The Lowland Clearances (1760s–1830s) emerged as a significant consequence of the Scottish Agricultural Revolution, which transformed the longstanding agricultural practices that had been prevalent in Lowland Scotland during the seventeenth century.
A considerable number of cottars and tenant farmers from the southern counties of Scotland relocated from their farms and small holdings to burgeoning industrial hubs such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, and northern England, or even ventured abroad. Alternatively, some chose to remain on their land while adjusting to the changes brought about by the Scottish Agricultural Revolution.
As the commercialization of farmland progressed in Scotland during the 18th century, land was frequently leased through auction processes. This practice resulted in an increase in rental prices, which excluded numerous tenants from the market. Additionally, shifts in agricultural methods led to the replacement of part-time labourers or subtenants – referred to as cottars, cottagers, or bondsmen – with full-time agricultural workers who resided either on the primary farm or in rented housing within expanding or newly established villages.
Consequently, many contemporary authors and modern historians have linked the Agricultural Revolution to the decline of cottars and their traditional lifestyle in various regions of southern Scotland.
The Agricultural Revolution in Scotland encompassed a series of significant changes in farming practices that commenced in the 17th century and extended into the 19th century. This transformation initiated with enhancements to the farmland in the Scottish Lowlands, marking a shift in Scottish agriculture from one of the least modernized systems to one that would evolve into the most advanced and productive system in Europe. Traditionally, Scottish agriculture employed the runrig management system, which likely originated during the Late Middle Ages.
The fundamental farming units prior to these improvements were known as ‘baile’ in the Highlands and ‘fermetoun’ in the Lowlands. In these units, a limited number of families cultivated open-field arable land and shared grazing rights. Although the specifics of the runrig system varied by location, a common characteristic was the periodic (likely annual) redistribution of individual sections, referred to as “rigs,” of arable land by lot, resulting in families having intermixed plots throughout the field.
