It is possible, although not confirmed, that our ‘Stone of Destiny’ upon which our monarchs were crowned was brought from Ireland to this early parliament, later to be moved to Scone Palace near Perth. The Stone now resides in Edinburgh Castle after a brief (700 years!) ‘loan’ (it was nicked!) to Westminster Abbey courtesy of King Edward I of England (also known in England as Edward Longshanks or in Scotland as ‘that murderin’ git wot stole our stane’ or ‘the bad dude in Braveheart’).
One of only three remaining distilleries in Campbeltown, [Glen] Scotia is located on Dalintober High Street, just west of where Lochruan Distillery was. The distillery name refers to the Scoti people who arrived in Kintyre from Ireland and after whom Scotland is eventually named. It was built in 1832 and had been enlarged a few times prior to Barnard’s visit yet its production volume was still towards the lower end for Campbeltown at that time.
Glen Scotia on Dalintober High Street |
Since then it has had a varied history of ownership, however trying to track down a firm timeline of ownership has distracted me for a few days too many now. The best I can establish from cross referencing various sources is that S,G&Co Ltd sold out to West Highland Malt Distillers Ltd in 1919 but MacCallum himself then bought Scotia back in c1923/24 (along with Kinloch) when WHMD failed and he owned it until 1930.
The Campbeltown Courier articles recorded in Stirk (2005) note that Scotia was in operation early in 1930, ceasing production in March, and MacCallum then sadly drowned in Crosshill Loch in December of that year. Further reports show that in September 1933 it was sold by his estate trustees to a Glasgow blending company by the name of Bloch Brothers (Distillers) Ltd who restarted production later that year. The distillery was renamed to Glen Scotia around this time.
Bloch Brothers appeared to enjoy some initial success with the distillery, including a record production run between 1938/39, but were then hampered by the restrictions in place during World War II. They did, however, buy Glengyle in 1940 although this venture never took off and details of their production at Glen Scotia after the war are uncertain.
Bloch Brothers were acquired by Canadian company Hiram Walker in 1954 and the distillery then had various other owners and periods of silence until the current owners, Loch Lomond Distillery Co. bought it through their subsidiary Glen Catrine Bonded Warehouse Ltd in the mid 1990s. Further periods of downtime have since followed but it appears to be in operation at present, mainly providing spirit for their blending operations.
The final word on Scotia goes to Duncan MacCallum. It is reputed that his ghost still haunts the distillery, keeping an eye on the last whisky venture that he had a hand in and no doubt partaking in some of the angel’s share. After all his efforts and his contribution to the Campbeltown community, I think he has earned it.