The Lowland Clearances

[Rob Wright]

Clearances in the lowlands go even further back. After the Union of Crowns, many of the border reiver families such as the Grahams and Armstrongs were deported en masse to remove the lawless elements from the old border region between Scotland and England.

Rob

[Phil]

Clearances in the lowlands go even further back. After the Union of Crowns, many of the border reiver families such as the Grahams and Armstrongs were deported en masse to remove the lawless elements from the old border region between Scotland and England.

The borders were a different case altogether. The people there had lived a precarious existence for generations as opposing armies from Scotland and England waged war back and forth across their lands, destroying everything as they passed. The result was that they resorted to reiving (that's where bereaved originates) both English on Scots and vice-versa as the only way to support their families. James VI and I put an end to it by deporting many of them to Ireland and the colonies where their reiving skills were put to good account but it was not the type of economic clearance seen in the following two centuries.

[Rob Wright]

The borders were a different case altogether. The people there had lived a precarious existence for generations as opposing armies from Scotland and England waged war back and forth across their lands, destroying everything as they passed. The result was that they resorted to reiving (that's where bereaved originates) both English on Scots and vice-versa as the only way to support their families. James VI and I put an end to it by deporting many of them to Ireland and the colonies where their reiving skills were put to good account but it was not the type of economic clearance seen in the following two centuries.

While not completely similar, economics were a factor in the border clearances, the border clearances can be seen as a precursor of the large scale displacement that came in the centuries after.


Rob

[Phil]

While not completely similar, economics were a factor in the border clearances, the border clearances can be seen as a precursor of the large scale displacement that came in the centuries after.


Rob

The only economics involved was who was stealing from whom. The troublesome border clans were a political issue addressed by James when he took over in London as part of the unification of his kingdom. The "borders" were re-named the "middle shires" and the troublemakers ruthlessly suppressed to bring peace to the area.