Riding the Waves of Feast and Famine: Islay’s Agriculture Through History

To talk about the history of Islay is to talk about farming. Life on this island has been, for most of its history, directly linked to what food could be extracted from the land and sea. Changes in the political and economic landscapes always have an impact on farming communities, but this is particularly true of an island community which feels the impact of those changes acutely. From clan-based, communal cultivation to tenant farming according to the rules of absent landlords, Islay has ridden the waves of feast and famine. Despite the hardships and ever-changing challenges, in true Hebridean fashion, Islay’s farmers persist.

EARLY PREHISTORY 

Tools, shell middens, and rough shelters dug into the land show that Islay was occupied – at the least, seasonally – as early as 10,000 BC. Signs of settlements on the island dating back to at least 2000 BC have been found in the form of round houses, tombs, food vessels, and stone tools. 

During the Bronze and Iron ages, the staple crop would have been six-row barley (as opposed to the more common two-row barley grown for both livestock feed and grain-based spirits), along with oats. Agriculture would have expanded as settlements grew, but otherwise it remained relatively unchanged for thousands of years.  

13 – 16th Centuries 

By the 13th century, cattle became the primary form of transportable wealth, along with sheep. From the 17th to 19th centuries, a well-organised cattle trade existed for transporting livestock from remote areas, such as Islay, to mainland Scotland and further south to England. Droving – the transportation of cattle, sheep, and other livestock – became a prominent feature of Scotland’s economy after the Union of Parliaments in 1707. Livestock were transported by foot from as far away as the Highlands and Outer Hebrides to be sold in markets in Crieff and Falkirk, helping to meet the growing demand for beef in Lowland Scotland and England. On Islay, drovers would transport their livestock by foot to Port Askaig where they were ferried together on open boats across to Jura, then walked from Feolin to Lagg to be ferried to Keillmore on the mainland. The cattle were often pushed off the boats just outside the cove and made to swim the final few hundred yards. (Those coming from the Outer Hebrides had a worse time of it, being made to swim across the Kyle of Lochalsh – a narrow straight connecting the Isle of Skye to the mainland, and absolutely treacherous during the change of tides. The animals were tied nose-to-tail with the first beast attached to a rowboat).  

17th – 19th Centuries 

From the 12th to the early 17th centuries, Islay had been run by Clan MacDonald (Lords of the Isles from 1336 – 1493). Their control officially ended when the Campbells of Cawdor took over after the siege of Dunyvaig castle in 1615. Under the clan system, the people were guided by dùthchas – a Gaelic concept of kinship, heritage, and connection to place. Though not proscribed by law, dùthchas was a firmly held belief that clan members had inalienable rights to settle in the area of their clan. When the Campbells took control, all of that began to change. Land began to be managed with a priority on increased revenues for the absent landlords, rather than as a means for supporting a community. This shift in land management, from dùthchas to a commercialism, meant a shift towards the larger, consolidated estates held privately by the wealthy few. Rent was paid by tenant farmers, typically in grain, but also through arrears, giving the landlords even greater control. 

The Cawdor Campbells attempted, but failed, to make some improvements in agriculture and industry, and were eventually forced to sell their estates to wealthy tobacco baron and slave trader, Daniel Campbell in 1726. Interestingly, Daniel Campbell had acquired the £6,000 fortune he used to purchase Islay from the council as compensation for damage to his Glasgow property in the riots protesting the 1725 malt tax, despite the damage to his property only being a few hundred pounds.* Glasgow’s misfortune (and tax money) became Islay’s opportunity.  

Over the course of the next century, Daniel and his successors introduced new farming methods, flax cultivation, and mills and weavers for producing linen. Bowmore village was built, the fishing industry further developed, and new roads and transportation links were created to open access to new markets.  

By the early 19th century, the population on Islay had expanded, leading then-estate owner, Walter Frederick Campbell, to set up the villages of Port Ellen, Port Charlotte, and Port Wemyss, invest in the distilling industry, and turn in favour of individual small holdings and land reclamation. From 1755 to 1841 the population grew from 5,300 to over 15,000, supported by the booming kelp industry, the introduction of potatoes, and greater land cultivation through crofting.  

Despite these booms, Islay was not immune to the Clearances which devastated so many communities in the Highlands and Islands. Dramatic changes came once again when the kelp industry collapsed in the 1820s, followed by the potato blight which spawned widespread famine in the 1840s. Prominent landowners such as Walter Frederick Campbell and others, began evicting tenant farmers to make room for rearing sheep, which had become a much more lucrative business (thanks to the Industrial Revolution and the rise of textile mills in England) than renting to poor farmers who could scarce feed their families from crofting, much less pay their rents.  

By the end of the 19th century, Islay’s population had halved. The clearances, which forced residents from the land their ancestors had been farming for centuries, along with the famine of 1840s, caused many to emigrate to Canada and the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Others moved to Glasgow and the central belt in search of work. 

Walter Frederick Campbell went bankrupt, but the land clearances continued. Eventually the estates were broken up and sold off to private owners, many of whom had no interest in the local economy or condition of the islanders and continued to promote emigration. Islay’s agriculture shifted from small-scale subsistence cultivation to large-scale pastoralism, which was much less labour-intensive. 

20 – 21st Centuries 

Private ownership continued from the 20th century through to today. Much of the farmed land is used to raise cattle and sheep, and barley is still the main crop of the island (mainly for animal feed, although Bruichladdich and Kilchoman both use locally grown barley for distillation). Land which is not used for grazing or growing is rented out to tenant farmers or developed into hunting estates.  

Prior to the 1900s, Islay whisky production relied on local barley, along with peat from the surrounding peat banks. With the industrialisation of the Scotch whisky industry in the late 19th century, Islay distillers began moving away from local peat as a fuel source and supplementing or replacing it with coal. The early 1900s saw Islay distilleries importing much of their barley from the mainland as the demand for blended whisky skyrocketed and local production couldn’t keep up. By 1960’s and 70’s, distilleries were closing down their traditional floor maltings and buying malted barley from Port Ellen maltings, which used mainland barley. In the late 1900s, Islay and the surrounding islands saw a significant decrease in cultivated land, down 80 – 90% in one century. Similarly, the population has dropped to about 3,200 residents. 

CHALLENGES 

Islay farmers today may have the benefit of subsidies, but they are faced with a multitude of challenges, from wildlife such as deer and migrating geese, to the effects of climate change both on the growing season and on animal health, infrastructure, and access to land. 

All of the above, plus the modernisation of farming equipment and the boom-and-bust cycles of the distilleries, has had profound effects on Islay’s farming. With the rising interest in high-provenance single malts, however, farmers are beginning to see a bit of the limelight and get the recognition they are so deserving of. 

Over the last two decades, Bruichladdich Distillery has partnered with 20+ farms to grow one-third of its barley. In addition to buying local barley, the distillery invests in soil mapping and regenerative agriculture projects. By investing in local farmers and the health of both Islay’s soil and communities, Bruichladdich aims to keep Islay’s farming traditions alive and thriving for generations to come. Perhaps, in time, the investment of distilleries into local farming will see Islay return to a more communal form of agriculture.