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In the Hills
A Croft in the Hills
A Croft in the Hills, first published in 1960, is now acknowledged as a classic among Highland books. It captures, in simple, moving descriptions, what it was really like trying to make a living out of a hill croft near Loch Ness fifty years ago. A couple and their young daughter, fresh from city life, immerse themselves in the practicalities of looking after sheep, cattle and hens, mending fences, baking bread and surviving the worst that Scottish winters can throw at them.
Their neighbours are few, but among them they find the generosity and community spirit that has survived in the Highlands for generations. Working as a tight family unit, they learn to cope, and in time grow to love their little croft. As Neil Gunn writes in his Foreword, their lives gain extra dimensions that ‘give the book its unusual quality, its brightness and its wisdom’.
Their neighbours are few, but among them they find the generosity and community spirit that has survived in the Highlands for generations. Working as a tight family unit, they learn to cope, and in time grow to love their little croft. As Neil Gunn writes in his Foreword, their lives gain extra dimensions that ‘give the book its unusual quality, its brightness and its wisdom’.
192 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1996
49 people are currently reading
351 people want to read
About the author
Katharine Stewart
20 books8 followersKatharine Stewart was an author, crofter, teacher and postmistress. She is most well known for her book A Croft in the Hills. First published in 1960, it describes the life of a family in a remote croft in the 1950s. The book has been republished and reprinted seven times. She also wrote A Garden in the Hills, A School in the Hills and The Post in the Hills.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
November 6, 2020
Farm Life in Scotland
Sometimes you can’t move forward in a book unless you know what is being talked about. In this case there were two words that came up for me early in the book.
Croft: A small farm, and in this case, one in Scotland. Next came the word “scullery.” It is a pantry where food is stored and cut up before taken into the kitchen. It can also be a pantry where pots and pans are washed and stored. (Not much was said about the word “scullery” outside of saying that it had a window in it.)
And now that I know what these two words mean, I can continue the book, which I considered a very relaxing read. The author and her husband had bought a croft in Scotland after moving from their townhouse in a city.
Their idea was to fix up the farm and raise animals and vegetables to sell to the markets. Now, I am all for raising animals to make money, but I could not send any to a market to be killed. I could sell their eggs, milk, cheese, and wool, but not their bodies. So, pigs are out, and they had pigs. What can a pig offer except bacon? Maybe manure. Otherwise, nothing. And what happens on my own farm when the animals get old and quit producing? They get to stay. I have no idea what would happen to the sheep when they get old, but I am sure they keep producing wool, otherwise, they would freeze to death, but they get to stay too. But this is not my farm or my story, and I have never had a working farm, only bits and pieces, like chickens and rabbits and caring for horses and shoveling up their manure, and I have had vegetable gardens. By the way, I am not a vegetarian, but I still would not send an animal off to be oft.
Steward wrote articles for magazines talking about her life on the farm, and then finally wrote this book for us to enjoy, but here I am picking it apart. Still, I loved it, but I did not like her covering their stone floors with linoleum. What was she thinking? Were they cold? Wear socks or warm insulated boots.
So, they fixed up the farm, and then they bought some cows, sheep, chickens, and I forgot what else. Oh, pigs. They planted potatoes and turnips, and I don’t know what else. Then one day the market turned bad, and they sold their animals. You see, they should have only bought animals that only produced, as everyone always needs eggs and milk. But maybe the price of those went down as well. I know, I would make a lousy farmer and would have to be wealthy to begin with so I could make it work.
Well, don’t let my review mess up this story for you as I really enjoyed it in spite of myself.
Sometimes you can’t move forward in a book unless you know what is being talked about. In this case there were two words that came up for me early in the book.
Croft: A small farm, and in this case, one in Scotland. Next came the word “scullery.” It is a pantry where food is stored and cut up before taken into the kitchen. It can also be a pantry where pots and pans are washed and stored. (Not much was said about the word “scullery” outside of saying that it had a window in it.)
And now that I know what these two words mean, I can continue the book, which I considered a very relaxing read. The author and her husband had bought a croft in Scotland after moving from their townhouse in a city.
Their idea was to fix up the farm and raise animals and vegetables to sell to the markets. Now, I am all for raising animals to make money, but I could not send any to a market to be killed. I could sell their eggs, milk, cheese, and wool, but not their bodies. So, pigs are out, and they had pigs. What can a pig offer except bacon? Maybe manure. Otherwise, nothing. And what happens on my own farm when the animals get old and quit producing? They get to stay. I have no idea what would happen to the sheep when they get old, but I am sure they keep producing wool, otherwise, they would freeze to death, but they get to stay too. But this is not my farm or my story, and I have never had a working farm, only bits and pieces, like chickens and rabbits and caring for horses and shoveling up their manure, and I have had vegetable gardens. By the way, I am not a vegetarian, but I still would not send an animal off to be oft.
Steward wrote articles for magazines talking about her life on the farm, and then finally wrote this book for us to enjoy, but here I am picking it apart. Still, I loved it, but I did not like her covering their stone floors with linoleum. What was she thinking? Were they cold? Wear socks or warm insulated boots.
So, they fixed up the farm, and then they bought some cows, sheep, chickens, and I forgot what else. Oh, pigs. They planted potatoes and turnips, and I don’t know what else. Then one day the market turned bad, and they sold their animals. You see, they should have only bought animals that only produced, as everyone always needs eggs and milk. But maybe the price of those went down as well. I know, I would make a lousy farmer and would have to be wealthy to begin with so I could make it work.
Well, don’t let my review mess up this story for you as I really enjoyed it in spite of myself.
January 1, 2020
This is a charming, thoughtful and introspective true story about how a couple fled the city with their young daughter in 1960 and purchased a "croft," or small farm, in the Scottish Highlands. This was one of the original back-to-the-land experiences. Hard work, bitterly cold winters, and financial hardship did not deter them for their appreciation of the natural world around them, and their conviction that they were raising their child in the best possible way. During their sojourn, the author began writing short pieces about Highland life and selling them in order to supplement the family income. Although they were unable to sustain their lifestyle at the croft for more than a few years, Katharine Stewart's book became an enduring classic and is still in print sixty years later.
April 28, 2025
This account of the Stewart family's move from a city to a small crofting community in the Highlands was a real treat to read. Written without sentimentality, it gives a true account of the travails and delights of subsistence farming.
May 13, 2025
"Then, at last, the roof and chimneys of a dwelling came into view. We stopped at the stile and took a long look at it. Four-square and very solid it stood, facing just to the east of south, its walls of rough granite and whinstone, its roof of fine blue slate. Beyond it was the steading and in front a line of rowan trees, sure protection against evil spirits, according to Highland lore."
Published in 1960, the book is a calm, simple, honest, and touching recollection of what it was like trying to make a living out of a hill croft near Loch Ness, coming from the big city and being new to the practicalities and challenges of tending to sheep, cattle, hens and pigs, mending fences, crossing burns, harvesting crops and surviving winter storms.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which is all about simplicity, calmness, manual labour, the seasons, nature, and connection to the land, and I heavily daydreamed throughout each chapter.
