Synopsis
Whisky - the water of life, perhaps Scotland's best known contribution to the world. Muse - goddess of creative endeavour. The Whisky Muse - the spark of inspiration to many of Scotland's great poets and songwriters. This is a collection of the best poems and songs, both old and new, on the subject of that great Scottish love, whisky. Brought together by Robin Laing, a highly respected Scottish folk-singer and songwriter, and based on his one-man show - "The Angel's Share", it combines two of his passions - folk song and whisky. Each poem and song is accompanied by fascinating additional information, and the book is full of sundry other interesting tit-bits on the process of whisky-making. Various themes emerge from Scottish whisky poems and songs that reflect the pleasures (and medicinal benefits) of imbibing this most beloved of spirits as well as the unfortunate consequences of overindulgence, the centuries of religious disapproval, the temperance movement and the exciseman. The Scots are a musical nation renowned for the warmth of their hospitality and the tendency to assert the superiority of their whisky over any other in the world.
The stories told here are lubricated by warmth and companionship as well as a dram. Slainte.
