The Scottish feudal system
of land ownership.

Since the 11th Century, the dominant form of land ownership over much of Scotland has been the feudal system, a pyramid of superiors and vassals, with the monarch (or God) at the top.
The chain of feudal superiors could be very long and often bore no relation to the actual possessor of the land!

The Earls of Home, based in the Borders, for example, were feudal superiors over Balnaboth and it’s moor until the 1950s, the superiority having passed through the Douglas family, Earls of Angus, in the 15th Century.

As a result, the lowest rungs of the farming ladder were gradually removed and the rural population was displaced to the new industries.

Throughout Europe, many of these agricultural revolutions were bloody and brutal, particularly those where alternative employment from industry was not available, often because the agricultural element of the revolution was secondary to the changing political systems.

The ‘Highland Clearances’, as they became known in Scotland, arouse maybe as much political argument now as they did then! The available evidence is conflicting and open to wide interpretation.

 "...many of these  agricultural revolutions    were bloody and brutal"

What is certain is that for most of the 19th Century, landowners and land occupiers were faced with some pretty unpleasant choices: overpopulation, crop failure, famine and a subsistence economy; the hugely increased profitability of introduced breeds of sheep; and the final breakdown of the ancient clan system and loyalty of kin.

The intentions of many of the landowners and reformers may have been impeccable, but the result was the removal, sometimes enforced, of much of the population from the inland hills and pastures to make way for sheep.

Of those removed, many emigrated and others were relocated to the coast, to the kelp or herring industries and to the cities. There is little or no record of clearance in the Cairngorms, but alternative employment would have been much easier to find in the cities & straths to the south.

The land was taken over by farmers with new breeds of sheep, the Blackface & Cheviot. These increased the economic returns from the land, though in many instances, the original landlords were themselves no longer there to benefit, and in retrospect, the main beneficiaries were the consumers of cheaper wool products in the UK.

Before long, by the mid-19th Century, the profitability of sheep took a dive and this coincided with the arrival of “the Sporting Estate”. In some way, the cycle had come round again as much of this land had, in medieval times, been classed as ‘forest’, which then meant hunting ground rather than woodland!

A huge amount of Victorian wealth was invested in building a country retreat where deer, salmon and grouse were hunted and conspicuously consumed.
This happened more rapidly in the wake of Queen Victoria’s purchase of Balmoral, in 1848, which was also a good advertisement for the Scottish Highlands as a tourist spot.

In fact, Queen Victoria attracted so many tourists to Deeside that she had a second home built along the shores of Loch Muick to get away from (most of) them!

It was the advent of death duties (now Inheritance Tax), combined with much increased wages, by the mid 20th Century, which saw the income fall on such estates, & many, if not most, became a drain on the owner’s resources. On many grouse moors, this also coincided with declining grouse numbers.

The Forestry Commission, formed after WW2, was able to offer a more attractive return to the landowner than a grouse moor that cost a lot to maintain.

In general, a highland sporting estate does not now make much of a profit. The costs of maintaining it, especially if there is still a Victorian lodge or mansion, are likely to outweigh the income, though with prudent management they can break even.

Highland estates have tended to enjoy a growth in value, although even this is a mixed blessing to owners wishing to pass one on to their heirs.

The heir would need to pay 40% of the value of the estate (above £275 000) in order to become its owner! For an estate worth £10 million, the inheritor would have to pay almost £4 million!

Many estates are now run very much as businesses contributing significant investment and employment in rural areas. Leadership in this is sometimes from the landowner himself, or by a manager known as a ‘factor’.

Alternatively, a team of managers with a range of skills (forestry or livestock, etc.) will run a number of estates as a factoring agency.

Access

For many years it has been generally recognised that there is “a right to roam,” and this has been formalised the a new statutory Right of Responsible Access, and the Scottish Outdoor Access Code sets out how this works in practice. (download leaflet from here).

However, concern has been expressed, in the past century especially, at how few were involved in land management decisions. In 1837, for example, half of Scotland was owned by 118 landowners and the situation today still reflects almost a millennium of relatively little change in the pattern of ownership in Scotland.

