The Runrig farming system was once common system of land tenure across Scotland, especially in the Highlands. It was a fair system that sustained large populations in an adverse climate. So why did it end?
By James McKean
Runrig, sometimes referred to as rig-a-rendal, was a form of rotational land tenure that once dominated farmlands in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, from the late-medieval period to the Highland Clearances of the 18
th and 19
th centuries. Its rotational aspect allowed for each member of minor settlements and townships to get a shot at the best land available, instead of one farmer having continual use of the best, or most fruitful soil, while another was forced to work upon unfertile land.
Prior to the Highland Clearances, the Scottish farms were split up into small, 100-acre lands, which were divided up between the tenants, or the population of the small township that relied on the farm’s produce. Runrig was a fair system suited to the people of the Highlands, and certainly worked for a long time – so why did it stop, and what consequences did its gradual decline and replacement have on the farmers of Scotland?
What was the runrig system?
The exact origins of the runrig system are unknown, with evidence of its usage dating back to as early as the 14th century. Although generally considered a successful way to share the land, what defined a runrig system differed greatly from farm to farm, mainly apropos to the dividing of the workload, and the methods of ploughing implemented.
Essentially, a standard runrig system involved two elements: the ‘rigs’ which were fertile strips of land -on average, about 20 feet wide – and the ‘runs’ which were strips of unfertile land – the assignment of ‘rigs’ and ‘runs’ alternated every year, so that all fertile strips had lain fallow for a season prior to being used.
The farm tenants – who, at this time, consisted of roughly 6-8 farmers – were each allocated their own strips of fertile land each season. The strips they were allocated were were often scattered throughout the field at the benefit of the farmer, so to avoid contiguous strips, and so that each farmer got a mix of both sun-heavy strips and areas that were mostly shadowed. The strips allocated would also be reassigned each year, so that each farmer had a season with the best land, and each farmer had a season with the worst land.
Some farms stuck by the strict principle of giving everyone an equal share, others did not. A rental report from Roxburghshire, dated 1701, conveys the disparities in land division:
‘William Robison pays for a Quarter & halfe a Quarter
Robert Brewhouse pays for a Quarter
John Turner for halfe a Quarter
James Waddell pays for a Quarter’
Which suggests that although the runrig system looks good one paper, some farmers were cheated out of land.
The Scottish Agricultural Revolution
The union of Scotland and England in 1707 spelled the begging of the end of runrig-based farming in Scotland, as an earnest effort was made to modernise agriculture in both the lowlands and the highlands. In the previous centuries, the country had been bereft of appropriate roads for the transportation of goods through the country, so typical diet was limited to whatever could be grown on the farm – thus, during this time, runrig-based farming systems made complete sense.
However, at the advent of the building of roads, and the introduction of new farming methods and techniques, such as crop rotation, sowing, and drilling, and new grains being introduced such as clover and rye grass, runrig-styled farming faced a stark decline in the lowlands, in what became known as the ‘Scottish Agricultural Revolution’. Small, former runrig farms were joined to form bigger enclosures in order to conduct large scale farming; notably, the Borders became notable for sheep farming, the Lothians for grain, and Ayrshire for cattle breeding.
The Highland Clearances
The effect of the so called ‘Agricultural Revolution’ extended to the Highlands in the latter period of the 18
th century, as the Dukes of Sutherland, Buccleuch, Argyll, and Atholl looked to profit off the rich farmlands of the north. The tenants of the runrig farms were evicted and their lands were turned into enclosures, mainly for the farming of sheep. The Highland Clearances reached Skye in 1811, and North Uist in 1814. By the 1840s, Scotland was, besides some areas in the Outer Hebrides, totally bereft of runrig farms – the system that had, for centuries, defined the Highlander’s way of life.
What societal changes did that bring?
The Highland Clearances proved to cause long-term trauma for the Gaelic communities who were essentially uprooted from their ancestral homes, where they too had intended to live out their lives. Having only known how to farm – and even then, only runrig-based farming – the victims of the Highland Clearances were totally displaced, with no real chance of finding work in the post-Agricultural Revolution Scotland.
New Highland townships and settlements were formed in the face of the uptake in homelessness in the area, including Ullapool, Dufftown, and Grantown-on-Spey.
Some emigrated to the cities in the hope of finding new industrial work, while others emigrated abroad; 1792 became known as ‘the Year of the Sheep’, when many Gaelic-speaking communities’ mass-migrated to New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and America. Many migrants never had any say in the matter, as forced emigration became normalised, and was, in the eyes of the social class, the only way to solve the growing social ills that had been caused by the Highland Clearances. It is estimated that 10,000 were forced to emigrate to Canada, while 5000 were sent to Australia.
The Recovery Efforts
Steve Hickman is a dive technician and amateur diver, and a regular at the site of the Wallachia. Since the 1980’s he has been braving the depths and exploring the near-impenetrable visibility of the silt-filled holds. Using only a small, netted bag, his recoveries that he has brought to the surface include whisky, gin and beer.
But the real game-changer has only appeared recently. Despite the cold, dark conditions that make it so ideal for preserving yeast and other bacteria, many items from the depths are damaged, meaning that the original states have not always been maintained. Even under perfect conditions, many bottles have a tendency to explode when brought to the surface due to changing pressures.
Recently, however, a team from Brewlab and the University of Sunderland have managed to extract liquid yeast from some samples retrieved from the depths.
And they resemble nothing of the beers of today.
The New (or Ancient) Kind of Yeast
Even the most fervent alcohol aficionado could be forgiven for not understanding the complexities of brewing, so bear with us as we dive right in.
