The Economics of Sheep Farming in the Southern Uplands during the Age of Improvement, 1750–1833
HE second half of the eighteenth century and opening decades of the nineteenth saw far-reaching changes in the nature of Scottish farming. Amongst the more important was the much greater emphasis given to livestock production. However, to date, surprisingly little has been published on the economics of livestock production during these critical years so that our understanding of why this greater emphasis developed lacks a real basis of explanation. To some extent, this deficiency reflects the difficulty of compiling adequate price series for livestock and livestock products. Unlike grain prices, which in Scotland were fixed and published on a county basis, livestock prices can prove a more elusive measure since they varied according to the age, breed and condition of each individual animal. Even with wool, one is not dealing with a price fixed per unit of weight but one set according to each fleece or fleece pack. Compounding these problems is the fact that livestock production could take many forms. Thus, in an area like south-east Scotland, with its mixture of upland and lowland, light and clay soils, there was a wide range of enterprises from upland breeders and store farmers to lowland breeders and fatteners, and from those which concentrated solely on stock to those which were equally concerned with grain production and which relied on turnips and sown grasses as the means by which the two sectors could be integrated. If available, local market prices can provide a generalized index of trend, but given the potentially diverse background of stock and the non-specific nature of quoted market prices, they rarely enable us to trace the fortunes of particular enterprises over a period of years. To achieve this kind of perspective on the industry, the problem needs to be examined at the farm level, using day books, diaries and the like, ultimately building up a series of case studies representative of all types of livestock producer. The purpose of this article is to present such evidence for hill sheep farming in that part of the southern uplands of Scotland which encircles the Tweed basin, stretching from the Lammermuirs southwards through Ettrick and upper Teviotdale, Eskdale and Liddesdale, and then curving north-eastwards in the shape of the Cheviot Massif. The discussion will consider aspects of both farm income and expenditure. As regards the former, it is proposed to examine changes in the price received for stock and wool, together with changes in the gross income of farms caused by changes in their carrying capacity. On the debit side of the hill sheep farmers account, changes in the major costs of rent and labour will