大象传媒

As part of a season of programmes on 大象传媒 Scotland to mark the hundredth anniversary of the First World War, Landward has a special edition of the programme looking at the impact of the war on Scotland鈥檚 rural communities and how it re-shaped the Scottish countryside.

Dougie tells the story of two young brothers from the Mearns just south of Aberdeen. Duncan and William Harper were from a large farming family. Both went off to war and were killed within the first two weeks of the Battle of the Somme.

Sarah tells the story of the thousands of Gamekeepers from Highland sporting estates who were recruited for their unique skills in stalking and shooting. The Gamekeepers, Stalkers and Ghillies were enlisted into the Lovatt Scouts 鈥� a regiment known as the 鈥渟harp-shooters鈥�.

Euan finds out that it wasn鈥檛 just men that were needed on the front line. Horses that had pulled ploughs on Scottish farms were requisitioned in large numbers. They were transported to the front to pull Gun Carriages and other supplies. It is estimated that over a quarter of a million horses were killed during the war.

Sarah looks at the impact of the war on Scotland鈥檚 Native Forests. The demand for wood during the war to shore up trenches, led to lumberjacks being brought over from Canada to cut down trees. After the war, Prime Minister David Lloyd George revealed that the war had almost been lost because the country nearly ran out of timber.

The impact of the war on rural Scotland is told in one of the nation鈥檚 favourite books 鈥� Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon. It tells a story of farming folk in the Howe of the Mearns during the war years. The book ends with the unveiling of a community war memorial to the men lost in the war. With the end of the war came the sunset on a way of life in rural Scotland.