Something amazing happened and a new book was born as a link from the past, Victorian society to the 21st century word of literature.
I am talking about a book “The Uncommon Herd” , which is an edited unique manuscript written in the 19th century, giving a rare insight into Victorian Scotland.
This is a real life story of a man who was born in a poor family but develops his career to eventually become a priest.
It was said of the Keira Knightley film of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice that you could smell the farm yard in which lived Lizzie and the other Bennets.
William Presslie’s The Uncommon Herd ” also brings to life the sights and smells surrounding the mid 19th Century rural poor of Aberdeenshire, Scotland . It is difficult to judge which was harder, the day to day unremarked cruelty of schooling or the unrelenting demands of labour on farms, in all weathers and all seasons. William’s story is true history populated by remarkable characters from Wellington’s disabled soldier, become schoolteacher, to the beautiful Belle and her successful elopement with the unknown lover.
We learn how farm servants entertained themselves, in those days long before Radio and TV, with stories, songs, poetry and occasional dancing to the fiddle. Despite his hugely disrupted education it becomes clear that William’s future lies in the pursuits of the intellect rather than the physical. Having built a reputation for intelligence, reliability and perseverance, a previous employer recommends William for the position of man-servant to John Gordon of Cairnbulg in the House of Leask. Everything falls into place.
Upstairs, Downstairs or connected to the House of Leask are various characters who through William’s prose again engage, amuse or even outrage, our sensibilities. William himself embarks on an upwardly mobile learning curve, which will lead him from the Croft, eventually to the Manse, via his own Schoolroom, all achieved with dedication and some help from the influential Gordons.
Good news – this book is in our shop and you can acquire it now!
