The Diary of Patrick Fea of Stove, Orkney, 1766-96 (Sources in Local History)

Agricultural improvements of a systematic kind did not come to Orkney until the 1840s, generally speaking, so Patrick Fea's diary provides a detailed day-to-day log of old-style, pre-improvement farming, and of the social life of Orkney folk. The book is a source of socio-economic history of Orkney and Scotland as well. Three major international conferences have been held on farmers' diaries, pinpointing how the little worlds of the diarist can intermesh with the greater outside world in an unselfconscious way that provides insights into time and place that have, as a result, increased validity.