Highland Homespun

In May 1933 Margaret Leigh took over the tenancy of Achnabo farm, in a beautiful corner of the West Highlands overlooking the isle of Skye.In this unsentimental yet exquisitely written book, she recounts a year of farming life there, from the burning of the land and ploughing inMarch, through planting and sowing in April to haymaking and harvesting in September. Incidental details – such as a visit to the smithy, thearrival of some new bulls and the annual journey of the cows to the summer shielings – provide fascinating insights into farming life. Localcharacters and customs feature too, adding another rich dimension to this reflective and poignant memoir of a world now vanished forever.