Uibhist -North Uist, Benbecula and South Uist – are low-lying islands to the south of Lewis & Harris. The name Uibhist perhaps derives from fearsad meaning “estuary, sand-bank, passage across at ebb-tide [1]
The islands have been inhabited since the Neolithic with evidence of bustling settlements on the machair 4000 years ago. Since then, like the other islands of the Outer Hebrides, the islands have a shared history of Gael, Norse and Sasunnach influences.
MacDonald proprietors held title during the 18th and 19th century and, in common with other island proprietors, implemented brutal policies to monetise their holdings by clearing indigenous tenants from their lots, first to provide a labour force for the gruelling kelp industry during the early decades of the 19th century, then to create larger holdings for sheep ranchers.
In 1837, with the collapse of the kelp trade, the MacDonald proprietor, facing bankruptcy, sold South Uist to the slave plantation owner, Lt. Colonel John Gordon of Cluny. Within nine years, the deteriorating condition of the islanders was described “as a scene of wretchedness” as land for farming was reduced for sheep grazing. “Despicable, nay heart rending,” is how the minister, Norman McLeod, described the scene entering the Cluny estate.
“On the beach the whole population of the country seems to be met, gathering the precious cockles…I never witnessed such countenances, starvation on many faces,” The Jaws of Sheep: 1851 Hebridean Clearances of Gordon of Cluny.
Four years later, Gordon, described as the ‘richest commoner” in Scotland, began forced evictions on all of ‘his’ islands including South Uist.. A compulsory public meeting in Lochboisdale was held on August 11 1851, after which tenants were forced on board waiting emigration vessels.
According to an eyewitness, “One stout Highlander, named Angus Johnstone, resisted with such pith that they had to handcuff him before he could be mastered, but in consequence of the priests’ interference his manacles were taken off and (he was) marched between four officers on board the emigrant vessel.” The evictions were described as “loathsome work” by eyewitness Catherine Macphee, of Iochdar, South Uist. According to The Jaws of Sheep, she said: “I have seen big strong men, champions of the countryside, the stalwarts of the world, being bound on Loch Boisdale quay and cast into the ship as would be done to a batch of horses or cattle, the bailiff and the ground officers and the policemen gathered behind them in pursuit.” The evicted population largely moved to Canada; the remaining population of South Uist was less than half of the 1841 total afterwards. [2]
Meanwhile, on North Uist In 1849 603 tenants and their families were cleared from the community of Sollas to make way for sheep ranches by the MacDonald proprietors. The subsequent proprietor, Sir John Powlett Orde from 1855, sold part of his title to his son, Sir Arthur Campbell-Orde, in order to frustrate the terms of the 1886 Crofters Act. Although the Ordes were much reviled, the major clearances on North Uist were undertaken by the ‘traditional’ proprietors, the MacDonalds. [1]
The interplay between the monetisation of the island economy driven by the kelp boom, the introduction of the potato and the subsequent clearance of tenants (when their labour was no longer needed to harvest kelp) led to the depopulation of the islands such that, in the early 21st century, the population of North Uist is only 20% of that at the turn of the 19th century i.e. the beginning of the Anthropocene.
In 1944, the Campbell-Orde family sold North Uist to Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton, who in 1960 sold it in turn to the 5th Earl Granville, and the current laird is Fergus Leveson-Gower, 6th Earl Granville, who lives on the island. [1]
A missile testing range was built on South Uist in the late 1950s. In the face of local opposition, the British Government claimed that there was an ‘overriding national interest’ in establishing a training range for testing nuclear-capable missiles. The Deep Sea Range is still owned by the MoD and operates as a testing facility for missile systems and drones. [3]
In 2006, 92,000 acres of South Uist were purchased from a sporting syndicate by a Community Trust known as Stòras Uibhist, with the aim of ‘regenerating the local economy, reversing decline and depopulation, and reducing dependency, while remaining aware of the environmental needs, culture and history of the islands.’[3] As in other instances of community land purchase, Stòras Uibhist experiences tension between diverse community interests and their financial obligations as trustees.
We set up to perform Pibroch at the community hall at Balivanich on Benbecula, near the islands’ airport. This is what I heard about Climate Justice in Balivanich.
I heard that folk have been living on the machair since the bronze age.
I heard that MHWS (Mean High Water Spring) in the area is currently 2.07m .[4]
I heard that the Minch has lots of basking sharks.
I heard that ferry services to the island have been very disrupted in recent years.
I heard that the ‘goods’ derived from marine areas around Scotland are diverse. [5]
I heard that there is concern that all of the Minch will be designated a Highly Protected Marine Area (HPMA)
I heard that large areas of the islands lie below MHWS.[4]
I heard that Donald Francis MacNeill, an inshore fisherman and musician from Vatersay, has written a song of protest about HPMAs called, The Clearances Again. The song has been recorded by Skippinish. [6]
I heard that Stòras Uibhist proposals to harvest kelp might prevent crofters using washed-up seaweed to fertiliser their fields
I heard that relative sea-level is rising by 6-7 mm per year as rising sea levels outrun post-glacial rebound.[4]
I heard that the concept of HPMAs is ridiculous.
