The district of Sokas in the Island of North Uist, the property of Lord MacDonald, contains a population of 110 families consisting of 603 souls distributed over the following farms, name by, Sokas, Middlequaite, Dunckeleas & Malligate.  Whereof 79 heads of families are tenants and the remainder Cottars.

     The yearly rents of these four farms amount together to 382 lbs.  At present 27 of these tenants are from one to one, and a half years rent in arrears and the others are in arrears two years or upwards.  The arrears on these lands as at Whitsunday last and still due amount to 624.5 lbs.

     Their lands are in miserable condition and their worth will not value more than their arrears as at Whitsunday last if so much, for the last two years a great fact of these people after exhausting their crop have been aided by their Highland Destitution Commities V the proprietor.  At present they are living upon meal furnished them by the Proprietor gratis.  The people in this District (and other Districts are quickly following in the same path) in place of making any returns for their occupancy form a present and constantly increasing load on the Proprietor.  This state of matters has arisen from many causes.  But the population rendered superabundant owing to the discontinuation of the kelp manufacture followed by the total failure of the potatoe crop is sufficient cause to account for a great part of the misery that exists to which must follow if the hands of the Proprietors are not ?  in their endeavours to remove a population the labours of which have been altogether superseded in consequence of the remission of the duties on sale, without any adequate provision having been made whereby their labour could be turned to advantage, otherwise.  In other facts of these Islands where the population is also considerable extent in works of drainage and thereby in some degrees to alleviate their districts, but as regards the District in question the soil is not suited for small tenants and it is incapable of renumeration improvement by drainage, for this reason the government Drainage Inspector withheld his sanctions from such work being proceeded with in that particular District.  But in order to put theTenants of that District as nearly as might be in the same footing with the other small tenants and with a view to enable them to support themselves and assist in paying their rents work was provided for them on some of the Tacksmen's farms who were willing to avail themselves of part of the Drainage money.  This work the people actually refused to perform and one of the Tacksmen was obliged to bring people from a neighbouring Island belonging to another Proprietor to execute the works upon which they had refused to enter.  The actual loss which the Proprietor annually sustains by these people is not represented by their rent and the supplementary aid tendered them.  It must be borne in mind that the Proprietor is taxed for the District in question on the full yearly rental by the government, the County and the Parish.  The Proprietor in March last warned the whole population of this District to remove at Whitsunday last and Decrees of Removing were obtained against them.  But as yet the people have continued in possession.  To encourage them to emigrate to Canada the Proprietor has offered to remit their arrears and to pay them for their crop & stock at valuation.  The Highland Destitution Committee have agreed to assist the Proprietor to the extent of 2g for each adult and 1g for each person under fourteen years of age.  And the Proprietor has offered to supplement this assistance by whatever additional sum is necessary to convey the people to America besides sending a person with them to see them comfortable and assisting the necessitous in clothing.  And although the great body of the people petitioned the Proprietor for assistance in this respect, nevertheless the offer which has been made has been obstinately refused.  It is under these circumstances that the Proprietor will be obliged to call in officers of the law to carry the Decrees of Removing into execution to enable him to resume possession of his lands and houses. 

Courtesy of Linda (MacDougall) Prendergast

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