The Secret History of Here

May 17, 2021
Historian Moffat (The Hidden Ways) offers a charming, vivid collection of journal entries that capture the day-to-day life and history of his family farm in Scotland. “Every place has its history, its secrets,” he writes, and the secrets of the land’s past come out in Moffat’s month-by-month diary entries. In January, blackbirds eat fermented apples, while March sees Moffat describing the “warming spring ground,” and November brings extreme weather exacerbated by climate change. Along the way, the author brings surprising stories to light, as when he recalls the construction of a wall around 1109 CE, “a vast, sprawling project that could not have failed to touch the lives of the people of our little valley.” Above all, Moffat’s work is a lyrical rumination on time and nature: “Instead of looking at my wrist to discover the time of day... it occurred to me that I should look up at the sky, sense the shift of the weather, the seasons, and glory in the day.” This deeply observed chronicle enchants. Agent: David Godwin, David Godwin Assoc.

June 1, 2021
Moffat may not be a household name on this side of the Atlantic, but in his native Scotland he is a well-known author of numerous books. In this meditative work he writes with great love of his life in the Henhouse, his family farm located in the Scottish Borders. Dogs feature prominently in his story. He and his Westie, Maidie, who is named in honor of Sir Walter Scott's loyal dog, Maida, walk in all kinds of weather throughout the seasons as he faithfully keeps daily "a diary of discovery" observing the land and its human and nonhuman inhabitants. Moffat is a wonderful writer and companion, wry, thoughtful, empathetic. He writes about the natural world, history, mortality, geography, language, archaeology, the weather, local customs (Common Riding Day), place names, and the kindness of small communities. Diary entries range from one sentence to wonderfully long stretches of pages. The sentences are both sturdy and lyrical: ""For millennia we have looked upwards." For admirers of Robert Macfarlane and anyone who appreciates nature, Scotland, and, of course, dogs.

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