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The Rev David MacKenzie writes, in 1834, on the parish of Farr, and its two main valleys of Strathnaver and Strathrathy, for the 1845 Statistical Account, 15, pp66ff
'The parish is about forty English miles long, from Baligil in the north-east to Muadale in the south-west; and varies from eight to twenty miles in breadth, the narrowest part being in the middle of Strathnaver. It is bounded on the north by the Northern Ocean; on the east, by the parish of Raeay in Caithness; on the south, by the parishes of Kildonan and Lairg; and on the west, by the parish of Tongue.'
In terms of wildlife he reports that
'The only species of animals which existed in comparatively modern times in the parish, but which have now disappeared, are goats. About forty years ago, they were numerous and serviceable to the inhabitants; but by the introduction of the sheep-farming, they have been entirely exterminated.'
The other consequence of this introduction was,
'The census of 1831, compared with the return in 1790, shows a decrease of 400 in the population. This was owing to the introduction of the sheep-farming system. By its adoption, the farmers and tenants who occupied the straths and glens in the interior were, in 1818 and 1819, all removed from these possessions. Allotments of land were marked out on the sea-coast for such as were thus removed. In these the greater number of the removing tenants settled; but several families quitted the parish altogether, and thus diminished the population.'
'Except about 600 acres on the sea coast, which are kept in cultivation by the lotters, the whole of the land of this parish, formerly in tillage, is, with the adjacent mountains, hills and glens, laid out in extensive sheep walks.'
He notes that the average rent paid by these coastal lotters is 16s per acre and that of the sheep-farmers 'is moderate'. There is one major difference, though
'The sheep farms are in the possession of gentlemen, who are sufficiently attentive to every kind of improvement of which pastoral districts are susceptible, - viz draining, embanking and burning heath. The leases of the the sheep farmers are given for nineteen years; but the lotters on the coast are tenants at will, which is evidently a bar to the improvement of their lots.'
He has much to say about the changes in the population distribution in the parish and this is covered in a separate piece . His relatively neutral account there of the changes should be balanced with the fact that his appointment to the parish of Farr was largely as a result of his efforts to persuade the inhabitants of Strathnaver that it was God's will that they should obey their eviction orders. He reiterated this message from his new charge on the occasion of all subsequent evictions and was the minister who refused Donald MacLeod, the stonemason, a certificate of good character because 'he was at variance with the factor' and, consequently that his behaviour was 'unscriptural'.
Population
| 1831 | 2073 |  |
| 1841 | 2217 | |
| 1851 | 2403 | |
| 1881 | 1930 | |
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