In 1825 the inhabitants of Rùm (then numbering some 450 people) were given a year's notice to quit. The inhabitants of Rùm had simply been tenant farmers, paying rent to the laird; they owned neither the land they worked, nor the houses in which they lived. On 11 July 1826, about 300 of the inhabitants boarded two overcrowded ships bound for Cape Breton in Nova Scotia. The laird, and Dr Lachlan, paid for their journey. The remaining population followed in 1827. Similar evictions happened all over the gaelic-speaking parts of Scotland, and collectively became known as the Highland Clearances. Harris was the largest settlement in the 18th century, which was cleared. It had 37 buildings.