Known as Fuadach nan Gàidheal in Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig), the ‘Expulsion of the Gael’ (ie Gaelicspeaking people) or the Highland Clearances is arguably one of the greatest violations that Scotland every committed against itself. The rapid forced depopulation of the Highlands in the 18th and 19th centuries led to mass emigration and extensive damage to traditional Highland life.
The Highland Clearances were actually the continuation of an earlier and often forgotten action against Scotland's agricultural communities, in the form of the Lowland Clearances. In the 17th century, Scotland was a predominantly agricultural nation. In the aftermath of the Union of the Crowns of 1603, when James VI of Scotland became James I of
