In my last post I made a comment about how there are so many sheep in Scotland – it is not a joke. They are everywhere – and of course there are one or two sheep jokes out there. What I did not know was why there are so many sheep. While taking a tour one of the speakers talked about the Highland Clearances:

In the Highlands and Islands the years following the Jacobite Rebellion lead to considerable social unrest, made worse by a sharp rise in the population putting pressure on the use of the land. This brought about schemes to resettle abroad in North America, or in Australia, but in some cases, especially in Sutherland, emigration came after the people had been forcefully evicted from their homes and had seen their roof-timbers burned down.

This displacement of people to allow the introduction of large numbers of sheep, is a painful but important part of our heritage which deeply affects Scottish life today. The clusters of deserted crofts which litter the Highlands and Islands are an eloquent reminder of treatment of whole townships deprived of their land. The ‘wilderness’ that is the Highlands today is a direct man -made result of these events and the impact can be seen too, in the Scottish cultural influences throughout the world.

Wikipedia makes an interesting point on where many of the Scots went in the Year of the Sheep:

Another wave of mass emigration came in 1792, known as the Year of the Sheep to Scottish Highlanders. The people were accommodated in poor crofts or small farms in coastal areas where farming could not sustain the communities and they were expected to take up fishing. Some were put directly onto emigration ships to Nova Scotia (Antigonish and Pictou counties and later Cape Breton), the Kingston area of Ontario and the Carolinas of the American colonies. There may have been a religious element in these forced removals since a good number of the Highlanders were Roman Catholic. This is reflected by the majority representation of Catholics in areas and towns of Nova Scotia such as Antigonish and Cape Breton. However almost all of the very large movement of Highland settlers to the Cape Fear region of North Carolina were Presbyterian. (This is evidenced even today in the presence and extent of Presbyterian congregations and adherents in the region.)

Fascinating historical context for today’s sheep filled highlands. But then again, some of the terrain is not that hospitable (yes, those little dots are sheep):

One other interesting feature of Scotland is the Loosestrife. You can see it in the picture above by the creek (right) and in the picture below. It is the tall purple plant.

I have a funny story about Loosestrife. In my garden in Canada I had a few of these plants. They are quite pretty, growing to about 4 feet with wonderful purple flowers. I had my team over and I was talking about the garden with a friend of mine who, for data protection purposes, I will call Ed.

I called the plant Sweet William and in his oh-so-I-am-very-smart-you-dumb-ass tone he started to laugh and said ‘Dude, that is not Sweet William. That is Loosestrife and it is illegal to have it in your garden. It is killing the wetlands in Ontario by invading and destroying native vegetation’. Manitoba calls it the Pretty Killer.

Turns out that Loosestrife came into Canada in the 1800’s:

Purple Loosestrife is a European plant that was introduced to North America in the 1800’s. For a
time it was sold as an ornamental garden plant until its harmful effects were noticed. Loosestrife
is extremely prolific and can take over the habitat of other natural plants. It thrives in wetlands
and can also destroy essential habitat for wildlife such as ducks.

An interconnected world. I also learned something that day – don’t invite Ed over (smile).