Brose Day

RAMBLING RECOLLECTIONS OF MY SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL DAYS ARTICLE V

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN ENSIGN

Written by Alexander Gunn and published in the Northern Ensign on 4 November 1880 – Part B

"I said “brose day” and cockfight day came together, but I am not aware that there existed any connection between them. The one was a mere empty bit of honour, while the other culminated in a good round feed of fat kail brose and “tilts,” and as few of your readers may have any acquaintance with the ancient custom, I take the liberty of giving an explanation of the matter. Well in the fall of the year, when the winter “mart” was killed, a savoury “Eiskbau-dhu,” or sausage, was made from it, or the half of the head was cured, and after being swaddled in a straw “simon” it was hung to a caber in the roof as near the fire as possible, so as to get a full share of the peat reek as it ascended in thick clouds from the great peat fire in the middle of the floor towards a hole in the roof about three feet in diameter, through which the smoke found its way to the open air. This rare bit of ox-meat hung there till the appointed time, when it was found to be brown and as “reeky” as the “cabar” from which it was suspended. After a rub or a wash it was placed in the heart of a pot of the best drumheads the garden could furnish."

"When both were considered sufficiently cooked, a quantity of oatmeal was put into a large bowl or basin, and the fat, boiling fluid poured on the meal, and then stirred till the fluid and the meal had been properly mixed, just in the usual way of making brose. The bowl was then placed on the table, when the family drew near, with each a spoon in hand, and did ample justice to the rich brose, all taking out of one common dish. Next the second course was laid before them, which consisted of the cabbage and “Eiskbau-dhu,” or black sausage, which was discussed with the greatest relish. It both smelt and tasted strongly of the peat reek to which it had been so long exposed, but that was reckoned no fault, like the guidwife who on presenting her guests with a broth dinner, into which a shower of soot had fallen, remarked that it was not dirt that made the broth look so black – it was only soot. Poor indeed was the family who could not afford a pot of cabbage, a bowl of brose, and an “eiskbau.”

Hot Peat Fire at Mary Ann's Cottage Dunnet

"Both these institutions – the cockfight and the kail brose – are things of the past, but both were equally common and popular in those days all over the country. Cockfighting was abolished by Act of Parliament as a cruel and barbarous practice, of which every right-thinking person ought to feel ashamed. I cannot account for the extinction of the other, as it had none of the bad qualities or tendencies of the former, and had many good features to recommend it."

My Comments:

What a wonderful description Alexander Gunn gives us of a once a year meal.

It is good to know that in the midst of hardship and deprivation the Badbea residents were still able to celebrate from time to time. While the smoked cow head may not appeal to some 21^st century appetites it was clearly a good meal. With a beast being killed for meat only once a year it was important that they turned every bit of food to account. Using blood to make black pudding is, of course, still a favourite Scottish meal.

With big families, small rooms and a very hot fire in the midst it must have been hard to avoid accidents. I took a photo of a small fire in the middle of the room at Newtonmore and another of a very hot fire at Mary Ann’s Cottage in Dunnet that was burning in a fireplace near the end of the room that shows how hot the peat could get. With no chimney in the Gunn family home the smoke just escaped through a hole in the roof.

These are some simple hand made eating bowls from Badbea that are on the Highland Historic Environment Record website. I can't access the on-line description of them.

https://librarylink.highland.gov.uk/LLFiles/29458/full_29458.pdf