The 18th century landscape
Extracts from MS249 The Atholl Experience
Development of the landscape in Atholl
'Early settlers cleared the land for their grazing animals and the
pattern of the landscape changed very slowly throughout Roman times
and into the Dark Ages, when people were living in circular
buildings called ring forts or homesteads. As the population
increased, clan rivalries led to indiscriminate burning of
hillsides, further reducing woodland cover. . .'
Fermtouns
'Pitagowan would be typical of many Highland hamlets as it
took the form of what was called a "nucleated fermtoun" which
consisted of houses and barns scattered over a wide area.
Lime mortar permitted the construction of fully load-bearing walls
and the A frame with its ends resting on the stone wall-head became
the norm and could support a slate roof. Walls were often
double, with an infill of rubble and two-storey and sometimes
three-storey building began to appear. The two-storey barn
with the ground floor for housing livestock, storing turnips and
with a space for implements, would perhaps also have a threshing
floor and a granary above. During the 19th century stone
fireplaces, with built-in chimneys started to appear in many of the
houses.'
Cultivation
'Farm ground was divided between in-field and out-field
where traditionally the in-field was located on the best arable
land available, usually closest to the farmstead and it received
the bulk of whatever manure was available. Consequently, it
was cultivated much more intensively than the out-field which
usually got only the droppings from grazing livestock. The
land would be cropped till yields had fallen so low that further
cultivation was uneconomic and so was left to recover for a number
of years before the cycle was repeated. This arable ground
was not divided up by permanent enclosure but rather by the use of
makeshift turf dykes to exclude livestock which were often taken
beyond the out-field onto the moorland to graze promiscuously with
other tenants' animals under the care of a herd.
'Run-rig, or strip farming, was the most common form of
cultivation, whereby parcels of land were allotted to tenants in
measured shares. This was supposed to ensure that tenants'
land was equal both in quantity and quality in terms of soil,
drainage conditions and exposure and the best and worst lands were
divided equally among tenants. Traces of the ridge method of
cultivation can still be made out at Dalvagaldie - a deserted
settlement about a mile up the Bruar Water from the top
falls.'
Illustration: From James Macdonald, Stephen's Book of
the Farm, 5 ed (Edinburgh, 1908)
Enclosure
'It was not until around the 1770s that a concerted effort
was made to enclose the out-field and in-field lands and this
started with field clearances of stones. . . The field
clearance heaps are a permanent reminder of man's endeavour and the
contrast between the cleared cultivated areas and the heathery,
boggy, rocky moorland is still evident across the Highlands.'
Source: John Kerr, The Atholl Experience, Volume 3, pp
4-12
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