Sùgh a' Chruidh Neònaich
Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1952.82.A7
Original Tape ID
Summary
A humorous song criticising margarine as opposed to real butter. The bard tells of his disappointment in the "product of the strange cows" which the merchants brought home to them from Holland. Some say that it has seaweed in it and that much of it is made from whale blubber. It was not made in the Highlands, at the sheiling or in any place known to him.
Item Notes
Since the 1860s, margarine has played an important part in the diet of industrialised nations. The product was conceived during that time by French research chemist Hippolyte Mège Mouriès, to meet a pressing need for a longer lasting and economical alternative to butter as the population moved from the country and into the cities. Noticing its pearly sheen, he named his invention margarine, taken from the Greek word 'margarita', meaning pearl. Commercial production was initiated in the 1870s by the Dutch company Jurgens.
This humorous song was composed about the new product.
Recording Location (outside Scotland)
England, London
Language
Gaelic
Genre
Collection
Source Type
Reel to reel
Audio Quality
Good