A Scottish Farmer’s Ride Through England…100 Years Ago’

This is the story of a journey made by Andrew Blaikie, a 64-year old farmer from the Borders. His journal is contained in a small book printed in 1906, and the journey was made in 1802 hence the ‘100 Years Ago’ subtitle.

It appears to have been privately printed, and not published, since it does not appear in the catalogues of any of the UK and Ireland’s copyright libraries. The preface was written by Jeanie Lang Blaikie Lang, Andrew Blaikie’s great-granddaughter, who was herself a writer. The title page bears a handwritten inscription ‘With kind regards from Mrs W Lang Blaikie November 1906’ Jeanie Lang Blaikie Lang’s father was William Lang Blaikie, so this may have been written by her mother, Helen Brunton Blaikie.

Mrs Lang’s preface includes some stories and background information about Andrew Blaikie’s family.

The entire contents of the volume have been transcribed, and the day-by-day account of the journey is reproduced in a series of blog posts, starting with The journey begins: 1st April 1802.

A scan of the entire printed book can also be downloaded using the link below:

Scottish Farmers Ride complete scan