Rosal township

Backblip.

I first became aware of the Highland clearances when I was University (a long time ago now!). I was amazed that the populated glens of Sutherland and parts of caithness and Easter & Wester Ross could be cleansed of people at the whim of a wealthy landlord & his wife solely interested in making more money from sheep.

The conditions these people lived in was hard but there were large communities. StrathNaver, where Rosal lies, had a population of over 2000 in the mid-19th century.

The Duke of Sutherland and his wife Elizabeth employed factors to clear the people out. The most notorious of these factors was Patrick Sellar who was gifted a fine house a few hundred metres from the site of Rosal which he cleared. Many of the clearances were brutal affairs with forced evictions, the burning of houses and violence. Sellar himself stood trial at Inverness on numerous charges but was acquitted despite much evidence to ensure a conviction.

The displaced population mostly emigrated to Canada or New Zealand (which is why there are so many Scottish descendants in those places). The few that stayed moved to the coast and tried to scratch a living from farming the poor coastal soils or fishing. Many left after a few Years to follow those earlier emigrees.

Rosal township is a preserved area where it is still possible to see the remains of the houses and the farming system they had set-up around the township. The views from this area are stunning. It is quite an emotional place and easy to envisage the folk living here and the pain of being uprooted to satisfy the greed of an already rich landlord. Ironically the day we visited the entire area was being grazed by sheep - the new populace of this beautiful place.