Category Archives: Stories/History

Stories from the good ‘ol days of whisky – Volume 3b: Real Puggies… The way we were

And now for something completely different…  Real Puggies…. The way we were

So Catch me if you can cause I’m going back.

I have always had a great love for Dailuaine, the first malt whisky distillery to commission a pagoda from Charls Chree Doig, (not  only for its dark hue and fruit cake flavour but because it was where I was born back in the summer of ’49  (Oh Yeah, It was the summer of ’49).

Despite the aftermath of World War 2,with it’s hangover of food shortages, Summers back then were Halcyon days of iridescent kingfishers, sky schything swallows and “craggy” herons and you could still walk across the river Spey on the backs of salmon…. or so I am told by the old local poachers of my little town of Charlestown of Aberlour.

Cherry cheeked children scampered barefoot through golden fields of ripening barley, which would shortly fall to the reaper and binder pulled by “Ten to Two’s” 3 large Clydesdale horses (the farmer was called “Ten to Two” due to his Charlie Chaplin like gait which called to mind a firewalking penguin).

Bold bolshy boys skinny-dipped into languid crystal clear pools which teemed with speckled brown trout.

My eldest sister,Anna,has fond memories of her and our big brother, John,travelling to Carron Primary on th footplate of Dailuaine 1, affectionately known locally as “the puggy”.  Dailuaine 1 replaced it’s predecessor in 1939 and plied the track for over 40 years.  Carron station is next door to Imperial distillery, where my father worked at the time as a maltman, walking to and from his work and Dailuaine terrace every day by way of the railway line spur.

The terrace was known as Aristocracy row, as it was built on an elevated site overlooking the distillery and also Imperial cottages, which earned the somewhat demeaning name of Poverty row as the terrace folk were forever looking down on them, and probably still are.  The puggy made it’s last journey on the spur to the main track in 1970 and grown men were seen to cry openly as Puggy Wullie steamed into Dailuaine distillery.  Even he, a pugnacious hard man, who could start a fight in an empty room, had a lump in his throat as he stepped down from the engine.

The spur is now overgrown but Dailuaine 1 lives on, the old warhorse having been put out to pasture at Dewars world of whisky at Aberfeldy.  Many distilleries employed puggies until Beeching’s axe fell on the rail network in the late 60’s and the rise in road transport  sounded their death knell.

As with the self entertainment of war babies and farm horsepower the era of the puggies is a sweet memory of a byegone age… gone forever.

We will never see the like of them again.

Every wee boy dreams of being an engine driver on the Flying Scotsman or emulating Casey Jones on the throttle of the Cannonball Express but my train of my dreams is proudly displayed at Aberfeldy Distillery.

I would like to take this opportunity to dedicate these stories to my late brother John.

Merry Christmas and A Guid New Year…and I hope your latkes went down well with a wee dram.
Bill

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A big thanks goes out to Bill Morgan for submitting this story.  All of his entries/stories can be found here.

You might not know who Bill Morgan is but you should.  Having worked professionally in whisky between 1965 & 1996, chances are if you’re a whisky drinker he’s helped to make the whisky you’ve enjoyed for the past, let’s say, 50 years or so.

I asked Bill if he could give me a quick overview of his history in whisky and he said:

Briefly speaking, I worked for my father in the floor maltings at Cardhu hand turning malt till they closed in the mid sixties and was transferred to Cragganmore where I soon became head warehouseman. 

Bill Morgan during his days at Tamdu as a malting barley buyer

I moved to Highland Distillery’s Tamdhu site where I did almost everything possible during my 26 years employment.  These included Saladin box worker, maltings shift work, barley intake and analysis, Group Laboratory worker/senior lab assistant, microbiologist, conducting laboratory hygiene surveys at all sites and micromalting.  My career in management with Highland distilleries included Assistant manager /Malting manager at Tamdhu, relief manager for all sites, malting barley buyer and finally 2 years as acting manager at Highland Park.

A lot has changed since my time with Highland distilleries (now Edrington) but the sites back then (pre-1996) which I worked in on surveys and as relief manager were Tamdhu, Glenrothes, Glenglassaugh, Bunnahabhain, Glenturret Highland Park and Glengoyne.

