Argyll, 1730-1850

It was dominated by the State's attempts to pacify and civilize the Highlands, which intensified after the Jacobean defeat at Culloden. Part of this process was the landed elite's efforts to promote economic growth by transforming the traditional agrarian system, and by encouraging new industries. The most dramatic aspect of this process was the rapid growth of sheep farming. This led to the wholesale evictions which earned notoriety as the Highland Clearances, and to mass emigration and migration from the Highlands. McGeachy's book analyses the impact of these changes in Argyll, the Highland county where the landed elite's commitment to promoting economic growth was most intense. There is little doubt that these changes were both devastating and traumatic for the common people. Robert McGeachy's perceptive study examines how these changes affected the Highlanders' culture and traditional way of life, and details the patterns of popular resistance which emerged to the agricultural improvements and to the Clearances. His book will be of interest both to students of Highland history wishing to understand more about the process of social and economic change, and to readers with a general interest in the history of the Highlands.