The early sheep-farming period in the part of the Highlands discussed in this study was characterised by a great deal of geographical, social and financial movement. This perceptive and informative study examines all these aspects and shows ultimately that chiefs, tacksmen, clansmen, and even southern sheep-farmers were all individuals reacting to the circumstances in which they found themselves, and that these circumstances themselves were characterised by a great deal of economic turbulence.
It has been widely accepted in the past that sheep-farming in the Highlands was developed and undertaken by southern incomers; some modern historians have even dismissed the possibility that Highlanders could have become sheep-farmers because they lacked the necessary skill and capital. Iain S. Macdonald's meticulous research disproves this. It illustrated that while some southern sheep-farmers did indeed move into the Highlands in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, they were in fact greatly outnumbered by native Highlanders, who saw a future in sheep-farming, initiated it themselves, and pursued it with enthusiasm.
Contents:
Acknowledgements
Genealogy of the Macdonalds of Glencoe and the Camerons of Fassifern
Maps
Introduction
1. Glencoe in the Late Eighteenth Century
2. From Glencoe into the Gordon Lands in Lochaber
3. The Macintosh Lands in Lochaber Before 1786
4. The Mackintosh Lands in Lochaber 1786-1804
5. Corpach, Glenlure, Auchteraw and Cullachy
6. Glencoe in the Early Nineteenth Century
7. The MacDonalds of Drimintorran, of the Family of Glencoe
8. The Mackintosh Lands in Lochaber 1804-1823
9. Some Wider Interests: Donald and Alexander Dhu McDonald
10. Knoydart and Glendessary
11. The Farm Concerns in the North
12. Fersit, Glenlure and the Rankins
13. The Glencoe Trustees 1814-1831
Postscript
Appendix A. Financial Transactions
Appendix B. Names of People and Places
Appendix C. Principal Characters
Bibliography
Glossary
Notes
Index
