The Vatersay Raiders

A Scottish historian recounts how Hebridean croft farmers raided a neighboring island in order to survive—and sparked a national debate over land rights. In 1906, men from the Hebridean islands of Barra and Mingulay took possession of the uninhabited island of Vatersay. Two years later, they were imprisoned for refusing to leave—and for building huts and planting potatoes without permission. The case caused an outcry across Scotland, and the government eventually bought Vatersay for the purpose