Sam Heughan’s Sassenach whisky in spotlight display at The Great Tapestry of Scotland
The Outlander star’s whisky and Clanlands book will feature alongside Claire’s biscuits as part of the historic exhibition in the Scottish Borders.
An award-winning charity-led national visitor centre has today (Monday 23 March) unveiled a new spotlight display featuring a bottle of The Sassenach Whisky from Galloway Distillery and a signed copy of Clanlands donated by actor Sam Heughan, co-founder of the distillery.
It celebrates how creative storytelling platforms such as Outlander and The Great Tapestry of Scotland have given people, including Sam himself, unique opportunities to share their own Scottish stories, their own way.
Highlighting the role that true and moving accounts from Scotland’s past have played in inspiring all forms of art, the Ode to Jacobites display can be viewed at The Great Tapestry of Scotland culture centre in Galashiels, the heartland of the Scottish Borders, until 16 May.
The display includes a signed copy of Sam Heughan’s Clanlands book, which he personally dedicated to The Great Tapestry of Scotland centre to mark its opening Iconic Scotland exhibit.
Speaking at that time he said: “Please check out the wonderful Great Tapestry of Scotland - honoured to feature alongside so many great Scottish personalities that have influenced Scotland. It’s a country and culture I’m proud of and continue to promote in everything I do.”
Located in the once thriving textile region of the Scottish Borders, The Great Tapestry of Scotland visitor centre was purpose built to house one of the nation’s most important examples of documentary heritage, which preserves the collective stories and memories of people from across the nation.
Revealing Scottish history and culture as experienced, as well as shaped, by its people, the Tapestry tells the stories of key events, alongside panels reflecting ordinary lives, such as millworkers and herring girls, through 160 panels handstitched by over 1,000 people across Scotland.
This storytelling ethos is at the heart of the new spotlight display. Speaking at its unveiling, Great Tapestry of Scotland centre director Sandy Maxwell-Forbes said: “We’re thrilled to celebrate the role that creative storytelling platforms such as Outlander and The Great Tapestry of Scotland play in allowing people to tell their own Scottish stories their own way.
“Just like Diana Gabaldon, the stitchers of our Jacobite Rising panels truly immersed themselves in the history behind the design.
“They researched personal accounts of the time, as recorded in words, art and song, and visited some of the places featured in the panels like Culloden, which is a profoundly moving site. What began as embroidery became a personal journey into the lives and losses of those caught up in one of Scotland’s most defining stories.
“Series like Outlander clearly bring Scotland’s history, heritage, and culture to life for new audiences. Indeed, when we conducted a YouGov survey of adults across Scotland in 2020, even 7% of those who said they knew ‘a lot’ about Scottish history, believed Jamie Fraser, immortalised in the series, was a real Scottish clan chief.
“Of course, he is fictional, but his story is inspired by the real experiences of Jacobite soldiers who survived the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
“We invite everyone to learn more about the soldiers’ compelling story, alongside many more, as told through The Great Tapestry of Scotland, and for those who are over 18 to take home a true taste of the past with The Sassenach Whisky and the delicious new Claire’s Biscuits from Alex Dalgetty and Sons Artisan Bakers.”
Alex Dalgetty and Sons, who have been baking in the Scottish Borders since ‘echoes of Jacobite history were still part of everyday conversation’, handcrafted the aptly named delicious honey and ginger biscuits.
The bakery, based in Galashiels, specialises in traditional recipes to create world famous products such as The Original Selkirk Bannock and the Black Bun.
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Owner Craig Murray said: “As a fifth-generation Scottish artisan bakery, preserving our heritage and staying true to traditions that date back to the 1800s is incredibly important to me.
“Our recipes have been passed down through families who lived and worked in these landscapes long before us, in a time when the echoes of Jacobite history were still part of everyday conversation.
“We have created Claire’s Biscuits, in collaboration with The Great Tapestry of Scotland visitor centre, to celebrate the rich Scottish storytelling traditions that keep these moments in time alive. They reflect the idea that baking, like the Tapestry itself, is about passing stories from one generation to the next.”
The Great Tapestry of Scotland centre is home to two galleries, a café, workshop space and shop. The Ode to Jacobites display is on the first floor, next to panels 58 and 60, which tell the stories of the Jacobite Risings.
The retail shop stocks a range of gifts and books, including Outlander, Clanlands and Outlander's Guide to Scotland, and is now an official stockist of The Sassenach Whisky and Dalgetty’s Claire’s biscuits.
Also on display in the retail area will be contributions from actors Sam Heughan, and former Galashiels Academy pupil Grant O’Rourke (who played the popular character Rupert in the first three Outlander series) taken from the centre’s opening Iconic Scotland exhibition.
The centre, which is managed by Live Borders (a charity which operates culture, heritage and leisure facilities across the Scottish Borders), has received numerous awards including the South of Scotland Thistle Award for Inclusion and a Tripadvisor Traveller’s Choice Award, is currently open Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30am, last entry 3:30pm (doors close 5pm). Closed Sunday and Monday.
For more information or to book a visit go to greattapestryofscotland.com
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