to read and release

Started off a bit dry (I'd rather read about the stories and experiences of the people than the stats and figures, I suppose) but turned into a really interesting read about patterns and motivations for Scottish emigration; covering also a fair bit of Scottish economic history and changing perceptions and discourses about the Highlands. Reserved as I'm planning to send this one to New Zealand for the long jump challenge in the BC Olympics.

posted as a surprise RABCK to a bookcrosser in New Zealand who lists genealogy as one of he interests - not sure if you have Scottish connections, but hopefully the book is still of interest!

Posted from the Isle of Harris as part of the bookcrossing olympics - this is Team Twente's entry for long jump. The book is following in the footsteps of thousands who made the long journey to emigrate from the Western Isles, either through choice, in search of better opportunities, or through force, driven off the land to make way for sheep farms and private estates, as was the case for large tracts of Harris in the 1800s. There is a great visitor centre on Harris which shows where the emigrants ended up - many in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the US and South Africa as you'd expect, but also as far afield as Argentina, Peru, Papua New Guinea, India and the Antarctic! There's more information here for anyone interested in Hebridean family members http://www.hebridespeople.com/

Thanks very much indeed. The book was waiting with a couple of others that arrived during our annual visit to our son's family in France so I don't know exactly when it arrived but it is safely here. I'm a bit like you in respect of preferring to read about the stories and experiences of people rather than the stats and figures however, dipping into this book has aroused my interested in digging deeper.
My husband welcombed this book with open arms and acquisitive fingers as he is a serious reader and especially of Scottish history. We both have traced lines of our ancestors in Scotland, mainly in Ayrshire, and have visited there a couple of times finding and walking on what could be felt to be ancestral lands.
I was specially interested in your mention of Harris because I am interested in a place there, Luskentyre, which is a beautiful beach judging by photos found through Google, although I've not been there at all. My paternal ancestors follow a line of LUSKs and I have tried in various ways to find out how that beach received that name without success so far. I'll definitely follow through the Hebrides link you've posted. There was a wonderful display of Harris tweed at a large touring fibre exhibition and a couple of the items had the name Lusk in their descriptions but the person travelling with the display couldn't help me.
The book will likely stay in our permanent collections together with several books by T.C. Smout on the same topic.
I'm truly delighted with this RABCK but hadn't come across the BC Olympics. It is all I can do to keep up with the 666 Challenge.