The Resettlement of Syre, Sutherland by the Congested Districts Board

Abstract

Syre in Strathnaver was one of a small number of land purchase schemes undertaken by the Congested Districts Board set up by the Conservative government. Following a protracted negotiation with the Duke of Sutherland with interventions by the local crofters and the Sutherland County Council, 23 settlers took up holdings in 1901. They experienced difficulties not only in paying for the sheepstock but also in repaying the purchase money and loans advanced for buildings. In a changed political climate the settlers petitioned to be rent-paying tenants under the crofting legislation which was eventually granted in 1912. Syre was considered an expensive failure as a land-purchase scheme although agriculturally it was a success. A change in the way Syre was regarded by politicians came during the First World War.