Tarskavaig first appeared on Lord MacDonald's estate rental records in 1718, but it was not until 1766 that the small farming community appeared on a map. The sale of black cattle, as in other parts of Skye at the time, provided the main source of income to pay the rent. The village of Tarskavaig was developed in 1811 to allow Lord MacDonald to exploit the resources of the sea and the under-utilized, poorer-quality land along the coast. The village was laid out to 31 small crofts, but they were not big enough to support a family from the land alone, so the tenants were forced to earn money from kelping and fishing in order to pay the rent.