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Author
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Topic: In praise of common ownership (Isle of Skye)
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lagatta
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 2534
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posted 28 January 2006 09:50 AM
I've been pondering the "two wings" thread in Aboriginal Issues, and thinking how traditional social structures and the "primitive commune" have become a source of radical social movements in recent years, in the Americas and elsewhere. Such controversies between communal was vs individualistic modern capitalist society come to mind, as I read this short Guardian piece about common ownership vs a greedy chief who tried to assume private ownership of the place and the 19th-century neo-Gothic castle built on the original ruins (and portrayed on websites slogging the place as much older). In praise of common ownership quote:
The Black Cuillin of Skye is the wildest and most rugged mountain range in the British Isles. It is loved by climbers and walkers throughout Britain and overseas for the challenge presented by its peaks and cliffs but also for its dramatic position, close to the sea, looking out over mainland Scotland and the Inner and Outer Hebrides, compensation enough for the frequent squalls of rain and the nastiest midgies in Scotland.
There was an outcry two years ago when John MacLeod of MacLeod, who claims ownership of the range, put it on the market, with an asking price of £10m. He wanted the money to repair his ancestral pile, Dunvegan Castle, also on Skye. (...) Belatedly, the Black Cuillin have found the right home: common ownership.
From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002
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skdadl
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 478
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posted 28 January 2006 10:47 AM
This is outrageous! MacLeod of MacLeod may be the clan chief, but that should not mean that he can lay personal claim to ownership of the clan lands. Traditionally, clan lands were just that - common ownership should never have been in question. I know I'm arguing too idealistically here - I'm sure this has happened all over Scotland, all over Britain - well, it is modern history, I guess. What throws the absurdity of the whole process into high relief, though, is the notion that anyone can OWN a mountain range! How can anyone OWN the Cuillins? They are a mountain range! Does anyone here OWN a Rocky? I also have to check my geography a bit, but as I know Skye, the MacLeod lands and Dunvegan Castle (a phony castle) are to the north; the south of Skye is MacDonald territory, and the MacDonald chieftain has developed them considerably - he (or his predecessor?) set up the Scots Gaelic university there. The Cuillins would be southerly, just above the MacDonald lands - a long way south of MacLeod territory, I should have thought, but I guess I'm wrong. Och. That the people should have to buy back their own lands. Or put up with a dreadful chief. 
From: gone | Registered: May 2001
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aRoused
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 1962
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posted 29 January 2006 03:58 PM
quote:
MacLeod of MacLeod may be the clan chief, but that should not mean that he can lay personal claim to ownership of the clan lands. Traditionally, clan lands were just that - common ownership should never have been in question.I know I'm arguing too idealistically here - I'm sure this has happened all over Scotland, all over Britain - well, it is modern history, I guess. What throws the absurdity of the whole process into high relief, though, is the notion that anyone can OWN a mountain range!
Well, traditionally, but in more recent times ownwership is vested in whoever bought the land, from the crown, among others. No different than buying an acreage (or several million acreages) in Canada, except that there's this 'clan Chief' business associated. Look at how much land Prince Charles owns down in Dorset and whatnot.
If you want a laugh, drive up the east coast of Scotland 'till you get to a point where you can see the *massive* statue erected by some Highland landowner to his own magnificence...after he evicted all his tenant farmers. What a character, makes me want to believe in an afterlife merely to show up on his paradisiacal doorstep going 'There's a fair few folk here that'd like to have a word, m'lord'.
From: The King's Royal Burgh of Eoforwich | Registered: Dec 2001
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skdadl
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 478
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posted 29 January 2006 04:24 PM
Yeah, I know. It is a general problem. And it is a problem partly because of tradition. If the local lairds have been moderately good sorts, the people have grown up for generations liking them, thinking of them as part of their history and culture. So you want to walk carefully if you are a critic.aRoused, you might know that the whole huge central valley running south of the Cairngorms from Blair Atholl to the Highland Line, taking in Pitlochry and Dunkeld (huge valley - too big to call it a glen), is/was owned by the dukes of Atholl, who have been the Murray (Moray) family since the C18. I'd have to check my histories, but their ascendancy may have been a political reward, as so many were, of course. The dukes of Atholl have been the only people in Europe allowed to raise a private army for God knows how long, and you can still see them on parade at Blair Castle at Blair Atholl, which in a way is quite wonderful. I mean: what are we to think of that? Everyone there loves it. The dukes have been good guys. They have been behind the restoration of Dunkeld for generations. It all feels good. What are we to think of that?
From: gone | Registered: May 2001
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