Actress Anne Reid is keen to find out about her father's family, but only has a couple of clues to go on - the name of a house in Scotland and an old story that his ancestors were ministers in the church. This puts her on the trail of her great-great-grandfather John Reid in Fife, who turns out to have been a teacher and not a minister. However, he also had a less-honest sideline which takes the story in an altogether different direction.