Movement within Scotland

1
Movement within Scotland
2
Introduction

• Migration is the movement of people within a
  country.
• In Scotland between 1830 and 1930 this internal
  migration saw a shift from the poorer rural areas
  to a life with more possibilities in the
  increasingly industrialised urban areas.
• It is believed that this movement arose as these
  rural areas saw a great deal of deprivation and
  urban areas appeared to offer opportunities for
  employment in factories and industry.

3
Life in the Lowlands of Scotland

• Rapid population growth in the Lowlands was a
  cause for concern as a result of the Industrial
  Revolution.
• Concern existed at the time that, if the
  population continued to rise in vast numbers in
  areas with fewer farms, a severe famine would
  occur.
• Farming methods were altered and additional
  labour was hired, thus moving some of the
  agricultural workers.
• Consequently, agricultural land underwent a
  change. Land was divided into medium- and
  large-sized estates and then carved up into
  individual farms, employing up to six men a
  shift away from tenant farmers.
• (During harvest time additional labourers were
  employed chiefly Irish immigrants.)
• In conclusion, fewer labourers were required so
  people sought work in nearby towns, thus adding
  to the declining rural population.

4
Lowlands (continued)

• After 1840, the population in the rural areas
  continued to decline at a rapid rate as a
  consequence of greater efficiency.
• Farming saw a rise in labour-saving equipment
  such as the self-binding reaper and the potato
  digger.
• Furthermore, wage levels in the industrial sector
  were far higher than in agriculture, often as
  high as 50 per cent more.
• The allure of living in towns was also a feature
  of this increased urbanisation.
• Between 1861 and 1891, rural employment in the
  Lowlands fell by around a third.
• This pattern continued into the 20th century and
  by 1914 only 14 per cent of males were employed
  in agriculture.

5
A shift from the Highlands

• Many historians have claimed that the movement
  away from the Highlands came as a result of
  industrialisation and the desire to gain one of
  the many opportunities and improve their
  standards of living.
• Up-to-date research has revealed this is not a
  true reflection of events. This theory is
  applicable to the south-east Highlands. There was
  a great variety of shift patterns at this time.
  There was little movement from the islands and
  the north-west.

6
South and east Highlands

• Decline in farm labour saw a shift towards
  fishing villages and towns.
• This was insufficient to absorb the excess
  labour, and thus some were drawn to the urban
  areas in the Central Belt.
• Some remained behind, almost destitute as a
  consequence of being poorly educated.

7
The north and the Islands

• The north and the Islands depended on the land,
  namely the potato, as a means of survival.
• A shift came in the 1850s when there was a
  temporary migration.
• Statistics
• It was estimated that in the 1850s a half to
  two-thirds of the income of the inhabitants of
  Skye came from agricultural work in the Lowlands.
  
• In the 1870s, the herring industry drew in
  migrants with as many as 5000 men and women
  arriving in the fishing ports of Caithness and
  Aberdeenshire during the catching season.
• By 1891 three out of four of the population
  depended directly or indirectly on fishing alone
  or on a combination of fishing and crofting.
• This area managed to survive as a consequence of
  temporary migration bringing back money and
  provisions to the family and wider community.
• After the First World War a irreversible trend
  began. These areas lost a quarter of their
  overall population. This could be to do with
  their role in the First World War, the lack of
  temporary labour required as well as a severe
  depression in the 1920s and 1930s.
• These groups tended to settle in and around the
  major cities of Glasgow .