The Glens Left Quieter

The passage a’ time cannae erase the hurt—
Ah want tae tak ye doon the past,
tae darker spells in Alba’s legacy.
...
Ah mind when the weans and families
ootnumbered the bleatin’ o’ sheep—
when the land lay rich and breathin’,
afore it was reined in for profit dressed as progress,
ower hill and glen,
through bogs o’ reekin’ peat.
...
We were lifted—
hauled like cargo—
flung ower the ocean
tae a New World
that didnae ken our names.
...
As auld Field Marshal Raglan
led men tae die in Crimea,
many o’ oor ain were sent awa—
the glens left thinner, quieter.
...
And those that stayed—
the lairds’ men came creeping,
no wi’ banners,
but wi’ papers and fire.
...
They took the hames
from lassies and weans,
bold where there were none tae fight back—
cowards, aye,
that wouldnae face the men
if the men had still been there.
...
And when the soldiers, worn and torn, returned,
what waited but the wind—
slippin’ through emptied glens and valleys,
where nought but sheep remain,
and nae voices left
tae outnumber them.
*
Thanks for reading!

Author’s note: This is for Tim Carmichael's Unofficial Challenge: Time Traveler Poetry for National Poetry Month.

I decided to pay tribute and focus on one of my least favourite segments of my homeland’s chequered past. The poem itself is 186 words in Vocal’s editor.
The Highland Clearances were the forced eviction of Scottish Highlands and islands tenants, taking place between 1750 and 1860. The motivator? Agricultural “progress,” including conversion of land for sheep farming and industrial interests.

It led to the displacement of between 70,000 and 150,000+ people, causing mass emigration and destroying the traditional clan system. While many were sent to coastal crofts, clearance villages, and industrial cities, many emigrated to Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Though the Clearances had obviously already began before the Crimean War, which took place between 1853 and 1856, as many landowners were enlisted from the Highlands and Islands, it is likely that evictions were easier to carry out when the men were away fighting in continental Europe.
I have written about this before a couple of times, if you’re interested: