Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1890-11-22

bare living finds its way back to the croft /
Ter father and eventually to the landlord |
tor rent. As q rule the oldest son marries |
and remains at home. He seldom has the |
set up housekeeping on another croft, and |
besides it is the infexible policy of High |
land landlords to restrict, rather than in |
crease, croft holdings. This leads to q |
of the already inadequate |
home-croft and two families, instead of |
one, repeat an intensified struggle for ex-
istence, increasing the evil, and giving
for the eyer-recurring landlord
cry of "congested crofter districts while
millions of acres of land, idle save for its
use to sportsmen, are sweeping away into
almost impenetrable wildernesses around
them.
In all the crofter settlements established
at the different occasions of ''clearances,n
there is little of interest save the unyary-
ing desolation of environment and every
day life. This class of crofters are the
most smileless, voiceless people that live
Fringing the entire northeastern. north
ern and northwestern coasts of Scotland
may be found hamlets of this class.
There is not the sound of mirth, the tone
of content, or the look of hope, 10 be
heard or seen in one The land Is barren.
the sea-coast Is grewsome and dreary, the
habitations are wretched, fishing is 0reca-
rious, and the entire life of these people is
ceaseless, sunless effort to live. 1t Is
only in the glens, on the mountain-sides,
within the straths, clustered in the up
land corries or hollows, or here and there
nestled by the side of mountain lochs and
rivers, where the removals" and '1clear-
ances," like some wild mountain tempest.
swept over the old Highlanders without
annihilating all their homes that the crof-
ter of old, the crofter of song and story
and tourists tales, may yet be found He
is grave and silent in his loneliness. but
about this child of the mist fingers nearly
all that remains of Highland tradition,
folklore and picturesqueness of environ
ment. The single, lonely, isolated croft is
too drcary for winsomeness. But You will
now and then come upon an old "clachan"
where three or four, or perhaps half q
dozen, crofts nestle in a corrie together,
are huddled under the friendly protection
of some precipitous crag, OF are grouped
like brown gypsy tents beneath the strong
arms of primeval trees; and here life and
customs are in many respects very primi-
tive indeed.
The ''auld clachan,n aside from so uni
versally being the hamlet-home of the
crofter, is worthy of attention on its own
account. The word is occasionally a mis-
nomer among Scottish people themselves.
as applied to any ancient and picturesque
hamlet of a half-score or so qliaint old
houses. Clachan has a more ancient and
honorable Specification. It is pure Gae-
lie word meaning ga circle of stones.
The clachan was the fame or place of wor-
ship of the pagan Caledonians. When
Christianity was introduced the missiona-
ries from lena very wisely planted the
=. T.
little chapels, and finally churches, fol
lowed. Houses grew up around these.
and then the tiny church-place or hamlet
itself took the name of the spot where the
old pagan rites were once celebrated II
is interesting, too, to note how exactly
| identical is the Gaelic of the croftsr High.
lander of to-day with that of his heather
ancestors Of fifteen hundred or two thou,
sand years ago. Instead OF asking hi:
neighbor in Gaelic, "Are you going tc
church to-day:' he will ask, care you GO
| ing to the stonesl' Gam bheil thu'do dor
/ clachan0 The quaintest bits of primitive
/ architecture in all Scotland are to be found
in these quaint old nests. The pagan ella
chan is gone; the chapels and churches
| for they were of the sort iconoclnst Crom
well did not like-were long ago razed b
the ground. But if you have the arch@o
| lOklCl1k luotilCt NOu Cdll UllS VI CIOSe
8. $ FtiaerafS drns and sacrihcial stone
| built into house-walls, Just as you will fin,
| at Bowness-o -Solway, Roman affairs ans
first-ccntury Roman inscriptions ignobl,
set in pig-stys and byres. A vitrified for
| will often be discovered near at hand
Huge cromlechs and menhirs, marking pa
gan burial-places, are never far away
And there is always within, or Just with
out, that cleft of rock whence has tricklet
for centuries the crystal stream which il
Columb's days was ever blessed and sa
cred. Because the clachan and croft hav,
almost always been inseparably connected
there is little wonder that the crofte
clings loving to these weird old places
that his manner has become subdued an
grave from endless feeding upon the Gao
lie lyrics of q mystic past; or that the fol-
givable superstitions and wraiths whic
cling about these eerie spots have wrough
very many fantastic fancies within th
warp and woof of his spiritual nature.
There is little romance about the croi
ter's everyday and home life. lie he ca
make his rent partially from his land, b
tills it in the hard old primitive way, wit
the rudest of tools; and in Skye, the H,
brides, in remote parts of the north, an
here in Shetland, the crooked woode
J spade, or earth-fork, is still to be seen.
! he cannot, he is forced to leave the GRO
to the care of his wife and children an
turn fisherman. Often hisw and grow
daughter leave the croft and join the he
ring-curer's crews on the coast for sever
months of the summer. His subsisten'
| gained from the croft is always precal
: ous; and were it not that his wants a
: few, he could not live at all. His primo
pal crops are oats and potatoes: but Il
, variable nature of the climate renders
r steady return doubtful. Often the oa
l fail to ripen Again, when they matur
9 the little crop is frequently destroyed
4 rain. Potatoes of late years occasional
3 blight or rot. When both the oats al
3 potatoes fail actual famine comes. By &
: greatest vigilance enough grass may
s cured for the long winter supply for t
o few animals; but there is always peat
o be had for the one bright spot in all t
: crofter's life, the great, open fireplace
g his cabin. After the cows are milked
the morning the younger children, accol
n panied by the collie dog, set out to he
r them, for the crofts are seldom enclose
a Old coats or jackets are thrown over thi
d shoulders, and they istlessly move abe
:. like bevy of automatic scare-crows, kes
4 ing the cattle or sheep within bounds I
q | whole day long. Dreary, lonesome bu
: ness this, in the old days or in these da,
q but of late some of the soddenness of q
), life is being relieved by the books go
v folks have put in the youthful herde
"a hands; and the winter school is gradua
l. opening a new world to their eager, chi
is ish eyes.
r 1t is customary where there are only {
If or two beasts to "tether" them with chi
f. or rope. The horse or stsheltie," if
I. crofter have one, is also .hobble'
l l.. IL, -
ir cred by day, and put into the sheep-coi
k night. Such croft sheep are universe
ar called sspets." The world has heard of
" famous sspet-lamb case" between the gr
es American deer-stalker, w. L. Wilma
IN who controls Highland game prese
,e of over two hundred and fifty thous.
I'd acres and the shoemaker of Kintail.
o shoemaker's only lamb strayed from
/ highway; trespassed on the great ma
IN acres; was pounced upon and slaughte
or by game-keeper; and finally caused
in action at law that agitated the whole
o. Great Britain, and became the subject
be many an eloquent outburst in and out
an the House of Commons. The croft'
er home is often a sod hut with sod that
m More frequently it consists of four
of walls of apparently uncemented stor
ed with q thatch of straw, or fr-branc
n; and straw, held in its place by stones,
is chored from the caves by straw ror
to The structure usually encloses but ,
us room. There is a low, wide door, perh
les window or two, but in some cases onl
" aboal, - or square aperture for admit
mt light and air, will be found. A bunk
DIS swers for a bed for the old folks.
he children are disposed of in the loft.
= few rude benches, or square blocks
he stone near the fireplace, answer for Sc
las A spinning wheel, here and there ha
NJ loom. more or less fishing gear, some i