This type of woodland, which consisted mostly of Scots pine, rowan, birch oak and Juniper, one covered huge areas in Scotland. Typical Highland Cottage The Caledonian Forest The Highlands remain very scarcely populated. The results of the clearances are still visible today if you drive through the empty Glens in the Highlands and most people still live in villages and towns near the coast. Nowadays there are more descendants from the Highlanders living outside Scotland than there are inside. These were hard times and many Highlanders tried their luck elsewhere and migrated to the US, Canada and Australia. ![]() Later big infrastructural works such as the Caledonian Canal provided some relief. The people were sometimes literally driven towards the sea where they built small settlements and lived from fishing, the kelp industry and farming. ![]() These Highland Clearances as they were called, were sometimes performed with great force and resulted in mass evictions as well as mass emigrations. Landowners found out they could make more money with sheep grazing on the hills and the population, mostly poor crofters with small patches of farmland, had to make way. Not long after the clan battles were over and the wars with the English were fought the Highlands became silent, and empty. Scottish Highlands – Isle of Skye Highland Clearances After orders received from the Secretary of State for Scotland, John Dalrymple of Stair, the soldiers turned against their hosts in the middle of the night, killing 37 men and more than 40 women and children and destroyed their homes. A good example is the massacre of Glen Coe in 1692 when the Scottish Captain Robert Campbell and his soldiers enjoyed the hospitality of the MacDonalds in Glen Coe. There are also darker sides to the history of the Highlands and one of them is the “Highlands of the clans” with their chieftains, the battles, the massacre’s and the bloodsheds, portrayed in history books and later turned into movies we all know such as William Wallace and Rob Roy McGregor. ![]() The Highlands, and its castles in particular, are often chosen as wedding venue due to their romantic nature. Sunny spells and dark shadows move over the hills and the white snow capped mountains in winter give the Highlands a sparkling touch. One moment you see the hills, the next they are gone. Due to the ever and fast changing weather the Highlands have a mystical touch. This is not at all strange given the stunning unspoilt nature with rugged mountains, deep blue lochs and empty glens where majestic Red Deer rule the hills and Eagles rule the skies. The Highlands are often portrayed as a romantic part of Scotland. ![]() In a way this line still exists and there are still differences between Highland and Lowland culture and language although most Gaelic speakers are nowadays confined to the islands in the west with a Gaelic stronghold in the Outer Hebrides. The dividing line was everything west from the Great Glen (Inverness to Loch Linnhe and the islands) and roughly 50 miles of land east of the Great Glen. In earlier times the Highland region was dominated by the Gaels and their Gaelic language and culture while the lowlands were Scottish.
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