'The Darkest Part Of Scotland's History..the Highland Clearances'

I still enjoy the solitude the Highlands offer me.

But as a young boy who had never heard of the Highland clearances I never considered why the most stunning part of Scotland was also the emptiest.

It was only years later on a visit to see a friend in Easter Ross that I was confronted by this dark time in our nation's history.

In the 1800s the Highlands were stripped of their inhabitants, often violently, to make way for sheep farming.

My mate took me to the picturesque Croick Church, where 80 people who had been driven from their land in 1845 sought refuge.

Before they made their way onwards, whether it was to the new world in America or to the mills and factories of Glasgow, some scratched messages on the glass windows of the church.

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Of all I learned on my journey the most shocking to comprehend was the crimes against humanity committed by the victorious leader of the government forces, the man known as Butcher Cumberland. He set about "cleansing" the Highlands of any Jacobite sympathies.

His army became the scourge of the Highlands as it swept through the land.

They hanged people from the nearest tree if they were suspected of even having sympathies with Bonnie Prince Charlie.

Thousands were murdered in what can only be described as ethnic cleansing.

It was a time of retribution. The government wanted revenge for coming so close to being defeated by what they considered a ragtag army of savages from the edge of Britain.

They even attacked Highland culture.

The Act of Proscription in 1747 banned the wearing of tartan, the ownership of a Gaelic Bible, the playing of bagpipes and the ownership or use of any kind of weapon.

Huge military forts were built - Fort William, Fort Augustus and Fort George.

These giant constructions linked one end of the Great Glen to the other.

In each was stationed a large garrison ready to suppress any uprising.

Fort George, the largest garrison in Europe, cost half of Scotland's gross national product in 1750.

This was a British establishment determined to annihilate Jacobitism - indicating how dangerous this political movement was thought to be.

But one thing the government learned from the uprising was that Highland men made excellent warriors.

So to fight their many wars overseas in their expanding empire, the British army very cleverly enlisted as many as possible - not too difficult during the next few decades as most families desperately needed an income.

In many ways they were cannon fodder but their immense courage and awesome fighting skills would defy the odds to win battles in alien lands, creating a vast empire. But, as I learnt while visiting a number of lifeless and ruined villages, while many Highlanders were fighting for their country abroad, the battle was being lost for an ancient way of life back home.

Half of the Scottish population used to live in the Highlands but it's now less than one in five.

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'As I boy I never considered why the Highlands were so empty'

'Tenants faced being burnt out of their home or beaten by thugs'

'Sympathisers of Prince Charlie were hanged by the army'

'Half the Scots population lived in the Highlands ..it's now 1 in 5'

'Many fled to America on boats no better than slave ships'

MAILFILE

THE Highland Clearances were considered necessary "improvements" by landlords. But they were born from greed as sheep were more profitable than people. Admiral John Ross of Balnagowan Castle was the first to kick tenants off his land in 1762. Many had to emigrate and the exodus reached a peak in 1792 - known as the Year of the Sheep to Highlanders.

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