At first, the clan Chiefs decided to increase the available workforce on their land, to develop the booming kelp industry. Kelp was used to produce soaps and other consumer products. Many leading Chiefs, for example, MacDonald of Sleat encouraged larger families and the lands subdivision amongst their children, so that family farms could no longer sustain those living on them; it is hoped then more cheap labor would be available, as the ‘landless’ would relocate to the coast to help with the kelp industry.

Unfortunately, the kelp industry collapsed in 1822 when less expensive substitutes from Spain became available, and the sheep was the new way for wealthy landlords to make profits. The Highlands became an immense sheep farm, and many subsistence farmers who had inhabited the land for a millennium now stood in the new way for ‘progress’. Many were forcibly evicted from the most fertile and best farming land to the sheep grazing areas, and had to resettle on rocky and barren coastal strips where growing enough crop to survive was daunting.

Famine became widespread, particularly following the potato blights in 1845. For them voluntary emigration could be the only way out; thousands of farmers boarded ships to begin a new life in Canada or America each year, many of them dying en route due to epidemic on the crowded ships. Many villages were torched and their inhabitants were forced to leave the Isle with virtually no preparation or possessions. By the late 19th century, crofters began to fight back after inspired by the Ireland Land Struggle.

For those who wish to see the site of a forced clearance, the Suisnish-Boreraig walk is especially recommended. In this trip, you will visit a couple of villages cleared in 1853; while the old ruins in Boreraig remains a haunting spot. Other remnants of cleared villages can still be found in Lorgill, cleared in 1830, which you can visit on the Ramasaig-Orbost walk.

Many tales about the clearances have been passed down through the generations and are still remembered until now, both by people in Isle of Skye and by descendants of emigrants in the new world.