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Donald and His Seven Cows
Perhaps Donald Michael MacDonald invented the round mile, all 2,240 yards of it. Donald and his seven cows, walking the same steps each day through the past and the future, the fairy knoll and the poison pool, the eternal truths and the unknowable possibilities. Rarely does Donald venture beyond the round mile, for he has no need all of history can be found on his land.
Yet the wind farms, the spaceport, and the American billionaire with his Big House all threaten the peace Donald has cultivated and guarded as fiercely as he protects his animals. He loses a part of himself – and most of his herd – before an unexpected old friend helps Donald and his seven cows to reclaim their path, even as their island is transformed by a new age.
Yet the wind farms, the spaceport, and the American billionaire with his Big House all threaten the peace Donald has cultivated and guarded as fiercely as he protects his animals. He loses a part of himself – and most of his herd – before an unexpected old friend helps Donald and his seven cows to reclaim their path, even as their island is transformed by a new age.
208 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2025
3 people are currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Angus Peter Campbell
21 books14 followersAngus Peter Campbell (b. 1952) is an award-winning Scottish poet, novelist, journalist, broadcaster and actor. He writes in Gaelic as Aonghas Pàdraig Caimbeul.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 22, 2025
One of the most beautifully written books I've ever read; absolutely a favorite and one of the two books I've ever read that I will re-read. This book spoke to me in some many ways that I have hungered for, hut never found til now. A debt of gratitude to Angus Peter Campbell.
Tha mi nur comain, Aonaghais Pàdraig Caimbeul.
Tha mi nur comain, Aonaghais Pàdraig Caimbeul.
November 5, 2025
Donald and His Seven Cows is just a wonderful, calm read. It's not fast paced but not all books need to be, or should be, and this is a fine example of that. The pace moves along nice and peacefully, with composure and serenity, much like Donald and his Cows, moving with quiet tranquility.
So here we follow Donald, who walks the same circular route with his cows, day after day, year after year, generation after generation of his cows. Donald exists in his own word, content living life following the old ways. Locals think him odd and simple, but nothing could be further from the truth. He's thoughtful and on his walks and utterly in tune with his surroundings on the small Scottish island.
But his peaceful, uncomplicated life is soon to be disturbed, which is sure to threaten his very existence.
Want to know more? Be sure to pick your copy.
So all in all, this was such a glorious read, sublime and lovely. It spoke to me at a deeper, profound way that I find difficult to enunciate.
It's a read that will remain with me long after I turned the last page, lingering in my mind, sure to resurface in those rare, hushed moments in life.
It's a book I will certainly re read which is definitely infrequent for me, having only ever re read a handful of books.
A beautiful 5 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 's from me.
So here we follow Donald, who walks the same circular route with his cows, day after day, year after year, generation after generation of his cows. Donald exists in his own word, content living life following the old ways. Locals think him odd and simple, but nothing could be further from the truth. He's thoughtful and on his walks and utterly in tune with his surroundings on the small Scottish island.
But his peaceful, uncomplicated life is soon to be disturbed, which is sure to threaten his very existence.
Want to know more? Be sure to pick your copy.
So all in all, this was such a glorious read, sublime and lovely. It spoke to me at a deeper, profound way that I find difficult to enunciate.
It's a read that will remain with me long after I turned the last page, lingering in my mind, sure to resurface in those rare, hushed moments in life.
It's a book I will certainly re read which is definitely infrequent for me, having only ever re read a handful of books.
A beautiful 5 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 's from me.
November 26, 2025
This is a slow but captivating story, building layer by layer. It has satisfying layers of Scottish folklore and tales of the fairy folk, but builds to something heartwarming and uplifting that manages to find a way for a man who seems lost in the past to find a way to live and connect in the present, in the changed world of his small Scottish island.
When I saw this on Book Sirens, I was immediately attracted to the cover, and after reading an excerpt, I knew I wanted to read it all. Thank you to Book Sirens, the author and the publisher for providing a free digital Advance Reader’s Copy for me to read and provide my unbiased review.
