John A Love
One of the first detailed descriptions of the Highlands and Islands appeared in 1697 written by
Martin Martin, a tutor to the Macdonald and Macleod lairds in Skye. Although a Gaelic speaker, he wrote in English, for he was writing for a southern population who still considered anything north of the Highland line as a foreign country. Martin himself was moved to note how: ‘Foreigners sailing through the Western Isles have been tempted, from the sight of so many hills that seem to be covered all over with heath and faced with high rocks, to imagine the inhabitants, as well as their places of residence, are barbarous; and to this opinion, their habits as well as their language have contributed.’
The aftermath of the Battle of Culloden in 1746 not only brought about the suppression of Highland dress but Martin’s own native Gaelic tongue, while the authorities strived to make the Highlands more accessible for future troop movement. William Roy from Carluke, was a surveyor based in Fort Augustus after Culloden, whose detailed maps enabled a network roads and bridges to be established, thus facilitating a stronger army presence in the Highlands. Roy went on to establish the Ordnance Survey in 1791 but his maps are not just a historical portrait of the early Highlands but provide a crucial baseline for all future land use surveys, still employing theodilites little changed from his day all the way up to modern GPS and satellite imagery.
The Highlands were still reeling from the repercussion of rebellion when Southern Britain was in the grip of the Industrial Revolution. More and more people were attracted from the country into towns and cities in pursuit of employment. In this urban setting the general populace quickly became detached from their rural roots, remote from the natural world around them while other, more privileged, folk developed an intense curiosity in nature and in remote unfamiliar places.
