Tw // death , massacre , murder

Why you shouldn't buy land in Scotland for your faves (thread)

DISCLAIMER: I am Scottish and this is not my first time witnessing this happen or being annoyed by it.

I just felt too afraid to speak up before but I'm seeing a bit of support so here's my thread.

Don't make this about fandoms or I'll hard block. This is a semi-rant.

First of all, ask yourself why you're buying the land.

A common justification is 'nature conservation' but let's unpack this.

The most common size of land to buy is the cheapest - 1 Sqft.

Oftentimes what happens is people will buy this tiny souvenir patch of land and use it +

To call their faves 'Lords' or 'Ladies'. I see very few people pick the 'Laird' option, despite Laird being the only one that's actually considered a valid title here. Right off the bat, I see red flags.

To say the 'lord' or 'lady' titles aren't used as novelties would be +

An act of willful ignorance. You can console yourself with your tiny patch of land in the name of 'conservation' but really what you're doing is treating the title as an accessory without realising the negative connotations it has in Scotland.

Connotations, you ask?

You'll have probably heard of Scottish 'clans'. Well they were seriously a big deal in history. Clans lived and worked together, and often had rivals and wars with other clans.

The clan system of living started to deteriorate under the reign of King +

James VI and I, ruler of both Scotland and England.

He didn't quite trust Scottish Highlanders and begun ordering clan chiefs away from their clans to prevent them plotting against him.

The Battle of Culloden happened (I won't get into that yet. It was brutal). +

And in the years after, the government started imposing restrictive laws, such as the banning of clan tartans and bagpipe music. Soon, they moved outsiders (landlords) into the Highlands to take over a lot of land from the weakened clans.

Tw // murder , fire

By the 1800s the Highlands had begun getting overpopulated and so the clearances began.

Landlords 'Lords' began forcibly removing Scottish Highlanders from their cottages, often by burning them. Many were left out in the cold to freeze to death +

Tw // murder , death , fire

And two elderly people were even burned alive. Many had to flee the country.

All this to make way for these Lords and high society figures who wanted the land for farming.

So you can see why buying land in the Highlands and randomly naming idols 'Lord' is a bit problematic to say the least.

But there's more. Let me just say that Scottish history is steeped in battle and bloodshed.

Let's talk about Glencoe.

Tw // massacre

The Massacre of Glencoe was a killing of 38 of the members of the clan MacDonald.

Why? Because the MacDonald's were fighting for the Jacobites - rebels trying to return the Scottish Stewart royals to the British throne.

This massacre was gut wrenching +

Tw // massacre , rape mention

Not in how many were killed, but in how they were killed.

Robert Campbell led over 100 soldiers to stay with the MacDonalds, earning their trust. The MacDonalds offered them the finest hospitality, only to be slaughtered.

Here is a song about it.

Tw // murder , death

So not only that, but the Jacobites were completely defeated at the Battle of Culloden (vs the British government). Approx. 1250 Jacobite soldiers died.

Now back to the point -

Buying land anywhere in the Highlands to call your fave 'Lord' is just disrespectful to me.

It treats our culture like a novelty.

Remember those Jacobites who were killed?

This train gets called the 'Hogwarts Express' because Rowling turned it into a novelty.

(Btw I don't mind people calling it the Hogwarts Express).

It's name is the Jacobite Steam Train and the Glenfinnan Viaduct travels over the site of these historical battles.

If you mention Glencoe or the Highlands to a non-Scot they probably think of Outlander, Braveheart or Harry Potter magical fantasies.

If you mention it to a Scot, it has a much deeper meaning. Keep that in mind.

Also not to mention how this 'Highland Titles dot com' charity is registered in Guernsey .

You pay like £30 for a tiny plot of land when you could just donate it to a wildlife charity.

The reason why I brought this up is due to the fact that Scottish ARMY (or Scots in general) were mostly unaware of a recent instance of this happening.

I think 4 random Scots on TikTok gave the approval and suddenly a non-Scot felt they could do this.

The argument was that the land was bought in Glencoe Wood (outside of Glencoe) and suddenly that made it okay.

Newsflash - no .

Fact is, it's not your land to buy and give.

Yes, some weirdo company is selling this corny deed and fake title but it doesn't give YOU the right +

To just buy it. I can't control what a company decides to do. You, however, can choose to boycott it.

And I'm also annoyed because Scots rarely get credit for things but as soon as a non-Scot uses our land and posts about it, they get clout.

See the issue?

Anyway here's some wildlife charities:

https://scottishwildlifetrust.org.uk 

https://www.wwf.org.uk/scotland 

https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/at-home-and-abroad/scotland/

Also there appears to be MANY things wrong with the Highland Titles organisation: https://twitter.com/htscam/status/1341395511669116936?s=19