'hill cottage sitter') is a historical term of a certain category of the country side population in the history of Sweden.
In contrast to the somewhat similar torpare, backstugusittare did not use any land and lived on the charity of the landowner or, if they lived on common land, on the charity of the village.
That category of people were normally among the very poorest of the village community and supported themselves on odd jobs, some handicrafts and charity.
After the land reform of 1827, during which the farmers moved out from the villages and occupied land previously left for the torpare, the category grew larger, as the torpare were often given no other choice than to become backstugusittare.
However, during the 19th-century, it also became more common for successful village craftsmen to live temporarily in the backstuga merely to save money, which somewhat raised the status of backstugusittare.