A portrait of these Scottish wetlands: “Fascinating…makes you yearn for a sip of golden whisky whose barley malt has been smoked over a rich, peaty fire.” —Daily Mail The peatlands of Scotland’s Outer Hebrides are half land, half water. Their surface is a glorious tweed woven from tiny, living sphagnums rich in wildlife, but underneath are layer upon layer of dead mosses transforming into the peat. One can, with care, walk out onto them, but stop and you begin to sink into them. For time immemorial the peatlands have been places—for humans at least—of seasonal habitation but not of constant residence. In this book, Robin A. Crawford explores the peatlands over the course of the year, explaining how they have come to be and examining how peat has been used from the Bronze Age onwards. In describing the seasonal processes of cutting, drying, stacking, storing, and burning, he reveals one of the key rhythms of island life, but his study goes well beyond this to include many other aspects, including the wildlife and folklore associated with these lonely, watery places. Widening his gaze to other peatlands in the country, he also reflects on the historical and cultural importance that peat has played, and continues to play—it is still used for fuel in many rural areas and plays an essential role in whisky-making—in the story of Scotland.

These stories are about the wee folk of Scotland, told afresh for everyone including, today's wee people. Collected here are stories from all over Scotland. Many were first published in the nineteenth and twentieth century, but all have been influenced by being told and retold, shaped and reshaped as they pass from storyteller to storyteller. Whether you're introducing a wee bairn to these stories for the first time or you're not-so-wee and reading them to yourself, you'll find plenty to love in these charming Scots folk tales.

In Four Ducks on a Pond, Nicholas the Cat, assisted by novelist Annabel Carothers, observed his family of humans and animals during one year on the Ross of Mull in the early 1950s. More than fifty years later, Annabel's daughter Fionna discovered the manuscript in a desk drawer and, while preparing it for publication, was inspired to expand on the theme. A Grass Bank Beyond covers an extended period before mains services and frequent ferries brought about change to the Ross. Fionna remembers the freedom she enjoyed roaming the island on foot, bicycle, pony, or boat. On family outings she absorbed stories and legends about the island, attended agricultural shows and local concerts, and saw the Queen arrive for an official visit to Mull at the height of a great storm. With warmth and gentle humour she describes the solutions which overcame problems living in this beautiful but remote place.