As with his previous books - The Ring Net Fisherman and Kintyre: The Hidden Past - the material comes from both written and oral sources. The book presents a picture of the lives of country folk in Kintyre from the eighteenth century to the early twentieth. It includes accounts of sheep-stealing, New Year's Day shinty battles, and violent encounters between excisemen and the distillers and smugglers of illicit whisky. It is also about the everyday lives of the people; how they worked the land, kept their livestock, built and furnished their homes, prepared food and fuel and celebrated special days.

The reader is transported to the fields, farms, homes and markets of the area, which are evoked through a riot of sights, smells and sounds. The book is generously illustrated with photographs both collected and taken by the author. A vivid and tangible portrait of a forgotten way of life, Kintyre Country Life examines not only the agricultural techniques employed at the time, but also extends its scope to the more social elements of life such as the leisure activities of Kintyre farm workers and the games played by their children.