I heard that bottom trawling and scallop dredging damage the marine ecology.[7]
I heard that some folk are unclear if the land surface rising or sinking
I heard that “such modern Relative Sea Level rise rates exceed the 3- 4 mm/year thresholds identified as points beyond which widespread re-organisation of coastal landforms begins to be forced” [4]
I heard that there is talk of redirecting ferry routes to avoid disturbing basking sharks.
I heard that seawater incursions will increase salinity in the water table and surface lochs which are closely inter-connected.[4]
I heard that the science of Climate Change is not settled. That some folk believe that, where big money is involved, nothing you read can be trusted.
I heard that BP declared profits of £4,000,000,000 for the first 3 months of 2023.[8]
I heard that a a high percentage of the Uists’ and Benbecula’s environment is not natural, and is the result of centuries of human intervention. Human interaction with this environment is at risk, therefore the environment is at risk.[4]
I heard that examples of activities which it is proposed will not be allowed within HPMAs include[8]:
• commercial or non-commercial (including recreational) fishing. This includes fishing with mobile and static gears, demersal and pelagic gears, hand gathering and diving
• collection by any method of flora, fauna, natural materials (e.g. crustaceans, molluscs, seaweed, fossils, shells, rocks, sediments, seagrass, algae)
• activities associated with oil and gas exploration and production
• activities associated with renewable energy production
• aggregate extraction
• anchoring
• water abstraction
• mining
• construction or installation of objects or infrastructure (including rock dump and rock armour)
• any form of aquaculture (finfish, shellfish, seaweed or other)
• other deposit or release of any substance or material (e.g. dredged material, rubbish, organic waste, chemicals)
• intentional introduction or release of plants, animals or other living organisms (except for the purposes of a recognised restoration project specifically relating to the aims of the HPMA)
• use of explosives
• use of acoustic deterrent devices (ADDs)
• seismic surveys
• salvage operations
I heard that MOD radar station for missile testing object to wind farms. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has objected to the development on the grounds of interference to the Benbecula (South Clettraval) Air Defence (AD) radar and the Hebrides range control radars (RCRs).[10]
I heard that salt and fresh water will mix in the inland lochs of Uist in the event of marine flooding. Invasive species and predators will spread and that loch basins will merge at flood levels greater than 5.0 m. [4]
I heard that standard barometric pressure is 1013.5 mb. The sea level rises by 1 cm for every 1 mb below this level, as in a depression. [4]
I heard there is a huge potential for water table salination in South Uist as sea level rises. This will affect crofting and biodiversity on the machair and in the lagoons. [4]
I heard that people can’t even fish off a pier in an HPMA
I heard that Stòras Uibhist is under severe commercial pressure.[11]
I heard that kelp on the seabed removes a huge proportion of wave energy. Kelp is vital in mitigating the force of surf on fragile dune coastlines. [4]
I heard that a progressive disengagement of the wave base from the seabed and kelp will occur as sea level rises. Since light not a limiting factor in Uist, the kelp there need not grow to meet rising sea level. Waves will, therefore, hit the dunes and machair coast with more energy.[4]
I heard that there are tensions between Stòras Uibhist and local crofters. [11]
I heard that the Minch has a robust and healthy marine ecosystem.
I heard that there is a lot of resistance to windfarms in Cambridgeshire.
I heard that folk want to know if workers in the oil industry knew what was going to happen.
I heard that fishing is an important lifeway on the islands and folk elsewhere are threatening to take it away.
I heard that those who raise doubts about climate change and its impacts are silenced.
I heard that ‘The results from the Broad Bay closure in Lewis [making it a Marine Protected Area (MPA)] clearly demonstrates that a total, long term prohibition does not protect the marine environment. In Broad Bay, recent tests have shown that star fish are now a large scale predator and have virtually wiped out scallop stocks.’ [12]
I heard that the Thatcher Government lifted a century long ban on commercial fishing within 3 miles of the coast in 1984.
I heard that people can fish recreationally between Mean Low Seawater Level (MLSWL) and Mean High Seawater Level (MHSWL) in an HPMA.[8]
References
[2] John Gordon of Cluny – Celtic Life International (celticlifeintl.com)
[6] The Clearances Again – HPMA protest song. – West Highland Free Press – www.whfp.com
[9] Bumper BP profits of £4bn in three months spark criticism – BBC News
[10] K Item 11DA Appendix 2 Locheport Isle of North Uist.pdf (cne-siar.gov.uk)
[11] Tranquility shattered in South Uist by community-buy out tensions | HeraldScotland
[12] Marine Scotland ‘wrong’ about Western Isles – Fish Farmer Magazine
