The Context: A Century of Evictions

The Highland Clearances, which began in the mid-18th century, saw landlords across the Highlands and Islands forcibly evicting families who had worked the land for generations. Profit became the priority, with landlords replacing people with sheep. By the late 1800s, this tension evolved into the “Land Wars,” as crofters fought to have their traditional rights to the land legally recognized—rights they had enjoyed under the ancient clan system before it was dismantled.

The Spark: Ben Lee and Lord MacDonald

The conflict in the Braes (near Portree) ignited when Lord MacDonald raised the rents. Although the crofters eventually agreed to the new rate, MacDonald refused to renew their leases. In response, the crofters began a rent strike and defied orders by grazing their sheep on Ben Lee, a hillside they had been forbidden from using.

When a Sheriff’s Officer from Portree attempted to serve eviction notices, the community stood its ground. They intercepted the officer and forced him to burn the summons papers in a defiant act of resistance.

The Battle: 19 April 1882

Realizing the local authorities could not handle the resistance, the Sheriff requested reinforcements. On 19 April 1882, fifty police officers arrived from Glasgow. They were met at Blàr a’ Chumhaing (The Battle of the Braes) by roughly 100 men, women, and children armed with nothing but sticks and stones.

Despite being outnumbered by the crowd, the police used force, resulting in several injuries on both sides. While a few crofters were arrested and fined, the “battle” was a tactical victory; the police eventually retreated, and the story exploded in the national media, drawing widespread sympathy for the crofters’ plight.

The Legacy: The Napier Commission

The violence on Skye forced the British government to act. In 1883, they established the Napier Commission, headed by Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier, to investigate the living conditions of Highland crofters.

The Commission’s findings led directly to the Crofters’ Holdings (Scotland) Act 1886. This landmark legislation granted crofters:

• Security of tenure (they could no longer be evicted without cause).

• Fair rents (fixed by a commission).

• The right to bequeath their tenancy to their family.