Rural settlement in the Scottish Highlands, 1750-1850: a comparative study of Lochtayside and Assynt

Morrison, Alexander (1985) Rural settlement in the Scottish Highlands, 1750-1850: a comparative study of Lochtayside and Assynt. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The object of this study is to examine the rural
settlement forms of the later 18th and early 19th century
in the Scottish Highlands by means of documentary evidence
and field remains. The main manuscript and documentary
sources are described in Chapter 1 and the forms of field
remains, -their recording and analysis, are explained. A
brief review of research into Scottish rural settlement
over the past 100 years, particularly Highland settlement and the changing approaches and interpretations is covered
in Chapter 2. The developments of the period 1750-1850
had some of their origins in the 17th century, and the main
historical events in the Highlands which had a bearing on
agriculture, population and settlement from the late 17th
to the early 19th century are reviewed in Chapter 3.

The major part of the thesis is a comparative study
Of Lochtayside and Assynt based on land surveys of the
period 1769-1774 and this is dealt with in Chapters 4 to
10. Chapter 4 introduces Lochtayside in its physical setting
and its historical development prior to 1769 is covered by
references to early maps (particularly Pont and the Military
Survey)and the history of the Campbells of Glenorchy/
Breadalbane. The rural landscape of Lochtayside in 1769
is discussed in Chapter 5, with reference to population,
agriculture, forms of tenancy, rents and occupations.
Chapter 6 examines and discusses the field remains of the
earlier settlement pattern - the townships, settlement
clusters, shielings, mills, etc. The physical landscape of Assynt and its pre-1774 landowners are examined in
Chapter 7 and the evidence of early maps is discussed.
The picture of the Assynt rural landscape as interpreted
from John Home's-Survey of 1774 is presented in Chapter 8
with a discussion of, land divisions, tenants and nontenants.
The surviving remains of the settlements and
the special role of the 'sheelings' in the late 18th
century Assynt-agrarian economy are discussed in Chapter
A direct comparison of Lochtayside and Assynt in 1769-
1774 is made in Chapter 10, looking at differences. or
similarities in physical geography, history, population
density, landholding systems, settlement forms and survival
of remains. Some extra evidence-from other sites in
Perthshire and Sutherland, including two excavated sites,
is examined in Chapter 11 and compared with Lochtayside
and Assynt. Conclusions on settlement groupings, forms of
houses and buildings in the areas studied are made in
Chapter 12, and 10 generalisations, which in themselves
are a summary of the thesis in terms of settlement
development, variation and survival, are presented.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History; H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities
• Supervisor's Name: Supervisor, not known
• Date of Award: 1985
• Depositing User: Ms Mary Anne Meyering
• Unique ID: glathesis:1985-5112
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 16 Apr 2014 13:04
• Last Modified: 25 Apr 2014 15:47
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/5112