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Agricultural
Revolution
The Agricultural Revolution in Scotland - as elsewhere - was
to some degree synonymous with the Industrial Revolution and
shares with it a similar chronology. Historians often regard
it as part and parcel of the same process of economic and social
development common to much of Europe during the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. Although later in Scotland than in England,
the Agricultural Revolution had similar origins. It began modestly
in the seventeenth century when enterprising landlords undertook
estate improvement. Once underway, from the mid-eighteenth century
onwards it rapidly gained momentum to reach a peak during the
French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. It spread northwards
from the south-east, in areas like Lothian and Fife, generating
enclosure schemes and the building of planned villages. It manifested
itself throughout parts of the Highlands in the Clearances.
Although
often simply associated with more efficient land use, new strains
of crops and breeds of animals, together with some limited mechanisation,
the Agricultural Revolution also represented a critical stage
in the industrialisation of Scotland. It facilitated economic
growth by raising the income of landowners and farmers and contributed
directly to industrialisation through primary processing industries
such as textiles (linen and wool in particular), brewing, distilling
and grain milling. It also forced the pace of social change, initiating
long-term migration from the countryside and hence contributing
to urbanisation throughout the industrial Lowlands. While the
Agricultural Revolution in Scotland is generally associated with
the century 1750-1850 the modernisation process continued throughout
the nineteenth century and beyond.
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