Dr. James Coull
Scottish Studies, 7, (1963).
Although the problem facing the community in this corner of the Highlands in the nineteenth century was largely that of insufficient land, it was not this alone which ultimately led to the disintegration of the old way of life; the change involved had many components, and the Melness district shows several variations from the general Highland trend.
Thus in Tongue parish, population almost doubled in the period 1755 to 1831 (Fig. 2); by the late eighteenth century, seasonal migration to work on the Lowland harvests had begun (O.S.A. 1792: 529), and by the middle of the nineteenth century the landlord was aiding emigration to Canada (St. John 1884: 80); and contacts with the outside world were also being increased by the summer migration to the East Coast fishing. Census figures suggest that the crash which followed the Potato Famines here was less severe than in most of the West Highlands, for the population remained steady in Tongue parish from 1831 to 1871 (Fig. 2) and only after this did the decline begin which is still unchecked to-day.
Seasonal and permanent migration were attempts to adjust to the new economic conditions of the nineteenth century, but there were also efforts to adjust internally. These consisted in part of fishing and rearing the new sheep breeds already discussed; in addition quarrying of slate and flagstone was active at Port Vasgo in 1792 (O.S.A. 1792: 518), and also later at Midtown, but this had been virtually discontinued by 1840 (N.S.A. 1845: 179), having proved uneconomic. Some was made in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries (about 20 to 30 tons per year), but it collapsed in the 1820's and none was made after 1832 (N.S.A. 1845: 180 ).
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