Scottish Food History

Historical period

Neolithic Skara Brae, with its preserved settlement and food debris; Pictish and Gaelic agriculture; NORSE Orkney, Shetland and the Hebrides, Norwegian until 1468-69; the medieval burghs and the AULD ALLIANCE with France, which brought terms and techniques; the Reformation; the 1707 Union; the JACOBITE risings and their aftermath; the CLEARANCES and the crofting legislation of 1886; the potato and the HIGHLAND POTATO FAMINE of the 1840s, less lethal than Ireland’s but severe and a major driver of emigration; the herring boom and bust; Glasgow, Dundee jute and marmalade, and industrial poverty; rationing; and the modern produce, whisky and restaurant revival.