Scotland has been fortunate to have written accounts of intrepid early travellers such as Martin Martin, Edward Burt and John Lane Buchanan, and extracts from their writing are found alongside modern interviews made by Margaret Bennett and researchers from the School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University. This expanded edition includes a large amount of new material. The result is a detailed and comprehensive picture of social behaviour in Scotland over the last 400 years.

The book is divided into three sections, each covering a stage in the cycle of life: Childbirth and infancy, Love, courtship and marriage, Death. The first edition was originally published by Polygon and was joint runner-up of the 1993 Katharine Briggs Folklore Award.

Margaret Bennett was born on the island of Skye. She is well known as a singer but has also published widely in the field of Scottish studies, especially on folkore. She previously taught in the School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University and currently teaches at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. She lectures widely in the UK and North America. Margaret's singing can be hear on CDs Glen Lyon and In the Sunny Long Ago