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The background Although usually described as being part of the former county of Sutherland, in earlier times, and in the folk memory of the dwindling band of native Gaelic speakers, most of this region is Dùthaich Mhic Aoidh and Asainte. Dùthaich Mhic Aoidh is the Gaelic for the “Country of Mackay”, a reference to the dominant historical clan of the country north of Kylesku and still the most common surname. The region was also known to historians as Strathnaver, after the strath of the same name, where, incidentally the present office of North West Sutherland Council for Community Action is situated. Today, Dùthaich Mhic Aoidh is contained by the parishes of Eddrachilles, Durness, Tongue and Farr. South of Kylesku is rugged Asainte or Assynt, home of a sept of the clan MacLeod. The ruins of the MacLeods of Assynt stronghold, Ardvreck, can be seen on the shore of Loch Assynt. The other district served by NWSCCA is Lairg parish, historically and culturally part of Sutherland, now East Sutherland, or even "Central Sutherland". Lairg village is by far the largest village in the NWSCCA “area of benefit”. We are few For all that this is a vast tract of country, less than 5,000 people live here. Most — with the notable exception of Lairg — live close to the coast, where their forebears were moved at the time of "The Evictions" in the early nineteenth century. The evictions or Highland Clearances saw thousands of people sometimes forcibly removed by their homes by rapacious landlords anxious to profit from sheep farming. Today, Lairg, with around 1,000 inhabitants is by far the largest settlement. Lochinver and Melvich are less than half the size, while Kinlochbervie, Bettyhill, Tongue and Durness are still smaller. Except for Farr and Lairg, where the population continues to decline, the region has seen a small, but steady increase in population in recent years. The way of life Crofting and the crofting way of life are inextricably linked to life in most of North West Sutherland and all the settlements, with the notable exception of Lochinver, are based on crofting townships. Although in recent years a sizeable number of incomers have made their homes in the area, the majority of families have close links with the land in one way or another. Part and parcel of that way of life was until quite recently the Gaelic language. Even today, when the strident sound of commercial music is universally available, the music of the Gael remains popular, if not always in its purest forms. The teaching of the Gaelic language enjoys support among many parents and only a scarcity of qualified teachers and the absence of political will in faraway centres of power prevents a resurgence of the language. Tongue, once the seat of Mackay chiefs, boasts the only Gaelic-medium school in the North West. There is a rich poetic tradition, the highest peak of which is to be found in the Gaelic poetry and song of Rob Donn Mackay, the illiterate poet of Durness. Click here for a sound clip of a Rob Donn song There is also a strong music tradition that has found its way into music collections such as Captain Simon Fraser’s “Melodies Peculiar to the Highlands of Scotland“”, one of the great source books of Gaelic music. This is the country that gave its name to some of the greatest names masters of the bagpipe and played host to Donald Mòr MacCrimmon when he fled for his life from Kintail in the sixteenth century. Halladale crofter and piper, the late Johnnie Mackay, Trantlebeg, had a distinguished collection of his own compositions published in Ireland in 1984. The only museum, Strathnaver Museum, in Bettyhill, is a magnet for visitors anxious to revive their links with their ancestral homeland. It has Mackay and Rob Donn displays as well as displays about the Strathnaver clearances. History societies, or comunn eachdraidh, have been formed in Assynt, Scourie, Skerray, Strathy and Lairg, while two Gaelic development groups operate in the area. Gaelic festivals, or feisan, have been held in Melness and Lochinver, while the Caithness and Sutherland Provincial Mod visits Bettyhill and Lairg regularly. Kinlochbervie, thanks to its new high school, is now well placed to play host to the Mod. A significant change in education provision means that for the first time in perhaps sixty or more years, nearly all children of secondary school age now complete their schooling without having to stay away from home. Ullapool High School serves Assynt, and Scourie, Achfary, Kinlochbervie and Durness pupils attend the recently built Kinlochbervie High. Bettyhill’s Farr High looks after Tongue and Farr. Previously most children stayed in hostels or lodging on the east coast. The economy The white fishing ports of Lochinver and Kinlochbervie are among the most important in the country with regular landings by Scottish and foreign boats. The small, inshore fleet of creel boats is now as before in the hands of mainly crofter-fishermen, eking out a precarious living where the trawlers cannot reach. The Pentland Firth coast is particularly inhospital, with few natural harbours. Salmon and shellfish farming is carried out in relatively sheltered bays, lochs and kyles, mainly off Drumbeg, Scourie, Kinlochbervie, Laid and Tongue and is a very important employer. Salmon farming is mainly in the hands of large companies. Recently, its viability it has been threatened by the spread of disease thought to have come from Norway. The land is poor, breathtakingly beautiful and mostly in the ownership of absentee landlords. Some — the former DAFS Estate for example – is owned by the government while other estates, including the now famous North Assynt Estate, is owned by the crofting tenants. Next to Lewis, North West Sutherland has the highest proportion of land in crofting tenure. Returns from crofting and hill farming have been under great pressure in recent years and it remains to be seen how changes in agricultural support will change the way the land is used. Cattle have largely disappeared from the hills while sheep — usually the North Country Cheviots developed by arch evictor, Patrick Sellar — reign unchallenged on the hill, except by the ubiquitous Red Deer. As well as deer stalking, brown trout and salmon fishing are popular outdoor sports. Salmon numbers are critically low on some famous rivers, but recent restocking of trout lochs by such as the Assynt Crofters Trust is expected to bring benefits to that important branch of angling. Durness, Assynt, Scourie and Tongue are well developed tourist centres and tourism is a vital strand in the local economy. This is not surprising given the rugged, beautiful landscape with its ever-changing light. But the short season, damp climate, the increasingly high cost of petrol and the distance from centres of population, diminishes its attraction to a mass market. This may be as well, for the small population would find it difficult to manage large numbers of visitors. The small market that exists is for the discerning. The two secondary schools provide considerable employment, although public sector jobs are on the whole few and far between. No public offices of any size are located in the area. There is little other employment. Outside of tourism and fishing, businesses are usually very small, often family-run concerns. One exception is a pottery in Lochinver which exports all over the world. Another is a building concern n Durness which trains apprentices. Remote working and other computer-related businesses are an interesting development of the very recent past, with some flowering in the most unexpected places. Communicating It has been said — and it is true — that it is far easier to travel from the Highlands to the rest of the country than to other parts of the Highlands. This is particularly so of the islands, but also of North West Sutherland. The natural terrain means that roads are expensive to build. The failure to build a town in any part of the area, particularly near the centre (Durness), means that the natural drift of people is out of the area. This has led to political weakness. Only voluntary bodies provide any counterbalance, but that is not sufficient when set against the “forces of the centre” whether they be in Inverness, Golspie or Thurso. Perhaps better electronic communications will provide the answer and bring together a scattered people with much in common but divided by long distances and poor roads. |
