people left the Highlands, going to Canada or Australia. It's thought that about a third of the population in the western Scottish Highlands moved away between 1841 and 1861.

Why Highland Areas Were Vulnerable

Over the late 1700s and early 1800s, life in the Highlands changed a lot. In the eastern parts, farms were like those in the Lowlands. But in the Western Isles and nearby mainland, things were different. Landlords found that raising sheep or cattle made more money. They moved their tenants to coastal areas, hoping to start new industries like fishing. This created the crofting system (see Highland Clearances).

Crofts were small pieces of land given to tenants. They were often too small to support a family fully. People had to work elsewhere for most of the year to earn enough money. Industries like fishing and kelp (seaweed) processing grew at first. But they later declined, making crofting areas very poor.

To survive, people relied heavily on potatoes. One acre of potatoes could feed as many people as four acres of oats. Because of this, the population in crofting areas grew by over half between 1801 and 1841. In other parts of the Highlands, it grew by less than 10 percent. This meant that before the blight, many people in crofting areas depended entirely on a good potato harvest to live.

Famine and Hardship

The First Years of Famine (1846–1847)

In 1846, potato crops failed across most of the Scottish Highlands due to blight. About three-quarters of the crofting region was affected, putting around 200,000 people at risk. The winter that followed was very cold and snowy, and more people died than usual.

The Free Church of Scotland, which was strong in these areas, quickly raised the alarm. They organized help, giving food to people no matter their religion. The Free Church also helped over 3,000 men from the affected areas find work on railways in the Lowlands. This meant fewer people needed food in the Highlands, and their families got money to buy supplies.

The British government noticed the crop failure early on. They were asked for help by landowners in late 1846. But the government did not want to give money directly to landlords. They believed landlords should be responsible for their tenants. Sir Charles Trevelyan, a senior government official, made it clear: "the people cannot, under any circumstances, be allowed to starve."

The government first made sure landlords helped their tenants. Some landlords had enough money and were willing to help. Others were struggling financially. The government put pressure on those who could help but chose not to. By summer 1847, most landlords were helping their tenants.

The government also set up two food stores in Portree and Tobermory. They sold food at market prices, not cheaper, to avoid upsetting normal trade. They also encouraged landowners to apply for loans to improve their land. This allowed landlords to hire their tenants, giving them work and money for food.

Charity groups in Edinburgh and Glasgow also started helping. By the end of 1847, these groups had raised about £210,000 (worth about £17 million today). Scottish people living abroad also sent help. Because of these quick efforts, the famine relief in Scotland was better organized and more effective than in Ireland.

Ongoing Hardship (1847–1850)

In 1847, the potato crop failure was not as bad, and death rates went back to normal. The government then left most of the relief work to the Central Board of Management for Highland Relief. Potato crops continued to fail, but less severely.

The Central Board's relief program eventually ran out of money. The Board became very strict. They paid very low wages in food for hard work on public projects. People could not get help if they had any savings, like livestock. The daily food ration was small: about 24 ounces of oatmeal or Indian meal for a man, 12 ounces for a woman, and 8 ounces for a child.

People were expected to work for their food. This led to the building of "destitution roads" and other projects that were not very useful. The Central Board worried that people would become too dependent on relief. They wanted people to learn to support themselves. So, they reduced the rations even more. They also made sure people worked a full eight-hour day for their food. This "destitution test" was very harsh and caused a lot of anger.

By 1850, the relief money was almost gone. The potato blight was still a problem. Everyone realized that long-term solutions were needed. The relief boards announced they would stop operations in September 1850. They worried that if the potato crop failed again, things would be as bad as 1846. They also worried that if the crop was good, people might not learn to find other ways to get food and income.

After 1850: No More Free Help

The potato crop failed again in 1850. People wondered how the poor would survive. Scottish Poor Laws were different from English ones. They only allowed help for the sick and elderly, not for healthy people who could not find work. The government said it would not provide more money.

They suggested that local Poor Law authorities could use their judgment to help healthy but unemployed people. The government also started an investigation led by Sir John McNeill. He was asked to look into the situation and suggest solutions.

Sir John McNeill's Report

Sir John McNeill studied the problem from February to April 1851 and gave his report in July 1851. He said the problems were caused by crofts being divided into too many small plots. He also blamed the Highlanders' isolation. He felt they should have looked for work elsewhere when the kelp industry failed. But they were separated by language and customs.

He noted that no one had died of starvation since the relief efforts ended. He believed that the large-scale relief program, though well-meaning, had actually made things worse. He did not suggest changing the Poor Law to give healthy poor people a right to relief. Instead, he recommended that local boards should use their judgment to give help.

McNeill said that the best way to help the area was for many people to move away. He suggested that the government should offer loans to help people emigrate. He also said that after the population was reduced, the area could become stronger. This could happen by giving crofters more secure land rights and better education. He believed education should help people find work in other places and break their ties to their home areas.

This report led to the creation of the Highland and Island Emigration Society in 1852.

The Blight Fades Away

The potato blight returned year after year, but never as badly as in 1846. Even in 1854, some areas like Barra and Harris still reported total crop loss. But in later years, the blight was usually only partial. People often feared the worst, but it was never as bad as the first time.

