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The Isle of Eigg This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. The Isle of Eigg: Land Reform, People, and Power. By Daniel Rhys Morgan PhD The University of Edinburgh 1998 Abstract An historiographical analysis of the present political debates regarding land reform in Scotland provides the point of departure for a case study of the Isle ofEigg and the 1997 purchase of the island by the Isle ofEigg Heritage Trust. The case study details the island community's historical development and researches the building pressures that culminated in two successive campaigns for community ownership in 1992 and 1996-7. Through interviews, focus groups, and 3 years of regular visits to the island a comprehensive social history of Eigg is consequently compiled and analysed, within which, particular attention is given to the role of island proprietors and their problematic relationships with the resident community. Using a highly participative methodology of research, the author took an active role in the facilitation and promotion of the islanders' ideas for community ownership. This is detailed together with the participative management plan that resulted from planning workshops and exhaustive interviews with island households. The process of community empowerment is traced through the workshops, the drafting of the management plan and the unique partnership that was eventually formed between the islanders, the Highland Council, and the Scottish Wildlife Trust. This is followed by an 'insider's view' ofthe Isle ofEigg Appeal, which had as much impact on the island as it did in the national media. The most successful public appeal in the Highlands and Islands to date is also examined from a marketing perspective, that explains how indeed, 64 islanders managed to raise £1.6 m in just 8 months without mains electricity nor Lottery backing. Finally, the central lessons of the community's success are used to highlight the importance of community development in any future policies of land reform in Scotland. The conclusion thereby emphasises the importance of integrated planning, community participation, and appropriate packages of support in establishing similar community trust models of ownership. 2 To the islanders of Eigg, to my parents Philip and Eileen Morgan, and to Claire. 3 THE ISLE OF EIGG: LAND REFORM, PEOPLE AND POWER Table of Contents ABSTRACT 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 7 INTRODUCTION 8 CHAPTER ONE : FROM LORD OF ISLES TO THE LAIRD OF EIGG : OWNERSHIP OF A SCOTTISH ISLAND 18 1.1 INTRODUCTION- SETTING THE CASE STUIJY 19 1.2 GEOGRAPHY 22 1.3 CLIMATE AND ECOLOGY 24 1.4 1600 BC- 1600 AD: THE RISE OF CLAN SOCIETY 26 1.5 1600- 1827 :THE FALL OF CLAN SOCIETY 34 1.6 1827-1925: A SPORTING ESTATE WITH PRIVATE OWNERS 49 1.7 1925- 1975 : RUNCIMAN FAMILY VALUES 57 1.8 CONCLUSIONS 67 CHAPTER TWO : THE HISTORIOGRAPHICAL OUTLINES OF SCOTTISH LAND REFORM 69 2.1 INTRODUCTION 70 2.2 1880-1920: THREE STRANDS OF REFORM 71 2.3 1920-1970: REGIONAL PROBLEMS 79 2.4 1970-1980: CULTURAL REVIVAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS 84 2.5 1980-1992: CONSERVATION VALUES AND REGIONAL GROWTH 88 2.6 1992-1997: PARTNERSHIPS AND COMMUNITY 95 2.7 CONCLUSIONS 103 4 CHAPTER THREE : THE SCHELLENBERG YEARS : LAIRD, COMMUNITY, AND TRUST 107 3.1 INTRODUCTION 108 3.2 A CHANGING ISLAND COMMUNITY Ill 3.3 DIVISIONS ON EIGG 118 3.4 ORGANISING THE COMMUNITY 128 3.5 BREWING OPPOSITION TO SCHELLENBERG 131 3.6 THE ISLE OF EIGG TRUST 139 3.7 THE RETURNING LAIRD 147 3.8 CONCLUSIONS 157 CHAPTER FOUR: PARTICIPATION, PLANNING, AND THE ISLE OF EIGG HERITAGE TRUST 161 4.1 INTRODUCTION 162 4.2 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ON EIGG 165 4.3 THE MARUMA DIVERSION 177 4.4 BRIDGING THE GAP-A PARTICIPATIVE MANAGEMENT PLAN 183 4.5 THE EIGG DEVELOPMENT STUDY 189 4.6 BROKERING A PARTNERSHIP 199 4.7 CONCLUSIONS 206 CHAPTER FIVE: SELLING EIGG: THE CAMPAIGN FOR OWNERSHIP 210 5.1 INTRODUCTION 211 5.2 LAUNCHING THE APPEAL 213 5.3 TARGETTING THE APPEAL 221 5.4 REACTIONS TO THE APPEAL 231 5.5 THE POLITICS OF THE NHMF 241 5.6 FINAL BIDS AND APPEAL RESULTS 247 5.7 VICTORY AND CELEBRATION 253 5.8 CONCLUSIONS 255 5 CONCLUSION 259 APPENDIX 270 A.1 EIGG HISTORICAL CHRONOLOGY 271 A.2 SUMMARISED INTERVIEW RESULTS 280 A.3 EIGG SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC PROFILE 285 A.4 WILDLIFE, LANDSCAPE, AND CONSERVATION 287 A.5 EIGG INFORMATION AND SERVICES 291 A.6 EIGG EST ATE ASSETS 293 A.7 EIGG DEVELOPMENT STUDY FINANCIAL SUMMARY 304 A.8 FUNDRAISING TOTALS FOR THE EIGG APPEAL 309 BIBLIOGRAPHY 310 6 List