A walk on Bernera today—an island “flat” and windswept, tethered to Lewis by a short bridge over a narrow sound. The heat was relentless. Halfway round, we stumbled upon the quiet beauty of Bostadh beach.
Later, near the island’s highest point, we found a cairn. Simple, stark, and inscribed with memory—it honours those who stood up in the “Bernera Riot of 1874.”
Their defiance marked the first real victory against landlord power, a turning point that led to the Crofters Act and the right to security of tenure.
I left determined to uncover the full story.
In the late 19th century, Sir James Matheson, enriched through smuggling opium into China, bought the Isle of Lewis. Despite the money he poured into the island, much of it served his interests rather than those of the people. He delegated the management of the estate to a group of minor tyrants—factors, ground officers and estate messengers—who enforced policies that drove the islanders into deeper poverty.
The most notorious of these was Donald Munro, whose mission seemed to be to rid Lewis of its people. He held seventeen powerful offices across the island, while his clerk took the lesser ones. His influence was total and unchecked. Crofters, forced to survive on tiny plots of land, watched fertile ground go to waste under sheep, while evicted families were crammed into new less productive crofts at unchanged rents. Their tenure was insecure. Poindings were frequent. They were charged “road money” in areas where no roads existed.
In 1874, Munro went too far. He tried to strip fifty-six crofters in Bernera of their grazing rights, without consulting Matheson. When they refused, he retaliated by attempting to evict them altogether. The sheriff officer arrived with companions to serve summonses. The locals resisted. Some turf was thrown. The next day a scuffle broke out, and a coat was torn.
After one man was arrested, the islanders had had enough. Several hundred of them marched on Stornoway to confront Matheson. He was sympathetic, and the eviction plans were quietly dropped. Munro, affronted, had three men prosecuted for assault. At their trial, the defence lawyer highlighted Munro’s unchecked authority. Munro admitted he had not thought it necessary to tell Matheson he was evicting fifty-six families.
The men were acquitted. Munro was dismissed. The crofters had won. It was the first successful challenge to the estate system, and it marked a turning point. From this moment, they became more vocal, more organised, and more determined to reclaim lands taken from their ancestors. The Bernera incident was the spark. The fight for land reform had begun.