Scottish pork taboo
Encyclopedia
The Scottish pork taboo was Donald Alexander Mackenzie
's phrase for discussing an aversion to pork amongst Scots
, particularly Highlanders
, which he believed to stem from an ancient taboo
. Several writers who confirm that there was a prejudice against pork
, or a superstitious attitude to pigs, do not see it in terms of a taboo related to an ancient cult. Any prejudice is generally agreed to have been fading by 1800. Some writers attribute a scarcity or dislike of pork in certain periods to a shortage of pig fodder.
ic mercenaries
, influenced by the cult
of Attis
in Anatolia
. (The cult of Attis did not abstain permanently from pork; it was a purification for their ceremonies.)
He dismissed any possibility that the pork taboo originated from a literal reading of the Bible, and disputed this with various arguments, noting that early Christian missionaries did not snub pork. He conceded that there was archaeological evidence of pigs being eaten in prehistoric Scotland, but suggested this might have come from pork-eating peoples living near others who did observe the taboo, or be related to ceremonial use of pigs. Later pork production was for export, not for local use, just as eels were caught to send to the English market, while they were unacceptable as food in Scotland. The taboo died out in the Lowlands earlier than in the Highlands.
Other Folklorists, such as Isabel Grant, have accepted this theory of a taboo.
Walter Scott
referred to Scottish Highlanders' dislike of pork in more than one book, and around 1814 explained that
Scott's remark that Ben Jonson
"recorded" the king's aversion to pork in his masque
The Gipsies Metamorphosed, when the king has his hand read
, is based on these words:
Samuel Johnson
found an "abhorrence" of pork and bacon on Skye
in the 1770s.
Mackenzie suggested that a verse in the English satirical song The Brewer from A Collection of Loyal Songs referred to the taboo:
He believed that this, and other comments associating Scots with Jews, confirm the existence of the taboo, but have nothing to do with its origin.
He described a superstition about touching or saying "cauld airn" (cold iron) when pigs are mentioned. This was discussed by Dean Ramsay
, and is also included in Walter McGregor's Notes on the folk-lore of the north-east of Scotland (Folklore Society 1881).
Mackenzie disagreed with Edward Burt, whose Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland (1754) discusses an “aversion” to pork in the Highlands, but says it is not “superstitious”.
's History of Scotland talks of "our cuntrie peple" having "lytle plesure" in pork in the 1570s.
At least four ministers writing about their parishes for the Statistical Accounts of Scotland
in the 1790s speak of a prejudice which is starting to fade: for instance, "The deep rooted prejudice against swine's flesh is now removed: most of the farmers rear some of that species, which not 30 years ago, they held in the utmost detestation." (Ardchattan, County of Argyle
) Account of 1791-99
, volume 6, page 177)
20th century historian Christopher Smout
speaks of a "a universal superstitious prejudice".
An archaeological survey of pork consumption in Scotland by the Society of Antiquities in Scotland in 2000 states: "Whether there is any archaeological evidence of this prejudice against pigs, for whatever reason, is open to question." and that "During the medieval period, it has been noted that rural sites contained more pig bones than urban sites, and that the lowest relative frequencies come from the most southerly of the burghs considered, Peebles and Perth. This contradicts the notion that it was the ‘Highlanders’ who abhorred pork, unless it is assumed that, despite this dislike, they continued to produce it for sale to others."
published his thoughts in the Scotsman
letters pages (8 October 1921) as part of a long-running debate arising from D. A. Mackenzie's lecture in 1920. While agreeing there had been a "sporadic prejudice" against pork in parts of Scotland, and offering illustrations of this, he was against the idea of a link to a "religious cult". He saw economic factors at work between 1500 and 1800 which would discourage pig-keeping. He cited several examples of pork consumption in the Middle Ages, and described a "temporary lapse" when "the great forests disappeared from Scotland".
In 1983 the American anthropologist Eric B. Ross put forward arguments based on a detailed study of Scottish agricultural history , and asserted the value of cultural materialism
rooted in evolutionary anthropology
for studying dietary customs, thus avoiding explanations based on "relatively esoteric" beliefs. Because of deforestation there was a loss of beech mast and acorns for feeding pigs, and it was not until the late 18th century that potatoes were produced in sufficient quantity to offer a useful alternative. Throughout this gap in pork consumption by the general population, many of the Scottish upper classes continued to eat the meat.
