George Buist, a tenant farmer from Fife, typified the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit in Scottish farming in mid-18th century. By setting aside a farm for the bleaching of linen he, like many others in lowland Scotland made a contribution that would see linen become the country's most important industry until it was eclipsed by cotton in the later years of the century. He also lived through the height of the Scottish Enlightenment when new science was being brought to bear on Scottish agriculture. His sons Henry, George, James and Thomas were equally industrious in their own chosen pursuits. This then is their story.