On top of this, Bill has a degree in Biology; Membership in the Institute of Biology and Food Scientists/Technologists and had a paper on distillery bacteria published in Institute of Brewing journal (and developed a new agar medium to grow and count these bugs).  So let’s just say, Bill is quite an accomplished guy! (oh, and he was born at Dailuaine!)

As you might imagine, having been literally born into whisky and being in the business professionally for 50 years… Bill’s got some great stories.

Stories from the good ‘ol days of whisky – Volume 3a: The Tale of Caesar and the Great Train Robbers

The following story is based on a true story of theft and its bittersweet consequences.  To protect the innocent (and the not so innocent) the names have been changed.  In the golden age of steam many distilleries employed puggies to transport goods to and from the railway stations.  Barleybree distillery, away in the Highlands, in Glen Close, by the turbulent River Spate, was such a place.

Meet the cast of this shaggy dog tale…

~* The cowboys in white hats *~

Pat Bottom… Customs officer at Barleybree distillery.

Rosy Bottom… Pat’s wife and the but of many a joke.

Caesar… family pet dog and psycopathic housewrecker.

Rusty Nails… distillery manager.

Ivor Dresson… station master and cross dresser.

Roger Swift… Customs and excise surveyor.As his name suggests bachelor gay Roger’s romantic liasons were brief affairs.

~* The Baddies *~

Puggy Willie Steel… train driver.

Black Rob Steel… Eric’s brother who bathed annually whether he needed to or not! His aversion to soap and hot water made him smell like a very ripe kipper and it was a mistake to get downwind of Black Bob on a hot day.

Pundy Joe Plillpots… Congenital thief and liar and general dogsbody.  He had no redeeming features whatsoever.  Joe was given the nickname Pundy due to his passion for fermented wash,a heady cocktail of  high alcohol green beer,yeast and huge populations of bacteria.  Consumption of this liquid timebomb dissolved the kidneys and liver, adled the brain and earned it’s title of District Nurse because of its immediate explosive effect on the digestive tract.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Dog… a few introductory pointers.

Let the story begin with a background to Ceasar and his habits.

Caesar was a cross between Tyrannosaurus rex and a wolfhound and had some interesting traits which included chasing postmen and destroying furniture.  The latter led to him being barred from the house by the Bottoms.  Deprived of his house wrecking hobby, Caesar turned his attention to the village postman; in particular, to the seat of his pants.

His method of pursuit was to lurk behind his huge kennel awaiting the arrival of the reluctant postie who would run up the garden path, despatch the mail through the letterbox and sprint back to the safety of the gate as fast as his little legs could carry him.  Caesar learned to strike when the iron was hot and shot forth like a canine cannonball after the fleeing prey.  His attempt at escape was to no avail and Pat rescued him from further persecution when he pulled the monster off the trembling postman to reveal his nether extremities to the world.  The brute spat out the piece of trouser seat and glowed with satisfaction.

The distraught postman resigned his post and returned his uniform, at least what was left of it, to the postmistress Miss Penny Black.

Pat made for his workshop and began to construct a large ‘BEWARE OF FIERCE PSYCHOPATHIC HOUND’ sign to erect in the garden.  Unfortunately Pat had broken his own golden rule and had left the front door open.  This did not go unmissed by the cunning beast and he swept through the living room like a tremendous hurricane destroying all in his path and reducing everything in his wake to matchsticks and mayhem.  On entering their lounge, the couple were met by a scene of devastation and carnage.

In the centre of the room, wagging his huge tail in triumph lay Caesar, stretched out on a carpet of debris that, until recently, had served as their comfortable sofa.

The bereft Bottoms decided that in order to soothe the savage Beast of Barleybree (and to tire it out) Rosy should take the Hound of the Baskervilles for long walks in the surrounding countryside.  Caesar took to these extended wanderings like a duck to water and even barked at Rosy to take him along.

Rosy makes a remarkable discovery…

One day Rosy and that reformed dog were walking in the valley beside the track of the puggy (train) line.  As they rounded a bend in the woods, Rosy spotted the last wagon entering the tunnel and she was surpised to note that there was no sign of the puggy (train) coming out of the other side when her and the dog drew level with the tunnel exit.  She decided to investigate and they hid away in the bracken.

