From Dartmoor to Shetland
Published September 2026 Birlinn, Edinburgh
A lifelong naturalist, Polly is also a former sheep farmer and has kept sheep all her life. Her passion for them and the culture that surrounds them began with the arrival of her first pet lamb, Lulu. In the Company of Sheep, blends personal stories, abundant humour and close observation with interviews and conversations drawn from farms, markets, sales, shows, time spent gathering, dipping, and clipping. There are days spent with crofters and shepherds in the hills, and on many of Scotland’s remote islands – this is so much more than a job, it’s a vital way of life.
The author has a particular fascination for primitive and rare breeds, and the hill sheep perfectly suited to each region of the UK. The book explores animals that are part of our living heritage and landscapes formed through long relationships between people, sheep and place. It does not shy away from the issues and pressures facing hill farming, but questions easy answers that overlook ecological complexity, as well as predation issues, cultural continuity and lived experience.
Thoughtful, wry and full of adventure, and her trademark humour, In the Company of Sheep invites readers to look again at sheep, at farming, and at the importance of the working landscapes of Britain from Dartmoor to Shetland.
