It's 1943 and the curse of rationing has visited the remote Hebridean islands of Little Todday and Great Todday to the extent that the thirsty islanders have all but run out of uisge beatha - the water of life. And it’s not just the whisky drought that's causing problems, either. Good Catholic girl Peggy Macroon has fallen for one of the soldiers stationed on the islands: Sergeant Odd, who’s not just English, but Protestant to boot! Catriona MacLeod is having trouble prising meek schoolmaster George Campbell away from his Wee Free dragon of a mother. And the dragon herself seems too much in sympathy with the army authorities for some people's liking… When a cargo ship, the SS Cabinet Minister, runs aground with fifty thousand cases of whisky aboard, the islanders rush to take advantage of the unexpected bounty. But then the officious Captain Waggett, the English officer commanding the Home Guard (who sees his main duty is to control the islanders in a style reminiscent of Captain Mainwaring), learns of the illicit salvage operation – and is ordered to confiscate the liquor! The islanders are lead by the Catholic Joseph Macroon, who owns the local shop and post office, but who would like to have his fingers in even more pies. His foil is the Protestant Roderick Macrurie who owns the Snorvig Hotel and has to implement rations all round as the alcohol slowly dries up. Father McAllister, the Catholic priest, tries his best to keep the peace, but his own liking for a wee tipple sometimes knocks him off his stride. Characters such as Willie Munro, the only Protestant on Little Todday, Jockey Stewart along with his long suffering wife, Bean, and the poet Duncan Macroon ensure colour and adventure as they bring various escapades to life from the original text.