How did this thorny Thistle flower become the national emblem of Scotland?

Answer — That Scottish Thistle saved the lives of a whole army of Scots from being slaughtered while they slept.  What better reason could you have!

An unusual wildlife topic.

In introducing the section on wildlife of Scotland we could not resist producing a page on the thistle — the national emblem of Scotland setting out why this rather prickly tough looking plant should be honoured in such a way.

The thistle plant grows wild all over Scotland with some 200 variations in growing all over the northern hemisphere. (One variety in the USA — known appropriately as the "Tall Thistle" — grows to a height of ten foot. However most other varieties of the Thistle grow to a height of only one to three foot.)

Thistle plants are tough wildlife with virtually no grazing animals eating them due to the very sharp spines and needles. However some animals such as a donkey will nip off the flower heads and enjoy them without touching the sharp needles.

Why make the thistle a national Emblem?

According to legend in 1263 one army led by King Haakon of Norway slipped ashore at Largs during the night hoping to take the Scots by surprise whilst they were still asleep prior to a battle planned for the following day.

In order to be able to move more quietly towards the sleeping Scots the invaders removed their footwear. Unfortunately for them that night they met up with something else hiding in the darkness. One of the invaders stood on a thistle and cried out in pain as the thorns went deep into his bare feet.

The Scots having been awakened by the cries arose and were able to fight driving the invaders back into the North Sea.

To honour the thistle plant that had so decisively saved their lives the Scots adopted the Thistle as their national symbol. Some two hundred years later James III put the thistle on silver coins in 1470.

Click to discover also the Order of the Thistle an ancient title first awarded in 1540 by the Scottish King.

The Order of the Thistle (sometimes referred to as the Order of St. Andrew) is one of the most important regal order in Scotland.

The order was founded in 1540 by King James V anxious to set up his own religious order based in Scotland.

James had been honoured with the order of the Garter from his uncle King Henry VIII of England and with the Golden Fleece from the Emperor, and the order of St Michael from France, resolved to be in the royal mode, and so made the order of the Thistle for himself and twelve knights, in imitation of Christ and his twelve apostles. Then celebrating all the festivals of the orders, he set up the Order of the Thistle arms and badges over the gate of his palace at Linlithgow, joining St. Andrew with them.

The common badge (shown left) worn by the knights are, a cross surmounted by a star of four silver points, and over them a green circle bordered and lettered with gold, containing the motto; and in the centre is a thistle proper, the whole being embroidered on the left breast

The collar (shown below right ) is always worn with the other ensign, which is a green ribbon spread over the left shoulder, and brought under the right arm, pending to which is the image of St. Andrew within an oval of gold, enamelled green, with the same motto.

Immediately after King James V had established this order, he died (1542) which put an end to the design; for it being in the religious time of the reformation it was thought impious to make so free with Christ and his apostles; nor was it any more heard of till King James VII renewed it, by making eight knights on 6th of June 1687, from which time the beginning of this order is more truly to be dated.

The revolution intervening, no more knights were added till February 1703, when Queen Anne made the number twelve, according to the first plan, adding also some new rules to the Order.

King James VII appointed the knights to wear the image of St. Andrew upon a blue ribbon, which continued so till Queen Anne changed it for that of green, as it is now worn.

(Description taken  From the Peerage of Scotland, 1834 )

 

What is the process for producing Isle of Jura Whisky?

There are a number of different stages involved in the production of Scotch whisky in particular

a) Malting the barley

b) Milling and mashing the barley

c) Fermentation

d) Distillation

e) Maturation/aging whisky

f) Bottling

Each of them in turn affecting the overall taste and quality of the finished drink and each stage will be considered here separately. We will also be considering the taste of each of the whisky brands produced by the Isle of Jura distillery.

The main ingredients of Scotch Whisky is water and barley (the latter being malted prior to being delivered to the distillery). These two ingredients plus the special care given to the whole process influence the taste more than anything else.

The Isle of Jura Whisky Distillery does not malt its own whisky but buys it in to exact specifications from a malting plant. This leaves the malting process in the hands of malting specialists and allows the distillery managers to concentrate on what they are specialist at doing.

Malting is simply the process of steeping the barley in water until germination and small shoots start to appear. The enzymes produced during this stage converts the starch in the barley into sugars which can later ferment into alcohol. Germination is then stopped by heating in a malt kiln. Many Scotch whisky distilleries use a peat fire at this stage to add a peat flavour to the barley and consequently to the taste of the whisky produced from it.