After some time, a furtive fetid ragamuffin of a man, who she recognised as Pundy Phillpots, appeared with a bucket full of brown liquid and secreted it in the nearby trees to be collected much later, under cover of darkness. Meanwhile, deep within the tunnel, the Steel brothers had driven a spile into the cask they had drilled, and were replacing the hoop. Secreting the cooper’s tools in a recess in the wall they joined their smelly partner in crime and the puggy continued it’s onward journey at full throttle to make up” lost” time.

Crime and retribution….

Rosy sped home and alerted her husband who immediately informed Roger the surveyor and they agreed that their patience would be rewarded with a red handed capture of the culprits.

A small posse of railwaymen and customs officers were rounded up and an early morning meeting at the tunnel arranged for the following day.  The posse duly met and hid behind bushes and in the branches of trees, out of sight of the approaching puggy and its motley crew.

When the pirates of Puggystop had been inside the tunnel (for what was estimated to be enough time to rob and plunder) the plan of capture began and the trap was set.

The gang of 3 became aware of a strange sound in the tunnel and peered into the darkness.  To their horror they saw a terrible apparition, coming towards them in the gloom.  An enormous hound from hell, hackles raised and pointy teeth bared in a snarl with eyes that burned through them like coals.

Give yourselves up or I let him off his lead” shouted Pat.

The trio of thieves turned and fled towards the other opening but were easily apprehended by the rest of the posse, who tied them up and threw them into the wagon.  The hero of the hour took his rightful place of honour alongside the railwayman driver, firmly fixing his four furry feet on the footplate and the Puggy headed for the station where Rusty and Ivor waited on the platform.

They would serve the gang with their just Desserts.

EVERY DOG HAS IT’S DAY

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A big thanks goes out to Bill Morgan for submitting this story.  All of his entries/stories can be found here.

You might not know who Bill Morgan is but you should.  Having worked professionally in whisky between 1965 & 1996, chances are if you’re a whisky drinker he’s helped to make the whisky you’ve enjoyed for the past, let’s say, 50 years or so.

I asked Bill if he could give me a quick overview of his history in whisky and he said:

Briefly speaking, I worked for my father in the floor maltings at Cardhu hand turning malt till they closed in the mid sixties and was transferred to Cragganmore where I soon became head warehouseman. 

Bill Morgan during his days at Tamdu as a malting barley buyer

I moved to Highland Distillery’s Tamdhu site where I did almost everything possible during my 26 years employment.  These included Saladin box worker, maltings shift work, barley intake and analysis, Group Laboratory worker/senior lab assistant, microbiologist, conducting laboratory hygiene surveys at all sites and micromalting.  My career in management with Highland distilleries included Assistant manager /Malting manager at Tamdhu, relief manager for all sites, malting barley buyer and finally 2 years as acting manager at Highland Park.

A lot has changed since my time with Highland distilleries (now Edrington) but the sites back then (pre-1996) which I worked in on surveys and as relief manager were Tamdhu, Glenrothes, Glenglassaugh, Bunnahabhain, Glenturret Highland Park and Glengoyne.

On top of this, Bill has a degree in Biology; Membership in the Institute of Biology and Food Scientists/Technologists and had a paper on distillery bacteria published in Institute of Brewing journal (and developed a new agar medium to grow and count these bugs).  So let’s just say, Bill is quite an accomplished guy! (oh, and he was born at Dailuaine!)

As you might imagine, having been literally born into whisky and being in the business professionally for 50 years… Bill’s got some great stories.

Stories from the good ‘ol days of whisky – Volume 2: “The case of the grain well spent”

This story  from Islay concerns an overly ambitious distillery manager and a few members of the islay farming fraternity and serves as an example of greed and its consequences.

Now this particular manager considered himself worthy of promotion to the board of directors and was using every opportunity to impress the powers that be of his worth to the company.

He had hatched a master plan to increase the profitability of his distillery almost immediately and with little actual effort on his part…..increasing the cost of one of his waste products, in this case draff (what is left of the grain after fermentation). It is used for animal food, and thus squeezing more money out of the farmers who depended on the draff to supplement their animal feedstuff.

The farmers were less than pleased with this move and decided to resist such overpayment by boycotting the distillery.

