Description:In 1821 James Loch received a letter from Charles Young of Forfar. Young had produced an unsolicited report of the changes in Sutherland shire as a result of the Clearances. In his letter to Loch featured above, Young writes that he and the friend with whom he had visited the estates ‘returned with very different sentiments from those we entertained when we left Forfarshire’.
Young refers to the ‘acrimonious’ debate concerning the Clearances which had appeared in ‘the publick prints’. He admits to having shared ‘the prejudices which those discussions engendered against the Noble Marquess’. However, following his visit Young reports that he was ‘fully satisfied of their falsehood and injustice’. Despite this, Young asks that Loch ensure his report remained anonymous, revealing that the topic of the Clearances continued to cause ‘warfare’ in ‘publick discussion’.
Click on the image on the left to learn more about Young’s report.