"The Scottish Highlands are beautiful...and barren and bleak . Thousands of the people who lived here were cleared from the land over the last few centuries and replaced by sheep. Sir John on hillside And now most of the land is owned by less than a hundred landlords
many of whom dont live here , absentee landlords
but that could be about to change.
Well begin our story here where the last pitched battle on British soil was fought in April ,1746. William ,Duke of Cumberland, at the head of an army of Lowland Scots and English crushed Charles Edward Stuarts Jacobite rebellion.
It was a massacre ( punctuate vision cuts with sounds of sword strokes..metal clang)Bonnie Prince Charlies Jacobites and clansmen were literally cut to pieces. mutilated beyond recognition.
It wasnt English against Scot . It was Protestant against Catholic...Southerners against Northerners and it signalled the end of the Clan system.The clearances followed.
It went on for over a hundred years.
This was the time they said The sheep ate men.Where did they go ? At first to the coast and lowlands ..then to the Americas , mostly Canada and in time to Australia and New Zealand.
Their ruined villages left a mark on the land and wherever the Highlanders and islanders went over the seas , the land left a mark on them
In the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh a Land Reform Bill is proposed that will give local people the right to buy the land even if the landowners dont want to sell. Forced Purchase .Compulsory acquisition.
Alan Wilson - LabourMember Scottish Parliament I suppose were righting historical wrongs and the primary purpose of the legislation is to open up to wider ownership land tenure and land ownership in more remote and rural parts of Scotland.
Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament , Alan Wilson is Deputy Minister for Regional Affairs. Not to put too fine a point on it...hes after the Landlords.
Sir John Nutting QC is a landlord an absentee landlord.
Sir John - Well I am an absentee landlord in the sense that I am a landlord but I dont live up here. But I dont live up here because I have to earn my bread in the South. These estates dont make profits , theyre lucky if they wash their faces and I cant afford to pay myself an income from this estate.
Sir Johns estate sits across part of the Helmsdale River ..a highland salmon river, and the bill, if made law , will allow local crofters , farmers,to buy the fishing rights . whether or not Sir John wants to sell.
Sir John Nutting Bart,QC - Its an outrageous piece of legislation. Its sequestration `: its confiscation. Its depriving me and the thousand or so people who regularly fish this river every year Why should they have their fishing devalued , their fishing taken away from them in order to give it to another group of not much larger than a thousand people who have given nothing to the river, who havent invested in it and who have shown not much interest in it hitherto.
Sandy Murray is one of the people the Scottish Parliament and Sir John , has in mind. Hes a local crofter a farmer who pays a nominal rent for his few hectares. And Sandy thinks the Bill is a good idea.
Sandy Murray - I think its a good thing. I think that if the community do have a right to purchase or the crofters have a right to purchase then it might make some of the bad landlords stand up and think a little more
My ancestors were cleared out from the top end of Kildonan and we came to Strath Halladale. The biggest majority of them left this country and went to Nova Scotia and Canada. Running a big estate holds no fears for this crofting survivor .
Although the landlords say that most of the estates run at a loss, I dont believe that for a minute
32.31 to 32.34 most estates now would be running at a profit
32.44 to 32.58 I would say there is no difference in running an estate from running a croft Its a business on land and I wouldnt think there was any difference and crofters run and manage their crofts and try to make a living out of them.
But what about running a river ?
All animal management is relatively the same the sporting aspect of it is a sellable business and its no different than any other tourism industry.
Peter and Matt fishing Thought track the ghillies on the river, I mean some, the oldest serving ghilly has been on the river over 38 years.
Ditto - People can pay five and six hundred dollars a day to fish these rivers
Ditto - Thought trackTheres a lot of acquired knowledge on how to catch the fish the moods of the fish you know its weather, temperature, every rock, every stone its a great knowledge to have.
Ditto - Peter Quail works for Sir John Nutting
Back to fishing Peter thinks the proposed bill has brought nothing but uncertainty to the river workers, those expert fishermen called ghillies . Where jobs were guaranteed for generations now all bets are off.
FishingSuper Peter QuailBailiff (Thought Track)Whos to say their jobs are safe after a community buy out I mean Helmsdale has employed ten people for the past hundred years and still employs ten people
Its not just salmon fishing on the great estates.. theres deer stalking as well, and stalkers believe that their jobs are at risk too.`
The workers wholl be immediately affected are on the river , the superintendent , the bailiff and the five ghillies but in addition and this is equally important - the stalkers on the hill will lose their jobs because you cannot take the river away from the hill because the whole thing becomes economically unviable
David Cotton is a former estate manager and now consultant to the estate workers. He doesnt think much of the Edinburgh Parliament
David Cotton - I think theyre complete bunglers they havent a clue. We have never been consulted .The ethos is exactly the same as the Mugabe land grab in that its designed to create a great visual and emotional effect.
