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Heather

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 6 months ago
Heather – There are three types of heather that can be seen throughout the estate; Ling, Bell and Cross Leaved Heath. Heather was the basic raw material for domestic life, it has been used as fuel, fodder and building material where wood was in short supply and its springy stems have been bundled up into thatch and brooms and woven into ropes - heather's Latin name Calluna is derived from the Greek kalluna, meaning 'to brush'. In Lewis, a particular kind of hoe drawn by a person had heather to smooth the soil. Its roots were carved into knife handles, particularly for the ceremonial dirk. Scottish settlers took it to America with them, naturalising one of their national symbols thousands of miles beyond its natural range.
 
Heather holds a special place in the mythology of the Highlands; it is a brew of ancient legend, lost recipes and a recent revival. Enthusiasts believe it to have been first developed 4,000 years ago and have drinking vessels from an excavation of a Neolithic settlement on Rum. A crust on the inside of the cups contained pollen spores of oats, barley, heather and meadowsweet. The archaeologists believed this to be the remains of a fermented beverage and were able to reproduce something similar. Heather ale was once a staple drink of the Highlands and Islands, it was made by clan ‘yill wives’ and drunk from cattle horns. It is even possible that the first whisky was produced by condensing the alcohol from hot heather ale against stone walls.
A legend relates how in the 4th Century the Vikings defeated a Pictish army, slaying all but their king and his son whom they cornered on a cliff top. From these two, the victorious cheiftain hoped to extract the secret recipe for heather ale. After torturing the pair for a short while, the Pictish offered to reveal the recipe if his son died a quick death. The prince was quickly dispatched, and thrown from the cliff, upon which the Pictish king revealed that though he was sure that he himself could keep the secret, he had doubts about his son's ability; and with that he grappled with the Viking chief and hurled both of them over the cliff!
White heather was said to mark the resting place of fairies and beacons of burning heather were used to summon the clans to battle. 

 

 

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