A crofting township at Hougharry, North Uist

A crofting township at Hougharry, North Uist

ID: QZP99_93134_07_09 DESCRIPTION: The crofting township of Hougharry on the west coast of North Uist. Crofts are not houses but small holdings. The system of crofting as we know it today began to take shape as a result of the Highland Clearances. A crofting township was made up of several families who worked the same croft land. Land was allocated by a 'run-rig' system which meant that each crofter was given strips of land. These strips were reallocated annually to ensure that the good and the bad land was shared equally. This system did not encourage improvement of the soil and was replaced by a 'lot' system where each crofter was given his own individual lot of land. The lots were kept deliberately small by landlords so that the tenants would be forced to take on additional work for the landlord. Conditions for crofters deteriorated and eventually the Napier Commission was set up to investigate which resulted in the passing of the 1886 Crofter's Act. This act provided security of tenure for crofters and conditions in crofting townships improved. As well as an individual piece of land each crofter in a township was entitled to use of common grazings for their livestock. This image comes from a collection gifted to Edinburgh Central Library by Dr Isabel F. Grant. The collection includes photographs taken by a number of different photographers. PLACENAME: Hougharry DISTRICT: North Uist OLD COUNTY/PARISH: INVERNESS: North Uist SOURCE: Edinburgh and Scottish Collection, Edinburgh Central Library COLLECTION: I F Grant Photographic Archive Asset ID: 38469 KEYWORDS: