Spade Among the Rushes

Margaret Leigh

• Publisher: Birlinn
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9780857909756
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

The acclaimed author of Highland Homespun recounts her experiences as a croft farmer on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands during WWII. The West Highland peninsula of Moidart, in the isolated coastal region known as the Rough Bounds, is as magical as it is remote. It was here that the celebrated author Margaret Leigh chose to pursue an independent life as a crofting farmer in the 1940s. In Spade Among the Rushes, Leigh vividly recounts her struggles to snatch land back from the wilderness as she attempts to transform a deserted croft into a home. Although far from the Blitz of the Second World War, the effects of the conflict were felt throughout the Highlands. The rationing of food and vital materials, the battles with bureaucrats who had no understanding of a crofter's needs, and even the appearance of a Nazi mine off the coast, all frustrate Margaret Leigh's efforts. But despite the hardships, the land and the people of the Highlands gave her a contentment she had never known before. This edition has a new Introduction by Katie Maclean, who knew Margaret Leigh during her time in Moidart.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• A Map of Smirisary
• 1 I find Smirisary
• 2 I Became a Crofter in Smirisary
• 3 I Settle In
• 4 Fire, Water and Bread
• 5 Byre and Barn
• 6 The Garden and the Blaran Boidheach
• 7 The Lon and the Blar Eorna
• 8 Winter Nights
• 9 Spring Work
• 10 Blossom
• 11 Lovely May
• 12 Cows
• 13 Amenities
• 14 Fences and Drains
• 15 The “Star of Smirisary”
• 16 Birth and Death
• 17 The Land Court Visits Smirisary
• 18 Haymaking
• 19 The Great August Drought
• 20 Autumn Days
• 21 The Highland Problem
• 22 The Amateur Crofter
• 23 Conclusion
• Picture Section