This would make a wonderful audiobook because it incorporates so many poems and phrases and place names in Gaelic, with the translation in English for those of us unable to read it. Even though I have no idea how to pronounce the words, and I know the spelling is remarkably misleading, I found myself sounding out the words to myself for the joy of the rhythm and poetry.
Donald takes his small herd of cows out on the same circular walk day after day, year after year, cow generation after cow generation. At first it seems as if he is simple, but as he walks, he has deeper thoughts about the earth and the seas and space. We gradually discover that he is no idiot and no fool either. He went to school with the other children and he can still recite Hiawatha. But people assume there is something wrong with him. He is attached too securely to ritual, repetition, the way things used to be done. At first he seems to be content in his life. He’s not interested in joining modern society with their fancy cars and oil heating. But younger people reject him, thinking him odd. They don’t know that he hasn’t always stayed on the island. They don’t know about his past and nobody takes the time to find out. He remembers a time when his mother was there, “Take care of the weakest calf in the herd,’ Mum said, ‘and then the whole herd will love you.”
There was a time that he was included because the older generations still carried in the old ways. There was a time that a girl considered him kissable.
“It was the best day of my life, and I’ll tell you why: it was the day I learned that one butterfly kiss is worth more than a thousand head of cattle. As I trudge here through long cold bleak winters herding my cows backwards and forwards, sometimes through the mud and sometimes under the blazing sun, that time comes to me again and again, telling me that I should have asked her to marry me there and then and run away with her to the mainland and become a shepherd on the rolling hills of Perthshire or an auctioneer in Aberdeenshire or a factory worker in Glasgow instead of this miserable life I lead. Me and my poor cows. For when I say I have a herd it means I have seven cows: Maisie and her offspring.”
People misunderstand Donald and assume things about how he lives his life. Whatever the weather, he walks his route with his cows. Some people think he believes the clouds and the birds tell him what to do, but all he does is observe what they’re doing to give him some indication of the weather. And the weather suggests to him jobs that he should be doing around his farm. Have those people never looked out of the window in the morning and thought ‘I’d better prop up those plants or they’ll fall over in this wind?’ or ‘today would be a good day to go for a walk’?
Donald is completely in tune with nature and the seasons, but out of step with modern life. When he walks his rounds, he visits the same places every day. He can hear the echoes of the past and connects certain places with certain stories or people from the past. Nobody is entirely sure which are real and which are imaginary. Does he really believe all those old stories, clinging to a past that’s no longer there?
“Everything changed when the fairy knoll became an ordinary mound of grass you could plough or walk on. It was as if we’d thrown away our best story, where everything we’d ever dreamed or imagined had taken place. It had all come to nothing, except for fragments of songs and unbelievable stories and folk saying ‘that’s where they lived in the old days’. I didn’t want it to be nothing, because they were part of us, and if they were nothing, so were we.”
That’s one of the most beautiful things about Donald and His Seven Cows. The old stories often carried a message or a warning. They taught something worthwhile about listening properly to people, taking your time, keeping the flour you used to roll out your bread or your scones. I loved the way many of Donald’s stories made sense in the context of his own life, and the way that was revealed slowly, meandering throughout the book. Wonderful.
When I saw this on Book Sirens, I was immediately attracted to the cover, and after reading an excerpt, I knew I wanted to read it all. Thank you to Book Sirens, the author and the publisher for providing a free digital Advance Reader’s Copy for me to read and provide my unbiased review.
This would make a wonderful audiobook because it incorporates so many poems and phrases and place names in Gaelic, with the translation in English for those of us unable to read it. Even though I have no idea how to pronounce the words, and I know the spelling is remarkably misleading, I found myself sounding out the words to myself for the joy of the rhythm and poetry.
Donald takes his small herd of cows out on the same circular walk day after day, year after year, cow generation after cow generation. At first it seems as if he is simple, but as he walks, he has deeper thoughts about the earth and the seas and space. We gradually discover that he is no idiot and no fool either. He went to school with the other children and he can still recite Hiawatha. But people assume there is something wrong with him. He is attached too securely to ritual, repetition, the way things used to be done. At first he seems to be content in his life. He’s not interested in joining modern society with their fancy cars and oil heating. But younger people reject him, thinking him odd. They don’t know that he hasn’t always stayed on the island. They don’t know about his past and nobody takes the time to find out. He remembers a time when his mother was there, “Take care of the weakest calf in the herd,’ Mum said, ‘and then the whole herd will love you.”