4 stars instead of 5, not because of anything wrong with the writing or the story itself, but because some parts felt a little dated through a modern lens. The book reflects a very traditional, heteronormative way of life, which completely makes sense given the time it was written and the real life it's based on, but as a reader today I feel it unconsciously reinforces old-fashioned stereotypes without really questioning them, and this stood out for me a bit.
I completely understand the book is a product of its time, and my opinion isn't a criticism of the Author as a person or her life, A Croft in the Hills is a lovely and honest book, and I enjoyed reading it.
Published in 1960, the book is a calm, simple, honest, and touching recollection of what it was like trying to make a living out of a hill croft near Loch Ness, coming from the big city and being new to the practicalities and challenges of tending to sheep, cattle, hens and pigs, mending fences, crossing burns, harvesting crops and surviving winter storms.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which is all about simplicity, calmness, manual labour, the seasons, nature, and connection to the land, and I heavily daydreamed throughout each chapter.
4 stars instead of 5, not because of anything wrong with the writing or the story itself, but because some parts felt a little dated through a modern lens. The book reflects a very traditional, heteronormative way of life, which completely makes sense given the time it was written and the real life it's based on, but as a reader today I feel it unconsciously reinforces old-fashioned stereotypes without really questioning them, and this stood out for me a bit.
I completely understand the book is a product of its time, and my opinion isn't a criticism of the Author as a person or her life, A Croft in the Hills is a lovely and honest book, and I enjoyed reading it.
July 31, 2018
In this autobiography, Katharine Stewart tells the story of her and her family’s move from town dwelling to living and running a croft.
Right from the start we are introduced to her pragmatic but also positive outlook.
‘We had enough imagination to visualize its possibilities and most of its impossibilities. Experience had taught us that the worst hardly ever happens, and if it does, it can usually be turned into a best.’
Buying a croft in the hills above Loch Ness in the 1960s with no electricity or running water must have been a daunting prospect but one the family, Katharine, her husband, Jim and their daughter, Helen, seem to have undertaken as a great challenge.
In some ways Stewart makes light of the enormity of the tasks they undertook such as planting and harvesting the crops, taking care of the animals and all the while living in a very basic croft house and dealing with the vagaries of the Scottish weather.
It was a very quick and very steep learning curve and the author readily admits she wondered if she would ever learn to be detached in her dealings with sending their animals to market.
Despite the apparent isolation of the croft, there is a deep sense of community throughout the book and many examples of neighbours helping one another out.
Descriptions of Helen’s childhood are scattered throughout. She was given a huge amount of freedom and independence and involved in almost every job on the croft. To get to school she had to walk two miles to school and back every day. There still seemed to be plenty of time for her to be with the animals on the croft and to indulge in her love of reading.
The family enjoyed few holidays but when they did go off in their van they loved the time spent together.
‘It wouldn’t have surprised me if we’d discovered gold.’ Katharine writes as they paddled in Loch Broom on a beautiful sunny morning.’
This book is full of vivid descriptions of the natural world and often humourous ones of the animals.
‘A cow does love a tattie!’
Life does not appear to have been smooth. Jim eventually had to take work on in town to help subsidize their life and Katherine made extra money by writing short stories and newspaper columns.
Although the book is easy to read and mainly about life on the croft, the author does comment regularly on world affairs and her opinions. She is definitely a proponent of a life lived outdoors.
‘Give a boy a mountain to climb and he’ll forget all about wanting to kick his neighbour on the shins.’
This is a story of a family’s quest to live a simpler life away from the big cities. In chronicling their time Katharine Stewart has opened our eyes to the way life was, with all the friendships and hardships, tears and laughter associated with building a home in a crofting community.
It seems to me they were successful in terms of their family life and Katharine Stewart reflects on the words of Dr Johnson.
‘To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition.’
It appears their ambition was achieved.
This is a wee gem of a book.
Right from the start we are introduced to her pragmatic but also positive outlook.
‘We had enough imagination to visualize its possibilities and most of its impossibilities. Experience had taught us that the worst hardly ever happens, and if it does, it can usually be turned into a best.’
Buying a croft in the hills above Loch Ness in the 1960s with no electricity or running water must have been a daunting prospect but one the family, Katharine, her husband, Jim and their daughter, Helen, seem to have undertaken as a great challenge.
In some ways Stewart makes light of the enormity of the tasks they undertook such as planting and harvesting the crops, taking care of the animals and all the while living in a very basic croft house and dealing with the vagaries of the Scottish weather.
It was a very quick and very steep learning curve and the author readily admits she wondered if she would ever learn to be detached in her dealings with sending their animals to market.
Despite the apparent isolation of the croft, there is a deep sense of community throughout the book and many examples of neighbours helping one another out.
Descriptions of Helen’s childhood are scattered throughout. She was given a huge amount of freedom and independence and involved in almost every job on the croft. To get to school she had to walk two miles to school and back every day. There still seemed to be plenty of time for her to be with the animals on the croft and to indulge in her love of reading.
The family enjoyed few holidays but when they did go off in their van they loved the time spent together.
‘It wouldn’t have surprised me if we’d discovered gold.’ Katharine writes as they paddled in Loch Broom on a beautiful sunny morning.’
This book is full of vivid descriptions of the natural world and often humourous ones of the animals.
‘A cow does love a tattie!’
Life does not appear to have been smooth. Jim eventually had to take work on in town to help subsidize their life and Katherine made extra money by writing short stories and newspaper columns.
Although the book is easy to read and mainly about life on the croft, the author does comment regularly on world affairs and her opinions. She is definitely a proponent of a life lived outdoors.
‘Give a boy a mountain to climb and he’ll forget all about wanting to kick his neighbour on the shins.’
This is a story of a family’s quest to live a simpler life away from the big cities. In chronicling their time Katharine Stewart has opened our eyes to the way life was, with all the friendships and hardships, tears and laughter associated with building a home in a crofting community.
It seems to me they were successful in terms of their family life and Katharine Stewart reflects on the words of Dr Johnson.
‘To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition.’
It appears their ambition was achieved.
This is a wee gem of a book.
January 4, 2020
“The universe is not a cosy place specifically designed to suit human needs.”
This quote from Katharine Stewart’s wonderful memoir is one of many I could have chosen to illustrate how grounded she and her husband Jim were, to show how calmly, and without fuss, they faced all the troubles and travails that came their way as they worked to make a living from their hillside croft. Their attitude, in and of itself, would have been enough to make this book a delightful read. Even though they had to fight many battles, whether it be blasting blizzards, burst pipes, financial troubles or difficult decisions, reading this book was never stressful because Jim and Katharine, along with Helen, just took everything in their stride, accepting what came their way and then moving ahead. The whole time I read it I really did feel like I was sitting in front of the fire in their cosy kitchen, enjoying a cup of tea!
