Posted on 08/02/2009 2:02:52 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Before being hijacked by Scottish nationalists
Catherine Brown has discovered references to the dish in a recipe book dated 1615, The English Hus-wife by Gervase Markham.
This was published at least 171 years before Robert Burns penned his poem Address to a Haggis, which made the delicacy famous.
The first mention she could find of Scottish haggis was in 1747, indicating that the dish originated south of the Border and was later copied from English books.
Ms Brown, whose findings feature in a TV documentary broadcast this week, said: "It was originally an English dish. In 1615, Gervase Markham says that it is very popular among all people in England.
"By the middle of the 18th century another English cookery writer, Hannah Glasse, has a recipe that she calls Scotch haggis, the haggis that we know today."
But reference to haggis in a 1771 novel by Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker, showed it was considered a Scottish dish by the late 18th century.
The English hero of the story says: "I am not yet Scotchman enough to relish their singed sheep's head and haggis."
Haggis, which is made from a mixture of oatmeal, liver, heart and lungs, is not the first Scottish icon said to originate from England.
In his last book before his death, Hugh Trevor-Roper, the eminent historian, wrote that the kilt's inventor was a Quaker from Lancashire.
Ms Brown believes that Scottish nationalists may have appropriated haggis as a symbol of their nationhood in the decades following the Act of Union with England in 1707.
"It seems to be that there's an identity thing there. We'd lost our monarchy, we'd lost our parliament and we gained our haggis," she said.
"There was a latching onto everything that was distinctive about Scotland,
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Gee, the picture above looks like corned beef hash.
yitbos
Or a knish.
Poo. Those Brits. Always trying to claim awful food. Have ye no shame, Sassenachs? ;) Next they’ll be trying to claim Scotch whiskey.
Personally, I would rather eat deep fried scorpions - Ewwwww.
Been going through some "old" photos today, including a trip a few years back to Cape Canaveral, and in retrospect it stuns me what we accomplished on the moon missions with such primitive technology -- though I remember when it was "advanced."
You forgot the wee dram of whisky.
What ever that is, it HAS to be better than roasted mutton, mashed turnips, and boiled nettles.
Or is it impossible to eat it while sober?
Bobby Burns is the expert. Was he ever sober?
yitbos
Good Thomas Jefferson quote on your home page.......
They tried raising them domestically, but the bloody beasts are terrified of bagpipe music and jump the fences. Inspired, however, by the success of American ranchers with the production of beeffalo, they've begun crossing haggis with domesticated sheep, with promising results.
Thanks.
I believe “community organizers” would be included as part of the “mobs of the great cities”.
Part of both types of city mobs, actually. LOL
It’s delicious, wee bit spicey and when you have it with neeps and tatties it’s the food of the Gods.
*snicker*
I’m too well-chaperoned to have any wild oats! (Too cheap, too.)
I have been reading many of your posts for some time now,simply because we seem to post to the same threads more than occasionally.
Frugal? I bet every penny squeeks as it leaves like most Scots and Irish who don't take to the drink!LOL.
Thank you, I appreciate the thought! (My drink is cheap, too.)
My dad sez you need a LARGE dram of whiskey!
Charlie Mackenzie: "No, I think it's repellent in every way. In fact, I think most Scottish cuisine is based on a dare." - So I married an axe murderer
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