In the late eighteenth century, the number of people living in rural areas decreased as farming methods intensified. By the 1850s, Scotland had Europe’s second lowest rural population (England had the lowest) as people moved to the towns. The end of the nineteenth century saw the rise of other rural-based industries, such as forestry. Meantime agriculture continued to see mechanisation and improvement.
It’s in this period, and from 1900 to the 1950s when old manual methods were giving way to early machinery, that is featured in the book, a time when the plough was still pulled by horses or oxen, reaping was sometimes done by hand with a scythe, and when traction engines powered threshing. Milking, butter-making, peat-cutting, lace-making, the Show, the village post office, spinning, crofting and more are included. |
