“Till buttered so’ns (sowens) wi fragrant lunt (lunt – steam) Set a’ their gabs a-steerin (steerin – mouths watering) Syne wi’ a social glass o’strunt (strunt-Liquor) They parted off Careerin’ Fu’ blythe that night” – Burns : Halloween Ah what better way than to start a post with Rabbie Burns! Here he is mentioning the rather famous (yet now somewhat forgotten) dish of Sowans ( pronounced Soo-an and written as so’ns in the poem). Sowans were once part of the Scottish traditional diet and not many households would have been without their Sowan-Bowie. More on this in a moment. But first …
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The ancestral scottish diet is not all haggis, neeps and tatties! Scotland is famous for its food. However, it’s famous for its food for the wrong reasons. Scotland is renowned for its food being deep-fried, covered in fat and having very little green or nutritional value. Scotland is also famous for its whisky along with a reputation for alcoholism, over drinking and bawdy times. Yes ,it’s true, Scottish people like to celebrate and have a love for unhealthy eating but it wasn’t and isn’t always this way. The Gaelic proverb says, “Lean gu dlùth ri cliù do shinnsre,” — “Follow closely to …
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Before modern nut and seed oils – expressed by expensive machinery, chemically fractured plant products or petroleum-based products imported into the UK – our ancestors used animals fats rendering tallow from cow and deer tallow and pig lard – to create medicines with plants. When our ancestors hunted for food they did so in an respectful way to both spirit and body. Using ceremony and ritual and prayer to appeal to the spirit of the hunt and forest to pass them a sick and weak animal. This “ritual” would also have passed on information to the hunters, through performance and …
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The struggles and revelations of Scotland’s people are stamped into the landscape, like wrinkles on the palms of old lady history some say put there by the Cailleach herself. Some experiences deep ravines. Other lines the soft touch of poetry skimming the surface like scree. With such deep history surrounding us it can’t help but inspire thoughts about the riddles of these places. Secrets coded in name and metaphor. Dark brooding and inspirational names captured in Gaelic given to desolate munro, shadowy river and unfathomable loch. Names such as Bod an Deamhain – the devil’s penis (point), Dùn dá Gaoithe …
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Ah, the joy of another birthday. This one is a significant milestone. It comes with thoughts on mortality, “time is running out”, the brain says, “there is plenty more time” the heart says, “maybe do more exercise” the body says. ( I wont tell you what my family says). Ageing changes you. It does, but in a good way. I find myself doing things like leaving the oven open once I’ve finished cooking to heat your house “a wee bit more”, I now search for pubs with nice lighting and comfy seats to spend my evenings in, I have a …
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The mist the dew, the dew the mist The mist, the dew, in the eye of my love In the eye of my love, Thou who didst open the young eye Close it tonight in the sleep of death In the sleep of death – the road to the isles 1927 This series explores our ancestors experience with the dead and folk magic. Veneration of the dead was born from encounters with the Neolithic landscape, dualism of Roman and later Christian thinking and smatterings of Norse fatalism and anglo-saxon pragmatism. All Scottish folk magic stems from this cultural intertwining. The role of the …