Author Jamie Blackett arrives home from the Army to take over a small family estate on the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway,and finds a rapidly changing countryside. In a humorous and occasionally moving tale,he describes the return of the native to grapple with the intricacies of farming,conservation and estate management,telling the story of founding a pack of foxhounds and a herd of pedigree beef cattle.
Part childhood memoir,part biopic of rural life,readers are transported to a remote and beautiful part of Scotland and acquainted with its wildlife,its people and its customs. One minute he is unblocking his septic tank,and the next he is watching Glenn Close film a sex scene in his bedroom. The book follows in the tradition of countryside classics by John Lister-Kaye,James Herriot and James Rebanks.
Set over the first two decades of the twenty-first century,through the Scottish independence referendum,Brexit and the hunting ban,the result is an enlightened review of the challenges threatening a vulnerable way of life and an emerging philosophy about the directions Scotland,farming and the countryside might take in the brave new world of Brexit.
Publisher: Quiller Publishing LtdISBN: 9781846893902Weight: 214 gDimensions: 198 x 129 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Apropos reading,may I recommend two recent discoveries. The second is Red Rag to a Bull,by Jamie Blackett. Also beautifully written,there is no better one-volume guide to rural matters. Every politician should read it,as should anyone who cares about the countryside. It is a pleasure from first page to last.'- Bruce Anderson,The Spectator
'Jamie Blackett's new book is a bracing breath of Borders air. Not an angry caricature nor a blinkered polemic,Blackett has delivered something else entirely. And something rather valuable. Funny,well-considered and engagingly written,Blackett's book is one that encapsulates a moment in time.'- Alexandra Henton, The Field
'This book is a reflection,by turns poetic and gritty,on two decades of life at what Jamie Blackett calls'the silage-pit face'... he has to cope with the Scottish Government,unsafe trees and the implementation of the hunting ban. He's literally living the dream,given that dreams are generally odd,disconcerting and irrational,as well as,in recollection,at times very funny.'- Clive Aslet,Country Life
'What a brilliant,enlightening and amusing book,about the real countryside. It should be read by politicians,bureaucrats,ramblers,wildlife-lovers,townies,blow-ins and bumpkins like me. What a read!'- Robin Page
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