For example, on Lewis, Sir James Matheson spent a lot of money helping his tenants. He had to provide help in six of the next thirty years, but on a much smaller scale.

Population Changes After the Famine

Most landlords tried to help their crofting tenants during the famine. They didn't collect rent, gave money to charities, and started their own relief efforts. They also tried to bring in new crops or industries. However, it became clear that crofting could not support so many people in the long run. Landlords worried the government might make them pay for permanent relief.

So, they tried to solve the problem by encouraging their poorer tenants to move. Some moved to the Lowlands of Scotland, others emigrated overseas. Landlords were influenced by ideas that there were too many people for the land. The Duke of Sutherland, for example, helped his tenants move away. Even though he didn't force evictions, the difficult conditions and good reports from those who had already left encouraged people to go.

The crofting areas lost about a third of their population between the early 1840s and late 1850s. Some areas, like the Hebrides, lost over 40% of their people by 1856. Some landlords paid for "assisted" emigration, sending over 16,000 crofters to Canada and Australia. Others made it harder for tenants to stay by being strict about rent or land use. Since crofters didn't own their land, landlords could simply evict them.

On the island of Lewis, many people moved to Canada. Landlords offered good treatment to those who volunteered to leave. But they also reminded tenants about unpaid rent, which could lead to eviction. One person said later that people were "sent very much against their will."

Barra: A Difficult Case

Barra was a particularly tough case. It had been a prosperous island, but the owner had started a kelp business that failed. To cover losses, crofters' rents were raised too high. The island became very poor. The owner went bankrupt, and his property was sold.

Barra was bought by John Gordon of Cluny, a very rich man. He was known for being careful with money. He lowered rents and tried to start new businesses, like a deep-sea fishery. But the islanders didn't cooperate much, and these plans failed. By 1850, Gordon had owned Barra for ten years and made no money from it. The islanders remained poor and relied heavily on potatoes.

When the potato blight hit, Barra could not feed itself. In 1850, almost 2,000 out of 2,300 people on the island needed help. Gordon tried to combine small crofts into larger ones, which meant fewer people could live on the land.

In late 1850, some Barra islanders arrived in Glasgow, poor and unable to speak English. They said they had been evicted from their homes. This caused public outrage, and Gordon was criticized in newspapers. He denied evicting anyone and said he had spent a lot of money helping the islanders.

Another group of islanders reached Inverness and told a different story. They said they had been moved from their crofts illegally years ago. Their new land was infertile, and their crops failed. When charity relief stopped, Gordon provided food, but it was poor quality. They believed Gordon was trying to make them leave the island.

In 1851, over half of Barra's population wanted to emigrate if they could. Gordon chartered ships and offered free passage to Quebec, Canada. About 1,700 people took the offer. But when they arrived in Quebec, some said they had been tricked. They were promised free travel further into Canada, guaranteed work, and free land, but these promises were false.

The emigrants arrived half-starving and barely clothed. The Canadian authorities had to pay to get them to Upper Canada. They arrived too late in the year to settle properly before winter. A Scottish charity leader in Canada said the Barra emigrants were "the most destitute I ever saw coming to this country."

The treatment of emigrants from Gordon's estates was terrible. This led to complaints from Canadian authorities. In contrast, emigrants from other Highland estates, like the Duke of Sutherland's, arrived well-fed, clothed, and with money.

What Happened Next

McNeill's report did not agree with the idea that the famine was due to the laziness of Gaelic people. But his comments about cultural barriers did support the idea that Gaelic language and culture held people back. Many believed that making the Highlands English-speaking would lead to more happiness and wealth. Newspapers even suggested that education would help depopulate the area, which they saw as a good thing.

After the famine, the government did not pay for a railway to Oban to help the Hebrides. It wasn't until 1880 that a railway reached Oban as a business project. Mail services were very slow. It took days for letters to reach Stornoway from Edinburgh or London.

Over time, better steamships and more frequent services improved communication. Fishing and cattle farming recovered, and it became easier for people to travel for seasonal work. This helped the crofting economy. People could earn enough money to buy imported grain, so they were less dependent on their own crops.

In the 1880s, the problem of future famines became part of a bigger political issue. Crofters and landless laborers had many complaints. Landlords had followed McNeill's advice to prevent crofts from being divided too much. But they ignored his advice to give crofters secure leases. This led to growing anger among crofting communities.

In 1882, both potato and grain harvests failed in the Hebrides. This caused widespread hardship in 1883. Crofters became restless and formed the Highland Land League, inspired by a similar group in Ireland. The government set up the Napier Commission to find solutions.

The Napier Commission suggested giving secure land rights to crofters who paid higher rents. For others, they suggested voluntary emigration. However, the government later passed the Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1886, which was more influenced by the Irish situation. Political pressure from the "Crofters' Party" in Parliament also played a big role in how the government dealt with the problems in the crofting region.

Images for kids

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  Cross-section of a blighted potato tuber

See also

In Spanish: Hambruna de las papas en las Tierras Altas para niños