Battle of the Braes: A Fight For Crofters' Rights

Stories of Scotland

Annie and Jenny

History, Places & Travel, Society & Culture

4.8 • 728 Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2022

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

With the 140th Anniversary of the Battle of the Braes, Jenny and Annie set out to try to understand this crucial fight for land reform in Scotland. We look back to March 1882, when crofters of the Braes area of Skye tried to petition Lord MacDonald to let them have common grazing on the hill of Ben Lee. Lord MacDonald refuses this request, condemning the future of this crofting community into further poverty. Standing up for their rights, the crofters protest through a rent strike. This leads to the Battle of the Braes on 19th April 1882, a violent moment in Scotland’s complicated history with land. We consider how land is at the heart of economic and cultural survival for the Highlands and Islands communities, and why we should never forget the Battle of the Braes. You can support Stories of Scotland on Patreon! www.patreon.com/storiesofscotland With thanks to Iona Fyfe for recording the song ‘Battle o the Braes.’Find Iona Fyfe at https://ionafyfe.com/ This is the second episode of our new series, Radical Mountain Women, funded by the Royal Society of Literature. Some of the music you heard in this episode was beautifully played by Nicky Murray and Chloe Rodgers.References:Andy Wightman, The Poor Had No Lawyers: Who Owns Scotland and How They Got It, Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2015‘Battle o the Braes,’ Brechin Advertiser, May 1882Crofting Commission: https://www.crofting.scotland.gov.uk/Ewen A. Cameron and Andrew Newby, ‘Alas, Skyemen are imitating the Irish’: A note on Alexander Nicolson's ‘Little Leaflet’ concerning the Crofters' Agitation.The Innes Review, 2004‘Furious Attack On and By the Police,’ Dundee Courier, April 1882James R Coul, Crofters’ Common Grazings in Scotland, The Agricultural History Review, British Agricultural History Society, 1968John MacGrath, The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black Black Oil, Bloomsbury, 2017Màiri Mhòr Nan Òran, Òran Beinn Lì, 1887‘The Land Agitation in Skye,’ Inverness Courier, April 1882‘The Revolt in Skye: Furious Fighting Between the Police and the People, Painful Scenes, Arrests of Crofters,’ Dundee Evening Telegraph, April 1882We used digital transcripts of the Napier Commission documents, available here: https://www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-enterprise/cultural/centre-for-history/research/research-alliances/the-napier-commission/ Get bonus content on Patreon

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Stories of Scotland. In this episode, we're hopping in a bonny boat and sailing over the sea to sky for some radical rebellions. I'm Annie and I'm putting on my
0:24.5	fighting bonnet. And I'm Jenny and my fighting bonnet is already double-knotted and secure.
0:31.5	Jenny, there's nothing about you that isn't double-knotted. I don't even know what that means, Annie.
0:42.1	I'm going to take that as a compliment.
0:50.1	This week, we are sharing the history of a community rising against all odds to protect their land rights.
0:54.3	This series is funded by the Royal Society of Literature and looking at some fascinating writing about the environment of the late 1800s.
1:00.2	This episode is so very special to us.
1:04.4	It's a story we've wanted to tell for a really long time.
1:09.2	During research, I came across a song in a newspaper that was written 140 years ago,
1:16.1	all about this event that we're talking about.
1:19.3	And we've commissioned Scott's folk singer I Own a Fife to bring this song to life.
1:26.5	When myself and Jenny first heard it, it was amazing. It gave me shivers.
1:32.1	So, trust me, for this episode, you really want to listen until the end to hear this amazing
1:38.9	tune, which I'm thrilled to be sharing.
1:42.8	But first, before we get into the Battle of the Braes, let's understand
1:48.5	some background history. Have a wee look at the socio-political climate in late 19th century
1:56.6	Highlands. We're in the aftermath of the Highland Clearances. The Highland Clearances were the
2:03.9	forced evictions of tenants from the Scottish Highlands and Islands, which had catastrophic
2:09.0	implications for the populations of these areas. The clearances took place between the mid-1700s
2:16.4	and mid-1800s, so about a hundred year span.
2:20.2	The Highland clearances had a long-lasting impact on the landscape of this region, with scars still visible today.
2:29.9	There are a few different phases of the clearances, but every phase comes down to large-scale
	...

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