Realising when he was 15 that ‘the call of the land was irresistible’, Ian Campbell Thomson embarked on a lifetime of farm work. His memoirs capture an era before mechanization, beginning in 1947 in Stirlingshire and recalling getting to grips with traditional skills, harvesting, and his devotion towards the Clydesale horses, Donald and Blossom, with which he ploughed until the arrival of a Ferguson tractor.
Ian Campbell Thomson relives his time as a young farmworker on a Stirlingshire farm after the Second World War. It is a touching coming-of-age tale as the author makes new friends and experiences romance while finding his own way in an ever-changing world with the passing of age-old country ways, as technology begins to replace traditional farming methods.
The book is dedicated to Donald and Blossom, the magnificent pair of Clydesdale horses with which he ploughed, until the sad day when they were replaced by a smart Fordson tractor. Of those early times he writes: 'I often wondered how far I walked in a day behind the plough. My guess was somewhere between 12 and 15 miles ... the words "the ploughman homeward wends his weary way" just about sums up the end of the day trudge back to the farm, with darkness closing in and the stable work to be done.'
Peopled with memorable characters including the hard-working 'boss', and the wise Aunt Kit, this is a unique tribute, full of humour and nostalgia, to a disappearing culture.
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https://www.psbooks.co.uk/hired-lad517987The Hired Ladhttps://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/1/517987_386095569430836e8fa686d580d99821.jpg4.994.99GBPInStock/Non-Fiction/Highlights/Non-Fiction/Categories/Biography & Memoirs/Non-Fiction/Categories/Biography & Memoirs/Autobiographies & Memoirs/Non-Fiction/Categories/Science & Nature/Nature & The Natural World/Non-Fiction/Categories/Science & Nature/Almost Gone/Almost Gone Non-FictionRealising when he was 15 that ‘the call of the land was irresistible’, Ian Campbell Thomson embarked on a lifetime of farm work. His memoirs capture an era before mechanization, beginning in 1947 in Stirlingshire and recalling getting to grips with traditional skills, harvesting, and his devotion towards the Clydesale horses, Donald and Blossom, with which he ploughed until the arrival of a Ferguson tractor.Paperback00https://www.psbooks.co.uk/media/catalog/product/5/1/517987_media-01.jpgadd-to-cartrrp_info:£8.99productId:65020bic_code:BG, BGA, TV, WNFBG, BGA, TV, WNF£8.99Ian Campbell ThomsonGeneral199x128mmOriginNoPaperback
