Napier Commission. 

ROYAL COMMISSION ON THE CONDITION OF THE CROFTERS AND COTTARS IN THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS OF SCOTLAND [NAPIER COMMISSION, EVIDENCE AND REPORT]. 

Shannon, Ireland: Irish University Press, 1969 [1884]. 

Folio format (34cm), 5 Volumes (13.6kg/30lbs). quarter dark green goatskin, gilt. Volumes 21-25 of the “British Parliamentary Papers: Agriculture” issued by IUP:

 Report Volume (21): Report with Appendices : 1884 vii, 532pp. 2 folding maps.

Evidence Volume I (22) : Evidence taken by the Commission at Skye (Braes, Skeabost, Uig, Stenscholl (Staffin), Waternish, Broadford, Dunvegan, Glendale, Isle Ornsay, Portree, Bracadale and Raasay), Barra, Uist, Harris etc. (May, 1883). Examination of local individuals including crofters, fishermen, factors, managers, farmers, ministers.

Evidence Volume II (23): Direct continuation of volume I. Minutes of evidence taken at Harris, St. Kilda, Lewis (including Stornoway), Shetland, Unst, Orkney, Sutherland (June-July, 1883).

Evidence Volume III (24) : Evidence taken at Sutherland (continued), Ross-shire, Glenshiel, Inverness, Argyll, Caithness, Sutherland (July-October, 1883).

Evidence Volume III (25): Continuation of minutes of evidence volumes I - III. Evidence taken at Sutherland, Ross, Inverness, Lanark, Edinburgh, Argyll.

Some minor rubbing to leather. Some staining to the front text-block edge of the first volume. Otherwise fine. No previous names. 

A superbly produced facsimile using the finest materials. It has been written of it, “The Napier Commission report is arguably the most important body of writing in English to have issued from the Highlands and Islands in the last 200 years. We are still living with its political consequences.” (Highland author and historian Roger Hutchinson, West Highland Free Press, Isle of Skye, Scotland, 7 October, 2005, page 12).

The Commission was chaired by Francis Napier (10th Lord Napier; 1st Baron Ettrick) 1819 – 1898. A Diplomat and colonial administrator he joined the Diplomatic Service in 1840. He served in a succession of posts in Vienna, Constantinople, Naples, Washington and the Hague before being appointed British Ambassador in St Petersburg in 1860 and then in Berlin from 1864. In 1866 he was appointed as Governor of Madras and, faced with a serious famine, initiated a programme of irrigation to mitigate its effects. In 1872 he served briefly as Viceroy of India before retiring to Britain.

The 19th century was a period of turmoil and hardship for many people in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. The collapse of the kelp industry, the potato famine and periodic recessions formed the background to what is now known as the Highland Clearances when many agricultural tenants left or were forcibly removed from their land. The Napier Commission was appointed by Parliament in 1883 to inquire into conditions in the Highlands and Islands. Its recommendations formed the basis for the Crofters Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886. It introduced a unique form of land tenure, now known as crofting tenure. This gave crofters (agricultural tenants with smallholdings) in the crofting counties of Argyll, Inverness, Ross and Cromarty, Sutherland, Caithness, security of tenure for the first time.

The investigation was carried out in the localities concerned during 1883, and testimony was received from 775 witnesses. In their massive Report the Commissioners reported that the crofters and cottars... "in addition to the evils attached to an unproductive soil, high elevations, and a variable and boisterous climate, suffer from several causes of indigence, discouragement and irritation which are subject to remedial treatment. These may be enumerated as follows: undue contraction of the area of holdings; insecurity of tenure; want of compensation for improvements; defective communications; withdrawal of the soil in connection with the purposes of sport to these we may add... defects in education, defects in the machinery of justice and want of facilities for emigration." 

The Commission began its work in the Braes area of Skye where the first Witness, on May 8, 1883 was Angus Stewart, Crofter, Beinn-a-chorrain, Braes. The early work of the Commission was in areas where rent strikes and land raids were most prevalent. It took evidence from crofters, landlords and others, and it moved on to tour much of what is now regarded as the Highlands and Islands area. Among landlords interviewed were the Duke of Argyll, Lord Lovat, Joseph Peacock, Factor to the Duke of Sutherland and General FW Traill Burroughs of Orkney. Evidence from crofters exhibited remarkably consistent rhetoric, and there were accusations of coaching from the Highland Land League. Equally there were accusations that any crofter daring to give evidence risked being singled out for reprisals from landlords. Letters from emigrants also feature.

The evidence from Skye was typical of the complaints received from all the islands. The crofters complained that they had too little land, were over-charged for it and subjected to undue interference from factors and landlords who, for example, dictated what types of livestock they could keep. Poor harvests, the division of crofts and the loss of hill grazing to deer forests had contributed to an increase in poverty. The crofters requested security of tenure and deer-proof fencing. The lack of good roads and the burden of school rates were also mentioned. 

The appendices include a statement by MacLeod of MacLeod of Dunvegan Castle, Skye, alleging the... "circulating of communistic doctrines" (Report, pp. 24-28). The Report also said that the poor have difficulty in obtaining legal assistance and that the sheriff substitute should have local court experience and speak Gaelic. 

Many of the leaders of the “Crofters’ Movement” and of the Highland Land League, modelled on its Irish counterpart, gave evidence which is published verbatim, including that of the famous “Glendale Martyr” from Skye, John MacPherson.

[Ref: 1127] £1,200