The manager was certain that, given time, they would return begging him to resume supply.

After some time of stalemate between them, the draff began to accumulate until it completely filled the distillery courtyard to the height of a man and channels had to be dug between departments. The manager refused to budge.

Then disastrous news was received at the distillery office: the directors were arriving by plane in 2 days time with VIP’s to tour the site.

Action stations were sounded and all hands were employed to remove the draff to a safe haven up the hill. The mess was cleared with the use of hoses and with brushes and the anticipated visit was declared a success by one and all.

Soon afterwards the farmers were forced into submission and agreed to the manager’s harsh terms.  He told them the secret location where they could collect their animal feed and they set off to do so.  When they arrived at the spot the draff had vanished like snow off a dyke.

The island’s deer popuation had scoffed the lot.

Which just goes to show that THE FURTHER YOU TRY TO CLIMB THE TREE THE MORE YOU SHOW YOUR BACKSIDE!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A big thanks goes out to Bill Morgan for submitting this funny story.  All of his entries/stories can be found here.

You might not know who Bill Morgan is but you should.  Having worked professionally in whisky between 1965 & 1996, chances are if you’re a whisky drinker he’s helped to make the whisky you’ve enjoyed for the past, let’s say, 50 years or so.

I asked Bill if he could give me a quick overview of his history in whisky and he said:

Briefly speaking, I worked for my father in the floor maltings at Cardhu hand turning malt till they closed in the mid sixties and was transferred to Cragganmore where I soon became head warehouseman. 

Bill Morgan during his days at Tamdu as a malting barley buyer

I moved to Highland Distillery’s Tamdhu site where I did almost everything possible during my 26 years employment.  These included Saladin box worker, maltings shift work, barley intake and analysis, Group Laboratory worker/senior lab assistant, microbiologist, conducting laboratory hygiene surveys at all sites and micromalting.  My career in management with Highland distilleries included Assistant manager /Malting manager at Tamdhu, relief manager for all sites, malting barley buyer and finally 2 years as acting manager at Highland Park.

A lot has changed since my time with Highland distilleries (now Edrington) but the sites back then (pre-1996) which I worked in on surveys and as relief manager were Tamdhu, Glenrothes, Glenglassaugh, Bunnahabhain, Glenturret Highland Park and Glengoyne.

On top of this, Bill has a degree in Biology; Membership in the Institute of Biology and Food Scientists/Technologists and had a paper on distillery bacteria published in Institute of Brewing journal (and developed a new agar medium to grow and count these bugs).  So let’s just say, Bill is quite an accomplished guy! (oh, and he was born at Dailuaine!)

As you might imagine, having been literally born into whisky and being in the business professionally for 50 years… Bill’s got some great stories.

Stories from the good ‘ol days of whisky – Volume 1: “Clumper, the Clydesdale Horse and the Clearac”

Today begins a new series here on The Jewish Single Malt Whisky Society’s whisky blog; one that will be featured on the first Thursday of every month.

A couple of months ago, whilst in Scotland, I had the good opportunity to meet up with a certain Mr. Bill Morgan.  In fact, as part of our tour, Bill & his wife Carol were kind enough to treat me and the rest in the JSMWS whisky tour to a wonder dinner: Tapas.  One one my favorite things.  Bill, carol, thank you again!

You might not know who Bill Morgan is but you should.  Having worked professionally in whisky between 1965 & 1996, chances are if you’re a whisky drinker he’s helped to make the whisky you’ve enjoyed for the past, let’s say, 50 years or so.

I asked Bill if he could give me a quick overview of his history in whisky and he said:

Briefly speaking, I worked for my father in the floor maltings at Cardhu hand turning malt till they closed in the mid sixties and was transferred to Cragganmore where I soon became head warehouseman. 

Bill Morgan during his days at Tamdu as a malting barley buyer

I moved to Highland Distillery’s Tamdhu site where I did almost everything possible during my 26 years employment.  These included Saladin box worker, maltings shift work, barley intake and analysis, Group Laboratory worker/senior lab assistant, microbiologist, conducting laboratory hygiene surveys at all sites and micromalting.  My career in management with Highland distilleries included Assistant manager /Malting manager at Tamdhu, relief manager for all sites, malting barley buyer and finally 2 years as acting manager at Highland Park.

