‘The most arbitrary, scandalous act of tyranny’: The Crown, private proprietors and the ownership of the Scottish foreshore in the nineteenth century

Abstract

This article examines the dispute between private proprietors and the Crown over the ownership of the Scottish foreshore in the second half of the nineteenth century and, in particular, the work of the Association of Seaboard Proprietors of Scotland. The existence and facts of the dispute and the work of the Association have not had any attention in Scottish historiography, an omission which, this article suggests, has led to the development of a consensus in relation to the kelp industry in the highlands and islands—namely that the economic benefits of the industry accrued to the proprietors through their unchallenged exclusive ownership and control of the foreshore—being based on a shallow foundation. There is another matter which the dispute over the ownership of the foreshore discussed in this article highlights: it has not been appreciated that the work of the crofters and cottars in the kelp industry enabled many of the proprietors to extend the legal boundaries to their estates and this article draws attention to the role which crofters and cottars had in the establishment of title to the foreshore: an aspect of the kelp industry which has not had sufficient attention. The examination of the dispute also contributes to a deeper understanding of how proprietors viewed, and acted in relation to, their property rights in the nineteenth century and of the reactions of Government when faced by institutional pressure from proprietors, and of the role of law agents who acted on behalf of the proprietors.