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Whisky and Scotland
This witty, erudite, and often lyrical toast to the Celts’ “water of life” shares the fascinating history and lore surrounding the art of whisky distilling.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1935
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31 people want to read
About the author
Neil M. Gunn
63 books49 followersNeil Gunn, one of Scotland's most prolific and distinguished novelists, wrote over a period that spanned the Recession, the political crises of the 1920's and 1930's, and the Second World War and its aftermath. Although nearly all his 20 novels are set in the Highlands of Scotland, he is not a regional author in the narrow sense of that description; his novels reflect a search for meaning in troubled times, both past and present, a search that leads him into the realms of philosophy, archaeology, folk tradition and metaphysical speculation.
Born in the coastal village of Dunbeath, Caithness, the son of a successful fishing boat skipper, Gunn was educated at the local village primary school and privately in Galloway. In 1911 he entered the Civil Service and spent some time in both London and Edinburgh before returning to the North as a customs and excise officer based (after a short spell in Caithness) in Inverness. Before voluntary retirement from Government service in 1937 to become a full-time writer, he had embarked on a literary career with considerable success.
His first novel, The Grey Coast (1926), a novel in the realist tradition and set in Caithness in the 1920's, occupied an important position in the literary movement known as the Scottish Renaissance. His second novel, Morning Tide (1931), an idyll of a Highland childhood, won a Book Society award and the praise of the well known literary and public figure, John Buchan. The turning point in Gunn's career, however, came in 1937, when he won the prestigious James Tait Black Memorial prize for his deeply thought-provoking Highland River, a quasi autobiographical novel written in the third person, in which the main protagonist's life is made analogous to a Highland river and the search for its source.
In 1941 Gunn's epic novel about the fishing boom of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, The Silver Darlings, was widely acclaimed as a modern classic and considered the finest balance between concrete action and metaphysical speculation achieved by any British writer in the 20th century. It was also the final novel of a trilogy of the history of the Northlands, the other novels being Sun Circle (1933) on the Viking invasions of the 9th century and Butcher's Broom (1934) on the Clearances. In 1944 Gunn wrote his anti-Utopian novel, The Green Isle of the Great Deep, a book that preceded George Orwell's novel on the same theme, Nineteen Eighty-Four, by five years. The novel, using an old man and a young boy from a rural background as characters in a struggle against the pressures of totalitarian state, evoked an enthusiastic response from the famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung.
Some of Gunn's later books, whilst not ignoring the uglier aspects of the modern world, touch more on metaphysical speculation in a vein that is not without humour. The Well at the Worlds End (1951), in particular, lays emphasis on the more positive aspects of living and the value of that approach in finding meaning and purpose in life. Gunn's spiritual autobiography, The Atom of Delight (1956), which, although similar in many ways to Highland River, incorporates a vein of thought derived from Gunn's interest in Zen Buddhism. The autobiography was Gunn's last major work.
In 1948 Gunn's contribution to literature was recognised by Edinburgh University with an honorary doctorate to the author; in 1972 the Scottish Arts Council created the Neil Gunn Fellowship in his honour, a fellowship that was to include such famous writers as Henrich Boll, Saul Bellow, Ruth Prawar Jhabvala, Nadine Gordimer and Mario Vargas Llosa.
Born in the coastal village of Dunbeath, Caithness, the son of a successful fishing boat skipper, Gunn was educated at the local village primary school and privately in Galloway. In 1911 he entered the Civil Service and spent some time in both London and Edinburgh before returning to the North as a customs and excise officer based (after a short spell in Caithness) in Inverness. Before voluntary retirement from Government service in 1937 to become a full-time writer, he had embarked on a literary career with considerable success.
His first novel, The Grey Coast (1926), a novel in the realist tradition and set in Caithness in the 1920's, occupied an important position in the literary movement known as the Scottish Renaissance. His second novel, Morning Tide (1931), an idyll of a Highland childhood, won a Book Society award and the praise of the well known literary and public figure, John Buchan. The turning point in Gunn's career, however, came in 1937, when he won the prestigious James Tait Black Memorial prize for his deeply thought-provoking Highland River, a quasi autobiographical novel written in the third person, in which the main protagonist's life is made analogous to a Highland river and the search for its source.
In 1941 Gunn's epic novel about the fishing boom of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, The Silver Darlings, was widely acclaimed as a modern classic and considered the finest balance between concrete action and metaphysical speculation achieved by any British writer in the 20th century. It was also the final novel of a trilogy of the history of the Northlands, the other novels being Sun Circle (1933) on the Viking invasions of the 9th century and Butcher's Broom (1934) on the Clearances. In 1944 Gunn wrote his anti-Utopian novel, The Green Isle of the Great Deep, a book that preceded George Orwell's novel on the same theme, Nineteen Eighty-Four, by five years. The novel, using an old man and a young boy from a rural background as characters in a struggle against the pressures of totalitarian state, evoked an enthusiastic response from the famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung.