In this vast area , perhaps a third of Scotland ,David Cotton represents only some 2,000 workers but then the whole population is not much more than 200,000 and ghillies and stalkers alike are nervous.
Three ghillies or bailiffs on the rivers roundabout have left already ,one to go to New Zealand...two have come to see me to sign papers to emigrate to Canada. They do not see a future for themselves. These are not urban people, these are country people in the clearest definition of the word. These are highly independent, expert people. Theyre not used to being messed around in a political way and they wont put up with it. These are individualists.
"the people coming this spring , they could be cracking the ice in the water to get their lines in the water you know its pretty tough here in January
Stills of salmon fishing(TBA) Thought track Sir JohnThis isnt a rich mans plaything in the sense that its indulged by the six or seven people who own this river. This is shared shared in the sense that its rented, its hired out to huge numbers of other people from all over the world...Scotland ,England ,Australia , the continent , America , Canada you name it , who come here regularly and enjoy the fishing on this river for which they pay.
Ditto - Quite honestly I feel its going to be absolutely disastrous for the Highlands. The main thing in the Highlands its very difficult to make money on anything,,,
01.09 to 01.29,,,,,Agriculture is completely uneconomic , forestry is totally uneconomic ..were buying in timber from the Baltic States which has been cut by slave labour and the economy in the Highlands has really been living I think entirely on subsidies.
Michael Baillie , the Lord Burton of Dochfour , has no doubt about Edinburghs political movements and their historical base
Burton - These left wingers want to get rid of us. Well this is what happened throughout all of central Europe..in Russia itself and I believe Putin the other day said he now realises it doesnt work .
Lord Burton coat of arms and house The Baillies have been here for quite some time .about six hundred years and they managed to hold on to their estates after Culloden, through a well timed dose of diplomatic flu.
I think we were probably quite lucky during the Jacobite uprising because the Baillie at the time was an invalid 03.22 to 03.49 People say why do you stay well its been our home for all that time...weve tried to look after it . It is a lovely part of the world but you just cant live on fresh air and the beauty of the countryside.
Its social engineering. Its the notion that two centuries after the Clearances, the Scottish Govt. have the right socially to engineer a situation in which in some peculiar way they perceive they are going to return an asset that was confiscated from the local population ah return that asset to the local community.
Call it social engineering ...I would call it liberating for future generations the land in which people live and work.
The Land Reform Bill is just that, a Bill . Its not law yet. It has great popular support in the cities, but it is creating considerable unrest amongst Highland estate workers . (synch) we always have a quick look before we have a look at the target no obstructions Brian Lyall has a thousand deer to care for and he wont let just anybody shoot his deer. Not even for the $1500 it could cost you. He makes every aspiring shooter pass a very tough test of accuracy.
Gun sequenceSuper Brian LyallStalker Gun sequenceIf he isnt satisfactory at the target here there is no point in going any further, because the deers welfare is the main thing here. Its my responsibility.
Not a man to cross .certainly not at less than 180 metres range. Its difficult to see this way of life continuing if the bill goes through.This and the salmon fishing have been carefully cultivated as rich peoples pursuits.And cultivated by the rich for the rich not some collective.
Weve waited for over a hundred years for this type of legislation...we want to remove the obstacles to more community land ownership to ensure that land can be used by communities for more economic development to repopulate our Highland and Island areas and we see this as a tremendous opportunity to modernise the system of land ownership and tenure in Scotland.
Sir John NuttingO/lay Sir John walking ..then hills ..then .If the legislation goes through we shall contest it in the European Courts and do whatever we can and whatever is necessary to overturn it.
Q & A Nutting - RQ Why do you do it ?Love! Love and a sense of the tradition of the trusteeship I will not call it the ownership the trusteeship of one of the last great wildernesses of the British Isles.
Trusteeships , community ownerships , liberating land , uneven and unequal distribution none of it seems terribly relevant when you look around.TT CottonThis is a wet desert we always come back to the landowner providing the wherewithal so we can bring in deer stalkers and fishermen to help pay our wages.There is nothing you can do with this country.
Well , not quite you can just look at it.
