§ MR. J. RAMSAY MACDONALDI beg to ask the Secretary for Scotland whether he has now any information regarding enclosures and the extension of sporting ground on Mr. Heaven's estate near Aboyne, Aberdeenshire; whether he is aware that, in an adjoining estate of Glen Tara, belonging to Mr. Coats, the tenant of Easter Millfield, a man of seventy-three, whose family has been in the Glen for 200 years, and who is the last of the flourishing smallholders of Glen Tara, is under notice to quit; whether the farm of Tillycairn is now being put under grass for shooting purposes; whether, close at hand, part of the farm of Cobbleheugh has just been added to the sporting area, and the tenant is leaving at Whitsuntide; whether the tenant of the farm of Craigendinnie is also under notice to quit at Whitsuntide, in order that the sporting value of Mr. Coats' estate may be enhanced: and whether, in view of the reduction of the rural population of Aberdeenshire and the number of emigrants from the country to Canada, the Government will take any immediate action to prevent the absorption of paying farms into sporting areas.
§ MR. SINCLAIRI have made inquiries with regard to the two estates referred to by the hon. Member. No information has yet reached me with regard to the former. With regard to the latter estate my information is as 1353 follows: The tenant of Easter Millfield expressed a desire to be relieved of his farm; this was agreed to; at the same time a small croft on the estate was offered to him, but he did not accept it. The tenant of Tillycairn asked to be relieved of his farm as a special favour, the farm is not being put under grass for shooting purposes but is being worked from the Home farm. Twenty-five acres of rough land covered with broom is being resumed from the farm of Cobbleheugh, the remaining portion of the farm, 175 acres, was offered to the late tenant, but on his not taking it, it was at once let at an advanced rent. The tenant of Craigendinnie, with whom the proprietor was satisfied in every way, is leaving at Whitsuntide, but as the present farmhouse and steading adjoins the mansion house, the proprietor has decided, as a sanitary precaution, to take the farm into his own hands. I have only to add that the attitude of the Government in regard to rural depopulation in Scotland and the maintenance of small farms is shown in the Small Landholders Bill now before Parliament.