Ian R Mitchelllooks at the relationship between two Scottish icons, the national bard and the national dram.
Shortly after his death in 1796 Robert Burns emerged as the undisputed national bard of Scotland. The foundation of the first Burns Club took place in 1801. This was the Greenock Burns Club, later known as the Mither Club.
As such clubs spread, Burns’ Suppers soon became a national event (at least ...
Burns and Whisky
from Issue 68 published on 07/12/2007
Ian R Mitchell tells some tales of the Donside illicit whiskymakers.
Speyside whisky is world-renowned.
And everyone has heard of the Royal Lochnagar distillery on Deeside. But between these two major rivers of North East Scotland lies a more modest watercourse, the River Don. The Don no longer produces whisky, but it once did. The fertile reaches of Upper Donside (...
Whisky history
from Issue 65 published on 20/07/2007
Ian R Mitchelltells the story of the Highland Scots emigrants to New Zealand,who took with them their Gaelic language, their bagpipe music – and their illicit whisky skills.
Mary McRae sailed for New Zealand on the emigrant ship the “Hydaspes” in 1872. Recently widowed, she took with her her four sons and three daughters, and her memories of her 45 hard years in the Kintail district of the North-West Scottish Highlands, territory which was the MacRae heartland. She also...
Illicit whisky
from Issue 60 published on 10/11/2006
