Series 6 > Highland destitution of 1837

THE LETTERS OF ROBERT GRAHAM
71
54 of 24,081 the population of the mainland part of the Skye district
= Number of destitute 12,040
V* of 23,741 the population of the island of Skye
= Number of destitute 17,806
4/$th of 35,000 estimated population of Long Island
= Number of destitute 28,000
Total number of destitute 64,202
Say of the destitute population of Oban, Fort William and adjoining districts
if not otherwise relieved 5,798
Total number of destitute 70,ooo139
I have been staggered myself once or twice in recurring to the estimate, I
have more than once stated to you as being generally admitted to be sufficient to
prevent starvation, viz. 2 '/a bolls for the season for every family of 5, particularly
in contrasting it with the ordinary allowance in the low country for a working
ploughman which is exactly of the same amount, or one stone of meal per
week. But it ought to be observed, that in the ploughman’s case, it is in some
degree a provision for his family if he has one; and when such ploughmen
are unmarried, there is commonly a surplus which is bartered or sold as the
accumulation takes place. Besides, in the list of the destitute, this allowance is
computed independent of all adventitious aids. Many of the families admitted
on these fists have cows; many of them will still receive support from landlords
and others who are only lying by to see what is to be done first by the public and
private charities, and many will be able to pick up some subsistence by fishing
and going out to work; and although it seems to be carefully attended to, to
exclude from the fists those who have disposable stock, it is impossible to hold
as beyond the verge of destitution a family having a single cow, but who are
otherwise without food — although this property is certainly an alleviation of
their misery and ought to make them satisfied with a smaller portion of aid
otherwise. Moreover, this computation has been made on the opinions given by
the suffering people themselves, as to the amount which is sufficient to keep their
families together; and what I still give greater weight to (for it is the nature of real
misery to conceal and disguise its own wants) the clergymen and members of the
kirk sessions and those most accustomed to the management and habits of the
poor have in every case concurred in the view that this estimate is a fair one on
which the experiment might be commenced. Unhappily too, it is a moral lesson
which it is necessary to teach to the poor themselves, even in the midst of their
affliction, that it is not full meals or plentiful supplies that ought to be served out
139 This estimate, of course, did not include Sutherland, Caithness, Orkney and Shetland.
George Gunn, the main factor for the Sutherland estates, referred to 20,000 people being
supported by the countess of Sutherland (Richards, Leviathan, 247).