  "around 6% of Scotland
     is current owned                   overseas..."   

Currently, about half of Scotland is in the possession of 608 landowners and 10% of Scotland is owned by eighteen.

Given the potential status and/or pleasure of owning a Highland sporting estate there has also been a move to foreign ownership and around 6% of Scotland is currently owned overseas, primarily by private individuals.

  "..landowners are
   perceived to dominate
     access to land-based
                      resources.."

This has been of concern to some groups because landowners are perceived to dominate access to land-based resources such as access for minerals or recreation; housing and employment opportunities and they have considerable say over how the land is managed.

However, local councils have planning control and powers of compulsory purchase for matters of public benefit such as housing.

The treasured landscape within the National Park boundary is here because of decisions made by landowners, not in spite of them, and the Cairngorms Partnership, precursor to the National Park, proved an excellent example of constructive collaboration between all interested parties.

  "..the Cairngorms Partnership...
  proved an excellent example of
      constructive collaboration..."   

In the past, many of the large landowners have also pumped money into schemes intended to bring a degree of commercial independence to an area, but rarely with great success.

It will be interesting to see if the new community owners will bring the vital fresh energy that will create sustainable jobs and encourage genuine industry

From 0.3% in 1872, public ownership of the land had reached a total of 16.8% of Scotland’s resource (by 1998), primarily held by the Forestry Commission. Lesser amounts are held by a range of government agencies such as the Scottish Executive’s Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD), local authorities, the Ministry of Defence and Scottish Natural Heritage.

Charities, especially those interested in the conservation of our landscape and its bio-diversity have become major landowners in Scotland, since the National Trust for Scotland’s (NTS) purchase of a part of Glencoe in 1935.

Within the Cairngorms National Park, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the NTS are major land owners, especially within the core mountain area.

The cost of maintaining these estates in the interest of conservation is at least as high as in the pursuit of shooting interest.

The NTS, for example, paid £5.5 million to purchase Mar Lodge Estate and currently spends around £250 000 per year on its management.

Organisations such as the NTS and RSPB have been criticised for investing so heavily in conservation, apparently at the expense of local employment. But the RSPB reserve at Abernethy, for example, currently employs eighty-seven people.

Managing people and nature together ultimately leads to sustainable development and the NTS has, at the heart of its management of Mar Lodge Estate, the intention of preserving the way of life for people (the cultural heritage), as well as the nature in the area (natural heritage).

           "community
             ownership..."

Fortunately, much land management for conservation purposes requires the same gamekeeping and farming skills that have been practiced in the Highlands for centuries. So, while these vocations may change their focus in coming years they are unlikely to disappear! The control of foxes and crows, for example, is an important part of Capercaillie conservation.

A major feature in the media since 1992 has been the development of community ownership that has been supported since 1997 by the Highland and Islands Enterprise agency. In 2001, this was given further support by the National Lottery’s establishment of the Scottish Land Fund to supply finance for communities to buy the land they live and work on.

It would require vast amounts of public money to continue traditional land management in the Cairngorms without private investment. However, legislation has been in place for the past few decades, to further direct land management decisions towards environmental sustainability.


   "One of the first acts
    of conservation was
          Queen Victoria's..."

Some landowners have certainly acted irresponsibly and for short-term gain but the celebrated habitats of the Cairngorms, and especially its moorlands, are actually here because of the majority’s land management decisions, rather than in spite of them.

One of the first acts of conservation in the Cairngorms, for example, was Queen Victoria’s purchase of Ballochbuie Forest in the 1860s to preserve it from felling for ship building!

It is one of the intentions of the Cairngorms National Park Authority to encourage the diversity of land ownership in the Cairngorms.

As fashions in land management change, it is important that everyone does not just follow ‘the crowd’ because hindsight can reveal the shortcomings of a management approach.

Blairfindy Moor is owned by the Crown Estate, a rather unique form of land ownership.

The Crown Estate forms a part of the heritable possessions of the British monarchy but its objective is to enhance the value of their properties and pay the revenue from these assets straight to the public purse of the Exchequer, not to the monarchy.