Remember the good old days? When life was simple, distillerswere dodging the excise man, and people drank whisky out of anold boot? Well, probably not the latter, but with some of theIslays (like the amazing Lagavulins last Christmas), it mightactually be interesting. And people have put their whisky inunlikelier vessels.
The classic drinking vessel for whisky is the quaich, whichcomes from the Gaelic cuach, meaning a cup or bowl.Today, one looks at quaichs with mixed emotions. They'rebeautiful, but - a little like the old boot - it is hard toimagine drinking whisky out of them. A good whisky glass tapersto a narrow opening, to enhance the aroma of the whisky.Connoisseurs (members of the Society all) know that thesquare-cut tumbler, or other "whisky" glasses withopenings as wide as the body, are for the undiscerning only.Hence, when we see a quaich, which has the shape of a shallowbowl, we wonder what sort of whisky was drunk from it.
Nonetheless, quaichs have a rich heritage in Scotland -indeed, they are a uniquely Scottish invention, having noapparent connection to any other European drinking vessel. Theywere not only for whisky; larger quaichs were used for ale andother potables. The earliest written reference to quaichs datesfrom 1546, at which time they were already well-established inScottish culture. The form and design of the traditional quaichbecame fixed during the "classic" period from 1660 to1710. Through this time, most quaichs were made from wood; it wasonly later that silver quaichs became common.
The classic wooden quaich has the shape of a gently-sloped,shallow bowl. The sides taper toward the rim, giving the quaich agraceful, elegant appearance. Handles, called "lugs",extend from the sides, and these are often covered with silver.Most quaichs have two lugs, but some had three or even four lugsspaced around the edge.
Quaichmaking was a highly regarded profession in 17th centuryScotland. Quaichmakers probably made all sorts of wooden eatingand drinking vessels, but took the name of their profession fromtheir best work, much as workers in silver and gold calledthemselves goldsmiths.
As with all things, imitation is the sincerest form offlattery. Quaichs became so highly regarded that the upper-crustjust had to have them made from precious metals. This posedsomething of a problem, since wooden quaichs are solid and quitethick at the bottom - it would be a bit difficult for a fineScottish lady to sip delicately from an solid silver ale quaichthe weight of a small boulder. The answer was to make the quaichof sheet-silver, so that the sides were of constant thickness.This allowed metal quaichs to imitate the outer form of woodenquaichs, but made the inner cavity much deeper and morebowl-like.
The earliest quaichs were single-timber, meaning that theywere made of a single piece of wood turned on a lathe. The lugswere sometimes covered with silver, providing a place forinitials. It was a passion in 17th century Scotland to place yourinitials everywhere: on your silverware, your furniture, thelintel, ceiling, and panelling of your house, and - of course -on your quaich.
In the latter part of the 17th century came the stave-builtquaich. The stave-built quaich is made of triangular staves ofwood joined together at their points. The staves are made fromdifferent types of wood, of contrasting colours, to enhance thebeauty of the finished quaich. Most quaichs have 10, 12, or 14staves, though 16 was not uncommon, and one can occasionally finda quaich with an odd number of staves (perhaps from quaichmakerswho had had one-too-many drams?). The staves may or may not be ofuniform width, and each lug is a continuation of a single stave.
The staves meet in the centre of the quaich at asmall, round plug. The staves may either come together radially,like a sunburst, or tangentially (as shown at right). Many times,the staves were also "feathered" together. This is aprocess where small slivers are cut and bent away from the sideof a stave, to fit matching cuts on the neighbouring stave (seedrawing). Usually two feathers join each pair of staves. Quaichsare held together by the feathers (if present), and by strips ofwillow (called withies) or silver bound around the outside of thestaves.
I first got to know quaichs through an exhibition atthe National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The exhibitionshowed the history of quaichs and included some amazingmodern-day reproductions. The reproductions were built by RichardBrockbank, a woodworker and artist who became interested in thechallenge of accurately recreating classic wooden quaichs.According to the National Museum, his quaichs "capture,absolutely, the proportions and essence of the originals".Not being a historical expert, I can only say that they'rebeautiful to look at.
Mr. Brockbank has reproduced two types of quaich:single-timber quaichs, and stave-built quaichs with 12 staves ofequal size. He uses a wide variety of native Scottish woods,including laburnum, cherry, apple, yew, and burr elm.
He also reproduced feathering, although this proved to be verychallenging. It requires the staves to be roughly shaped beforeassembly, so that the feathers can be accurately cut. The quaichis then assembled and finished on the lathe. Additionally, halfof the feathers have to be cut against the grain, which isdifficult with harder woods.
Quaichs are still being made today, mostly as prizes forsporting events or as objets d'art. However, most modern quaichspay only passing attention to the classical form. It isrefreshing to find a modern craftsman reproducing the classicquaichs of the 17th century. While quaichs are no longer used asdrinking vessels, except perhaps at weddings or other ceremonialoccasions, they are beautiful examples historical craftsmanshipand items of uniquely Scottish heritage.
Bradley Richards
If you're a lover of tradition, you could do worse than tocommission a quaich of your own; the cost ranges from £200 to£300. If you come by the Society offices in Switzerland, we'llbe happy to show you the quaichs that we commissioned afterseeing the exhibition at the National Museum. Or contact MrBrockbank directly: Mr. Richard Brockbank, Bay Cottage, Findhorn,Moray IV36 OYY, Scotland, UK.
If you have comments about thissite, please contact the