What elements did the crofter's use to provide the ideological basis of resistance during highland land wars?

Answer 1

There wasn't any ideological basis except that of maintaining your family and livelihood. Don't forget that highland dwellers never did give much credence to rulers, landlords, agents or even armies. For centuries, the highland clans had regarded themselves as autonomous units with long blood-lines and jealously-guarded rivers, mountains, cattle, farmhouses and so on. The Roman never got that far in their conquest of Britain; neither did the Normans. The highland clans probably were/are descendants of the earlier Norse invaders mixed with ancient Britons. All they wanted was what they had and had always had.

The landowners were mainly rich and influential highland Scots who had acquired property by backing various monarchs and warlords before about 1600. A few were lowland Scots or English families, also rewarded for allegiance and especially after the military campaigns of Henry VIII Tudor and George II Guelph.

When the highlands were "cleared" from about 1790-1840, many chiefs engaged lowland Scots, or sometimes English, factors (agents) with expertise in more profitable sheep farming, and they 'encouraged' the population to move off land suitable for "agricultural improvement". This "encouragement" took many forms including perfectly reasonable financial compensation at one extreme, and physical force at the other.

The "history" of the clearances tends to have been written by fiction-authors or playwrights who have tried to put the blame on the English (of course), bankers and politicians, greedy lazy Lowlanders, and mercenary factors/agents. In reality, the highlands were cleared by Highland Chiefs who put their own agricultural earnings before the wellbeing of their own kinfolk and neighbours. Not much ideology, I'm sorry to say.

Be careful what you read and believe on this subject, even in the Wikipedia tag below.

Answer 2

There were no 'Highland land wars' The land owners merely threw the crofters off the land they were occupying as sheep were more profitable. Read John Prebble 'The Highland Clearances'

Answer 3

I don't normally respond in this manner, however, Victor has offered and excellent response and should receive the best answer. After reviewing Victors past answers to other questions, this is not a fluke as these other answer also reach the same degree of credibility.

Answer 4

They legged it- but thoughtfully.