10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page i Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:107 A History of the Native Woodlands of Scotland, 1500–1920 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page ii Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:10 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page iii Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:1 A History of the Native Woodlands of Scotland, 1500–1920 T. C. Smout, Alan R. MacDonald and Fiona Watson EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY PRESS 10716 EUP Native 1/8/07 9:45 am Page iv Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:107 © T. C. Smout, Alan R. MacDonald and Fiona Watson, 2005, 2007 First published in hardback in 2005 by Edinburgh University Press Ltd 22,George Square, Edinburgh This paperback edition 2007 Typeset in Minion and Gill Sans by Pioneer Associates, Perthshire, with corrections by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester, 2007 and printed and bound in Spain by GraphyCems, Spain A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 0 7486 3294 7 (paperback) The right of T. C. Smout, Alan R. MacDonald and Fiona Watson to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Published with the support of the Edinburgh University Scholarly Publishing Initiatives Fund. 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page v Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:107 Contents Acknowledgements vii List of black and white maps ix List of black and white figures x List of colour plates xii List of tables xiii 1 Introduction 1 2 The extent and character of the woods before 1500 20 3 The extent and character of the woods, 1500–1920 45 4 Woodland produce 77 5 Woodland as pasture and shelter 102 6 Trading and taking wood before 1800 124 7 Managing the woods before 1770 157 8 Outsiders and the woods I: the pinewoods 192 9 Outsiders and the woods II: charcoal and tanbark 225 10 Woodland management in an industrial economy, 1830–1920 and beyond 258 11 Rothiemurchus, 1650–1900 290 12 The Navy, Holyrood and Strathcarron in the seventeenth century 319 13 The Irish and Glenorchy, 1721–40 340 14 The MacDonald woods on Skye, 1720–1920 364 15 Conclusion 388 Bibliography 404 Index 422 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page vi Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:10 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page vii Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:1 Acknowledgements The research was made possible by the Economic and Social Research Council, assisted by supplementary grants from the British Academy and the Russell Trust, and an illustration grant from the Carnegie Trust. To all four we express our grateful thanks, as we do also to the librarians and archivists of the great national institutions, the National Archives of Scotland (NAS), National Library of Scotland (NLS) in Edinburgh, and the British Library and the National Archives (formerly the Public Record Office: PRO) in London, which held many of the manuscripts that we consulted. We also used papers and rare books at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Guelph, Canada, the University of Glasgow Business Records Centre, the University of St Andrews, Inverness Museum, Tain and District Museum and Clan Donald Lands Trust Visitor Centre, Skye, and owe a debt to them all. To the Campbell Preston family and their housekeeper Mary MacDonald we are grateful for access to the Campbell of Lochnell archives, to John Grant of Rothiemurchus for access to the papers at the Doune (and for much kind hospitality) and to the Duke of Argyll for access to papers at Inveraray Castle. We should explain that the research was done under the auspices of the Institute for Environmental History at the University of St Andrews, equally by all three of us; Chris Smout was primarily responsible for writing most of the text, but Alan MacDonald for Chapters 12 and 14 and Fiona Watson for Chapter 13.Nevertheless it was all a joint effort of mutual criticism and encouragement. In the course of the work we were helped by a great many people, but we owe a particular debt to John Ballantyne who transcribed for us several hundred woodland sale deeds dating from the sixteenth century to the 1770s, from the Register of Deeds and the Gifts and Deposits in NAS, and the archival holdings of NLS. These related to woods from all over Scotland, a source hitherto unused and to which he drew our attention. Those who helped us with various aspects of our research, large and small, are not too numerous to mention, but so numerous we fear we may have forgotten some. To all