But, of course, there is so much more to this story than the way Jim and Katharine cope with what Highland life brings them. There is the wonderful community spirit, where neighbours turn up to lend a helping hand often without even being asked (and sometimes even before you know you need it!), which just fills you with joy and thankfulness as you read. Or there are the many quirky characters, both human and animal, that add so much fun to the story. And you cannot read a book set in the Scottish Highlands without sitting in awe and wonder as you contemplate the beauty of the land in all its seasons.
If you love Highlands of Scotland, you will love this book. It will bring joy to your soul.
This quote from Katharine Stewart’s wonderful memoir is one of many I could have chosen to illustrate how grounded she and her husband Jim were, to show how calmly, and without fuss, they faced all the troubles and travails that came their way as they worked to make a living from their hillside croft. Their attitude, in and of itself, would have been enough to make this book a delightful read. Even though they had to fight many battles, whether it be blasting blizzards, burst pipes, financial troubles or difficult decisions, reading this book was never stressful because Jim and Katharine, along with Helen, just took everything in their stride, accepting what came their way and then moving ahead. The whole time I read it I really did feel like I was sitting in front of the fire in their cosy kitchen, enjoying a cup of tea!
But, of course, there is so much more to this story than the way Jim and Katharine cope with what Highland life brings them. There is the wonderful community spirit, where neighbours turn up to lend a helping hand often without even being asked (and sometimes even before you know you need it!), which just fills you with joy and thankfulness as you read. Or there are the many quirky characters, both human and animal, that add so much fun to the story. And you cannot read a book set in the Scottish Highlands without sitting in awe and wonder as you contemplate the beauty of the land in all its seasons.
If you love Highlands of Scotland, you will love this book. It will bring joy to your soul.
February 8, 2016
It was a humbling experience reading this memoir. I love reading about peoples passions. Reading about Katharine Stewarts passion and plunge into trying to make a living out of a hill croft (near Loch Ness) was wonderful. The joys, but also the hardships that she, her husband and their daughter went through.
Katharine Stewart writes beautifully. I often went back to passages so that I could absorb them. What shines throughout the whole book is the joy in living even when things were not working out the way they planned.
In a world where we all seem to have too much, the author could make me feel the happiness at coming home to a warm house on a freezing day and eating a scrumptious dinner of scrambled eggs. She also showed the comfort of knowing that ones neighbor will be there to help--not that she expected it, but that it was the way things were done.
Very much recommended.
Katharine Stewart writes beautifully. I often went back to passages so that I could absorb them. What shines throughout the whole book is the joy in living even when things were not working out the way they planned.
In a world where we all seem to have too much, the author could make me feel the happiness at coming home to a warm house on a freezing day and eating a scrumptious dinner of scrambled eggs. She also showed the comfort of knowing that ones neighbor will be there to help--not that she expected it, but that it was the way things were done.
Very much recommended.
November 22, 2007
A memoir about a Scottish family who decide to buy a small farm ("croft") in the hills near Loch Ness, & their experiences as they try to make a living & raise their young daughter along with numerous cows, goats, hens, horses, pigs, and more! I have a different edition of this book than pictured, I found it at the Multnomah County Library Book Sale. It has the cutest pen and ink line drawings by Anne Shortreed. The book was first published in 1960. I was attracted to this because my mom lived in Scotland for a while, in the 1990s. She lived in a village & I noticed a lot of the same things that Ms. Stewart writes about in this book. The Scottish people are very friendly & warm, & always look out for their neighbors. Anyone who comes to the door is like a member of the family & if you're visiting a Scottish person, you're offered food & drink even if it's the last they've got. They have a wonderful connection to nature & the seasons. It's a whole different world where they don't spend a lot of time talking about designer handbags or Paris Hilton or some stupid tv show. If you go to a party in a country village there, there's no music on a stereo, but people will sing, play instruments, & maybe start a dance. There will be good conversation & simple food like soup, bread, tea and of course a wee whiskey! People are not as stressed by their jobs; the kids go to a village school & spend a lot of time playing & working outdoors. Stewart describes how her daughter grows up with no fear of loneliness because she spends so much time alone, but she's never bored because she works so hard with her parents on the farm, & she knows how to take joy & comfort in little things, in nature & in her relationships with animals.
I would like to give this book 3 and a half stars. The only thing that prevents me from giving it four stars is that Stewart makes the crofting life sound SO wonderful, it's a bit unbelievable! At the time she wrote the book, they had no electricity, very little running water, & almost no road access to their croft. She does talk about the hardships they encountered but she has such a positive attitude toward all this, I found myself wishing she would complain just a little! My favorite thing is how she can make a meal of eggs, potatoes, & tea sound like the best thing in the world! This is a really good book to read when you're feeling stressed out by city life.
I would like to give this book 3 and a half stars. The only thing that prevents me from giving it four stars is that Stewart makes the crofting life sound SO wonderful, it's a bit unbelievable! At the time she wrote the book, they had no electricity, very little running water, & almost no road access to their croft. She does talk about the hardships they encountered but she has such a positive attitude toward all this, I found myself wishing she would complain just a little! My favorite thing is how she can make a meal of eggs, potatoes, & tea sound like the best thing in the world! This is a really good book to read when you're feeling stressed out by city life.
February 3, 2022
This is a delightful book full of life stories of the author’s crofting life in the beautiful and harsh Scottish Highlands in the 50s.
Upon finishing I immediately ordered the omnibus containing her other similar books.
Upon finishing I immediately ordered the omnibus containing her other similar books.
September 4, 2022
Ever dreamed of running away and buying a farm in the Scottish Highlands?
Then this is the non-fiction escapist fantasy for you!
A Croft in the Hills is a beautiful account of Katharine Stewart's real experiences when she and her husband purchased a croft near Loch Ness in the 50s.
Reading this in 2022 I am struck by how it does sometimes feel like a strange fantasy, hearing people being able to buy acres of land for less than hundred pounds, but of course conditions were very different.
I would say that I am inclined to believe that Stewart did gloss over the hardships and negative experiences, and she lacks the wit of someone like Betty MacDonald , but this is a beautiful short pastoral non fiction for those in need of a shot of idyllic nostalgia.
Then this is the non-fiction escapist fantasy for you!
A Croft in the Hills is a beautiful account of Katharine Stewart's real experiences when she and her husband purchased a croft near Loch Ness in the 50s.
Reading this in 2022 I am struck by how it does sometimes feel like a strange fantasy, hearing people being able to buy acres of land for less than hundred pounds, but of course conditions were very different.
I would say that I am inclined to believe that Stewart did gloss over the hardships and negative experiences, and she lacks the wit of someone like Betty MacDonald , but this is a beautiful short pastoral non fiction for those in need of a shot of idyllic nostalgia.
June 10, 2020
I really enjoyed this account of life in a Highland croft during the 1950s. The attention to detail, the description of the work & the wonder of the beauty of the land made me want to visit Scotland right now.
July 19, 2025
The author describes a crofting way of life in the Highlands that has now disappeared. The hardships during the winter months must have been tough but her positivity and love of the land and the local community shines through.