Except for about three weeks a year when it is making its Superstition brand the Isle of Jura distillery does not use the heavy peated barley so producing much lighter tasting whisky. If you visit the Isle of Jura distillery on one its free tours (weekdays by appointment) you will be offered an opportunity to see the three different barleys used in the distillery.

Just as there is little peat in the barley used by the Isle of Jura distillery it also uses a very soft water throughout. This water is taken from a local spring named Bhaile Mhargaidh (literally spring of the market town) that has flowed down from the hillside over rock rather than peat and is hence clearer in colour and purer in taste. It is believed that this same spring water has been used in making illicit whisky since the sixteenth century.

 

If you were asked the question “what is the most famous Scottish tradition” the wearing of tartan might be one of the first answers you give.

Almost everyone when asked that question would think about the Scottish kilt and the associated tartans that now symbolise Scotland throughout the world. Yet in the majority of cases they would be wrong in thinking of it as traditional wear!

A close examination of history will show us that although the Scots have indeed worn the kilt and the tartan from earliest times, the current style now bears very little resemblance to the original design. Indeed most of the now “traditional” tartans worn by Scottish Clans and sold throughout the world as such can only be traced back to the middle of the 18th century.

Historical Tartan Wear.

However history clearly shows that the kilt and tartans have been the true dress of Scots people for as long as their history has been recorded. Indeed there is still a sample of a small piece of Scottish brown and white tartan which was originally used as a stopper for an earthenware pot. This contained a treasure trove of silver coins and was found close to a Roman wall near Falkirk. This tartan cloth appears to have been buried in the third century.

There are also other references to tartans in various historic documents and paintings.

For example, a charter granted to Hector Maclean of Duart in 1587 for land in the neighbouring Isle of Islay details a rental payable in 60 ells of white, black and green colours. This is very similar to the pattern now being worn as the current Maclean Hunting tartan.

Laird of Jura newsletter no.6 December 2005

Welcome to your Laird of Jura newsletter. In this December 2005 issue I will be covering the New Jura Care Centre, plans to improve tourism (so you have even more to see when you visit your Scottish Estate) and more about the island history.

Jura Care Centre

The construction of a new 6 unit progressive care centre has begun. This £1.8 million project will enable older people to remain on the island during a period of their life when their need for support increases. At the moment, the only place such people can go is on the neighbouring island of Islay. In addition to the centre, 2 affordable rented houses will be constructed on the site along with a roads and infrastructure package to allow the future construction of 4 further housing units. The care centre project has been in the pipeline for about 10 years and it is good to see all the directors’ hard work finally coming to fruition.

Tourism

There is now a new full colour leaflet about Jura including an accommodation insert aimed at promoting the island to potential visitors. If you would like a copy please drop me an email via www.isleofjuragifts.com and I will see what I can do. There are also plans for interpretation cairns to be set up throughout the island.

Jura History

An Carn The village is about 2 miles north of Lealt, at the north end of the island, on a bluff overlooking the sea. It can be reached by proceeding beyond ‘road end’ for about 1 mile until you reach the place that used to be called ‘Old Stables’. From here you can travel west to Glengarrisdale or east to An Carn which is about 1 mile from the road over tussocky grass which makes for difficult walking. The ruins of the buildings are clearly seen as the stone has not been taken to be used elsewhere as has happened in other deserted villages such as Barnhill. The distance from the road has saved the ruins of the 8 structures which made up the village. We know very little about this village. It does not appear on any of the census records so we can assume that the village was abandoned before the first census of 1841. It does, however, appear on some early maps. On Pont’s map of 1590 it appears as Karn and on later maps as Cairns. Associated with the village and across the stream to the south is the remains of a corn drying kiln - now in the edge of a forest plantation - and lazibeds show evidence of a fair amount of cultivation between the village and the stream. To the N E of the village there is a small bay which is one of the few places where a boat could be landed between Ardlussa and Kinuachdrach. At the head of this bay is a cave which was excavated by John Mercer and in which he found items of a late medieval date. These include a medieval arrow head and a pair of iron shears. Associated with the village on its western side are 9 separate groups of cup marks. This is the largest group of cup markings to be found on Jura so far. The reason for cup markings and their significance is not known.

Lairds View

Looking south from the Lairds View on a sunny summers day.

Isle of Jura Gifts

We now have some new lines including an Isle of Jura jigsaw. There is the possibility of having a Laird of Jura jigsaw made if there is enough interest. Please visit www.isleofjuragifts.com for a browse and email us if you are interested. It only remains for me to wish all you Lairds and Ladies a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. Slainthe David