The Battle of Culloden
The most prevalent reason for the rise of alias names in Scotland, on the other hand, had a lot more to do with evading persecution by the British government.
Following the final defeat of the Jacobite cause at the Battle of Culloden in 1745, highland clans were prosecuted, and many Gaelic last names were essentially blacklisted in the eyes of the British government through former association to the Jacobite cause.
A series of acts, which included the outright banning of tartan, were imposed in the Highlands which were essentially aimed at vanquishing Scottish culture altogether. Gaelic had originally been outlawed in 1616 but was enforced a whole lot harder following the defeat of the Jacobite movement.
It was in this era of repression of Scottish culture that many Scottish clans adopted alias surnames to distance themselves from the Jacobite cause and avoid punishment at the hands of the British government.
Luckily for some clans, there were direct Anglicised versions of their Gaelic surname. For example, MacGhilledhuinn became Brown/Broun. Other times, seemingly unrelated English surnames replaced Gaelic ones, for example, Mac na Ceardaich commonly became Sinclair for a lot of clansmen.
Phonetic rendering was also implemented for the likes of such surnames as McKay and Davidson, which were both phonetic renderings of the Gaelic name MacDhabhaidh, which translates to son of David.
Although the Anglican replacements became the official title for many, the remained as merely an ‘alias’ to many, who still referred to themselves in their Gaelic title when in safe company.
Rob Roy MacGregor
Scottish folk hero Rob Roy MacGregor was a noteworthy early documented user of alias names in Scotland. Following the the outlawing of the Gaelic language in 1603, many Scottish clans either adopted a moniker or alias. Rob Roy was often referred to as Robert Campbell, however his son, Duncan Macgregor, opted instead to become Duncan Drummond.
The reason for this was that the Gaelic clans took refuge under the surnames of their next of kin, or otherwise, another clan altogether. Many MacGregors at the time had adopted the names Drummond, Buchanan, Campbell, and Graham.
Conclusion
Although research into aliases in Scottish genealogy continues today, historians are far off uncovering all the intricate connections between seemingly unrelated surnames. For that reason, it may be impossible for some to ever trace their Scottish ancestry past the battle of Culloden. 
The History of Shebeens on Scotland
The Old Town in Glasgow had a rather notorious reputation for Shebeens. The North British Daily Mail published a report labelled ‘The Dark Side of Glasgow’ claiming that in the Old Town alone, there were over 200 brothels and 150 shebeens. Although it’s best to take anything from that publication with a pinch of salt.
Accurate numbers were of course impossible. After all, these establishments were designed to be a secret, or at the very least the knowledge was kept within small drinking circles. But drinking at these shebeens didn’t necessarily mean good whisky and company.
World War Two brought dark times to Scotland. Not just for the sacrifices made by Scotland’s sons during the war effort, but also for the lack of whisky throughout the land! This era brought a low point to all drinking premises in Scotland, but most of all to the shebeens which prided themselves on cheap alcohol – leading to years of drinking Australian wine!
No, probably not a bold Shiraz, or vibrant Cabernet Sauvignon, but the worst of the worst. As was the custom, they mixed with various methylated spirits known as ‘Red Biddy’ or ‘Jake’.
It’s a miracle we didn’t have a generation gone blind from drinking in these shebeens.
What ingredients are they using?
The ethos of many of the new-age vodka distilleries in Scotland is to re-establish in the public’s eye what makes a vodka; vodka, taken for granted by many, is often disregarded as lacking in variety, flavour, substance, and is oftentimes drowned heavily with mixer, taken as a shot, or considered to be merely the alcoholic element of a cocktail – but never enjoyed simply for taste.
The key players in the Scottish craft vodka scene have been looking to, of course, put taste first, but also experiment with a variety of different ingredients during the fermentation process, in order to give the spirit a new flavoursome edge.
The Arbikie Highland Estate Distillery opened in 2013 and, prior to experimenting with vodka, found a name for themselves with their popular craft gin, Kirsty’s Gin. They started off with a traditional potato-based vodka, but later introduced their unique Haar Wheat Vodka in late 2017. Made from Zulu wheat- grown and harvested onsite – this vodka is described as being smooth with pastry and caramel notes.
The Strathleven Distillers, on the other hand, have given a distinctly Scottish characteristic to their product, the Valt Single Malt Vodka. Like single malt whiskeys, this vodka is distilled exclusively using single malt barley, giving the spirit a richness, and making it totally unique from all other vodkas in the world!
Ogilvy’s Scottish Potato Vodka have put a unique spin on the traditional vodka recipe, by using only wonky potatoes that have been rejected by supermarkets. Whether or not this potato selection adds any additional flavour to the vodka, it certainly helps with food waste surplus. Nonetheless, this vodka is described as having earthy, fruity, and creamy notes.
Brewdog’s Lone Wolf Vodka focuses less on ingredients and more on the distilling process itself, filtering the spirit only once, and by purportedly using the biggest still in the whole of Europe! The end product is described as being sweet and spicy, and is served with ice.
To which markets are they selling?
Given how easily the rest of the world caught on to Scotland’s craft beer and gin produce, it won’t be long before many of the country’s craft vodka offerings are available further afield- and some already are!
In the summer of 2020, Arbikie signed a deal with a Canadian drinks company, allowing for the Scottish firm’s vodka to be sold in Canadian supermarkets!
This deal is indicative that the Scottish craft vodka scene is moving in the right direction, and, like the success of the country’s craft beer, will hopefully continue to grow notoriety on a global scale. 