People and Culture

Before the Clearances

The Ice-Age glaciers receded from Scotland some 3000 to 5000 years B.C.. The first people to take advantage of the improved climate were the Neolithic peoples. Around 2500 B.C. the Bronze Age began and the 'Beaker People', famous for their distinctive type of pottery arrived.
The most influential people were the Celts who arrived from Ireland sometime in the Second Century A.D.. The Vikings were the next major invader who had a profound effect on the language and culture as described below. After the Viking dominance the Clan System began to take shape.
The following centuries saw the English try to dominate Scotland. Wars, battles and massacres involving the Scots and the English dominte the Second Millenium A.D. eventually resulting in the Act of Union of 1707 which made Scotland part of the U.K. Scotland was not to have it's own parliament again until 1999.
Towards the end of the end of the 18th Century the population of Mull increaed dramatically. Accurate figures were not available until the first census of 1801 which revealed a population of 8,539 with 456 living in Tobermory. In 1821, the population for the island was 10,612, and Tobermory's population had almost doubled to 850. Then the clearances began.

The Clearances

Even today, the Clearances leave a bitter taste in the throats of many Highland Scotsmen. During the 1840's and 1850's landowners decided to evict tenent crofters from their land who have lived their for generations, in some cases 500 years. Sheep-farming was considered more profitable than receiving rent from tenents and with the Industrial Revolution changing the face of towns and cities, crofters were forced off their land and had to seek new oppurtunities in the cities and also in America and Australia. Cruel laws and rules were passed making it trespass even if a crofter steps outside his own front door. The Clearances together with potato blight crossing over from Ireland decimated the Highland population and today, ruined villages and houses dot the landscape. Where 40 people may now live, hundreds once farmed.

The Population Today

During the course of the 19th Century the population of Tobermory increased to a peak of 1,850 while the genaral population of the island fell as people were forced off the land by unscrupilous landowners.
Changes in the laws restoring crofters' rights early in the 20th Century have failed to halt the decline of Mull's population and better job prospects elsewhere have only compounded the problem.
Today less than 3000 people live on Mull with 700 in Tobermory. Mull is now mainly an empty and lonely place. Tourism has provided some jobs here and the main employer on the island is Forest Enterprise (formally the Forestry Commision). Fishing and agriculture creates most of the other jobs. Unfortunately young people on Mull are tempted to find work elsewhere and migrate to the mainland to the cities, forsaking the idyllic existance of life on Mull.

The Impact of Tourism

One job in twelve in Scotland is tourist related, even more so away from the big cities of the Central Lowlands where people have to eke out a living either off the land or in service industries or tourism. Travelling through Scotland one would see many guest houses and B+B's, often displaying 'No Vacancies' notices during the summer. Many of the bed and breakfasts are run by homeowners who let out a few rooms to guests to top up their incomes. Hotels come in all shapes and sizes. Standing proud above Tobermory is the Western Isles Hotel, a beautiful castillated building, a pleasant change from some of the carbuncles which pass as hotels in other parts of Scotland. The Croit Anna Hotel on the outskirts of Fort William is just one of the unfortunate examples when planning reguations seem to go out of the window.
The Isle of Skye to the north is more popular with tourists than Mull. Recently a bridge over to Skye was built, connecting it to Mainland Britain which is in turn connected to Mainland Europe by the Channel Tunnel, so thanks to tourism, Skye is no longer an island. I hope Mull never suffers the same fate.

The Isle of Mull is often confused with the Mull of Kintyre. Indeed, the question I am most often asked is: "Did you see Paul McCartney?", whose song, Mull of Kintyre with Wings and the Cambletown Pipe Band made the Scottish headland famous in 1977.

The Gaelic Language

An important part of the culture of north-west Scotland is the Gaelic language, one of the Irish Celtic group of languages which also include Irish and Manx. When the Scots crossed over from Ireland early in the Second Century A.D. they brought the Irish language with them. The arrival of the Vikings around the year 800 A.D. and their presence for the next five centuries resulted in the language being infiltrated with Norse words and grammer. In the Isle of Man, the influence of Norse on the Manx language was great and a different spelling system evolved for Manx, which is similar to Scots Gaelic when spoken. The spelling of Scots Gaelic words is similar to Irish. For a time the Outer Hebredies were governed from the Isle of Man. The Sameh language spoken by Norwegian Lapps is similar to Manx and Scots Gaelic, a legacy of the Viking era.

On the Isle of Mull today, English is the predominant language which many of the older inhabitants still using Gaelic. It is only on the Outer Hebredies that Gaelic still has a strong foothold. Hopefully, the language will continue to survive indefinately with the help of enthusiasts and assistance from the new Scottish Parliament. The Celtic-Rock band, Runrig, makes use of Gaelic on many of their records and in 1996 had a top twenty hit with a Gaelic language song that was used in a Carlsberg T.V. advertising Campaign. Capercaille, another Scottish band also uses Gaelic.

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