Red Rag To A Bull

Author JamieBlackett arrives home from the Army to take over a small family estate on theSolway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway and finds a rapidly changing countryside.

In a humorous andoccasionally moving tale, he describes howhe grapples with the intricacies of farming, conservation and estate managementand tells the story of founding a pack of foxhounds and a herd of pedigree beefcattle. Part childhood memoir, part biopic of rural life, readers are transportedto a remote and beautiful part of Scotland and acquainted with its wildlife,its people and its customs. One minute he isunblocking his septic tank,and the next he is watching Glenn Close film a sex scene in his bedroom.

Set over the firsttwo decades of the 21st century, through theScottish independence referendum, Brexit and the hunting ban, the result is an enlightened review of the challengesthreatening a vulnerable way of lifeand an emergingrural philosophy about the directions Scotland, farming and the countrysidemight take in the brave new world of Brexit.