September 24, 2020
First published 60 years ago, Katharine Stewart’s memoir chronicles what was even then a dying way of life; wringing a living from the harsh and often unyielding land of the Scottish Highlands. A sense of discontentment sees her and her husband and their three-year-old daughter purchase and relocate to a croft, where through farming and animal husbandry they attempt to become self-sufficient.
Accepted and welcomed into the community, their protagonist is the very land and weather itself. If some of the attitudes and language have become dated to modern sensibilities, there is still much to identify with in the warmth of human interactions and the desire to make a success of one’s life on one’s own terms.
The book also serves as a slice of social history, with the crofting community much excited by the arrival of electricity in what would have been the mid 1950’s. For those of us born in the last fifty years or so it’s easy to take electricity, running water and cars for granted. Here, too, the author is perhaps fortunate that the only corrupting influences, as she sees them, that her daughter needs to be shielded from are an excess of leisure and the cinema!
In summing up, for what is essentially an account of rural farming, it proves an engaging and rewarding read. I’d recommend it to anyone with an interest in 20th century Scottish history or to those considering living “off grid”.
March 21, 2021
3.5 stars
This book transports you to another place and time, that feels further away than it actually is. The joy that Katharine Stewart and her family get from living and working on a small farm in the hills above Inverness is invigorating and gave me bursts of: "I'd like this too". The changing of the seasons, the community and the farm jobs are all described vividly and if feels like you are really there.
There were aspects that did detract from my enjoyment and they started appearing especially in the second half of the book. K. Stewart was constantly comparing her life with city life, a line of thought that always praised the farming/crofting life and old ways while painting a dark, and occasionally, belittling picture of the lives of city people. Too me, this was completely unnecessary and done in a painfully generalizing manner. I have no doubt that city life in the 50s was far from paradise, but I also think that life in the hills is shown here through rose-tinted glasses. I could say a lot more about this but it's not my intention to be overly negative, as I did really enjoy the book and do consider picking up the others.
This book transports you to another place and time, that feels further away than it actually is. The joy that Katharine Stewart and her family get from living and working on a small farm in the hills above Inverness is invigorating and gave me bursts of: "I'd like this too". The changing of the seasons, the community and the farm jobs are all described vividly and if feels like you are really there.
There were aspects that did detract from my enjoyment and they started appearing especially in the second half of the book. K. Stewart was constantly comparing her life with city life, a line of thought that always praised the farming/crofting life and old ways while painting a dark, and occasionally, belittling picture of the lives of city people. Too me, this was completely unnecessary and done in a painfully generalizing manner. I have no doubt that city life in the 50s was far from paradise, but I also think that life in the hills is shown here through rose-tinted glasses. I could say a lot more about this but it's not my intention to be overly negative, as I did really enjoy the book and do consider picking up the others.
April 14, 2023
I had no idea when I picked this up, the treasure I would find in its pages. I would go so far as to say that to live life as is described in these words is to find true human joy, the secret to happy living. It makes my heart ache to think of what has been lost, a past that is, now and ever, more and more distant from us. We have lost simplicity and wonder in the earth around us, and in doing so we have lost ourselves. Her words are poetic, vivid with the sparkle of a highland burn, the verdant green hills, the companionship of family and community ties. To slip into her world is magic, old and nearly forgotten. But beautiful, and still can speak to the human soul. It’s the song of the earth. This will be one of the greats on my shelves.
August 25, 2014
A beautifully written account of crofting in the 1960s. Life was very tough but also very rewarding, with an amazing community spirit.
The author is understandably passionate about that way of life, and although I can see what she means, I didn't always agree about the ills of modern life and a simpler existence with nature being the cure. I think it's a bit more complicated than that!
It was a great book though - full of peace and serenity, and a good escape from things for a little while.
The author is understandably passionate about that way of life, and although I can see what she means, I didn't always agree about the ills of modern life and a simpler existence with nature being the cure. I think it's a bit more complicated than that!
It was a great book though - full of peace and serenity, and a good escape from things for a little while.
August 15, 2018
A young family tries out live on a farm in the hills of Scotland. Very enjoyable and endearing.
June 6, 2025
I had never heard of this book before, but apparently it's considered to be somewhat of a classic. This book is a nonfiction work by Katherine Steward, based on her life on a croft farm in Scotland, near Loch Ness. The book tells how in the 1960s, she and her husband Jim made the decision to leave town life and buy a small farm based on a shared love of the wilds and country life, and with the hope that their young daughter Helen would benefit from the experiences of being so attached to the basics of life.
The book covers their first few years on the croft. The months and years flow pretty smoothly and quickly, as seems natural when you are so occupied with important work. The couple grow hay, oats, potatoes, and turnips, and raise sheep, cows, and at times pigs. So far from the town, they have no electricity (until the country connects them in the last few chapters), and only a nearby pump for water. As a result, their farm life is very pre-industrial; for example, they usually use their horse to plow the fields, they sow seed by hand, and they cut the peat (by hand) to warm their homes. The story is quite a revealing look on what Stewart opines as a forgotten way of life, even in her day (and how much more so now?) Stewart also describes her community of crofters, all of whom will always lend a hand or sit to enjoy a cup of tea to share the news. She found a warm and loving home and community in the hills, and her love of it is clear.
Stewart's writing is beautiful and poetic, yet simple. Her descriptions of day-to-day life really plunge you into life on their farm, and yet occasionally she waxes poetic on how connected she feels with the real stuff of life, of growing food for themselves to eat, and wearing only simple clothes that are practical and easy to wash by hand (as they have no machine.) It is definitely a pleasing read.
The only thing I really found annoying was her continual disdain for modern industry and town life. Despite coming from it herself, she had no pleasant thing to say about living in a city and even had mixed feelings about the croft finally being connected to electricity (she liked the light and heat, but was sad that you could no longer see when your neighbors were up because they used electric stoves, so no smoke would rise from chimneys.) She looks down on modern time-saving machines, such as washing machines, or communication and entertainment, such as televisions, radios, and the distribution of the daily news. She seems to see nothing positive in being connected to the wider world (although of course she appreciates tea), and at least a good part of this seems to stem from the realities of nuclear threats and war. After all, she is living in the Cold War.
Still, she takes a rather gently-worded moralizing view of it all. She quite clearly feels that living on a croft practicing subsistence farming is morally better than any other pursuit, including working for money. She seems to find no contradiction in her beliefs, despite the fact that within a few years of living on the croft, her husband has to leave to find work and they are no longer able to afford growing crops. Her husband is gone for weeks at a time while she and her daughter live alone, all because they are living on the croft and, as time reveals, are very poor. She relates of wonderful homecooked meals- but always of oats, bread, potatoes, and eggs or dairy since they can't afford meat. They have few clothes because they can only afford a few, and when they have to sell their truck, Stewart relates how much more pleasant it is to walk the miles to the bus stop because you can spend more time watching the birds. Stewart proudly calls it being simple and close to nature, which is admirable, but it's pretty obvious that she thinks this life is better than any other. She even looks down on a town family who rent out part of their cottage in the summer because, living in the town, they are used to variety in their meals, not just potatoes and eggs every day, and she is forced to flag down the grocers' van each day to provide them with fruit and other "niceties."