There was a time that he was included because the older generations still carried in the old ways. There was a time that a girl considered him kissable.
“It was the best day of my life, and I’ll tell you why: it was the day I learned that one butterfly kiss is worth more than a thousand head of cattle. As I trudge here through long cold bleak winters herding my cows backwards and forwards, sometimes through the mud and sometimes under the blazing sun, that time comes to me again and again, telling me that I should have asked her to marry me there and then and run away with her to the mainland and become a shepherd on the rolling hills of Perthshire or an auctioneer in Aberdeenshire or a factory worker in Glasgow instead of this miserable life I lead. Me and my poor cows. For when I say I have a herd it means I have seven cows: Maisie and her offspring.”
People misunderstand Donald and assume things about how he lives his life. Whatever the weather, he walks his route with his cows. Some people think he believes the clouds and the birds tell him what to do, but all he does is observe what they’re doing to give him some indication of the weather. And the weather suggests to him jobs that he should be doing around his farm. Have those people never looked out of the window in the morning and thought ‘I’d better prop up those plants or they’ll fall over in this wind?’ or ‘today would be a good day to go for a walk’?
Donald is completely in tune with nature and the seasons, but out of step with modern life. When he walks his rounds, he visits the same places every day. He can hear the echoes of the past and connects certain places with certain stories or people from the past. Nobody is entirely sure which are real and which are imaginary. Does he really believe all those old stories, clinging to a past that’s no longer there?
“Everything changed when the fairy knoll became an ordinary mound of grass you could plough or walk on. It was as if we’d thrown away our best story, where everything we’d ever dreamed or imagined had taken place. It had all come to nothing, except for fragments of songs and unbelievable stories and folk saying ‘that’s where they lived in the old days’. I didn’t want it to be nothing, because they were part of us, and if they were nothing, so were we.”
That’s one of the most beautiful things about Donald and His Seven Cows. The old stories often carried a message or a warning. They taught something worthwhile about listening properly to people, taking your time, keeping the flour you used to roll out your bread or your scones. I loved the way many of Donald’s stories made sense in the context of his own life, and the way that was revealed slowly, meandering throughout the book. Wonderful.
October 14, 2025
‘Donald & His Seven Cows’, by Angus Peter Campbell, on first impressions seems like an unlikely sort of book that might linger for a long time in the reader’s memory,yet manages beautifully to leave a lasting mark.
The central character and narrator of the story, Donald Michael MacDonald,tells us of the minutiae of his daily walk with his cows,taking the same route on his round mile,except for Sundays.Effectively taking a holy day of rest from his own unique stations of the cross. He describes in detail his everyday routine,interweaving this with reflections on the pace of change near and afar in the modern world, sharing poignant memories of his family,tales of the fairy folk ,and his isolated loneliness,recounting his few interactions with neighbours and members of the local community.This is an absorbing account of existence on an island with issues and themes that might seem parochial yet far are reaching in relevance to villages,towns,and cities worldwide.A life that is lived simply and honestly on personally sacred ground remains substantial for all that.
The central character and narrator of the story, Donald Michael MacDonald,tells us of the minutiae of his daily walk with his cows,taking the same route on his round mile,except for Sundays.Effectively taking a holy day of rest from his own unique stations of the cross. He describes in detail his everyday routine,interweaving this with reflections on the pace of change near and afar in the modern world, sharing poignant memories of his family,tales of the fairy folk ,and his isolated loneliness,recounting his few interactions with neighbours and members of the local community.This is an absorbing account of existence on an island with issues and themes that might seem parochial yet far are reaching in relevance to villages,towns,and cities worldwide.A life that is lived simply and honestly on personally sacred ground remains substantial for all that.
