This is a delightfully rambling narrative of White's adventures in western Ireland. We follow White as he hunts and fishes in a vast untenanted estate and learn with fascination the delicate art of falconry. We accompany him in the cold black morning before dawn in search of barnacle geese.
Then there is an eerie experience with the Fairy Fire and the revelation of the Godstone, a minor deity which White hoped to prove was pagan in origin, but which turned out to be the pillow of a Christian hermit. And who will be able to forget Mr. James Montgomery-Marjoribanks, the man from Africa who toured the Irish fairs selling patent medicines and succeeded in helping two of White's rheumatic neighbors, much to everyone's relief.
There are legends told over turf fires, enhanced with the unique warmth of Irish whiskey, and unexpected random incidents all told spontaneously as they occur to White's lively mind.