[Sca-cooks] Scottish cuisine (and now, blood dishes)
Gretchen Beck
grm at andrew.cmu.edu
Thu Nov 27 20:51:03 PST 2008
On Thu, 27 Nov 2008, Stefan li Rous wrote:
> Why do you say wine for Scotland? You can't grow grapes there, so it would
> have to have been imported, particularly during the later Middle Ages. Do we
> have any idea how common it was to drink wine in Scotland?
FWIW, in the 16th C, wine is fairly common. A couple of things to note. In
his Chronicle of Scotland (this is from the 16th C Scots
Bellenden translation of the original Latin), Boece notes "richt hardy and
reddy to all jeoperdyis bai9th in weir and peace, iin sich maner that na
thing may be difficill to thaim, gif they leiffit temperatelie. Therefore
the provident Beginnar of the warld hes nocht but gret resoun maid thair
region nakit and bair of winis, knawing be his eterne wisdome, that winis,
howbeit the samin ar richt necessat to all uthir peple, ar richt
skaithfull to the nature of Albianis, for thay ar given to sic unnaturall
voracite and desire of uncouth metis and drinkis, that they can nocht
refrene thaimself fra immodereat excess" (Right hardy and ready to all
jeopardies both in war and peace, in such manner that no thing may be
difficult to them, if they live temperatly. Therefore, the provident
Beginner of the world has not but great reason made their region naken and
bare of wines, knowing by his stern wisdom that wines, although the same
are right necessary to all other people, are right harmful to the nature
of Albans, for they are given to such unnatural voracity and desire of
uncouth meats and drinks, that they can not refrain themselves from
immoderate excess")
How excess, you may ask -- well, in Dundee alone in 1580, the shipping
records show imports of 200 tuns of wine from Bordeaux, 1 tun of wine
from Rochelle, and 40 tuns of wine from unspecified places. This is the
equivalent of 15536 gallons of wine, or some 64,000+ bottles of the size
Dundee is not the only port importing wine in Scotland, and the
population in the late 16th C is approximately 800,000, that's a fair
quantity of wine for a vine barren country.
toodles, margaret
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