Editing History of Scotland (section)

===Rural life===
The unequal [[concentration of land ownership]] remained an emotional subject and eventually became a cornerstone of liberal radicalism. The politically powerless poor crofters embraced the popularly oriented, fervently evangelical Presbyterian [[Christian revival|revival]] after 1800,<ref>Divine, ''The Scottish Nation''.</ref> and the breakaway "Free Church" after 1843. This evangelical movement was led by lay preachers who themselves came from the lower strata, and whose preaching was implicitly critical of the established order. This energised the crofters and separated them from the landlords, preparing them for their successful and violent challenge to the landlords in the 1880s through the [[Highland Land League]].<ref>{{Citation |last=J. Hunter |title=The Emergence of the Crofting Community: The Religious Contribution 1798–1843 |work=Scottish Studies |volume=18 |pages=95–111 |year=1974}}</ref> Violence began on the [[Isle of Skye]] when Highland landlords cleared their lands for sheep and deer parks. It was quieted when the government stepped in passing the [[Crofters' Holdings (Scotland) Act, 1886]] to reduce rents, guarantee fixity of tenure, and break up large estates to provide crofts for the homeless.<ref>{{Citation |last=I. Bradley |title='Having and Holding': The Highland Land War of the 1880s |date=December 1987 |work=History Today |volume=37 |pages=23–28}}</ref> In 1885, three Independent Crofter candidates were elected to Parliament, leading to explicit security for the Scottish smallholders; the legal right to bequeath tenancies to descendants; and creating a [[Crofting Commission]]. The Crofters as a political movement faded away by 1892, and the Liberal Party gained most of their votes.<ref>{{Citation |last=Ewen A. Cameron |title=Communication or Separation? Reactions to Irish Land Agitation and Legislation in the Highlands of Scotland, c. 1870–1910 |date=June 2005 |journal=English Historical Review |volume=120 |issue=487 |pages=633–666 |doi=10.1093/ehr/cei124}}</ref>