So, while I do find the endeavor admirable and an interesting look at a bygone time when communities were small and farmers had to survive on what they grew themselves, I can see why it is bygone. Like the loss of all handicrafts and skills, it is sad, but I wouldn't say that growing up poor on a farm and eating nothing but potatoes and eggs, and carrying water to the house in pails, is morally better than living in a town. If that's your thing, that's great! It takes all kinds. But it takes all kinds working together, not looking down their noses at each other.
The book covers their first few years on the croft. The months and years flow pretty smoothly and quickly, as seems natural when you are so occupied with important work. The couple grow hay, oats, potatoes, and turnips, and raise sheep, cows, and at times pigs. So far from the town, they have no electricity (until the country connects them in the last few chapters), and only a nearby pump for water. As a result, their farm life is very pre-industrial; for example, they usually use their horse to plow the fields, they sow seed by hand, and they cut the peat (by hand) to warm their homes. The story is quite a revealing look on what Stewart opines as a forgotten way of life, even in her day (and how much more so now?) Stewart also describes her community of crofters, all of whom will always lend a hand or sit to enjoy a cup of tea to share the news. She found a warm and loving home and community in the hills, and her love of it is clear.
Stewart's writing is beautiful and poetic, yet simple. Her descriptions of day-to-day life really plunge you into life on their farm, and yet occasionally she waxes poetic on how connected she feels with the real stuff of life, of growing food for themselves to eat, and wearing only simple clothes that are practical and easy to wash by hand (as they have no machine.) It is definitely a pleasing read.
The only thing I really found annoying was her continual disdain for modern industry and town life. Despite coming from it herself, she had no pleasant thing to say about living in a city and even had mixed feelings about the croft finally being connected to electricity (she liked the light and heat, but was sad that you could no longer see when your neighbors were up because they used electric stoves, so no smoke would rise from chimneys.) She looks down on modern time-saving machines, such as washing machines, or communication and entertainment, such as televisions, radios, and the distribution of the daily news. She seems to see nothing positive in being connected to the wider world (although of course she appreciates tea), and at least a good part of this seems to stem from the realities of nuclear threats and war. After all, she is living in the Cold War.
Still, she takes a rather gently-worded moralizing view of it all. She quite clearly feels that living on a croft practicing subsistence farming is morally better than any other pursuit, including working for money. She seems to find no contradiction in her beliefs, despite the fact that within a few years of living on the croft, her husband has to leave to find work and they are no longer able to afford growing crops. Her husband is gone for weeks at a time while she and her daughter live alone, all because they are living on the croft and, as time reveals, are very poor. She relates of wonderful homecooked meals- but always of oats, bread, potatoes, and eggs or dairy since they can't afford meat. They have few clothes because they can only afford a few, and when they have to sell their truck, Stewart relates how much more pleasant it is to walk the miles to the bus stop because you can spend more time watching the birds. Stewart proudly calls it being simple and close to nature, which is admirable, but it's pretty obvious that she thinks this life is better than any other. She even looks down on a town family who rent out part of their cottage in the summer because, living in the town, they are used to variety in their meals, not just potatoes and eggs every day, and she is forced to flag down the grocers' van each day to provide them with fruit and other "niceties."
So, while I do find the endeavor admirable and an interesting look at a bygone time when communities were small and farmers had to survive on what they grew themselves, I can see why it is bygone. Like the loss of all handicrafts and skills, it is sad, but I wouldn't say that growing up poor on a farm and eating nothing but potatoes and eggs, and carrying water to the house in pails, is morally better than living in a town. If that's your thing, that's great! It takes all kinds. But it takes all kinds working together, not looking down their noses at each other.
September 18, 2021
It is important, if sometimes challenging, to remember the distinction between people doing bad things and people being bad. It’s very easy in the modern age of outrage, self-righteousness and condescension toward the Wrong Side of History to sneer at people doing the Wrong Thing, conflating (our perceived) rightness of action with righteousness of (secular) soul.
A Croft in the Hills is an object lesson in the perniciousness of that attitude.
Katharine Stewart moved into the Scottish Highlands not long after the end of the Second World War—in the ‘40s or ‘50s, when the so-called “Green Revolution” and big, industrial, inputs-based agriculture was just emerging on the scene. As a consequence Stewart’s writing about managing her farm is thick with references to decisions they made, products they used and manners they comported themselves wildly out of kilter with what we now understand are good farming practices. At one point Stewart writes (lyrically and compellingly) about the power of a storm rolling down from the Arctic and pummeling their land, exposed as it was to the north. In a throwaway line she recalls seeing sheets of water sluicing across their newly ploughed fields, stripping the loose soil and carrying it downhill in a wave.
This is evocative, and Stewart’s raw writing capability is beyond doubt, but it’s also—with twenty-first century hindsight and, say, Wendell Berry’s contemporary foresight—enough to set alarm bells ringing. Stewart is blithely recounting her observation of an agroecological catastrophe she caused but isn’t equipped to recognise. Soil loss such as she describes is precisely why Scottish crofters didn’t plough their steep, shallow-soiled Highland fields. The soil on Stewart’s fields was wrested across centuries from a harsh, recalcitrant nature, fostered and managed and cared for by generations of people from pre-Celtic Bronze Age Highlanders to the last Scots who resisted clearance in the eighteenth century. And then, because of monumental urban-industrial ignorance, it was scythed away in a storm.
This is by no means the only example of ignorance and damage in this book. By and large, in the twenty-first century, A Croft in the Hills reads something like an unknowing lamentation: the Stewarts’ first moves upon arriving at their farm are trucking in lime and fertiliser and finding a convenient spot in the local stream (at the top of a hill) in which to wash their clothes and dishes (who else uses that stream further down?). There is much plowing, trucking, hauling in feed and generally trying to run a palearctic highland hilltop croft just like a mild lowland English farm, a perfect illustration of Wendell Berry’s observation that there is no “big solution to big problems”: places and therefore problems and therefore solutions are particular, small and local.
None of that, though, is Katharine Stewart’s fault. Her book is, besides being depressing reading in the cold light of agroecological hindsight, unmistakably a record of a family doing their level best for themselves, their land and their community. Her affection for the harsh northern landscape is unmistakable, and the passages dealing with husband and daughter are touching. Stewart was perpetrating violence against her landscape not out of malignance, as we are all too ready to ascribe to anyone who does the wrong thing in the modern age, but out of a careful, well-meaning following of conventional wisdom. This observation we would do well to take to heart, given the infinitely greater violence implicit in our modern eco-responsible consumer culture lionising fertiliser-dependent soy, carbon-dense protein supplements and soil-stripping biofuels.