November 5, 2025
Sometimes book comes along that really touches my heart. This unassuming book did just that. Donald MacDonald lives alone on his croft with his cat Wilhelmina, dog Rover, childhood toy rabbit Coinean and cows Maisie and her herd. His world is small, isolating, lonely. He walks his mile, 2240 yards daily - in all weathers, in all seasons, Maisie leading, Donald singing to the herd or reciting the times table. There is mutual trust and respect between man and animals. They are a family. The daily circumnavigation with this family is so familiar to Donald he knows every stone and blade of grass.
The harsh landscape is wonderfully described as is Donald’s self sufficiency, his life lived in the past, his loves, his loses, his regrets at the different life he could have had. This book had me in tears in a number of places, for the fictional Donald, but also the real Donald’s out there today. A very poignant read with a some very powerful messages. I loved the ending.
The harsh landscape is wonderfully described as is Donald’s self sufficiency, his life lived in the past, his loves, his loses, his regrets at the different life he could have had. This book had me in tears in a number of places, for the fictional Donald, but also the real Donald’s out there today. A very poignant read with a some very powerful messages. I loved the ending.
November 4, 2025
This book is lovely, so beautiful towards the health of Donald and what he does on a day to day basis.
The cover is so calming and the story as it unfolds is so heart felt. Donald is a lovely man who cares so much for his farm and moves back to continue his family dream.
He walks his cows and dog everyday, naming them the same so his life with them never ends.
The community is there for him without him realising
It’s a lovely, beautifully written tale that makes you smile the whole way through.
Please read this, inbetween other more intense stories this will calm you and make you realise life is short and there is lots to enjoy.
The cover is so calming and the story as it unfolds is so heart felt. Donald is a lovely man who cares so much for his farm and moves back to continue his family dream.
He walks his cows and dog everyday, naming them the same so his life with them never ends.
The community is there for him without him realising
It’s a lovely, beautifully written tale that makes you smile the whole way through.
Please read this, inbetween other more intense stories this will calm you and make you realise life is short and there is lots to enjoy.
November 4, 2025
🌟🌟🌟🌟
A whimsical tale of a cow herder who follows his ancestors footsteps along the same trail as he walks his 7 cows around the same round mile walk everyday.
Almost every day has the same interactions with his neighbours & local farmers & even the cows themselves.
There are 12 stops along the way & in each one he thinks about the local legends & folk stories that give them life.
As the last of his family line will he find someone to continue his work or will development threaten the longevity of the land he depends on.
A breath of fresh air, a nice thought provoking literary read!
A whimsical tale of a cow herder who follows his ancestors footsteps along the same trail as he walks his 7 cows around the same round mile walk everyday.
Almost every day has the same interactions with his neighbours & local farmers & even the cows themselves.
There are 12 stops along the way & in each one he thinks about the local legends & folk stories that give them life.
As the last of his family line will he find someone to continue his work or will development threaten the longevity of the land he depends on.
A breath of fresh air, a nice thought provoking literary read!
November 9, 2025
Thank you to Love Book Tours and Louth Press for my physical copy to read and review.
Donald walks a mile every day with his cows. Along the way are stops and milestones – each place with their own story. But Donald lives in world that is changing.
Donald is a mild and gentle soul. He likes his routines and his folklore and his cows. Some call him an idiot or a fool. But he likes the simple life.
The landscape of the story is stunning. I could imagine the places where Donald stopped, the knoll, the loch etc.
I loved the perceptions about the changes to the crofting community – wind farms, holiday cottages, people loving to the mainland, technology.
In the end things change for Donald too – even in his simple life adjustments are made.
I struggled with the lack of plot and some of the Gaelic folklore, but I grew to love Donald and enjoyed the geography of the island of Uist.
Donald walks a mile every day with his cows. Along the way are stops and milestones – each place with their own story. But Donald lives in world that is changing.
Donald is a mild and gentle soul. He likes his routines and his folklore and his cows. Some call him an idiot or a fool. But he likes the simple life.
The landscape of the story is stunning. I could imagine the places where Donald stopped, the knoll, the loch etc.
I loved the perceptions about the changes to the crofting community – wind farms, holiday cottages, people loving to the mainland, technology.
In the end things change for Donald too – even in his simple life adjustments are made.
I struggled with the lack of plot and some of the Gaelic folklore, but I grew to love Donald and enjoyed the geography of the island of Uist.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews