BRITAIN ON PAGE AND SCREEN: July 2022

Saturday 9 July 2022

ON THE TILES IN THE ISLES: WHISKY GALORE/BARRA AND PORTSOY

On 5 February 1941 the cargo ship SS Politician left Liverpool bound for the New World with a precious cargo on board: over a quarter of a million bottles of Scotch whisky. However, the good folk of Kingston Jamaica and New Orleans, the ship’s final destinations, never got to sample the delights of Scotland’s most celebrated export due to a storm which started brewing early on in the SS Politician’s journey, causing the ship to founder off Rosinish Point on the isle of Eriskay. Word quickly got round that there was an alcoholic bounty for the taking, and the islanders flocked to the scene to ‘salvage’ the whisky, with some coming from as far away as Lewis. There ensued a cat and mouse game between the ‘salvagers’ and the authorities, who were aggrieved at the loss of duty payable on the goods. The story was the inspiration for a novel by Compton Mackenzie.

There have been two films made which were based on the story of the Eriskay bounty. The first, In 1949, was made entirely on the tiny island of Barra. Barra is a fitting location, given it was the birthplace of Compton Mackenzie. Apart from its undeniable beauty, Barra’s main claim to fame is the eccentric landing experience for those arriving by plane: the plane lands on the beach. For those wishing to visit the real location of the Whisky Galore story, the ferry crossing from Barra to Eriskay takes 40 minutes.

BARRA AIRPORT ISLE OF BARRA WESTERN ISLES SCOTLAND (5040163112). Photo by calflier001, via Wikimedia Commons.

The producers of the more recent film from 2016 went much further afield for the harbour shots and the filming of the building exteriors. These were filmed at Portsoy, Aberdeenshire, on the east coast of Scotland, which became the island of Todday for the purposes of the film. This fishing village, which has the oldest harbour on the Moray Firth, is known for its Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, which takes place each year in late june. Portsoy Ice Cream proudly proclaims on its website that the stars of the film, which included Gregor Fisher and Eddie Izzard, were regular visitors to its establishment, and that it created special Whisky Galore themed ice creams for the Visit Scotland screening of the film.