Prohibition in Scotland?

A prohibition in Scotland? Surely not, I hear you say. Oh yes, indeed there was - and it lasted eleven years longer than prohibition in the U.S.A.

When you think of prohibition, often America and the Roaring Twenties springs to mind – the era of speakeasies, gangsters and bootleggers. However, it may surprise some to know that prohibition was not limited to the shores of America, and that Scotland, known worldwide for its whisky production, also experienced its own period of prohibition.

And it started with the Temperance Movement…

The Rise of the Temperance Movement

Scotland’s first official temperance society was formed in Greenock in 1829 and others followed shortly after with the movement gaining huge momentum by the 1850s. They were driven by the perceived link between poverty and alcohol consumption and a growing concern on the effects of alcohol on safety, family life and society.

The focus was on reducing consumption of strong or ‘ardent’ spirits (read, whisky) rather than beer or wine, with campaigners targeting Glasgow, a city whose population was swelling due to its heavy industrial activity and where there was one pub for every 160 people.

At the time whisky was being produced and consumed on a mass scale in Scotland due in part to the fact that the duty on whisky had been halved and invention of the column or continuous still leading to a huge increase in consumption.

The Temperance Act 1913

The work of the societies devoted to complete abstinence were highly regarded for their influence on social reform and soon gained political leverage with the Liberal Party winning the general election in 1906, snagging 80% of the Scottish seats.

The Liberal Party soon brought in legislation that allowed communities to veto consumption.

The Temperance Act 1913 deferred power to small local authorities granting the right to hold a poll on whether their area remained ‘Wet’ or went ‘Dry’ i.e., to decide to whether alcoholic drinks should be permitted or prohibited.

From the 1920s, under the terms of the Act various polls were held which resulted in just a few districts adopting prohibition. Glasgow residents ultimately escaped the ban, but other districts weren’t so lucky. The most noteworthy were Wick, Kilsyth, Kirkintilloch and Lerwick.

Wick

Wick is perhaps the most interesting of these.

In the early 20th century, Wick was the largest herring fishing port in Europe. Herring, or ‘Silver Darlings’ as they were known, were an extremely lucrative catch as the British government had begun to pay bounties on boats and the catch. This resulted in a huge influx of fishermen looking for work and soon the small harbour town’s population almost quadrupled.

After long shifts, the workers would frequent the many pubs and licenced bars of Wick, which unfortunately for the permanent residents, meant around-the-clock drunken and ‘uncouth’ behaviour spilling out into the streets.

So, in 1922, after the poll was successfully introduced, the residents cast their votes and Wick became ‘dry’. Every pub in town was boarded up and the local distillery, Pulteney Distillery, was closed for business.

However, this ban led inevitably to illicit drinking and distillation with at least two illegal stills in operation. The quality and consistency of the new-make was questionable but customers were just happy to get what they could.

Sherry casks were difficult to come by and three years to mature in a barrel was out of the question. The bootleggers had to be resourceful. To give the new-make spirit an acceptable colour they would singe white sugar in a spoon over a fire till it turned a suitable brown and then stirred this into the brew.

Repeal and Aftermath

The prohibition era in Scotland began to crumble as its shortcomings became increasingly evident. By the late 1930s, many local bans had been lifted due to public demand and economic pressure and by the time World War II rolled around, was being seen as increasingly irrelevant as most men were leaving for the battlefields.

Eventually, the government abandoned the idea of enforcing local bans and focussed instead on regulation and licensing.

Legacy

Prohibition left an impact on Scotland. It revealed the challenges of trying to regulate and restrict alcohol consumption and raised questions about individual freedoms and government control.

Now, over 100 years after the Temperance Act, a proposed ban on alcohol advertising is currently under consultation by the Scottish government, which some have viewed as a herald to the beginning of a modern-day age of temperance, prohibition even.

I’m not sure I agree that we’re at and the dawn of a new prohibition but it’s impossible not to draw parallels between the social issues that spurred the original temperance movements and the social issues around alcohol today.