Highland Clearances

I have attached a photo of my journey stone which depicts a stag and some gorse and heather.

It is based on Sorley MacLean's poem 'Time, the deer, is in the wood of Hallaig', The poem is named after a deserted township located on the south-eastern corner of the Hebridean island of Raasay, the poet's birthplace. The settlement of Hallaig was depopulated between 1852 and 1854 under George Rainey and since MacLean's relatives were affected, the author decided to evoke the community of this abandoned village in his poem. It is a reflection on the nature of time and the historical impact of the Highland Clearances leaving an empty landscape populated only by the ghosts of the evicted and those forced to emigrate.

HEAR MORE ABOUT SHARON'S JOURNEY STONE

This audio forms part of a series of audio interviews conducted in 2023 by Smartify as part of the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands project. Listen and discover the Spirit of the Highlands and Islands through the eyes of the stitchers of the Tapestry of the Highlands and Islands.

Discover the inspiration behind Sharon's journey stone in conversation with the Clava Clan Stitchers and Smartify.

His people, his ancestors, lived there until they were forced to leave....when he came back to his village and he saw it abandoned, he wrote this poem...It's called Hallaig, time, the deer...it brought the two things together.