‘It is truly, in the expressive language of Burke, a nation crying for bread’: the public response to the highland famine of 1836–1837

Abstract

Famines and food scarcities in the Highlands and Islands, apart from those of the 1690s and 1847, have been under-examined in Scottish historiography. This article considers an aspect of the serious famine of 1836–7: the public response to the famine as reflected by the committees set up to solicit public subscriptions, principally in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London and by the contemporary newspaper reportage. Three themes in particular are examined: the motive and role of the proprietors in seeking subscriptions; the extent to which the evangelical ethos of the day – that the most potent weapon of God's wrathful providence was famine – influenced the public response; and the highlander as a suitable recipient of public aid. The public response was generous, driven by a strong belief in Christian charity, benevolence, divine direction and philanthropic duty. The highlanders were seen as an object of charity for the debt owed to them by the nation for war time services rendered. The proprietors never shook off the criticism that their appeals to the public were self-serving.