Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886

During the Highland Clearances, the crofters had no rights to the land. Until 1886, it was legal to evict any crofter at the landlord's convenience. The Land Wars commenced in Scotland in 1874 with the successful legal case of the Bernera Riot on the island of Great Bernera in the Outer Hebrides. The crofters wanted recognition of their traditional rights to the land that they had enjoyed under the clan system from the Middle Ages. Through political and economic development the gentry began to take an alternate perspective on their tenantry, The cultural force of '''' [heritage] was pervasive in Gaeldom and was central to the social cohesion of the clan because it articulated the expectations of the masses that the ruling family had the responsibility to act as their protectors and guarantee secure possession of land in return for allegiance, military service, tribute and rental. It was a powerful and enduring belief which lived on long after the military rationale of clanship itself had disappeared and tribal chiefs had shed their ancient responsibilities and become commercial landlords. Land agitation in Scotland began because of the "Home Rule" movement in Ireland and information and opinions of this movement brought by fishermen to the Outer Hebrides. Believing that they were the rightful owners of the land, crofters used rent strikes and what came to be known as land raids: crofter occupations of land to which crofters believed they should have access to for common grazing or for new crofts but which landlords had given over to sheep farming and hunting parks (called deer forests). The strife grew more intense; the landlords hired warships for protection from the crofters. From time to time there were uprisings and riots. In the Representation of the People Act 1884 suffrage was extended to men owning land worth at least £10 or paying £10 in rent annually. This included many Highland crofters. The crofters wanted legal rights and the '''' (Highland Land Law Reform Association) was established in 1885 in London. The Crofters' Party was established and elected five MPs in 1885. '''' ("The people are stronger than the lord.") was their best-known slogan. The government feared that the "Home Rule" movement would spread to the (Gaelic-speaking areas in Scotland) from Ireland. The Napier Commission interviewed crofters all over the and made careful study of the crofters' position, publishing its report in 1884. William Gladstone tried to pass a new law granting crofters more rights, but it was voted down in May 1885. Gladstone left his post in 1885 but the other parties created a new government. Gladstone returned to power in January 1886 and the act was finally passed 25 June 1886. ==The Act==

For the first time in Scottish history, the Crofting Act of 1886 affirmed the rights of crofters to their land. It also granted a legal status to crofting towns. The Act dealt with the following points especially: • It gave security of tenure to the crofters, as long as they worked the croft and paid the rent. • Crofters had the right to pass down their croft to their descendants. • Crofters had the right to be paid for land improvements, such as erecting fences and drainage • A standard of reasonable rent was established and required. • The first Crofters' Commission was established. • Crofters had the opportunity to reassess the rent with the Crofters' Commission. The Act specified eight counties of Scotland as counties where parishes might be recognised as crofting parishes: Argyll, Caithness, Cromarty, Inverness, Orkney, Ross, Shetland, and Sutherland. Within these counties a crofting parish was a parish where there were year-by-year tenants of land (tenants without leases) who were paying less than £30 a year in rent and who had possessed effective common grazing rights during the 80 years since 24 June 1806. The Crofters' Commission also was in charge of establishing fair rent and reevaluating rents every seven years. If crofters believed that the rent was too high they had the opportunity to go to the commission. Quite often the rents were lowered or even removed, if the crofters had already been paying too much. The commission had the power to reform the Act and establish other Acts, as well as grant green land to crofters in order to enlarge small crofts. ==Results==

There were different opinions about the Act. On the one hand crofters complained that the Act did not go far enough, because they were not granted automatic right to fertile land for expansion of their small crofts. Worse, the Act did not delineate the position of cotters, who had never had land. After a while, they saw that the commission was willing to protect their rights, especially with regard to rent security. Unfortunately, the commission was underfunded and there was not enough land to distribute to crofters. The Act did not resolve the greatest complaint of the crofters, that the land should be returned to them. There was no resolution of the issue where landlords and crofters wanted the same piece of land. For this reason, warships were sent to the Isle of Skye and Tiree. In the years after the Act, ' (now called ', "the Land League") and the Crofters' Party the political influence that they had had, because they could not agree on the issue of land and how far to follow the "Home Rule" movement in Ireland on the issue of land ownership. This opinion was raised again in the Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 in which crofters gained the legal right to purchase their land for fifteen years' rent. However, by owning their own land, crofters lost the right to CCAGS (Crofting Counties Agricultural Grant Scheme). In the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003 the right of purchase was given to community organizations even against the will of landowners, to advance social and economic development. The Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 granted equality between tenants and landowners, especially with regard to grants and obligations and clarified the details of residency requirements. Now, tenants or owners must live within of the croft. Crofts not in use may be granted to new tenants. Looking back in history, Hunter believes that the Act established an old-fashioned order, with a place for the tenantry quite different than as in Ireland where crofters could buy their land under "Home Rule" acts. The Act was neither effective in the development of crofting communities nor did it encompass the political and social beliefs of those communities. But according to Wightman, the Act paved the road to further land development in Scotland, although it did not affect areas outside the . Wightman also stated that the "land question" has yet to be resolved, as two-thirds of Scotland's land area is still owned by only 1,252 landowners out of a population of 5 million. == Primary legislation since 1886 ==

There has been a steady flow of primary legislation on crofting, including: • Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886 • Crofters Holding (Scotland) Act 1887 • Crofters Commission (Delegation of Powers) Act 1888 • Crofters Common Grazings Regulation Act 1891 • Small Landholders (Scotland) Act 1911 • Crofters (Scotland) Act 1955 • Crofters (Scotland) Act 1961 • Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 1976 • Crofters (Scotland) Act 1993 • Transfer of Crofting Estates (Scotland) Act 1997 • Crofting Reform etc. Act 2007 • Crofting Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 • Crofting (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2013 This is summarised in David Findlay's Blog for the Law Society of Scotland. ==See also==