|
The word
brose is a Scottish form of brewis or broth, deriving from the
Middle English browes. In Old French broez. Brose is oatmeal
with boiling water or milk poured over it, and Atholl or Athole
Brose is a mixture of oatmeal, whisky and honey. The drink
appears in Sir Walter Scott's Heart of Midlothian (1818) - 'His
morning draught of Athole Brose' - though it is supposed to have
its origins in the fifteenth century, when the Perthshire Duke
of Atholl captured his great enemy the Earl of Ross, repu- tedly
by filling the well at which Ross regularly drank with the
mixture and then taking him prisoner as he slept off the
effects.
The term whisky brose is first recorded in 1822,
'Whisky-brose shall be my breakfast'. McNeill makes the point
that 'Strictly, Atholl Brose is not brose, but crowdie, for that
is the generic name for any mixture of meal and cold liquid. But
Atholl Brose it has been called for centuries, and Atholl Brose
it is likely to remain'.
Late in 1475 a sentence of death and forfeiture was pronounced
upon John, Lord of the Isles. The Earls of Atholl and Crawford
were sent into the West with a fleet to enforce the sentence,
and the rebellious Lord took to the hills.
The Earl of Atholl discovered where
the fugitive was drawing his water, and ordered that the well be
filled with a mixture of whisky, honey and oatmeal, so as to
beguile him into staying put while he surrounded the place. Thus
was Lord John captured, and thus came into being 'Atholl Brose'.
Cream is an optional addition,
particularly for festive occasions. Simon (1948), in a recipe
attributed to the Royal Scots
Fusiliers, gives the following proportions, to be mixed:
7 parts oatmeal brose
7 parts whisky
5 parts cream
1 part honey
The
brose is prepared by steeping a volume of oatmeal
overnight in three times as much cold water, then straining the
liquid through muslin. |
