Would you like to know why they used a wheel-barrow to catch pests in the turnip field? Or where they spread fish – much to the delight of the seagulls; or where you might have found ‘loupers’? You will find these and hundreds of other facts from a farming heritage in this book.

Andrew Arbuckle has farmed in Fife or written about it all his life. His tales of the past century revolve around agriculture in the region and are relevant to all the rural areas of the country. The author is acutely aware of the dramatic changes that took place in the course of the twentieth century and his book shines a light on the farming of the period.

You can join him in the harvest field with horses, tractors or combines. You can laugh with him at the expense of the loon, the lad who was at the butt end of any joke in the days when the crack between the farm men was easy and humorous.

Andrew Arbuckle was farming editor of the Dundee Courier for fifteen years. Formerly a member of the Scottish Parliament, he has been a Fife councillor for over twenty years.