Copper Part from Illicit 19th-Century Still Discovered in Scotland

Archaeology Magazine ^ | May 12, 2026 | editors / unattributed

[SunkenCiv]

According to a Herald Scotland report, National Trust for Scotland archaeologists, assisted by volunteers, recovered a piece of copper alloy from a stone structure in Highland Scotland's Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve that may have been used to distill whisky in secret to avoid paying taxes that had been levied beginning in the 1780s. The researchers suggest that the copper part is a piece known in Gaelic as An Gearradan, or the collar connecting a still to its lyne arm, which controlled how much vapor returned to the pot and therefore controlled the flavor of the finished product. The team also found a hearth and evidence of burning, a stone-capped drain that ran beneath the floor, and a timber roof support post at the site. This is the fifth illicit distillery discovered in the nature reserve. "In the early nineteenth century, illicit whisky distilling in these hills became a real battle of wits between excise officers and distillers," said archaeologist Derek Alexander. "To find the remains of stills in these upland areas, you need to think like an excise officer. Those who distilled spirit in this bothy will have picked the location carefully to make sure they were well hidden," he explained. The discovery of the connecting piece suggests that this still had not been discovered by the authorities, who would have destroyed it. Rather, whisky smugglers likely dismantled the still in a hurry and dropped the copper part as they escaped. To read about an illicit whisky distillery identified amid the ruins of a Scottish farmstead, go to "Still Standing."

---

TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; scotland; scotlandyet

[SunkenCiv]

Copper alloy collar found at an illicit whisky still site in Ben Lawers National Nature Reserve, Scotland

National Trust for Scotland

[SunkenCiv]

[Red Badger]

Then they all moved to Kentucky, USA................

[NFHale]

Scotch… not just for breakfast anymore… 😁

[chajin]

There was a song written about this

Still

Still: though you broke my heart
Still: though we're far apart
I love you, still

My dad used to listen to this song, but he never explained to me the Scottish whiskey connection.

[frank ballenger]

I am amazed that I have a reason to link the pleasant song Copper Kettle for a second time. I can’t remember the other topic about a month or so ago.

Copper Kettle (The Pale Moonlight)
Written by: A.F. Beddoe (Bob Dylan on Self Portrait and Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell covers later on).

Get you a copper kettle, get you a copper coil
Fill it with new made corn mash and never more you’ll toil

You’ll just lay there by the juniper while the moon is bright
Watch them jugs a-filling in the pale moonlight.

Build you a fire with hickory, hickory, ash and oak.
Don’t use no green or rotten wood, they’ll get you by the smoke.

You’ll just lay there by the juniper while the moon is bright
Watch them jugs a-filling in the pale moonlight.

My daddy he made whiskey, my granddaddy he did too.
We ain’t paid no whiskey tax since 1792

You’ll just lay there by the juniper while the moon is bright.
Watch them jugs a-filling in the pale moonlight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhavzsdylbM

[AnAmericanMother]

Whack-fol-diddle-diddle-i-di-o -

The Drunken Scotsman

[logi_cal869]

The researchers/archaeologists are egregiously in error.

For the other distilling geeks, of Scottish background or not:

https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/ask-the-professor/19906/where-did-the-term-lyne-arm-come-from/

IMHO the fundamental problem with archaeologists is that most of them are lazy, and it’s reflected in all areas of archaeology. In this case it’s just one detail, but it’s a MASSIVE detail (it’s of Irish origin, not Scottish).

I, for one, would be interested in the story of how an Irish whiskey still component ended up in the Scottish Highlands...but first the ‘experts’ need to ask the question...and too many archaeologists enjoy talking out their backsides (evidence).

[FatherofFive]

A copper clapper?

[Red Badger]

A clean copper clapper.................