On the Haggs
It's almost taboo to think of cutting peat for the fire, but some old traditions are too valuable to ignore.
Patrick Laurie
A hill farmer and writer from the noble Galloway town of Dalbeattie, my 2020 book Native was a Times bestseller and was shortlisted for the Saltire Prize and the Wainwright Prize for UK Nature…
Shooting a Cayman
Has conservation become too fond of saints? In the second of two Scribehound reflections on Attenborough's centenary, Patrick Laurie asks 'do we still have what it takes to produce his successor?'
Nature Places
Have love for nature - will travel... it's now a sixty mile drive to see the nearest blackcock - and has it really come to this?
On The Road
A road runs through the heart of my farm - it's a space which nobody seems to feel responsible for, and it's always getting faster...
Black to Bluegrey
It's hard to shift direction in farming - but buying a new Whitebred Shorthorn bull for my Galloway cows is a lesson is a whole new world...
Into the Ring
Rural people often feel like they're being pushed around by lazy prejudice - a trip to the bullring in Bilbao is a reminder to look harder and make up your own mind...
A Wodwo for the Mountains
The story of a wild man cursed by God and cast into the Galloway Hills offers a good opportunity to explore an abundance of hairy, naked men in folklore and beyond.
The Beltie That Broke the Rules... and my spirit
Things go wrong in farming... it's a fact of life. But sometimes problems strike right at the root of who we are as farmers, and maybe it's time we
Wildlife Myths We Want to Believe: Pheasant vs. Curlew
Confronting a surprising reality of commercial game shooting, are we ready for several rival ideas to be valid at the same time? It turns out the truth is sometimes a moving target, from the hills of Galloway to beautiful oak woods of North Wales
Wild Masks and Ancient Mischief in Portugal's Borderlands
The region of Tràs-os-Montes is rich with folklore and festivities - but at a time of great change for rural places across Europe, is it possible to draw tourists in to experience old traditions without changing or damaging them?
From Gut-Rot to Glory: My Wild Cider Awakening
A technicolour introduction to apple-based alcohol has grown into a quest to discover the perfect pint, from Galloway to Galicia. Here's the best of what I've learned... so far!
Farewell to the Ferrets - the end of a love-affair
We understand that rabbits are declining, but the knock-on implications for a mad-keen ferreting enthusiast spell the end of an era, just as the next generation develops an appetite for learning about nature.