CREDITS Reporter: Matt PeacockCamera: John BenesSound: Mark DouglasProducer: Andrew HaughtonEditor: Judy NorgateFor ABC Australia
Well begin our story here where the last pitched battle on British soil was fought in April ,1746. William ,Duke of Cumberland, at the head of an army of Lowland Scots and English crushed Charles Edward Stuarts Jacobite rebellion.
It was a massacre ( punctuate vision cuts with sounds of sword strokes..metal clang)Bonnie Prince Charlies Jacobites and clansmen were literally cut to pieces. mutilated beyond recognition.
It wasnt English against Scot . It was Protestant against Catholic...Southerners against Northerners and it signalled the end of the Clan system.The clearances followed.
It went on for over a hundred years.
This was the time they said The sheep ate men.Where did they go ? At first to the coast and lowlands ..then to the Americas , mostly Canada and in time to Australia and New Zealand.
Their ruined villages left a mark on the land and wherever the Highlanders and islanders went over the seas , the land left a mark on them
In the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh a Land Reform Bill is proposed that will give local people the right to buy the land even if the landowners dont want to sell. Forced Purchase .Compulsory acquisition.
Alan Wilson - LabourMember Scottish Parliament I suppose were righting historical wrongs and the primary purpose of the legislation is to open up to wider ownership land tenure and land ownership in more remote and rural parts of Scotland.
Labour Member of the Scottish Parliament , Alan Wilson is Deputy Minister for Regional Affairs. Not to put too fine a point on it...hes after the Landlords.
Sir John Nutting QC is a landlord an absentee landlord.
Sir John - Well I am an absentee landlord in the sense that I am a landlord but I dont live up here. But I dont live up here because I have to earn my bread in the South. These estates dont make profits , theyre lucky if they wash their faces and I cant afford to pay myself an income from this estate.
Sir Johns estate sits across part of the Helmsdale River ..a highland salmon river, and the bill, if made law , will allow local crofters , farmers,to buy the fishing rights . whether or not Sir John wants to sell.
Sir John Nutting Bart,QC - Its an outrageous piece of legislation. Its sequestration `: its confiscation. Its depriving me and the thousand or so people who regularly fish this river every year Why should they have their fishing devalued , their fishing taken away from them in order to give it to another group of not much larger than a thousand people who have given nothing to the river, who havent invested in it and who have shown not much interest in it hitherto.
Sandy Murray is one of the people the Scottish Parliament and Sir John , has in mind. Hes a local crofter a farmer who pays a nominal rent for his few hectares. And Sandy thinks the Bill is a good idea.
Sandy Murray - I think its a good thing. I think that if the community do have a right to purchase or the crofters have a right to purchase then it might make some of the bad landlords stand up and think a little more
My ancestors were cleared out from the top end of Kildonan and we came to Strath Halladale. The biggest majority of them left this country and went to Nova Scotia and Canada. Running a big estate holds no fears for this crofting survivor .
Although the landlords say that most of the estates run at a loss, I dont believe that for a minute
32.31 to 32.34 most estates now would be running at a profit
32.44 to 32.58 I would say there is no difference in running an estate from running a croft Its a business on land and I wouldnt think there was any difference and crofters run and manage their crofts and try to make a living out of them.
But what about running a river ?
All animal management is relatively the same the sporting aspect of it is a sellable business and its no different than any other tourism industry.
Peter and Matt fishing Thought track the ghillies on the river, I mean some, the oldest serving ghilly has been on the river over 38 years.
Ditto - People can pay five and six hundred dollars a day to fish these rivers
Ditto - Thought trackTheres a lot of acquired knowledge on how to catch the fish the moods of the fish you know its weather, temperature, every rock, every stone its a great knowledge to have.
Ditto - Peter Quail works for Sir John Nutting
Back to fishing Peter thinks the proposed bill has brought nothing but uncertainty to the river workers, those expert fishermen called ghillies . Where jobs were guaranteed for generations now all bets are off.
FishingSuper Peter QuailBailiff (Thought Track)Whos to say their jobs are safe after a community buy out I mean Helmsdale has employed ten people for the past hundred years and still employs ten people
Its not just salmon fishing on the great estates.. theres deer stalking as well, and stalkers believe that their jobs are at risk too.`
The workers wholl be immediately affected are on the river , the superintendent , the bailiff and the five ghillies but in addition and this is equally important - the stalkers on the hill will lose their jobs because you cannot take the river away from the hill because the whole thing becomes economically unviable
David Cotton is a former estate manager and now consultant to the estate workers. He doesnt think much of the Edinburgh Parliament
David Cotton - I think theyre complete bunglers they havent a clue. We have never been consulted .The ethos is exactly the same as the Mugabe land grab in that its designed to create a great visual and emotional effect.
