In this, George Mackay Brown's first collection of short stories, the themes he would develop over his career are set out - an obsession with his home Orkney, its dark and violent Viking past, the cycle of the seasons, and the struggle of its inhabitants. The characters of these stories - the fishermen, the crofters, the farmers and the wild tinkers – are all struggling to live their lives and find their identities in a harsh habitat and a cruel age. The stories in this collection share the same melancholy tone and sense of the ceaseless renewal made possible by the natural cycle.