Movement within Scotland

Movement within Scotland

Introduction • Migration is the movement of people within a country.

• In Scotland between 1830 and 1930 this internal migration saw a shift from the poorer rural areas to a life with more possibilities in the increasingly industrialised urban areas. • It is believed that this movement arose as these rural areas saw a great deal of deprivation and urban areas appeared to offer opportunities for employment in factories and industry.

Life in the Lowlands of Scotland • Rapid population growth in the Lowlands was a cause for concern as a result of the Industrial Revolution. • Concern existed at the time that, if the population continued to rise in vast numbers in areas with fewer farms, a severe famine would occur. • Farming methods were altered and additional labour was hired, thus moving some of the agricultural workers.

• Consequently, agricultural land underwent a change. Land was divided into medium- and large-sized estates and then carved up into individual farms, employing up to six men – a shift away from tenant farmers. • (During harvest time additional labourers were employed – chiefly Irish immigrants.) • In conclusion, fewer labourers were required so people sought work in nearby towns, thus adding to the declining rural population.

Lowlands (continued) • After 1840, the population in the rural areas continued to decline at a rapid rate as a consequence of greater efficiency. • Farming saw a rise in labour-saving equipment such as the self-binding reaper and the potato digger. • Furthermore, wage levels in the industrial sector were far higher than in agriculture, often as high as 50 per cent more.

• The allure of living in towns was also a feature of this increased urbanisation. • Between 1861 and 1891, rural employment in the Lowlands fell by around a third.

• This pattern continued into the 20th century and by 1914 only 14 per cent of males were employed in agriculture.

A shift from the Highlands • Many historians have claimed that the movement away from the Highlands came as a result of industrialisation and the desire to gain one of the many opportunities and improve their standards of living. • Up-to-date research has revealed this is not a true reflection of events. This theory is applicable to the south-east Highlands. There was a great variety of shift patterns at this time. There was little movement from the islands and the north-west.

South and east Highlands • Decline in farm labour saw a shift towards fishing villages and towns.

• This was insufficient to absorb the excess labour, and thus some were drawn to the urban areas in the Central Belt. • Some remained behind, almost destitute as a consequence of being poorly educated.

The north and the Islands • The north and the Islands depended on the land, namely the potato, as a means of survival. • A shift came in the 1850s when there was a temporary migration. • Statistics: – It was estimated that in the 1850s a half to two-thirds of the income of the inhabitants of Skye came from agricultural work in the Lowlands. – In the 1870s, the herring industry drew in migrants with as many as 5000 men and women arriving in the fishing ports of Caithness and Aberdeenshire during the catching season.

• By 1891 three out of four of the population depended directly or indirectly on fishing alone or on a combination of fishing and crofting. • This area managed to survive as a consequence of temporary migration bringing back money and provisions to the family and wider community. • After the First World War a irreversible trend began. These areas lost a quarter of their overall population. This could be to do with their role in the First World War, the lack of temporary labour required as well as a severe depression in the 1920s and 1930s. • These groups tended to settle in and around the major cities of Glasgow .