From the wilds of County Mayo in north-west Ireland to the oak-beamed tranquillity of Shakespeare's Middle England, 17 rural characters reminisce about country life. Their occupations include parish priest, village schoolmaster, country solicitor, farm labourer, hedge-layer, horseman, forester and gentleman farmer. They have all experienced more dramatic changes in rural life than any previous generation - born before any car or tractor passed their way, yet living to see man land on the moon. The author's previous books include Tales of the Old Gamekeepers and Tales of the Old Countrymen.