The river hobbler had a unique life. Falling through the cracks of society, he paid no taxes and worked at whatever was available on and around the river, so in a year he would mix catching salmon or elvers with rabbiting, cleaning barrels and castrating piglets. Each season brought its hazards ranging from trench foot, lost fingers, pneumonia or tuberculosis, coupled with the occasional drowning! Alan Butt learned the trade at the end of its days. This is a dual story, seamlessly blending his memories of the time he spent as a youth working as an apprentice and falling in love with a milkmaid, and that of the river hobblers themselves and their memories and tales of toiling in earlier days, amid the hardships and constantly changing nature of work that was their lot. Written in a lively and humorous style, with a love story running throughout, this captivating book recreates a hard way of life now long forgotten.