I spotted Patrick Laurie this morning, just outside Dumfries at Loch Arthur farm shop and cafe. Having never previously seen him in person, I paused for a moment wondering had I got the right man, but where others were enjoying their coffee and cake in the cafeteria, warmed by a wood burning stove, he was  sitting  outside in the  gathering cold and wind of the first winter storm, wearing wellies, and I guessed it could be none other.  I introduced myself to tell him how much I had enjoyed his book Native: Life in a Vanishing Landscape. He seemed surprised to be recognised by a complete stranger, perhaps an indication that he is not yet a celebrity in his own backyard, to rank alongside his fellow author from just over the border, James Rebanks.  I expect he prefers it that way. 

Rebanks has said of Native:  ‘Patrick Laurie is a wonderful writer. He has written a hymn of love to his native land‘ The book is not just an important comment on changed farming methods and the way these have altered our landscape; it is a beautifully written and lyrical record of  his efforts to develop a farming practice which may restore some of what has been lost and to establish sustainable agricultural production for the future, which works with rather than against nature.  

The launch of his book unfortunately coincided with the first stirrings of the pandemic, and so efforts to promote it must have been seriously curtailed. I am sure that many  people in Dumfries and Galloway have indeed read Native: it was, after all, Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month for March 2021 and shortlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing  in 2020: but if you have not yet  come across it, you are missing out. He has a blog by the way in which both his writing skills and interests in farming and the natural environment feature. A treat for anyone who enjoys reading about Dumfries and Galloway. https://gallowayfarm.wordpress.com/about/ 

Review: Native: Life in a Vanishing Landscape https://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/arts_ents/18358083.book-review-native-life-vanishing-landscape-patrick-laurie/