of Abbreviations CAF Charities Aid Foundation CAP Common Agricultural Policy cc Crofters Commission ccs Countryside Commission for Scotland CDB Congested Districts Board CTAS Crofters Trust Advisory Service EDM Early Day Motion EU European Union FC Forestry Commission FCU Federation of Crofters Union FoE Friends of the Earth FoES Friends of the Earth Scotland HC Highland Council HIDB Highlands and Islands Development Board HIE Highlands and Islands Enterprise HIF Highlands and Islands Forum HLLRA Highland Land Law Reform Association HRC Highland Regional Council lEA Isle of Eigg Archive IEHT Isle ofEigg Heritage Trust IERA Isle ofEigg Residents Association lET Isle ofEigg Trust JMT John Muir Trust LEC Local Enterprise Company NCC Nature Conservancy Council NCCS Nature Conservancy Council for Scotland NDPB Non Departmental Public Body NFU National Farmers Union NGO Non Governmental Organisation NHMF National Heritage Memorial Fund NTS National Trust for Scotland RSPB Royal Society for the Protection of Birds scu Scottish Crofters Union SCVO Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations SLF Scottish Landowners Federation SLP Scottish Labour Party SNH Scottish Natural Heritage SNP Scottish National Party so Scottish Office SOAFD Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department SS SI Site of Special Scientific Interest SWT Scottish Wildlife Trust WWF World Wide Fund for Nature 7 Introduction Though Eigg is but a small island off the West Coast of Scotland, it has certainly achieved a distinct notoriety over the past few years. Thumbing through the numerous media cuttings some might remember the bob-sledding owner whose Rolls Royce burst into flames, or the mystical German artist with his dubious academic titles, or even the operatic star who proposed to import 3000 Italian musicians. The eccentric cast of characters that have turned up to ponder or assume its lairdship have been colourful to say the least, and their erratic behaviour towards the island and its people have become infamous throughout Scotland. Public unease towards the situation was exemplified by the success of the appeal launched in 1996 by the 64 island residents to gain ownership of the island themselves. Forming a unique partnership with conservation and local government interests, the residents' appeal raised 1.6 million pounds in just over eight months. After much behind the scenes work, bids and counter-bids, threatened bankruptcy, and at last a forced sale, the partnership finally succeeded in purchasing the island on the 4th of April 1997. All the major national media covered the jubilation on the island, and an exuberant Maggie Fyffe, Secretary to the Isle ofEigg Heritage Trust (IEHT), was repeatedly quoted in affirming the importance of their success, not only for Eigg, but for the rest of Scotland: "This is a great day not only for Eigg but for all communities who live under a landlord's whim. It shows that people in the Highlands and Islands are no longer prepared to be bought and sold like cutlery for their master's table. Over the past few months we have had everything thrown into this plot from opera stars to international companies promising the earth. Nobody would have believed the script if Alastair Maclean had written it. But we all stood firm together and won through. We now have security of tenure and can control our own destinies" .1 For the uninitiated it would appear that such publicly sponsored rural revo It is a tale worthy of Hollywood proportions; or at least for those with a fondness for the old Ealing comedies, a script worthy ofCompton McKenzie merits. Here were an archetypal bunch of wily islanders, succeeding in the defeat of their traditional and financial superiors, with cunning, tenacity, and a large helping of Hebridean conviviality. There is also what American producers and British tabloid editors alike would label- the Braveheart angle. For not only did the Eigg victory somehow 1 1 Dutter, Barbie. "Islanders Triumph in Battle to Buy Eigg", The Daily Telegraph. April 5 h, 1997. p. 9 9 symbolise a new resurgence of confidence amongst Scotland's rural communities, but as such, it exemplified a national cultural and political renaissance as well. After years of turmoil and publicity, the islanders finally succeeded in their appeal just 4 weeks before the landslide Labour victory in the 1997 General Election, and just a few months away from a sweeping Devolution Referendum. They were consequently very much associated with the overturning of Conservative opinion and patronage in Scotland.
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