Pre-Trip Essay

Annabelle Peterson

Professor Justin Latici

Preliminary Essay

September 10, 2018

Scotland’s Right To Roam

The Scottish people trace their roots back to a hardy history full of invasions, destruction, and ultimately a rebirth of a nation strengthened by a system of clans. While the modern day has since moved past the archaeal hierarchy, its presence has shaped the landscape due to land claims that each clan has set hundreds of years ago. Territories were ruled by leaders trying to keep their people safe while also keeping their place at the top of the political food chain. This, in turn, resulted in a policy of people allowed to roam freely so that the fields and crops could be better tended and managed. As present laws have adapted to using the traits of “shared land”, these policies aim to model how UK citizens connect with each other in their communities by emphasizing the positive outcomes of the right to roam.

To begin, it is important to understand the necessity of allowing people to roam during the birth of Scotland’s ancient governing system.  Townships and villages abided by a shared land policy where individual families had their own home and tended to farming and grazing property, but the overruling clan or government of the society controlled all landscape within their boundary. The use of sharing the land so that all members of a clan could walk upon it became important in establishing a hierarchy of power. Using this system, people were delegated responsibilities to the land but didn’t necessarily have individual rights to it, meaning that the power was concentrated at the top, where the political leaders oversaw the use of the fields, (Mackie 96). Leaders of the clan very easily kept their positions at the top of the hierarchy by keeping a tight hold on the land and therefore, the food. It was the chief who parceled out land and used this as establishing his dominance over the lower class. Besides keeping the subordinates in order, shared land was used to help ensure survival of the clan. By allowing the land to be used and walked on freely, the territory was marked as belonging to a group. Having land that was well traveled, walked on, or otherwise visibly distressed indicated ownership whereas land that didn’t show any signs of permanent establishment could be considered unowned land that was free to claim. As clans began to fade out of history, the idea of sharing land freely remained as it had become ingrained as a key way of life for villages in the Highlands and rural Scotland.

The modern people of Scotland have continued to hold on to these traditions and have seen the benefits of them through effective legislation and positive environmental impact. First created in 2016 and implemented in 2017 was the Land Reform (Scotland) Act. This act established the use of land as privately owned but publicly used which is also known as the “right to roam” with respect to the owners of the property. While this is similar to how the clans parceled the land, it has the key difference of noting that “the ownership of land or land rights conveys the right to use the land or right as the owner chooses, subject to the legal terms of their ownership” (32 Report of the Land). The reason for this important note about the use of land is to establish that owners of the property still have control over their own land and do not have to give up their reign to the government. Another way to look at it is that the owners of the land can establish whether citizens can use certain areas of their land. The legislation allows owners of the land to establish their own boundaries and set reasonable limits on their property using paths and signage. This is just one way that the present-day citizens have benefited by an establishment of “right to roam” through legislation while also balancing it with the needs for privacy of the landowners. Besides providing more freedom to landowners, the shared land acts have provided a positive environment impact on the community. Giving community members access to use property as means to get to their desired destination can help reduce the number of cars on the road. More paths through yards and parks allows for potentially shorter travel times and a reduced carbon being emitted from exhaust pipes. When community members were polled about negative factors in the community, a majority cited that the number of cars on local roads created unwanted noise and carbon pollution. (2 Thomson). By providing a right to roam on private lands, an alternative to cars is used to counter this and positively affect communities. The Land Reform Act has taken old clan tradition of roaming and provided benefits in the present day.

While the clans have established an important tradition of using shared land to establish the boundaries of villages, the present day has used this policy to solve issues plaguing the modern world. One of these issues is the eroding of communal bonds. What would happen if private land was not openly available for public use? Would the sense of community diminish? Would more fences and stricter laws discourage people from interacting with their neighbors? Archaic evidence from the time of clans shows that societies were heavily tethered to the land. The openness of the societal land strengthened loyalty to the clans by providing a sense of togetherness during battles and times of starvation. Scotland’s current government is trying to remove barriers and reminisce on the sense of fellowship by implementing rules designed to increase these traits. The Land Reform Act has helped to encourage these values as issues in the world try to divide the culture.

Scotland’s evolving rules over how land is used can be traced all the way back to the days of the clans. In the beginning, having public access to land strengthened the community through effective leadership and communal sharing of property. This led to accountability for one another so that the clan did not fall to enemies or the elements. In the current day, the traits of this connection between the people and land have influenced Scottish policy. The laws being put in place enforcing the “right to roam” aim to bridge the gap induced through social issues by creating community unification in shared land. From the fall of the clans to the new laws in the modern day, Scotland’s legislation encourages its citizens use of all land as a means of bridging gaps in communities and solving issues that face the country.

