Publisher's Synopsis
The shieling captured the attention of eighteenth-century travellers and writers on agricultural improvement, and it is from these published documents that most of our information has been derived. But such accounts were often highly selective and heavily edited; the picture of Highland culture and life they paint is in many ways misleading. This important and original book offers a fresh perspective on the shieling based on estate papers and other unpublished sources. It places the shieling firmly within the wider agricultural framework of the Central Highlands, and examines its role in land improvement and the evolution of rural settlement patterns.
