Dalmore. The Deserted Village

By 1852 Dalmore and Dalbeg had been "cleared" of its people and the sheep and shepherds had taken over.Between then and 1875,Donald and John Mackenzie held the tenancy of these two villages separately or together with,for example,a rent of £55.0.0 for Dalbeg alone in 1853, and £100.0.0 for Dalmore and Dalbeg taken as one tack for the period 1853-1860.The next good shepherd to arrive on the the scene was one John Sinclair,tenant of both dales initially from 1875 until 1887 at a rent of £102.0.0,and in 1888 this reduced to £90.0.0 because the South Shawbost crofters won back from him the grazings at the west end of Loch Raoinavat,which had been taken from them about 30 years earlier.This judgement in favour of the common people was due to The Napier Commission's Report which came out in April,1884 and generally sided with the crofters'case.See Dr.I.M.M.Macphail's book "Crofters War".John Sinclair and his son Peter Sinclair held sway in the "Dailean" until the end of World War One