Donald Alexander Mackenzie
Donald Alexander Mackenzie was a Scottish journalist and folklorist and prolific writer on religion, mythology and anthropology in the early 20th century.-Life & Career:...
's phrase for discussing an aversion to pork amongst Scots
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, particularly Highlanders
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
, which he believed to stem from an ancient taboo
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
. Several writers who confirm that there was a prejudice against pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
, or a superstitious attitude to pigs, do not see it in terms of a taboo related to an ancient cult. Any prejudice is generally agreed to have been fading by 1800. Some writers attribute a scarcity or dislike of pork in certain periods to a shortage of pig fodder.
Donald Mackenzie's ideas
He gave a lecture on the Scottish pork taboo in 1920 when he explained his idea that prejudices against pork-eating could be traced back to a centuries-old religious cult. When he published these theories in the 1930s he suggested the taboo was imported to Scotland in pre-Roman times by CeltCelt
The Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic mercenaries
Mercenary
A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...
, influenced by the cult
Cult
The word cult in current popular usage usually refers to a group whose beliefs or practices are considered abnormal or bizarre. The word originally denoted a system of ritual practices...
of Attis
Attis
Attis was the consort of Cybele in Phrygian and Greek mythology. His priests were eunuchs, as explained by origin myths pertaining to Attis and castration...
in Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
. (The cult of Attis did not abstain permanently from pork; it was a purification for their ceremonies.)
He dismissed any possibility that the pork taboo originated from a literal reading of the Bible, and disputed this with various arguments, noting that early Christian missionaries did not snub pork. He conceded that there was archaeological evidence of pigs being eaten in prehistoric Scotland, but suggested this might have come from pork-eating peoples living near others who did observe the taboo, or be related to ceremonial use of pigs. Later pork production was for export, not for local use, just as eels were caught to send to the English market, while they were unacceptable as food in Scotland. The taboo died out in the Lowlands earlier than in the Highlands.
Other Folklorists, such as Isabel Grant, have accepted this theory of a taboo.
Writers cited by Mackenzie
In addition to proposing ideas developed from studying the mythology and folk-lore of Scotland and other cultures, Mackenzie quoted writers of the 18th and 19th centuries.Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
referred to Scottish Highlanders' dislike of pork in more than one book, and around 1814 explained that
Pork or swine’s flesh, in any shape, was, till of late years, much abominated by the Scotch, nor is it yet a favourite food amongst them. King JamieJames I of EnglandJames VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
carried this prejudice to England, and is known to have abhorred pork almost as much as he did tobacco.
Scott's remark that Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
"recorded" the king's aversion to pork in his masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
The Gipsies Metamorphosed, when the king has his hand read
Chiromancy
Palmistry or chiromancy , is the art of characterization and foretelling the future through the study of the palm, also known as palm reading, or chirology. The practice is found all over the world, with numerous cultural variations...
, is based on these words:
You should, by this line,
Love a horse and a hound, but no part of a swine.
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...
found an "abhorrence" of pork and bacon on Skye
Skye
Skye or the Isle of Skye is the largest and most northerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate out from a mountainous centre dominated by the Cuillin hills...
in the 1770s.
It is not very easy to fix the principles upon which mankind have agreed to eat some animals, and reject others; and as the principle is not evident, it is not uniform. […] The vulgar inhabitants of Sky, I know not whether of the other islands, have not only eels, but pork and bacon in abhorrence, and accordingly I never saw a hog in the Hebrides, except one at Dunvegan.
Mackenzie suggested that a verse in the English satirical song The Brewer from A Collection of Loyal Songs referred to the taboo:
The Jewish Scots that scorn to eat
The flesh of swine and Brewer's beat
'Twas the sight of this hogshead made 'em retreat
Which nobody can deny!
He believed that this, and other comments associating Scots with Jews, confirm the existence of the taboo, but have nothing to do with its origin.
He described a superstition about touching or saying "cauld airn" (cold iron) when pigs are mentioned. This was discussed by Dean Ramsay
Edward Bannerman Ramsay
Edward Bannerman Ramsay , a clergyman of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and Dean of Edinburgh in that communion from 1841, has a place in literature through his Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character, which had gone through 22 editions at his death...
, and is also included in Walter McGregor's Notes on the folk-lore of the north-east of Scotland (Folklore Society 1881).
Among the many superstitious notions and customs prevalent among the lower orders of the fishing towns on the east coast of Fife, till very recently, that class entertained a great horror of swine . . . .