This is a book about people doing their best with what they were given. The problem is that what they were given, by the blinkered institutions of artfully ignorant modernity, was too much power, too little knowledge. Since the time of Stewart’s writing the problem of high-level brainlessness has only got worse.
Far from an indictment of Katharine Stewart or indeed any of the individuals involved in the decades-long development of our interlocking modern crises, A Croft in the Hills is a warning against the danger of listening uncritically to the imperious voices of abstract science and incompetent economics, and the costs of marching in unquestioning lockstep toward the unaccountable goal we are pleased to call progress.
A Croft in the Hills is an object lesson in the perniciousness of that attitude.
Katharine Stewart moved into the Scottish Highlands not long after the end of the Second World War—in the ‘40s or ‘50s, when the so-called “Green Revolution” and big, industrial, inputs-based agriculture was just emerging on the scene. As a consequence Stewart’s writing about managing her farm is thick with references to decisions they made, products they used and manners they comported themselves wildly out of kilter with what we now understand are good farming practices. At one point Stewart writes (lyrically and compellingly) about the power of a storm rolling down from the Arctic and pummeling their land, exposed as it was to the north. In a throwaway line she recalls seeing sheets of water sluicing across their newly ploughed fields, stripping the loose soil and carrying it downhill in a wave.
This is evocative, and Stewart’s raw writing capability is beyond doubt, but it’s also—with twenty-first century hindsight and, say, Wendell Berry’s contemporary foresight—enough to set alarm bells ringing. Stewart is blithely recounting her observation of an agroecological catastrophe she caused but isn’t equipped to recognise. Soil loss such as she describes is precisely why Scottish crofters didn’t plough their steep, shallow-soiled Highland fields. The soil on Stewart’s fields was wrested across centuries from a harsh, recalcitrant nature, fostered and managed and cared for by generations of people from pre-Celtic Bronze Age Highlanders to the last Scots who resisted clearance in the eighteenth century. And then, because of monumental urban-industrial ignorance, it was scythed away in a storm.
This is by no means the only example of ignorance and damage in this book. By and large, in the twenty-first century, A Croft in the Hills reads something like an unknowing lamentation: the Stewarts’ first moves upon arriving at their farm are trucking in lime and fertiliser and finding a convenient spot in the local stream (at the top of a hill) in which to wash their clothes and dishes (who else uses that stream further down?). There is much plowing, trucking, hauling in feed and generally trying to run a palearctic highland hilltop croft just like a mild lowland English farm, a perfect illustration of Wendell Berry’s observation that there is no “big solution to big problems”: places and therefore problems and therefore solutions are particular, small and local.
None of that, though, is Katharine Stewart’s fault. Her book is, besides being depressing reading in the cold light of agroecological hindsight, unmistakably a record of a family doing their level best for themselves, their land and their community. Her affection for the harsh northern landscape is unmistakable, and the passages dealing with husband and daughter are touching. Stewart was perpetrating violence against her landscape not out of malignance, as we are all too ready to ascribe to anyone who does the wrong thing in the modern age, but out of a careful, well-meaning following of conventional wisdom. This observation we would do well to take to heart, given the infinitely greater violence implicit in our modern eco-responsible consumer culture lionising fertiliser-dependent soy, carbon-dense protein supplements and soil-stripping biofuels.
This is a book about people doing their best with what they were given. The problem is that what they were given, by the blinkered institutions of artfully ignorant modernity, was too much power, too little knowledge. Since the time of Stewart’s writing the problem of high-level brainlessness has only got worse.
Far from an indictment of Katharine Stewart or indeed any of the individuals involved in the decades-long development of our interlocking modern crises, A Croft in the Hills is a warning against the danger of listening uncritically to the imperious voices of abstract science and incompetent economics, and the costs of marching in unquestioning lockstep toward the unaccountable goal we are pleased to call progress.
September 3, 2021
In A Croft in the Hills, Katharine Stewart chronicles the years that she, her husband Jim and their daughter Helen lived high in the hills bordering Loch Ness.
The memoir begins with an account of what led to the family waving goodbye to suburban life and embarking on a shared vision and passion to eke out a living in a remote place. It is the story of how they pursued that desire for a self-sustaining livelihood "on the edge".
The Stewarts chose a location that was susceptible to fearsomely harsh weather and to soaring wonderment and beauty. It is the 1950s, and the young couple and their daughter learn the ways of the land and how to run a smallholding. It involves sacrifices, impoverishment and the unconditional support of neighbours.
At times, everything seems perfect with good fortune shining and life going their way, but there are also setbacks, adjustments and reassessments of what is possible.
First published in 1960, an additional end piece to the book was added by the author in a 1979 update.
Stewart captures a world and way of life that, even as she and her family embarked upon it, was coming to an end. Some of the characters mentioned were already local legends, and many were soon to be gone.
In joining the Stewarts, the reader experiences the turning of the seasons and glimpses a life built on a small, tight-knit community familiar with sparse and enduring hardships, but ready and willing to help one another without quibble or question.
I found this book's greatest joy in the moments where the author shares more deeply her thoughts on what it means to have taken this direction in life, and the fulfillment from simple pleasures far from the city lights.
A Croft in the Hills is regarded as an important record of a time, now 70 years distant, and the indomitable spirit of the Stewarts and those they knew on the hillsides high in the Highlands of Scotland.
I read the book in A Life in the Hills, The Katharine Stewart omnibus published posthumously in 2018, which also contains Stewart's books from the 1990s, A Garden in the Hills, A School in the Hills, and A Post in the Hills.
The combined edition, A Life in the Hills, is published by Berlinn Ltd.
The memoir begins with an account of what led to the family waving goodbye to suburban life and embarking on a shared vision and passion to eke out a living in a remote place. It is the story of how they pursued that desire for a self-sustaining livelihood "on the edge".
The Stewarts chose a location that was susceptible to fearsomely harsh weather and to soaring wonderment and beauty. It is the 1950s, and the young couple and their daughter learn the ways of the land and how to run a smallholding. It involves sacrifices, impoverishment and the unconditional support of neighbours.
At times, everything seems perfect with good fortune shining and life going their way, but there are also setbacks, adjustments and reassessments of what is possible.
First published in 1960, an additional end piece to the book was added by the author in a 1979 update.
Stewart captures a world and way of life that, even as she and her family embarked upon it, was coming to an end. Some of the characters mentioned were already local legends, and many were soon to be gone.
In joining the Stewarts, the reader experiences the turning of the seasons and glimpses a life built on a small, tight-knit community familiar with sparse and enduring hardships, but ready and willing to help one another without quibble or question.
I found this book's greatest joy in the moments where the author shares more deeply her thoughts on what it means to have taken this direction in life, and the fulfillment from simple pleasures far from the city lights.
A Croft in the Hills is regarded as an important record of a time, now 70 years distant, and the indomitable spirit of the Stewarts and those they knew on the hillsides high in the Highlands of Scotland.
I read the book in A Life in the Hills, The Katharine Stewart omnibus published posthumously in 2018, which also contains Stewart's books from the 1990s, A Garden in the Hills, A School in the Hills, and A Post in the Hills.
