DECEMBER 23, 2000: Raleigh, NC-- The debate about whether whisky distilling came from Ireland to Scotland or the other way around has been with us for quite some time. It doesn't seem likely to be resolved in the immediate future and the main reason is that the available evidence is so scanty that the door is wide open to myths and speculation.

The earliest solid record for the distilling of any spirit in Ireland comes from the Red Book of Ossory. This book is thought to have been compiled by an Irish bishop in the 13th or 14th century and gives a recipe for distilling aqua vitae from wine:

The earliest Scottish record of distilling alcohol is the famous entry in the Exchequer Roll from 1494:

            To Friar John Cor, by order of the King, to make aquavitae, viii bolls of malt

These few bits of evidence are obviously not enough to determine with any degree of certainty whether distilling of alcoholic spirits came from Ireland to Scotland or vice versa, or whether it reached both Celtic regions via independent routes. What I want to explore in the rest of this article is a new hypothesis of how, when and by whom distilling might have been brought to Scotland. It is not more than a theory, but an intriguing one, I think.

One aspect of the clan-based society in Scotland is that of hereditary professions. Members of Clan MacBeatha (among various alternative ways of spelling the clan name are MacBethadh, MacBeth and, in its anglicised form, Beaton) were Scotland's hereditary physicians. They practised medicine in the classical Gaelic tradition from at least the early 14th century onwards. Medicine in medieval Gaelic society was based on a mixture of native herbal lore, which was presumably passed on orally, and foreign, mostly Arab and Greek, medical tracts. Over the centuries, members of Clan MacBeatha amassed a vast medical library, containing Gaelic translations of many Arab and Greek writers, including Avicenna, Averroes and Hippocrates. Several of the Arab writers had knowledge of distillation techniques.

Where and when does Clan MacBeatha first enter history? Clifford Jupp (in his History of Islay, published by the Museum of Islay Life, Port Charlotte) states that sometime in the late 13th century, according to tradition, Angus Óg, Lord of the Isles, married Agnes (in some sources her name is given as Margaret or Áine), a daughter of Cú-maige nan Gall Ó Catháin, one of the great barons of Ulster. Agnes is said to have brought 'seven score' names from Ireland to Islay. One possibility is that she brought a group of 140 Irish fighting men, one for each surname in her father's territory, to Islay as her dowry. Another is that she invited Irish gentlemen and artisans of talent to the island, because Islay needed their services. Among the names she is said to have introduced, beside that of MacBeatha are Munroe, Rose, Fearn, Dingwall, MacPherson, Bulike, Dunbar, Maclinen and MacGilleglas. Again according to tradition, the MacBeathas settled in the Kilchoman area of Islay.

Time and place fit quite neatly with more solid historical evidence. The first record of a MacBeatha doctor in Scotland is from the early 14th century: Patrick MacBeth is the 'principal physician' to Robert I. The presence of Clan MacBeatha in the Kilchoman area of Islay is confirmed by a cross, dating from the second half of the 14th century, commemorating them. The first actual named MacBeatha on Islay is Fergus Beaton, in 1408. For several centuries, members of Clan MacBeatha remained the hereditary physicians for the Lords of the Isles. Anyone wanting to know more on the history of Scotland's hereditary physicians should read John Bannerman's The Beatons - a medical kindred in the classical Gaelic tradition (published 1998 by John Donald, Edinburgh).

Whether the knowledge of distilling came to Scotland in the wake of Agnes Ó Catháin at the end of the 13th century is pure speculation at the moment; there is, for all I know, no actual evidence for the hypothesis. One crucial question is when the vast amount of medical knowledge came in possession of the clan members. More specific, did they know of distilling alcoholic spirits already before they came to Islay? The recipe in the Red Book of Ossory suggests that knowledge of distilling did exist in Ireland around the time of their sailing.

There is something inherently pleasing about Islay being the cradle of distilling in Scotland, but high aesthetic value in itself does not make any theory more solid. Letting speculation run riot now ..... could it be that "uisce beatha" does not mean "water of life" but "water of MacBeatha", the 'magical water' of the physicians of Clan MacBeatha??

I would be more than keen to get in contact with anyone who knows of historical evidence that can either support or refute the MacBeatha hypothesis.