PRELIMINARY BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Using APA style, list below the preliminary bibliography for your research project:

Fulton, A. (1993). Scotland and her tartans: The romantic heritage of the Scottish clans and families. London, UK: Bramley Books.

The author of the book applies a methodical approach to providing the reader with information about the history of tartans along with their rise to prominence and an illustrated guide to every major clan and their patterns. His descriptions are easy to comprehend for someone who wants to learn more about their heritage and keeps the history brief and to the point. Many of the battles mentioned have a very tense and sensitive subject even in the modern day due to the well-known clans that were involved. Despite the nature of such wars, the author remains neutral to the stance and takes no sides. After exploring the past, the author continues into visual graphics for the tartans as well as the smaller clans, the septs. The research on the book is thorough and relevant to the present. As tourism due to media use in the nation has increase, it has made the interest in heritage and links to the clans grow as well. Fulton acknowledges this growth and includes a passage towards the end of the book instructing curious readers on how to learn more about their ancestry and connection to the land as well as being respectful to the tartans still in use. Fulton’s project of assembling an informative history while advising readers is concise and well-researched.

 Mackie, J. D., Lenman, B., & Parker, G. (1991). A History of Scotland. London: Penguin Books.

    

The historical novel explores major battles and political events that shaped the governance of the nation. Expectations for an in-depth exploration of the culture of Scotland and how it evolved through the clans’ power exchange were quickly dashed as the book narrows its focus onto political events and the struggled for power and independence. As a brief introduction to the people of the nation, Mackie explores the reason for the migration from Europe over to Scotland albeit only briefly. The author then dives into exploring the political landscape of the nation while failing to mention the clans for the first third of the book. While the importance of the persecution of the Jacobites was not ignored, Mackie skipped around in the timeline of the country and became bogged down with addressing many controversial topics. His research is thorough, but the writing is unimpressive. The entire piece resembles a textbook without pictures. After muddling through controversial topics, Mackie concludes his novel by examining the “modern” Scotland and how it fares through the Great Wars. His perspective shifts to the world’s view of the country and expresses the declining “tartan-ness” of the country by discussing the impact of tourism in the mid twentieth century. His arguments pull evidence from the impact left on the government by the second World War as well as the modernization of society. J. D. Mackie pulls together a very thorough and expansive history of Scotland but lacks the spark to keep readers motivated.

Elliot, A., & Watt, J., &Cooke, I., & Tabor, P. (2014) The land of Scotland and the common good. (2014). Edinburgh: The Scottish Government.

           

            The multitude of authors and organizations that have contributed to the book take an exceptionally analytical approach to their gathering of data as well as the expression of their concern when it comes to the nautical aspect of Scotland’s “right to roam” law. While the paper is sponsored by the Scottish Government, the contributors were careful to post that it was an independent group and had been selected to take an unbiased approach. The essay took a thorough look at how the people of the communities have reacted to the land access law as well as how it will impact the communities surrounding controversial areas. Some of these areas include the North Sea and farming lands. Disputes over the law in these areas come from concern over the inevitable overuse of such areas. At the end of each section is a short and concise solution as to how the review group suggests the Crown government proceed with this. An example of this is after section 34.1 where fishing rights are covered. A bolded statement asserts that the review group suggests a law to create new ownership of salmon fishing rights. The authors finish off the article by providing seven pages of how they see the future looking with the continuation of this resolution as well as suggesting how to direct legislation in a direction where all issues found would be resolved. Overall, the group assigned to review all aspects of the law take a thorough approach and pull together concise but analytical arguments that highlight both the benefits and pitfalls of Scotland’s “right to roam” law.

The impact of diversity of ownership scale on social, economic and environmental outcomes:

Exploration and case studies (2014). Edinburgh: The Scottish Government.

            The framework for the paper is structured similarly to others in that it takes a look at the overall picture before analyzing the evidence collected. However, the authors of the piece have taken a more positive spin on the article and emphasize the positive aspects of the new public access law. They begin by taking an overview over how land policy effects economic, social and environmental aspects of the lives of the community. One example of this is their explanation of how wildlife and game hunting laws on private property influence the economy of rural areas where this is more prominent. A prominent part of the research is the data they took from polls conducted. Direct research from the people affected by the land access law is prominently displaced on the page and backs up statements made about how the land access law will increase local economy, produce more involved business, and positively impact the environment. The writers then conclude their piece on what drives change in the community (increase of cars in the environment, communication quality, closure of shops, etc.). While the overall flow of the piece was structured appropriately, the constant cross referencing between figures in different sections made it hard to read due to the length of the report. In conclusion, the data and analysis provided clear reasoning as to how the land access law has impacted the community.