This is my first post and as new blogger. I really want to get something off my chest, so here goes.
Having worked in and photographed the hospitality industry for a number of years now. It really rattles me how lazy the "drinks brand's" have become. The generic "apple mac" and "Adobe" generation have lost all imagination where it comes to displaying their products. Don't get me wrong the latter of the two does have its uses but it just downright lazy used in this way. Dumping a generic photo of a bottle onto a back ground doesn't really cut it does it?
I had a good long hard think about it. I decided to pick one of my favourite tipples, Drambuie. I with the help of one of my good friends did some digging in to the history of the famous drink.
Here comes the History bit!
In July 1745, aged just 25 years old, Bonnie Prince Charlie, as he became known, arrived in Scotland on the island of Eriskay, ready for battle. He soon gathered together his Jacobite Army of supporters, which included the clan Chieftain Iain Dubh MacKinnon who marched from Skye with several hundred clan members, to offer his sword to the Prince. The army progressed slowly towards England with King George's army under the Duke of Cumberland advancing towards them. Reinforcements from England, Wales, and France had failed to join the Jacobites and they were forced to retreat. Back in Scotland it was now the heart of the winter with atrocious conditions as they prepared for the battle of Falkirk in which, like all the other battles in the campaign to date, the Jacobites were the victors. The Jacobite Army was then divided into two regiments, one led by Captain John MacKinnon as they travelled north. Meanwhile the government troops were raising their own support for a final and bloody confrontation at Culloden, in April 1746. Charlie's dream of heroic victory was shattered.
A ransom of £30,000 (the value of £15 million today) was offered for the capture of the young Prince. He travelled to the isle of Uist where he was given sanctuary in the Jacobite home of Flora Macdonald for a while, before sailing over the sea to Skye. As a wanted man he had to keep moving with the assistance of his loyal supporters. Captain Malcolm Macleod led Charles to the south of the island to Elgol and the home of his sister who was married to Captain John MacKinnon, of the clan who had, as we've heard, shown staunch allegiance to the Jacobite cause. With other members of his family, John MacKinnon rowed the Prince across the Sound of Sleat to Mallaig only to find themselves in enemy territory with a camp of government troops.
It was a close escape from capture, so now heading south Charles was taken to the home of Angus Macdonald of Borrodale, who ensured him safety and protection. John McKinnon's role in royal protection was now over but not without receiving heartfelt gratitude from the Prince. As a man on the run, who had lost all possessions, he had nothing to offer Mackinnon as a farewell gift except the precious recipe for his personal "eau de vie" liqueur.
John then returned to Skye where he and Iain Dubh, clan chieftain as well as Flora Macdonald and other Jacobite loyalists were finally arrested, taken to London and imprisoned to await trial. Two years later they were released and returned home, only to find that a great deal of the land and property belonging to the MacKinnon clan had been forfeited with other members of the family having fled the island. Meanwhile Bonnie Prince Charlie, knowing his fight for the crown was over, had taken the decision to flee to France, never to return home.
The gift of the Prince was preserved by the MacKinnon family, who concocted variations of the ancient recipe - which became known locally on Skye as "dram buidhe", the yellow drink, or "an Dram Buidheach", meaning the drink that satisfies.
History bit over!!
That is truly an inspiring story is it not?? You can see it now Bonnie Prince Charlie standing on the beach ready to flee for his life and in gratitude handing the recipe to MacKinnon just before he rowed the Prince across the Sound of Sleat to Mallaig.
A drink with so much history! Does it really do it justice to Photoshop it on to a computer generated background? I really don't think so?? Is it a cost related?
How do you encapsulate the spirit of Drambuie? Take it back to its roots. Here is my interpretation of the story.
