An interest in rural life and culture has long been a feature of ethnology in Scotland. This multi-author volume explores a variety of topics on the broad theme of farming and the land. The 43 chapters are divided into ten thematic sections: the environmental setting; settlement, society and landscape; crops and livestock; buildings; the workforce; types of land use; tools, techniques and processes; industry, engineering, communications and trade; writing, museums, education and research; and culture and community. Some chapters look at developments within broad ethnological eras, while others focus on particular aspects of a theme. The geographical and chronological coverage of the volume is wide, from the Northern Isles to the South-West, the eastern Lowlands to the western Highlands, and across the centuries from the medieval period to the twenty-first century.