A man and woman outside their croft house in Western Isles
A croft was not a house but a piece of land. Usually a crofter owned his house but only rented the land. Rent would be paid to a landlord and the crofter would share common grazings with other crofters in the township. This system had no security of tenure and a crofter could be evicted on a landlord's whim. In 1883 the government appointed a royal commission of inquiry into Crofting Conditions, the Napier Report. Following the Napier Report the Crofters Commission was set up to see that the crofters had security of tenure and were given a fair deal on rents and compensation on the loss of any land.
Click to enlarge the image, read the text then answer the following questions.
Questions
- Before 1883, why was it so easy for the landlord to evict a crofter?
- What was the name of the report that led to the setting up of the Crofters Commission?
- In what three ways did the setting up of the Crofters Commission improve the crofters situation?