Mackenzie disagreed with Edward Burt, whose Letters from a Gentleman in the North of Scotland (1754) discusses an “aversion” to pork in the Highlands, but says it is not “superstitious”.
Other writers referring to a prejudice against pork
Bishop John LesleyJohn Lesley
John Lesley was a Scottish Roman Catholic bishop and historian. His father was Gavin Lesley, rector of Kingussie, Badenoch.-Early career:...
's History of Scotland talks of "our cuntrie peple" having "lytle plesure" in pork in the 1570s.
At least four ministers writing about their parishes for the Statistical Accounts of Scotland
Statistical Accounts of Scotland
The Statistical Accounts of Scotland are three series of documentary publications covering life in Scotland in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries....
in the 1790s speak of a prejudice which is starting to fade: for instance, "The deep rooted prejudice against swine's flesh is now removed: most of the farmers rear some of that species, which not 30 years ago, they held in the utmost detestation." (Ardchattan, County of Argyle
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
) Account of 1791-99
Statistical Accounts of Scotland
The Statistical Accounts of Scotland are three series of documentary publications covering life in Scotland in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries....
, volume 6, page 177)
20th century historian Christopher Smout
Christopher Smout
Thomas Christopher Smout CBE, FBA, FRSE, is a Scottish academic, historian, author and Historiographer Royal in Scotland.-Career:Smout taught at the University of Edinburgh, from 1959 until 1980...
speaks of a "a universal superstitious prejudice".
An archaeological survey of pork consumption in Scotland by the Society of Antiquities in Scotland in 2000 states: "Whether there is any archaeological evidence of this prejudice against pigs, for whatever reason, is open to question." and that "During the medieval period, it has been noted that rural sites contained more pig bones than urban sites, and that the lowest relative frequencies come from the most southerly of the burghs considered, Peebles and Perth. This contradicts the notion that it was the ‘Highlanders’ who abhorred pork, unless it is assumed that, despite this dislike, they continued to produce it for sale to others."
Two writers disputing Donald Mackenzie's theories
The historian William Mackay MackenzieWilliam Mackay Mackenzie
William Mackay Mackenzie was a Scottish historian, archaeologist and writer, who was Secretary of the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland between 1913 and 1935, and also an expert on folk-lore. He was born in Cromarty, graduated MA at Edinburgh University and taught...
published his thoughts in the Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
letters pages (8 October 1921) as part of a long-running debate arising from D. A. Mackenzie's lecture in 1920. While agreeing there had been a "sporadic prejudice" against pork in parts of Scotland, and offering illustrations of this, he was against the idea of a link to a "religious cult". He saw economic factors at work between 1500 and 1800 which would discourage pig-keeping. He cited several examples of pork consumption in the Middle Ages, and described a "temporary lapse" when "the great forests disappeared from Scotland".
In 1983 the American anthropologist Eric B. Ross put forward arguments based on a detailed study of Scottish agricultural history , and asserted the value of cultural materialism
Cultural materialism
The term Cultural materialism refers to two separate scholarly endeavours:* Cultural materialism — an anthropological research paradigm championed most notably by Marvin Harris....
rooted in evolutionary anthropology
Evolutionary anthropology
Evolutionary anthropology is the interdisciplinary study of evolution of human physiology and human behaviour and the relation between hominids and non-hominid primates. Evolutionary anthropology is based in natural science and social science...
for studying dietary customs, thus avoiding explanations based on "relatively esoteric" beliefs. Because of deforestation there was a loss of beech mast and acorns for feeding pigs, and it was not until the late 18th century that potatoes were produced in sufficient quantity to offer a useful alternative. Throughout this gap in pork consumption by the general population, many of the Scottish upper classes continued to eat the meat.
"In the years of the eighteenth century and probably earlier, swine were rarely raised in Scotland, particularly in the Scottish Highlands, and subsequent writers have gone so far as to postulate the operation of a taboo on the eating of pork. Unfortunately there is almost nothing known today about local sentiments of that era, and we have only the intellectual rationalizations of educated writers who all too easily found an explanation for the scarcity of pigs in the assumption that a 'foolish prejudice' was at work."
Further reading
- Donald A. Mackenzie, Wonder Tales from Scottish Myth and Legend - Introduction: "...pigs were, it seems, sacred animals..."
- Donald A. Mackenzie, Egyptian Myth and Legend, chapter 5: "The Devil Pig in Egypt and Scotland"
- A Collection of Loyal Songs