The Royal Society of Edinburgh Henry Duncan Prize Lecture: The Highlands: Scotlands Great Success Story By James

Hunter (Director, UHI Centre for History) Monday 3 September 2007 Summary In 1979, I met an elderly crofter in Sutherland, devoted to Gaelic. I assumed hed be voting for Scottish home rule, but he was unalterably against it. Why? I asked. Well, he said, in London they might not give a damn about Highlanders. But in Edinburgh they hate us. Once Highlanders were hated here in Edinburgh. But its time we all began to think of the Highlands & Islands in a new way as a place of great achievement, enterprise, initiative and growth. A place to be proud of Poverty & Disasters To make an inventory of everything in your home would probably take many hours. But in 1844, for a royal commission which visited Skye, it took only minutes. For example, a crofter called Murdo MacLeod: Has one half of a croft. Four children. No stock of any kind. One bedstead with straw and very poor bedding. A little bit of something like an old horserug. One course earthenware dish, one half of a plate. No furniture Two of the children nearly naked. Two years later, things got even worse, when the potato blight destroyed the crop that people like Murdo relied on. In 1847, a Lowland clergyman described a crowd of people scavenging for shellfish, between North Uist and Benbecula: I never witnessed such countenances starvation on many faces the children with their melancholy looks, big-looking knees, shrivelled legs, hollow eyes, swollen bellies And like an Oxfam appeal today, sums worth millions of pounds at present-day values were raised in this city for famine relief not for Africa but the Highlands & Islands. Another age, another world yet not so remote. My own great-grandfather was born in 1815 near Strontian, and in the 1950s, I heard tales of the early nineteenth-century, when hunger, clearance and the like were everyday matters of fact. And today, I find it almost miraculous that prosperity is at last arriving in places where my great-grandfathers family lived in a home smaller than my sitting room. Much of this dramatic change has happened in my lifetime. The 1950s and the 1960s may have been capitalisms golden years, but the Highlanders did very badly. Most young people were encouraged to believe that, to get on in life, it was best to get out. And so it had been for generations: 1773: Stornoway. On a single day, 700-800 people (10% of the islands population), set sail for America. 1923: Stornoway. One day, exactly 150 years later, 260 people sailed for Canada, average age 22. In the 1980s, we thought: We might have scenery, but no worthwhile economy. We might have had a stirring past, but certainly no future. But this view is now out of date. Today, the Highlands & Islands are no longer a disaster area. Theyre Scotlands great success story. Gigha and beyond In 2001, the island of Gigha was put up for sale by the last private owner, Derek Holt, who owned almost everything on the increasingly run-down estate with 30 homes below the officially tolerable standard and most of the rest in serious disrepair. The asking price was just below 4 million, but only 14 residents voted to make an offer. But in ensuing weeks, opinion shifted, and in March 2002, backed by the Scottish Land Fund and Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Gigha came under the ownership of the Isle of Gigha Heritage Trust. But buying Gigha was the easy part. Within two years, the Trust had to repay a loan of 1 million. Since then, 30 houses have been or are being refurbished, plus 23 new homes, a hotel and a wind farm, 10 new businesses and 16 new jobs. And the population is up by over 50%. In addition to 370,000 acres going into community ownership in other areas, there are many other northern successes in sectors like life sciences and renewable energy, as well as food, whisky and jewellery. The arts are also thriving, unemployment is well below national figures, the population is increasing, and passenger numbers in Inverness Airport have doubled since1999. The University of the Highlands & Islands has 7,000 students, plus 100 more at Sabhal Mr Ostaig, learning in Gaelic.

Opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the RSE, nor of its Fellows 1

New perspectives In the past, we focused on problems like clearance and famine. But now we all need fresh perspectives social scientists, policy-makers, the media and historians. Thats why I welcome the RSEs decision that current developments in the Highlands & Islands will be one of its key themes in coming years, looking to: Engage with people central to the transformation in the north; Celebrate this transformation; Account for it, and learn lessons relevant to other parts of Scotland.

Taking this forward will necessitate debate. It may be desperately unfashionable, but I believe that government involvement made renewal possible, like land reform, large-scale investment in infrastructure (1890s), the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board (1943) and the Highlands & Islands Development Board (1965). Many of those measures were anything but instantly effective. But land reform did create wealth and boost population, and the Hydro Board did enable other developments. Even when the era of big government ended, some politicians were as interventionist as ever. Highlands and Islands Enterprise inherited the sweeping powers of the HIDB, and the Tories also launched the Convention of the Highlands and Islands. More recently, post-devolution governments have behaved in much the same pro-Highland fashion, including moving the SNH to Inverness, plus more land reform. So, if so many experts were so hostile, why have such policies prevailed? As the late Willie Ross said: For 200 years, the Highlander has been the man on Scotlands conscience. Despite what revisionist historians say, the Highlands were dealt the rawest of raw deals. And its hard to avoid the conclusion that Highlanders have suffered more from anti-Highland thinking here in Edinburgh than London. Self-governing principalities like the Lordship of the Isles were swallowed up by an imperialist Scottish state, which argued that its mission was to bring enlightenment and progress to a barbaric people whose Gaelic culture merited nothing but contempt. This was inevitably followed by romancing the now safely neutered enemy e.g. the once-detested tartan became the national dress. In addition, Highland misfortunes were frequently blamed on the Highlands own failings and culture, leading to low self-esteem and thus a lack of enterprise. Renewal needs more than new factories and subsidies. It also means restoring self-esteem. Thats why we need ventures beyond economics, like Sabhal Mr Ostaig, Gaelic playgroups, festivals, etc., which encourage folk to take pride in their background. Its equally critical to overturn the old notion that nobody can live on scenery, because our environment is actually an asset of very great value. Internationally, the most exciting enterprises are increasingly located in areas where people can earn a good living and have easy access to new infocomms technologies as well as the great outdoors. So why not the Highlands and Islands? New centres Former Labour minister Brian Wilson recalls how the late Donald Dewar visited Brians mother-in-law in Uig on Lewis the last home this side of Newfoundland. Dewar said: Youre very remote here. And she replied, in genuine puzzlement, Remote from what? The Book of Kells also subverts the way most of us think about the world. It was created nearly 1,500 years ago on Iona then an international centre of learning. What marginalised the Highlands was not geography but how they were governed, and this is beginning to reverse almost literally turning Scotland upside down. English historian Thomas Macaulay (grandson of a Highlander), famously imagined a future traveller from New Zealand [who] shall, in the midst of a vast solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St Pauls. I dont say that another New Zealander, on his way to some future metropolis in the Highlands (e.g. Inverness), will pause on a deserted Mound to sketch the broken-down remains of Princes Street. But st theres no reason why, in the 21 century, Scotland shouldnt have new centres economic, cultural and otherwise to rival Edinburgh and Glasgow. New centres in the north. James Hunter September 3, 2007

Opinions expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the RSE, nor of its Fellows 2