Highland Clearances Or Human Clearances

On the Isle of Skye and Raasay In eighteen fifty one, The English Government army Cleared Scotland's daughters and sons, Cumberland burned their villages To ensure cultural disappearance, Was this Highland subjugation ? Or Was this a human clearance ?. There was a ban on tartan And breaking the law you'd be libel, If you spoke the Gaelic tongue Or read a Gaelic bible, With potato famine and poverty And without the tartan regalia, Scotland's most precious resource Sailed for Canada and Australia. 40,000 cleared from the glens Left clan chiefs to the land, Turning them into landlords And into an upperclass band, Some crofters came to the meetings To discuss the so-called fair rent, Only to be tossed on boats Like sheep being sent to their death. But despite these human clearances And loss of life by the ton, They've had their final say You could say they still have won, The new world is heavily populated With those of highland appearances, To ensure we never forget The highland and human clearances.