Kinross-shire: A Century of Stories

The book describes a golden time in Scotland before many of the twentieth-century changes had taken full effect. It is based on the recollections of over thirty inhabitants of Kinross-shire: from the farmer who oversaw the introduction of tractors to the widow and daughter of a shepherd; from the motherless girl boarded out whilst her father served in the Great War to the daughter of a lawyer; from the local boy who made good abroad to the apprentice butcher who owned his own shops; from the local laird to the coal miner travelling to Kelty to work the early shift. There are chapters on life in Kinross, Milnathort and the countryside before centralisation; shops before supermarkets; medicine before the health service; work and play when it was mostly locally based; and education when tables were still chanted and the 'strap' held sway. Interspersed with these reminiscences are excerpts from the Kinross-shire Advertiser, affectionately known as the 'two minutes silence'. The book should be of interest to present and former inhabitants of Kinross-shire and also others interested in the lost lifestyle portrayed, which reflects that of many small towns and rural areas of Scotland.