refers to the depopulation of the Highlands of Scotland between, roughly, 1785 and the late 1850s, by landowners evicting small farmers from their property and replacing them with huge sheep farms.this was done in orders of the Duke of Sutherland, then the richest man in britain. there are many explanations for the cleansing: it may be partly an economic one; there might be evidence of a concerted effort to destroy the society which allowed the 1745 rebellion to take place; it could be class war, there might be themes of the Scottish Enlightenment; a britannicising urge which despised the Gaelic language and Celtic traditions of the people, and the classic divide and rule tendencies of the British Empire were displayed in the early use of taxmen to displace their own people.

Many thousands of the 'cleared' people left in emigrant ships for Canada, the america and australia and millions of citizens of those countries are descended from these people and, in many cases, continue, in some modified form, their traditions.today The population of most parts of the Highlands is still decreasing. Emigration continues to be a major industry in Scotland.