Push - migration

• Famine

  By 1846 the spread of potato blight Wiped out the crop in the Western highlands of Scotland leaving 150,000 at risk of starvation. This encouraged people to move to the central belt to find jobs in factories or industry
• The Highland Clearance


  Landowners could make a bigger profit By converting their land into sheep/deer runs rather than renting to crofterss. This led to the eviction of Highlanders who looked to alternative ways of life such as collecting kelp and fishing on the coast.
• the failure of the kelp industry


  after 1822 duty on imported kelp was removed leading to the collapse of the industry in Scotland bringing hardship to Lewis, Benbecula and South Uist.
• the agricultural revolution

  after 1840 new technology like the Fowler Ploughing engine and mechanical reapers halved the amount of man hours needed. this led to a decline in jobs available which led to the migration of farm labourers to towns. for example, by 1851, 15% of the population of rural Peeblesshire had made its way to Edinburgh.
• working and living conditions on the land

  rural workers in areas like East Lothian often had poor accommodation. there were few amenities or days off, and most labouring jobs were low paid with extremely hard work.
• failure of the fishing industry

  world war 1 and the Russian Revolution led to herring export trade collapsing as the markets of Russia and Germany were cut off. this caused the migration of Scots from coastal areas in the North of Scotland to towns in search for jobs.