The combined edition, A Life in the Hills, is published by Berlinn Ltd.
June 24, 2023
It's quite an old-fashioned way of telling a story- no personal details, anecdotal, a bit elegiac, with lots of musings on the modern robot-consumer and how nothing compares with life lived hand in hand with the natural world. There's a vague relationship to the All Creatures Great and Small genre, though post-WWII/ in the fifties. (The tidbits of post-war life were actually very interesting.)
I enjoyed it, and read it quickly, but wanted to know so much more than how much money the pigs brought for their sale or the mishaps with the potato planting. But that's mostly what we got, along with a lot of how glorious it was to raise their child to be one with nature. Fair.
Also it was a bit tough to read after the first year or two where everything went pretty well; when things started going not so well they didn't have the reserves to survive unless her husband went and worked in town and the author stayed alone on the croft with her daughter to look after things. This was told frankly but more more quickly, probably because it was quite hard.
There's not really any resolution to events, although I see here that she wrote three more books about her life.
I loved her respect for a changing lifestyle and the kind people who were her neighbors - time after time people just showed up and in a neighborly way helped them with the crop or animal problem of the day. The community was depicted with real love.
To the modern reader it's kind of ironic how she is sad about the old hill crofts going empty, because it seemed a disrespect to the people who had worked so hard to clear them and eke a living out of them after the tragedy of the land clearances. My point of view was more along the lines of, "Reforestation sounds great! That land was never really suited to be farmland anyhow."
I got this on a lovely trip to Scotland 6 years ago and it was lovely to bring back memories of that trip and bookshop. Although maybe I shouldn't hoard books so long...
I enjoyed it, and read it quickly, but wanted to know so much more than how much money the pigs brought for their sale or the mishaps with the potato planting. But that's mostly what we got, along with a lot of how glorious it was to raise their child to be one with nature. Fair.
Also it was a bit tough to read after the first year or two where everything went pretty well; when things started going not so well they didn't have the reserves to survive unless her husband went and worked in town and the author stayed alone on the croft with her daughter to look after things. This was told frankly but more more quickly, probably because it was quite hard.
There's not really any resolution to events, although I see here that she wrote three more books about her life.
I loved her respect for a changing lifestyle and the kind people who were her neighbors - time after time people just showed up and in a neighborly way helped them with the crop or animal problem of the day. The community was depicted with real love.
To the modern reader it's kind of ironic how she is sad about the old hill crofts going empty, because it seemed a disrespect to the people who had worked so hard to clear them and eke a living out of them after the tragedy of the land clearances. My point of view was more along the lines of, "Reforestation sounds great! That land was never really suited to be farmland anyhow."
I got this on a lovely trip to Scotland 6 years ago and it was lovely to bring back memories of that trip and bookshop. Although maybe I shouldn't hoard books so long...
May 14, 2025
I bought this book on the Isle of Skye's bookstore near the harbor after having a group tour from a modern crofter. I wanted to learn more about nature in Scotland and the life of crofting. This is a delightful read and I tore through it.
It is however a product of its time (1960) and so seems dated in how it deals with relations between the sexes and of course other elements of life that have changed for the better since that time. On the other hand, it shows clearly about the communal life that is also a product of its time. (I am a city girl and may not know enough about contemporary country life.) The only other place where I have found such a clear description of communal life are contemporary books about living in Nigeria about 30 years before the publication date. For that, it is very valuable and can be life changing.
Her descriptions of the natural world, while lacking some of the understanding of ecosystems of our present day, are gorgeous and moving.
I found it sort of an affront and then insightful at how far superior Katharine felt her country life was -- and then how very quickly they had to retreat from it: first, her husband took a job away from the croft, then they had to sell almost all their animals due to market conditions. In the end, they were not able to prove that croft living was something you could do without an outside job. And in fact, although she does not get into the history, that is exactly how the crofts were planned and set up originally by the wealthy landowners, to drive folks to take up other necessary jobs at the time.
Overall, this book added richly to my experience of traveling in Scotland and understanding of the experience of enjoying its gorgeous scenery and plant life.
It is however a product of its time (1960) and so seems dated in how it deals with relations between the sexes and of course other elements of life that have changed for the better since that time. On the other hand, it shows clearly about the communal life that is also a product of its time. (I am a city girl and may not know enough about contemporary country life.) The only other place where I have found such a clear description of communal life are contemporary books about living in Nigeria about 30 years before the publication date. For that, it is very valuable and can be life changing.
Her descriptions of the natural world, while lacking some of the understanding of ecosystems of our present day, are gorgeous and moving.
I found it sort of an affront and then insightful at how far superior Katharine felt her country life was -- and then how very quickly they had to retreat from it: first, her husband took a job away from the croft, then they had to sell almost all their animals due to market conditions. In the end, they were not able to prove that croft living was something you could do without an outside job. And in fact, although she does not get into the history, that is exactly how the crofts were planned and set up originally by the wealthy landowners, to drive folks to take up other necessary jobs at the time.
Overall, this book added richly to my experience of traveling in Scotland and understanding of the experience of enjoying its gorgeous scenery and plant life.
November 26, 2023
Fairly short easy read about the author, husband & child having a calling, an emotional pull to move from their busy unsatisfactory city lives to the Scottish Highlands, ending up in the remote area of Abriachan, west of Inverness.
So very tough times in an old stone croft, 1000ft above sea level, nestled into rock & hill top and witness to all weathers.
With limited finances they thoroughly enjoy settling in, camaraderie & friendship with the neighbours as they go about developing their croft with pigs, sheep, cattle, goats, chickens, Charlie the old horse, crops of corn, turnips, potatoes… living their dream… Mostly all their plans come to fruition, everything works out well, weather generally good for planting & harvesting… all going well…… until market values drop causing financial hardship..
Major changes are made to improve the financial capability of the croft…croft management diversifying into ways allowing the Stewarts to continue their dream, change of crop, writing articles & eventually this book, & hosting families becoming an income as they try to remain croft dwellers. A harsh time where community neighbourliness & spirit instil natures way of living with life revolving around the turn of the weather….a time of the past.
An enjoyable read of nearly a century ago…
So very tough times in an old stone croft, 1000ft above sea level, nestled into rock & hill top and witness to all weathers.
With limited finances they thoroughly enjoy settling in, camaraderie & friendship with the neighbours as they go about developing their croft with pigs, sheep, cattle, goats, chickens, Charlie the old horse, crops of corn, turnips, potatoes… living their dream… Mostly all their plans come to fruition, everything works out well, weather generally good for planting & harvesting… all going well…… until market values drop causing financial hardship..
Major changes are made to improve the financial capability of the croft…croft management diversifying into ways allowing the Stewarts to continue their dream, change of crop, writing articles & eventually this book, & hosting families becoming an income as they try to remain croft dwellers. A harsh time where community neighbourliness & spirit instil natures way of living with life revolving around the turn of the weather….a time of the past.
