The Ballad and the Plough
A Portrait of the Life of the Old Scottish Farmtouns
- 320 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
The era of the great farms of Scotland is over now. They flourished for nearly eighty years from the mid 19th century, and those years are renowned for the strength of their characters and the legendary status of their stories. Probably the finest and richest aspect of bothy life was the ballad. Often sentimental, sometimes simplistic, they nevertheless give unrivalled detail about a vanished way of life and work. Quoting generously from the ballads, David Kerr Cameron has written a book rich in anecdote and insight. The working day was hard and long, and mealtimes consisted mainly of porridge and potatoes. Yet laughter and generosity of spirit were commonplace. For these communities, horses were as important as people, and tens of thousands of noble Clydesdales helped to cultivate the land. Ploughmen, dairymaids, bailiffs and shepherds all appear in the pages of this unique testament to the Scottish countryside. Together with Willie Gavin, Crofter Man and The Cornkister Days, this volume forms a remarkable trilogy on life in rural Scotland.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1 Stone, Lime and Legend
- 2 The New Landscape
- 3 The New Touns
- 4 The Pattern of Work
- 5 The Farmtoun Crew
- 6 The Iron Men
- 7 Lonely Men of the Glens
- 8 Women of the Touns
- 9 Nomads in Farm Carts
- 10 The Bothy Lads
- 11 Pillars of the Year
- 12 Fairs and Trysts
- 13 Meal, Milk and Tatties
- 14 The Social Hour
- 15 Love and the Servant Lasses
- 16 The Kirk and its Shadow
- 17 Folk on the Fringe
- 18 The Heartbreak Crofts
- 19 The Hub of the Farmtoun
- 20 The Lure of the Good Implements
- 21 The New Sound of Harvest
- 22 Steam, the Unfulfilled Dream
- 23 Setting the Milkmaids Free
- 24 Inklings of the Factory Age
- 25 Day of the Ploughman
- 26 All the Laird’s Men
- 27 The Voice of the Land
- 28 Finale for the Old Touns
- Select Glossary