About the Author

Professor Emeritus Alexander Fenton, CBE, son of an Aberdeenshire shoemaker and crofter, is the author of many books and articles on Scottish country life. He has served as Senior Assistant Editor of the Scottish National Dictionary, and has been Director of the National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland, of the School of Scottish Studies of the University of Edinburgh, and of the European Ethnological Research Centre, for which he is now a consultant.