Crofting
Following the establishment of the first Crofters Commission in the 1880s, the whole of the island - together with the small adjoining Stack Island - were incorporated into the crofting townships - as below - of
- Acarsaid Mhòr - 14 crofts, 10 shares
- Am Baile (Balla) - 16 crofts, 15 shares
- Bun a' Mhuillinn - 10 crofts, 10 shares
- Coilleag - 10 crofts, 10 shares
- Na Hann (Haun) - 6 crofts, 4 shares
- Na Pàirceannan (Parks) - 4 crofts, 4 shares
- Roisinis (Roshinish) - 4 crofts, 6 shares
- Rudha Bàn - 9 crofts, 5 shares
- Total - 73 crofts, 64 shares
The souming (a word originating in the Viking era) for each full share gives the right to put, on the common grazings (the high ground of Beinn Sciathan and Beinn Stac), 10 sheep, 2 cows and 1 eriskay pony (all plus their 'followers' - young up to 1 year old). Most crofts have one full share, but many have a half share, and a few have 2 shares, and one croft has as many as 3 shares.
The crofts are small (typically five hectares or less) and the land is rocky and exposed to harsh weather. These days, very few crofts are actively worked: there is little economic return in relation to the effort, and although there is a strong cultural attachment to the land, the demands and distractions of modern life leave little time for tending livestock and manual work. Much of the best grazing land - the machair of the north west of the island - is has been compromised by house-building and the increasing opposition to the free-range grazing of cattle and sheep during the winter. Now, the most actively worked crofts are in the township of Bun a' Mhuillin.
Read more about this topic: Eriskay