We learned how some of our forebears made the crossing recently, and disconcerting is an understatement.

There were landlords who wished to 'clear' their land of pesky people and replace them with vast sheep ranges. They evicted so many people that the poorhouses were filling up. A law was passed forcing any such landlord to kick in x number of pounds to the poorhouse or government for the support of the person displaced. So, the clever landlords discovered it was cheaper to hire a cheap ship and fill it with their evicted tenants and get them out of the country.