The notorious ‘Highland Clearances’, when sheep replaced people in the glens and islands, were past. Better and cheaper wool from the colonies saw the profits of Highland sheep farming disappear and flocks were cleared from the hills. Vast tracts of land, which crofters fully expected to be returned to them, were turned over to deer forest and grouse moors. Highland sport was the new fashion.

This book explains why deer stalking replaced sheep farming and describes the effects of the change on the Highland communities, the clash of cultures between sport and crofting. Sportsmen claimed that deer forests provided more work than a return to traditional crofting ever could – stalkers, ghillies, builders of the new lodges, domestic staff, gunsmiths and grouse beaters. The crofters argued that the land was theirs and had supplied a sustainable living to thousands of their people before the sheep came.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert did as much as any contemporary enthusiasts to promote the romance of deer stalking and the new artificial image of the Highlands.