The young Rab, under the often crabbit watch of his grannie and his indulgent grandfaither, goes on adventures as he fishes for mennans, handles the responsibility for pumping the kirk organ on the Sabbath and helps his cousins earn pennies for the sweetie shop. As well as the charming but realistic accounts of his grandparents' farming life, these stories present a captivating relationship between the boy and the natural world in which he experiences the joys and trials of growing up.

'This must rank [among] the finest prose-poetry of Scottish childhood that we have.' DOUGLAS GIFFORD'It is possible to find light and depth in each of these stories, yet their common engine is neither plot nor character, but McLellan's use of language. It is hard not to agree with J.K Annand's final assessment that Robert McLellan is "the greatest writer of Scots prose in the twentieth century".' BOOKS IN SCOTLAND

Robert McLellan was born on the 28 January 1907 at Linmill, his grandparents' farm in Kirkfieldband, Lanarkshire. He is best known for his plays for the stage, including the seminal Jamie the Saxt, The Flouers o Edinburgh, Torwatletie, The Carlin Moth and Young Auchinleck. Robert McLellan was made honorary president of The Scottish Society of Playwrights and awarded the OBE in 1977. He died in 1985.