A lot has changed since my time with Highland distilleries (now Edrington) but the sites back then (pre-1996) which I worked in on surveys and as relief manager were Tamdhu, Glenrothes, Glenglassaugh, Bunnahabhain, Glenturret Highland Park and Glengoyne.

On top of this, Bill has a degree in Biology; Membership in the Institute of Biology and Food Scientists/Technologists and had a paper on distillery bacteria published in Institute of Brewing journal (and developed a new agar medium to grow and count these bugs).  So let’s just say, Bill is quite an accomplished guy! (oh, and he was born at Dailuaine!)

As you might imagine, having been literally born into whisky and being in the business professionally for 50 years… Bill’s got some great stories.  For the first installment, Bill has decided to share the following one with us:

Clumper, the Clydesdale Horse and the Clearac

The cast: Robin Scott the horseman, Mr. Harpic the gauger (he was clean round the bend) and the horse.

When a business man founded a malt whisky distillery in the latter part of the 19th century he soon concluded that a means of transport between his distillery and the nearby railway station was critical to its success.

Enter our intrepid heroes, Clumper and his Master Robin!

Robin was a huge, ugly creature with a nose like a red pin cushion and a large black beard that some say provided a safe refuge for a large crow family.  He was frugal with his diet, which consisted of  porridge, egg, wild game, fruit and vegetables.  None of these cost anything for as well as being a born thief he was a canny Scot.  Robin would steal the pennies from the eyes of a corpse and the sugar from your tea.  Mr. Harpic, the customs and excise officer, was a dapper little Sassenach resplendent in sports jacket and flannels and homburg hat.

Clumper The Horse!

Clumper loved his oats and had a nasty habit of biting the bums of passers by who got too close to his front end. It was also somewhat foolish to venture to within firing distance of the other end when his tail was up.

The cunning plan……………………

Our intrepid thief concocted a cunning, fool-proof plan to steal Whisky galore from under Harpic’s nose.  Robin had been watching Harpic closely and had deduced that the officer was a creature of habit who shared his fellow countrymen’s addiction to tea, at 10 a.m. precisely Harpic would adjourn to the gauger’s office for refreshments. Drinking his tea at his office window he could keep a beady eye on the filling store exit.

During one such filling the bold horseman entered the filling store at 5 to 10 and filled a bucket with water from the tap and carried it out to give to Clumper, this pattern remained unchanged for several weeks before Robin began to delay his exit to coincide with Harpic’s appearance at his office window viewpoint with his tea.  His suspicions were arisen but he decided to watch and wait till the horse was offered the contents to drink.

After a further 3 weeks of Clumper obliging to consume the water Harpic became lulled into a false sense of security regarding the horseman’s motive and reduced his scrutiny of man and horse.

A Switch in time…
Robin was ready to act.

Before entering the store he concealed a bucket of water behind the cart and out of view of Harpic’s gaze.  When the gauger departed for morning tea he got his friend, Bald Rick, to fill his empty bucket with clearac and waltzed towards the horse and cart.

Glancing towards Harpic’s empty window he realized that the gauger had taken his eye of the ball and slipped behind the cart and made the switch. By the time Harpic appeared again Clumper had his head in the bucket. After his tea the gauger went back to the filling store and the intrepid duo escaped.

This ploy carried on successfully for a few weeks until one day DISASTER STRUCK.

Harpic forgot the key to his office and was forced to return to the store. Fortunately for Robin, Jock Strapp was having a smoke at the door and managed to issue a timely warning.  With a burst of speed, remarkable in one so porculent Robin switched the bucket for an empty one and proceeded to fill it with water.  The gauger collected his key and set forth to brew his cuppa.

Robin saw his chance…he switched the buckets again and strolled out of the door, clutching the Water of life.

Which only goes to show that you can take a horse to water and make it drink.

Glossary….

Clearac is New Make Spirit – unaged spirit right off the still

Gauger is an excise man,

Harpic is a brand of toilet cleaner and a Sassenach is one emanating from Englandshire.

Porculent is not a real word but it sounded right…

Bill, thanks so much for sharing your story with us!  I look forward to the next installment.