An enjoyable read of nearly a century ago…
June 9, 2020
The writer is clearly passionate and there is beauty because of it. At the same time, this book is somewhat tiresome.
To be clear: I could read her narrative of a day in the life, and the next day, and the next. It is her continual exposition on the moral merits of croft living... and thus the aspersions cast on the other ways of being that truly grates. Once I could tolerate but the repeat extolling of one and vilification of the other is not of particular interest and lends a pall to the overall experience, which is otherwise enjoyable. I have lived in a city, and I have lived on a farm where I carried buckets of water for the washing up and picked rocks, among other things, until my feet were leather and my skin lobster red. I do not understand the plinth she is attempting to build.
The lack of resolution at the end was an interesting choice, as the prior recountings of the years had seemed to be building to something. Perhaps the climax was intended to be the sermon, but I found it... uninspiring.
To be clear: I could read her narrative of a day in the life, and the next day, and the next. It is her continual exposition on the moral merits of croft living... and thus the aspersions cast on the other ways of being that truly grates. Once I could tolerate but the repeat extolling of one and vilification of the other is not of particular interest and lends a pall to the overall experience, which is otherwise enjoyable. I have lived in a city, and I have lived on a farm where I carried buckets of water for the washing up and picked rocks, among other things, until my feet were leather and my skin lobster red. I do not understand the plinth she is attempting to build.
The lack of resolution at the end was an interesting choice, as the prior recountings of the years had seemed to be building to something. Perhaps the climax was intended to be the sermon, but I found it... uninspiring.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2021
A beautifully written but realistic description of crofting life in the mid 20th century. My copy is the Mercat Press edition, which also benefits from delightful illustrations by Ann Shortreed.
The author maintains a good balance between describing the harsh realities of life on a small hill farm, while also emphasizing the joy and satisfaction that comes from living simply and in tune with the seasons.
I knocked one star off for two reasons: Firstly, she often introduces characters with little or no explanation, so I ended up leafing back through the pages to try to find out who they were, which was mildly annoying. Secondly, I found the continued criticism of those who enjoy town life, watching television etc grated a little. At one point, she describes staying up late, just staring into the fire...and yet she criticizes those who waste their evenings watching television, because it's not a good use of time! But apart from these minor quibbles, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
The author maintains a good balance between describing the harsh realities of life on a small hill farm, while also emphasizing the joy and satisfaction that comes from living simply and in tune with the seasons.
I knocked one star off for two reasons: Firstly, she often introduces characters with little or no explanation, so I ended up leafing back through the pages to try to find out who they were, which was mildly annoying. Secondly, I found the continued criticism of those who enjoy town life, watching television etc grated a little. At one point, she describes staying up late, just staring into the fire...and yet she criticizes those who waste their evenings watching television, because it's not a good use of time! But apart from these minor quibbles, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
September 27, 2024
An exceptional account of a family in the 50's, leaving city life behind to renovate, live and work in a hillside croft high above Loch Ness.
Written from the various journals she wrote, Stewart seems to create a portal into her life as she, her daughter and husband Jim became crofters, working the land and livestock and becoming part of a dying community of farmers and craftsmen.
It's great stuff, if a little disjointed, but paints a beautiful picture of her quest to leave the hustle of towns behind for the serenity of the land.
As the account continues over many years, you witness firsthand how technology slowly seems into their lives. And how the characters of their lives move away or die.
This is a truly beautiful book. It felt as if I had been peering through a pair of virtual net curtains to witness her life. Luckily I was up in the Cairngorms, not far from Loch Ness when reading this. Her love of this part of the Highlands and how she depicts it is spot on.
Wonderful stuff.
Written from the various journals she wrote, Stewart seems to create a portal into her life as she, her daughter and husband Jim became crofters, working the land and livestock and becoming part of a dying community of farmers and craftsmen.
It's great stuff, if a little disjointed, but paints a beautiful picture of her quest to leave the hustle of towns behind for the serenity of the land.
As the account continues over many years, you witness firsthand how technology slowly seems into their lives. And how the characters of their lives move away or die.
This is a truly beautiful book. It felt as if I had been peering through a pair of virtual net curtains to witness her life. Luckily I was up in the Cairngorms, not far from Loch Ness when reading this. Her love of this part of the Highlands and how she depicts it is spot on.
Wonderful stuff.
April 7, 2021
Around 1960, Scottish city slickers Katherine and Jim Stewart, along with their young daughter, felt the urge to leave urban life behind and get more in touch with the earth and a simpler life. To that end, they set upon renting a small pastureland in the hills of Scotland (a Croft) and began their lives as farmers (crofters). This book is Katherine’s memoir of that time. This is not a character driven novel, but more of a diary of their daily lives, celebrations, and travails. Knowing nothing about animal husbandry or planting they had a stiff curve of learning. No running water, no electricity... things were pretty darn difficult and brought them quickly to a new sense of priorities and what is truly important in life. This book is considered a Highland classic and valuable for an intensely detailed look at an all but gone way of life.
April 14, 2019
I loved this book! Charming, incredibly well written especially for the descriptive passages about the environment, the neighbours, and the daily farm habits, this book would have been a very helpful primer for anyone interested in this livelihood around the time of the first printing (1960). As my knowledge of technological progress in this locale at present is very limited, I can only imagine the book holds some beautiful memories for those still making a living in the area, or remembering it from their childhood. As only an observer, it is charming and I can understand the author’s keenness to raise her daughter on the croft. It was bittersweet to read of her husband resting in these surroundings. I look forward to reading Katharine Stewart’s other books about the area.
August 7, 2021
I really enjoyed this lovely book and admired Mrs. Stewart and her family for their hard work and positive attitude. I am sorry that the other books she wrote are so inaccessible but I will keep trying to find them.
Maybe sometimes her opinion gets a bit too anti-city. She refers to her child being "brought up out of the reach of the multifarious distractions of town life." Although she is pretty honest about the fiinancial problems they faced which sent her husband to temporary work in Inverness and her to writing about it for cash to keep staying on their croft. So we all benefitted from her writing!
An epilogue tells that her daughter also bought a farm 20 years later. That is a tribute to their way of life!
Maybe sometimes her opinion gets a bit too anti-city. She refers to her child being "brought up out of the reach of the multifarious distractions of town life." Although she is pretty honest about the fiinancial problems they faced which sent her husband to temporary work in Inverness and her to writing about it for cash to keep staying on their croft. So we all benefitted from her writing!
An epilogue tells that her daughter also bought a farm 20 years later. That is a tribute to their way of life!
December 30, 2021
This is a memoir of a few years in the life of a family in Scotland. For the most part, it's an interesting look on living in a croft near Loch Ness and how this family loved the land and the way they made their life there. The issue I had, that made me rate it a three instead of a four, was the "preachy" tone the author had that made it sound like everyone who decided to live in the city were rather pathetic creatures and that the children there would all grow up to be hoodlums...or at least rather worthless. That happened a few times throughout the book and those times were rather annoying.
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