A TASTE OF SCOTLAND?: REPRESENTING AND CONTESTING SCOTTISHNESS IN EXPRESSIVE CULTURE ABOUT HAGGIS by © Joy Fraser A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Department of Folklore Memorial University of Newfoundland October 2011 St. John's Newfoundland Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre r6f6rence ISBN: 978-0-494-81991-3 Our file Notre r6ference ISBN: 978-0-494-81991-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1+1 Canada For Jennifer and Jonathan And in honour of my Grandpa Walker Abstract This thesis investigates the corpus of expressive cultural materials that have developed, over the past two and a half centuries, around haggis as a symbol and stereotype of Scottish ethnicity. Interpreting the dish as a key site of "the contention that is Scotland" (McCracken-Flesher 2002), I argue that these diverse cultural texts and traditions encode multiple and often competing representations of Scottishness as created and disseminated by both in- and outsiders. The thesis explores three strands within the expressive culture surrounding the dish. Firstly, it traces the emergence of haggis as a culinary stereotype of Scottishness within eighteenth-century English cultural discourse, as part of the caricature of the "beggarly Scot." The exoteric construction of haggis as distinctively Scottish is contextualised as part of a much wider cultural phenomenon, whereby derogatory representations of their food and eating habits were used to stigmatise the Scots as England's closest ethnic Other. The evolution of such stereotypes reflects the complex tensions inherent in Anglo-Scottish relations throughout this period. Secondly, I consider the motif of the grotesque body as a prominent theme within expressive cultural portrayals of haggis. Two distinct but interrelated manifestations of this theme are identified and discussed: 1) a preoccupation with the dish's physiological effects on the bodies of its consumers; and 2) the frequent figuration of haggis itself as a grotesque body. I argue that in these depictions the dish acts as a culinary metaphor for iii the Scottish body politic, embodying competing conceptualisations of Scottishness as represented from esoteric and exoteric perspectives. Thirdly, I analyse the dish's status as a contested symbol of Scottish identity among Scots themselves. I examine its role within the symbolic iconography by which Scotland has traditionally represented itself to the outside world, and its subsequent entanglement in debates concerning the authenticity and cultural legitimacy of such representations. These issues are further explored through a case study of the ritual that surrounds the dish in the context of the annual Burns Supper and other public celebrations of Scottishness. IV Acknowledgements Numerous individuals have assisted in a multitude of ways during the research and writing of this thesis. First and foremost, I wish to thank my supervisor, Dr. Paul Smith, for his unbounded enthusiasm, encouragement, support and advice throughout this endeavour. The thoughtful comments of my committee members, Dr. Holly Everett and Dr. Martin Lovelace, have been greatly appreciated in the latter stages of the project. Dr. Diane Tye has also been consistently supportive of my work and, in the process, has contributed significantly to my development as a scholar. Sharon Cochrane, Cindy Turpin, Renee Lawrence and Ruby Barron provided essential administrative expertise and went beyond the call of duty in ensuring that tight deadlines were met. The friendship of my fellow graduate students and Folklore Department colleagues, especially Emily Urquhart, Lynda Daneliuk, Ginny Fugarino and Pauline Cox, has been a source of emotional and intellectual sustenance throughout my time at Memorial. Financial support for my thesis research was provided by a Graduate Fellowship from Memorial, as well as grants from the Scottish International Education Trust and the Glasgow Society of the Sons and Daughters of Ministers of the Church of Scotland; an International Peace Scholarship from PEO International; and the Scotiabank Bursary for International Travel, administered by Memorial's School of Graduate Studies. I have consulted several libraries and archives in Europe and North America in the course of my research. Particular thanks are due to the staff of the Queen Elizabeth II Library at Memorial, and especially the eminently capable Document Delivery team. In Edinburgh, I wish to thank the staff of the National Library of Scotland, the University of Edinburgh Library and the Central Library; the staff of the National Archives of Scotland, especially Dr. Alan Borthwick, Charlotte Berry and Victoria Brown; Andrew McDougall of the National Museums Scotland Library; and the staff of the Scottish Poetry Library, especially Lizzie MacGregor. Elsewhere in Scotland, the following people have been particularly helpful: the staff of the Special Collections Department at Glasgow University Library, especially Claire McKendrick; Lyn Crawford of Glasgow City Archives; Robert Ferguson of Pollok House, Glasgow; Kathy Hobkirk and Margaret Sellar of the Hawick Heritage Hub; Jason Sutcliffe, Museums Development Manager with East Ayrshire Council; Edith Wemyss of Aberdeen City Library and Information Services Local Studies Department; and Christine McCafferty, Archive Manager with Diageo pic, as well as Stewart Adamson of Diageo's Royal Lochnagar Distillery. Outside of Scotland, valuable assistance has been provided by the staff of the British Library; Malcolm Taylor of the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, London; the staff of the Bodleian Library, Oxford; Simon Lang of Trinity College Library Dublin; Kate Holliday and Max Clark of the Kendal Record Office; Jane Ford of the Beaverbrook Foundation; and Lee Marquis of the Independent newspaper. I also wish to thank Bridget E. Keown of the Houghton Library at Harvard University; Aileen McNair of the Odom Genealogical Library in Moultrie, Georgia; and Michael Salmon of the Amateur Athletic Foundation's Paul Ziffren Sports Resource Center Library in Los Angeles. Countless individuals not already mentioned have generously shared resources, information and ideas. They include, but are certainly not limited to, Dr. Ian Brodie, Dr. vi Tom Brooking, Dave Brown, Gregg Butler, Dr. Katherine Campbell, Dr. Eddie Cass, Rita Colavincenzo, Ivan Day, Dr. Jillian Gould, Noreen MacLennan, Lynn Matte, Reggie McAndrew, Frank McConnell, Bruce McEwan, MaryEllen Scannell, Bruce and Jo Shawyer, Algy Watson, Jennifer Whitfield (who remains Newfoundland and Labrador's First Lady of Haggis), and Rob Willis. Lastly, my family and friends both in Scotland and beyond not only kept me supplied with a steady stream of newspaper clippings and other haggis-related paraphernalia, but contributed their unfailing love and belief in my abilities. My parents bore the brunt of both the highs and lows during the final stages of writing, and for this I am eternally grateful. vn Table of Contents Dedication ii Abstract iii Acknowledgements v Table of Contents viii List of Figures ix List of Abbreviations xii Chapter 1. Introduction: "A curious beast" 1 Chapter 2. Sawney's Kitchen Nightmares: Anglo-Scottish Relations and the Emergence of Haggis as a Culinary Stereotype 20 Chapter 3. Cannibalism, Contamination and the Camivalesque: Grotesquing the Scottish Body in Expressive Culture about Haggis 89 Chapter 4. "The heather and haggis clan have had their fling": Contesting Authenticity in Expressive Cultural Representations of Scottishness 157 Chapter 5. Conclusion: "A taste of Scotland"? 212 References 221 Appendices 247 vin List of Figures Figure 1.1 Cover image from Clarissa Dickson Wright's pocket