In the late 12th century, Earl Harald Maddadsson was defeated at the battle at Dalharrold, where the River Naver issues from the loch, by the Norse King of the Hebrides, Rognvald Godrodarson, with a combined force of Irish and Hebrideans.

The two families usually took opposing sides; for example, in 1554, the Regent Mary of Guise paid expenses incurred by the 11th Earl of Sutherland to arrest Iye Mackay and bring him to Edinburgh.

[5] In 1578, John Robson and Alexander Gordon, 12th Earl of Sutherland fought the men of Strathnaver led by the Mackays in the battle of Creag-Drumi-Doun, up on Druim Chuibhe opposite Bettyhill.

[6] By the middle of the 17th century, their attempts to compete with the more powerful Sutherlands meant the Mackays were under severe financial strain.

These generated a higher rental income to the Sutherland Estate than the mixed farms that existed in the inland areas of the strath before clearance.

The people evicted resented this change as a loss of status from farmer to crofter, but this was not understood by the estate when they started implementing their plans in Strathnaver in 1814.

[10]: 178–183 As was normal practice, the roof timbers of cleared houses were destroyed to prevent re-occupation after the eviction party had left.

The charges were brought by Robert Mackid, the Sheriff Depute, driven by the enmity he held for Sellar for catching him poaching.

[12]: 195  (Robert Mackid had to leave the county to rebuild his career elsewhere, providing Sellar with a grovelling letter of apology and confession before he left.

[10]: 189 [12]: 205–206 ) Nevertheless, Sellar and William Young were dismissed and replaced by Francis Suther, working under the direction of James Loch.

Loch was anxious to move quickly whilst cattle prices were high and there was a good demand for leases of sheep farms.

The public relations disaster that Loch had wished to avoid now followed, with the Observer newspaper running the headline: "the Devastation of Sutherland".

[10]: 382  One outcome of this was the creation of the Congested Districts Board (CDB) in 1897, tasked with alleviating the problems of the over-crowded crofting communities created by clearance.

After protracted negotiations, the CDB were able to buy North Syre in 1901 and lay it out into 29 substantial crofts, creating the present-day landscape.

The B873 road runs along the west side of the strath from Altnaharra, alongside Loch Naver, to Syre, from whence the B871 continues to a junction with the A836 a few miles south of Bettyhill.