NickyRannoch wrote:The hills are a fragile environment because of the practices of said estates.
The Scottish Highlands managed to sustain thousands of settlements for centuries with no issues.
In terms of the point in question, I don't think there's much historical evidence for thousands of Highlanders pulling on boots at the weekend in the 17th Century and slavishly following pre-defined routes up high Scottish Hills, so not really an exoneration.
If they'd been left in place? People being people it would be interesting to see how the Scottish environment would have been screwed up by an undisplaced population, I don't imagine Scots would have been the exception to the rule.
I do agree that the shameful overpopulation with deer and land management for the killing for fun industries almost certainly renders the ground more susceptible to erosion (and probably a lot easier to walk through).