I saw it argued that the Highland Clearances were ultimately a good thing because economically things couldn't go on the way they were. Maybe, but there's a big difference between reluctantly bowing to the inevitable and buying passage to Canada or the Antipodes as against a bunch of the landowner's thugs turning up at your door with blazing torches and crow bars. Losing your home due to compulsion at hands of the rich is a bitter bitter pill to swallow.