In this vast area , perhaps a third of Scotland ,David Cotton represents only some 2,000 workers but then the whole population is not much more than 200,000 and ghillies and stalkers alike are nervous.
Three ghillies or bailiffs on the rivers roundabout have left already ,one to go to New Zealand...two have come to see me to sign papers to emigrate to Canada. They do not see a future for themselves. These are not urban people, these are country people in the clearest definition of the word. These are highly independent, expert people. Theyre not used to being messed around in a political way and they wont put up with it. These are individualists.
"the people coming this spring , they could be cracking the ice in the water to get their lines in the water you know its pretty tough here in January
Stills of salmon fishing(TBA) Thought track Sir JohnThis isnt a rich mans plaything in the sense that its indulged by the six or seven people who own this river. This is shared shared in the sense that its rented, its hired out to huge numbers of other people from all over the world...Scotland ,England ,Australia , the continent , America , Canada you name it , who come here regularly and enjoy the fishing on this river for which they pay.
Ditto - Quite honestly I feel its going to be absolutely disastrous for the Highlands. The main thing in the Highlands its very difficult to make money on anything,,,
01.09 to 01.29,,,,,Agriculture is completely uneconomic , forestry is totally uneconomic ..were buying in timber from the Baltic States which has been cut by slave labour and the economy in the Highlands has really been living I think entirely on subsidies.
Michael Baillie , the Lord Burton of Dochfour , has no doubt about Edinburghs political movements and their historical base
Burton - These left wingers want to get rid of us. Well this is what happened throughout all of central Europe..in Russia itself and I believe Putin the other day said he now realises it doesnt work .
Lord Burton coat of arms and house The Baillies have been here for quite some time .about six hundred years and they managed to hold on to their estates after Culloden, through a well timed dose of diplomatic flu.
I think we were probably quite lucky during the Jacobite uprising because the Baillie at the time was an invalid 03.22 to 03.49 People say why do you stay well its been our home for all that time...weve tried to look after it . It is a lovely part of the world but you just cant live on fresh air and the beauty of the countryside.
Its social engineering. Its the notion that two centuries after the Clearances, the Scottish Govt. have the right socially to engineer a situation in which in some peculiar way they perceive they are going to return an asset that was confiscated from the local population ah return that asset to the local community.
Call it social engineering ...I would call it liberating for future generations the land in which people live and work.
The Land Reform Bill is just that, a Bill . Its not law yet. It has great popular support in the cities, but it is creating considerable unrest amongst Highland estate workers . (synch) we always have a quick look before we have a look at the target no obstructions Brian Lyall has a thousand deer to care for and he wont let just anybody shoot his deer. Not even for the $1500 it could cost you. He makes every aspiring shooter pass a very tough test of accuracy.
Gun sequenceSuper Brian LyallStalker Gun sequenceIf he isnt satisfactory at the target here there is no point in going any further, because the deers welfare is the main thing here. Its my responsibility.
Not a man to cross .certainly not at less than 180 metres range. Its difficult to see this way of life continuing if the bill goes through.This and the salmon fishing have been carefully cultivated as rich peoples pursuits.And cultivated by the rich for the rich not some collective.
Weve waited for over a hundred years for this type of legislation...we want to remove the obstacles to more community land ownership to ensure that land can be used by communities for more economic development to repopulate our Highland and Island areas and we see this as a tremendous opportunity to modernise the system of land ownership and tenure in Scotland.
Sir John NuttingO/lay Sir John walking ..then hills ..then .If the legislation goes through we shall contest it in the European Courts and do whatever we can and whatever is necessary to overturn it.
Q & A Nutting - RQ Why do you do it ?Love! Love and a sense of the tradition of the trusteeship I will not call it the ownership the trusteeship of one of the last great wildernesses of the British Isles.
Trusteeships , community ownerships , liberating land , uneven and unequal distribution none of it seems terribly relevant when you look around.TT CottonThis is a wet desert we always come back to the landowner providing the wherewithal so we can bring in deer stalkers and fishermen to help pay our wages.There is nothing you can do with this country.
Well , not quite you can just look at it.
CREDITS Reporter: Matt PeacockCamera: John BenesSound: Mark DouglasProducer: Andrew HaughtonEditor: Judy NorgateFor ABC Australia