Some of Gunn's later books, whilst not ignoring the uglier aspects of the modern world, touch more on metaphysical speculation in a vein that is not without humour. The Well at the Worlds End (1951), in particular, lays emphasis on the more positive aspects of living and the value of that approach in finding meaning and purpose in life. Gunn's spiritual autobiography, The Atom of Delight (1956), which, although similar in many ways to Highland River, incorporates a vein of thought derived from Gunn's interest in Zen Buddhism. The autobiography was Gunn's last major work.
In 1948 Gunn's contribution to literature was recognised by Edinburgh University with an honorary doctorate to the author; in 1972 the Scottish Arts Council created the Neil Gunn Fellowship in his honour, a fellowship that was to include such famous writers as Henrich Boll, Saul Bellow, Ruth Prawar Jhabvala, Nadine Gordimer and Mario Vargas Llosa.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 20, 2025
I didn’t find this book particularly easy to read. The prose is wonderful and I expected that. One reason I picked it up was that Gunn was a longtime friend and supporter of Nan Shepherd. Surprisingly the book is only partially about whisky. Gunn is easily distracted and admits it. The history included is important but you’ll read about everything from an imagined Gael who invents whisky to T.S. Eliot, Hitler, Lowlanders etc. and he only returns to whisky in the last 40% of the book.
He goes through all the steps necessary in the production of whisky and the blending process for what was most popular and saleable when this was written in 1935. It has only been recently that single malts have come back into fashion. He does mention many of the single malt producers by name such as Glenlivit, Talisker, Highland Park, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, etc. and they are still around and important in the single malt business today. They hung on in his period by selling their product mostly to the big outfits for use in giant selling blends.
Gunn obviously is a fan of the single malts and has hopes for its future. He’d be so happy today. He is very unhappy with British taxing and so am I!
He goes through all the steps necessary in the production of whisky and the blending process for what was most popular and saleable when this was written in 1935. It has only been recently that single malts have come back into fashion. He does mention many of the single malt producers by name such as Glenlivit, Talisker, Highland Park, Lagavulin, Ardbeg, etc. and they are still around and important in the single malt business today. They hung on in his period by selling their product mostly to the big outfits for use in giant selling blends.
Gunn obviously is a fan of the single malts and has hopes for its future. He’d be so happy today. He is very unhappy with British taxing and so am I!
March 31, 2012
Great book. Great old fashioned grammar. Understanding of whisky and Scotland. This book makes one think about why our national drink has been taken from us! And makes me wonder why we don't do something about it!!
Also, this book is actually called Whisky and Scotland. Not WhiskEy and Scotland!!!!!
We have Scotch Whisky, here.
Also, this book is actually called Whisky and Scotland. Not WhiskEy and Scotland!!!!!
We have Scotch Whisky, here.
June 17, 2018
This is an interesting book that I found took a lot longer to read than the size would have indicated. I read the 1988 printing which appears to be a reprinting of the 1977 version. So it has the 1977 forward and I believe the body of the book is pretty much the same as the original. The English grammar and phrasing from 80 years ago, as well as the references to current events of the time and select persons such as Adolf Hitler, which makes it an interesting read in sort of a time capsule.
The author writes in a very conversational Style which also seems to lead to digressions in multiple directions. Most of these are entertaining and interesting, but certainly not all of them.
So if you enjoy the wee dram, like to read about Scottish history from a person's viewpoint (vs facts, figures, and dates), and have some time on your hand you may find this book interesting.
The author writes in a very conversational Style which also seems to lead to digressions in multiple directions. Most of these are entertaining and interesting, but certainly not all of them.
So if you enjoy the wee dram, like to read about Scottish history from a person's viewpoint (vs facts, figures, and dates), and have some time on your hand you may find this book interesting.
January 2, 2026
There are great whacks of this book I don't understand, but it's a pleasure to read from start to finish. If you like whisky, Scotland, or a creative telling of European cultural history, you'll find a lot of enjoy in this one.
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December 20, 2021The writer is a bit of a rambler talking on and on and to many he’s probably making sense but for a non native English reader sometimes hard to follow. On top of that he’s written it in 1935 which is quite far from the whisky world I live in today.
I do feel it is written eloquently and funny but in all I guess I didn’t fully understand.
I do feel it is written eloquently and funny but in all I guess I didn’t fully understand.
August 21, 2025
Mostly the writer’s take on Scotland’s history and the politics of the time; not a great deal about whisky.
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July 27, 2011First published in 1935, much of it is still as relevant today as when it was written.
May 26, 2013
This is an extremely pleasant book to read. It is quite fun to follow Gunn's beautifully written tangents on and about everything loosely related to whisky and Scotland.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews