Walking with Cattle: A writer’s journey in search of the last drovers of Uist

Terry J. Williams

Stop press! Terry William’s book in longlist for Book Prize: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-42663987

Terry J. Williams grew up on a Westmorland farm, studied French at Bangor University in Wales and came to Scotland in 1977. Subsequent moves took her from the Borders to West Perthshire, where she worked as a tutor in Publishing Studies at Stirling University. She then spent ten years in a crofting community on the Isle of Skye and became a full-time writer and photographer. That work eventually brought her east to the Black Isle, where she has settled near Rosemarkie. Terry has written and illustrated feature articles for several magazines, including the Scots Magazine over many years and the North American quarterly, Scottish Life, with whom she continues to work as a regular contributor. Her first book, Ten Out Of Ten, was published in 2010 to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Sgoil Chiùil na Gàidhealtachd (the National Centre of Excellence in Traditional Music) in Plockton.

Walking With Cattle is the title of her second full-length work and this talk. Terry will read extracts and touch on the general history of droving in the Highlands and quote from her interviews with the few remaining individuals who remember the days of walking with cattle in the Uists and Benbecula. She will share highlights of her research, including one or two adventures that didn’t make it into the book!

Cromarty History Society meets in the West Church Hall, Cromarty at 7.30pm on the the third Thursday of each month, September - April