the following, and to any accidentally omitted, we express our thanks: Jane Begg, of the Woodland Trust; Robin Callander, vii 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page viii Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS: THE NATIVE WOODLANDS OF SCOTLAND,1500–1920 of the Birse Community Trust; Hugh Cheape, of the National Museums of Scotland; Anthony Cooke, of Dundee University; Sandy Coppins, of the Lichen Mapping Scheme; Barbara Crawford, of St Andrews University; Professor Robert Crawford, of St Andrews University; Anne Crone, of AOC Scotland; Roy Dennis, crofter and naturalist; Pat Dennison, of Edinburgh University; Professor Robert Dodgshon, of the University of Wales; Angela Douglas, of the Woodland Trust; Alex Eaton, of Ullapool Museum; David Foot, formerly of the Forestry Commission; Diana Gilbert, of Highland Birchwoods; Bill Gilmour, Ullapool; Jeanette Hall, of Scottish Natural Heritage; Kate Holl, of Scottish Natural Heritage; Jonathan Hughes, of the Woodland Trust; James Kirby, Sunart; Keith Kirby, of English Nature; Professor Fred Last, of Edinburgh University; Margaret MacDonald, of Clan Donald Visitor Centre; Professor Allan Macinnes, of Aberdeen University; Neil MacKenzie, ecological and forestry consultant; Robin Maclean, Brig O’Turk;Donald McNeill, of the Forestry Commission; Professor Alan Mather, of Aberdeen University; John Mitchell, Drymen; Ross Noble, formerly of the Highland Folk Museum, Kingussie; Peter Quelch, of the Forestry Commission; Estelle Quick, of Tain and District Museum; Oliver Rackham, of Cambridge University; Alistair Ross, of Stirling University; Richard Saville, formerly of St Andrews University; Sue Scoggins, of Scottish Natural Heritage; Jim Skelton, Garmouth; Mike Smith, of Borders Forest Trust; Richard Smithers, of the Woodland Trust; Mairi Stewart, of Stirling University; Professor David Stevenson, of St Andrews University; Jack Stevenson, of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monu- ments of Scotland; Domhnall Uilleam Stiùbhart, of Edinburgh University; Ron Summers, of the RSPB; Simon Taylor, of St Andrews University; Richard Tipping, of Stirling University; David Warren, Rothiemurchus estate; Professor Chris Whatley, of Dundee University. The illustrations are acknowledged individually, on the captions, and we are especially appreciative of the skill of the St Andrews technicians who prepared them for publication. John Davey and James Dale of Edinburgh University Press guided the book through production with much patience. Finally, we could not possibly have done without the secretarial expertise and extreme care of Margaret Richards, who saw the entire project through from typing the first research grant application ten years ago to nurturing and polishing the final version. We know of people who do write books without her help, but it cannot be easy. Chris Smout,University of St Andrews Alan MacDonald,University of Dundee Fiona Watson,University of Stirling viii 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page ix Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:10 List of black and white maps 1.1 The ancient semi-natural pinewoods of Scotland. 4 2.1 The major woodland types in Scotland 6,000 years ago. 27 3.1 Woodland in Glenesk, 1590–1946. 57 3.2 Woodland in Muckairn parish, Argyll, 1750 and 1876. 62 5.1 Distribution of shielings in the Forest of Mar. 112 6.1 Destination of pine timber sold in Rannoch, 1779–81. 150 8.1 Main native pinewoods known to have been subjected to commercial exploitation, 1600–1830. 194 8.2 Outlines of Abernethy forest, showing changes in woodland cover since 1750. 215 9.1 Charcoal ironworks with outsider interests. 228 9.2 Supplementary sources of charcoal for the Lorn furnace at Bonawe, 1786–1810. 245 11.1 Rothiemurchus Forest and Glenmore. 291 12.1 Strathcarron and neighbouring glens. 320 13.1 Woodlands purchased by the Irish partnership in Argyll, from 1721. 344 13.2 Glenorchy and Loch Etive pinewoods. 348 14.1 Woodlands on Skye. 365 15.1 Distribution of wood ants in Scotland. 396 ix 10716 EUP Native 31/7/07 9:29 am Page x Phil's G4 Phil's G4:Users:phil:Public: PHIL'S JOBS:107 List of black and white figures 1.1 Vera’s four-stage cycle. 11 2.1 The Wood of Caledon from Ptolemy’s description. 21 2.2 The oaken roof of Darnaway Castle. 38 3.1 Strathnaver according to Pont and Blaeu. 50 3.2 Ben Alder and its environs according to Gordon and Blaeu. 54 3.3 The woods of Glencoe according to Pont. 56 3.4 Plan of the battlefield of Glenshiel. 58 4.1 A birlinn on the Macleod tomb at Rodel, Harris. 82 4.2 The pine roof of Castle Grant. 85 4.3 Plan of a cruck-framed building at Corrimony, Inverness-shire.