By the early 1800’s, the smallhold tenure farming system, and with it the shieling, was becoming endangered. By the end of the 19th century, traditional shieling culture was extinct in all but the most isolated areas. Today, it would appear to be dead, but there are several places around Scotland where the shieling is being preserved, and many more where the culture of shielings is being revived, recorded, and appreciated once more. 

The shieling lifestyle was most obviously destroyed by the land-owning class of Scottish (and English) lairds and landlords. After the Battle of Culloden and the final destruction of the Jacobite cause, the British government took efforts to dismantle traditional systems of clanmanship; the greatest change turning chieftains into landlords, turning the social ties of loyalty to chief and clan into a financial one: no longer would the chief call on men to fight for him. Now he would call on them to pay him, or to leave his lands. This meant that chiefs no longer felt any duty of care to their clansmen, and they began to devise ways to extract the most wealth possible from their highland estates. These now landlords welcomed with open arms enterprising sheep farmers from the lowlands, who brought with them vast flocks, which needed vast space to graze.  

Landlords like the Dukes of Argyll and the McCleod's of Sutherland forced their original tenant farmers onto smaller and smaller lands, until they were grouped in slum-like townships along the coast, where they had to pick kelp to supplement the now unlivable money they made from farming. These Highland Clearances forced many farmers to give up their profession and move to the cities of the Central Belt. Many more, however, were forced onto smaller and worse plots of land, having to do menial labour for their landlords in order to feed themselves. This, coupled with several brutal famines in the 1840’s, on a level with the Irish Famine in terms of deadliness and English mismanagement, forced many Scots to migrate to the New World in search of a livable life.  

This potent mix of greed, mismanagement and natural disaster led to inland areas of the Highlands and Islands having their population decimated. In the early 1800’s, well over a thousand people lived on the bonny shores of the remote Loch Arkaig, this was a thriving set of farming communities, each with their own shielings and pastures, with a chapel and a schoolhouse. Thanks to these clearances, the population had dropped to zero by the middle of the 20th century. This is the story of the vast majority of the Highlands at this time – people replaced by sheep and hunting grounds for the richest of society. Shieling buildings, which needed to be repaired each spring in optimal conditions, collapsed and became derelict quickly. Into the 20th century, those few who remained as farmers simply had less need for the shieling; they could drive to and from the high pastures each day. This, of course, required an extensive country track system to be developed, destroying acres of pristine wilderness that had not been touched since the last Ice Age. 

The social culture of shielings was also lost when the townships were pushed to emigrate or move to the cities and coastal towns. Although ceilidhs have remained popular in Scotland as a night of dancing and revelry, they are reserved for special occasions rather than as common and necessary parts of one's social life. The use of Gaelic declined massively, as with the compulsory schooling of the 1840’s came compulsory English lessons, with Gaelic often banned in formal or public settings. The various churches in Scotland also began to proscribe the telling of traditional stories, condemning them as “fairytales” and lying Gaelic stories”. The severance of people's ties to the land and specific community further lessened the need for stories, and TV put the final nail in the coffin of the social aspects of this traditional way of life. 

And so, the shieling and its culture would appear dead, a forgotten cultural footnote. However, there are many ways the shieling structural form is being preserved, and the culture around it even more so. 

Most obviously, this revival of heritage can be seen in the Gaelic rennaisance, which is an ongoing cultural movement which is encouraging hundreds of thousands across Scotland to start learning, or re-learning, Gaelic. This is in no small part thanks to the efforts of individuals like Iain Noble, one of the first proponents of the Gaelic language in the late 20th century, who led the charge on now familiar sights, like Gaelic road and train signs, or the creation of the first all-Gaelic college on southern Skye, the Sabhal Mor Ostaig, which is now in its 50th year of operation. Furthermore, the revival of the traditional makar, or court poet of medieval Scotland as a paid poet laureate in the 21st century shows that once again, the use of storytelling and oral tradition is being respected and seen as an important part of Scottish culture. Although it is only a start, it is a good one. 

The methods and ethos of shieling building are also being rediscovered and upheld by The Shieling Project, a residential camp in the Scottish Highlands which runs programs that help young people and adults alike reconnect with nature and traditional practices. The various courses teach an appreciation of the natural environment, traditional crafting practices, and vernacular building techniques which mirror that of traditional shielings. They have also undertaken archaeological studies of nearby shieling ruins to further our understanding of its heritage. 

The Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore is also home to one of the most complete collections of heritage Highland buildings, including traditional farmhouses and a fully reconstructed shieling. By showing these buildings off to an international audience, the museum further brings light to these buildings and their culture, and makes Scots think about their own potential heritage, both architectural and social.  

Bothies, the hiking huts that are spread across Scotland’s many trails and routes, are another form of conservation of the shieling form, as well as bearing many similarities to the culture. Firstly, they are located in similarly isolated spots, often necessitating several days walking to reach. They are also primarily accessed by foot, and have almost no technological facilities, transporting walkers back to the 19th century and before. The bothy is an open building, available to all hikers who can make their way to it. As such, strangers will often meet and share a room or bed with each other. They will share food and stories by fire or torchlight, harking back to the seanachaidhs and the oral traditions of the shieling. Many bothies come with their own stories, as they were usually farmhouses or even shielings before being refurbished into simple hiker’s retreats. These stories are usually about historic farmers and communities, their trials, tribulations, and eventual migration. Thus, bothies are a great way to connect not only with nature and wilderness through hiking, but also with the bothy architecture and its strong connection to the past. 

From large museums cultural renaissances' to models constructed in back gardens (including this author’s), the shieling form and culture is beginning to be appreciated around Scotland, and although it will never again be used for it’s e=intended purpose, and never seen again to it’s full extent, perhaps we can use it as a blueprint for the revival of simple, sustainable vernacular construction and the revival of an authentic, communal social culture once more.

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