Rothiemurchus Forest

During the Napoleonic Wars, the high demand for timber led to substantial tree felling on the Rothiemuchus estate, the travel writer Sarah Murray estimating in 1803 that 'perhaps £1,500 worth of timber' was being cut down annually. Damage to salmon traps caused by logs being floated down the Spey led to tensions between Sir John Peter Grant and Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon. By the 1820s, timber was generating an income of £4,000 to £5,000 per annum, though the upkeep of dams, locks, sluices, dykes, channels, and heavy horses to haul the logs to the river was costly. In 1839, John Grigor reported that the old pine forest of Rothiemurchus was 'much exhausted'. In 1853, twelve poor…