Food from the shielings

Made in Scotland A Taste of Summer from the Shielings

By Wendy Barrie Scottish Thistle Award Regional Ambassador (2018/19) for Central, Tayside & Fife Director of Scottish Food Guide

Scotland’s land use has been a particularly hot topic recently as the fragility of world trade in grain, energy and fertiliser has raised questions about food security and agriculture. Interesting times ahead and an opportunity to rethink parts of our food system?

For some, only the newest, brightest and most technologically advanced methodology will do. For others, working around low-tech solutions gives great satisfaction with minimal outlay. I recall a few years ago when we had ordered a log cooker for our studio, I was chatting with colleagues at a meeting break and showed them the stove on my phone (as you do) whereupon another attendee, who had not been privy to the conversation, glanced at the photo and said, “You can get those converted to oil, you know.” I think it fair to say he is of the former camp and I of the latter! Incidentally, the stove works a treat and bakes beautifully on free driftwood.

Much of world food production today involves more inputs than the outputs achieved – and at great cost to both farmer and planet. Food is often seen as a commodity rather than a nutritious

flavoursome, albeit essential, pleasure to be valued. So what can we learn from our forefathers? Granted industrialisation brought in labour saving devices but a lot was lost at the altar of convenience and efficiency, and perhaps it’s time to revisit some of these farming practices. How about shielings?

Only those interested in the history of Scottish food culture will have ever heard of the shielings for they are long gone. These were summer hamlets where animals were taken to graze over the warmer months, normally journeying on hoof for up to a day away from the home farm. This seasonal cycle had many advantages: the upper meadows, outlying coastal machair or bogland flourished in the extended hours of northern daylight, providing bountiful and nutritious herbage. These in turn added a wonderful richness and flavour to the ruminants’ diet, resulting in sought-after summer produce in the form of meat and dairy products.

Shielings also had the benefit of shifting animals from the inby pastures of the farm that were essential for hay production. Once the animals were settled, some family members would remain on the shieling for the season whilst the farmer returned home to take care of other tasks. They were simple dwellings, grouped together, where the family slept and made their products.

Transhumance is the name given to this shieling culture across the world, the seasonal cyclical movement of people and animals. In parts of Europe transhumance still exists: with shielings known as säter or sæter in Norway, fäbod in Sweden and alm in the alpine regions across mainland Europe. In these countries, consumers value the superior produce and are prepared to pay a premium price for it. It can also generate income for the rural economy through food tourism. There may be those who think that such an invasion is to be discouraged but interestingly, where we have seen it done with great success, it has been carried out within clear boundaries as a positive initiative for the region. Besides, tourists who wish to experience a taste of the shielings generally only leave their footprints and care about the environment. This success and growth in popularity in mainland Europe could hopefully encourage others to follow suit.

In Scotland, only the ruins of an occasional building still remain where once there was thriving and environmental food production… but it could return if there was a will to do so and there are a couple of interesting developments.

One such initiative is The Shieling Project, set up to offer youngsters the opportunity to experience shieling life, in a modest way. Although students are but visitors they can stay in specially designed cabins, live close to nature and take part in small-scale rural crofting activities with several animals to tend and skills to learn. They can experience the benefits of biodiversity and learn about past shieling life. They even take a walk to where the summer grazing was, to feel first hand what the journey would have been like. Whilst not transhumance, it is a positive project to enlighten a new generation to future possibilities and I’m sure it will inspire some to work with nature.

In the parish of Ness, at the northernmost point on Lewis, lives crofter Donald Macsween, known to all as Sweeny of Air An Lot. He recalls his grandfather using their shieling in the traditional way. About a mile and a half across rugged moorland from the home croft, it was an arduous walk over rough terrain and took quite a while for both crofter and cattle to reach. With no road access, it is a challenge to this day but Sweeny is harnessing technology to gain the benefits of this summer grazing without clambering over the roadless bog – by collaring his cattle! Using GPS-collars combined with an app, the animals can graze with ‘virtual’ fencing. The tagging system allows the cattle to roam without Sweeny having to live alongside them, and he can check on them from a computer screen or tablet anywhere with a connection. Come summer, if he wants to follow them more closely, he can also use a drone.

The meat quality of his Highlanders should be exceptional with such island terroir. He also has Blackface, Hebridean and Shetland sheep on his croft that he sells to islanders and by mail order. He hopes to have some pork available by autumn, ”If the boar does his job properly.” In addition to his shieling, Sweeny has common grazing associated with crofting rights and it is heartening to see a new generation of crofters giving life to the Hebrides instead of the depopulation some islands suffer from.

There were many shielings on Lewis, as there were all across highland Scotland. Not far from Sweeny is Cuishader, another shieling coming to life, where, since 2010, there has been local activity and some shelters erected once again for crofting families to share down time together. Not quite summer grazing or milking cattle (yet) but certainly fishing, living off grid and taking a break from life’s daily rhythm. These locals return regularly to reconnect, living simply and enjoying nature. Unlike Sweeny’s family shieling, this one is accessible by car as it is connected to a road used to reach the peat banks. The existence of a track, even a rustic one, is quite a game changer.

Some may find it scandalous to link the ancient food culture of transhumance with something as fickle as tourism but when you consider it, the latter can be the saviour of the former where shieling produce commands a high price. Indeed think of food tourism as a mindful learning journey, supporting rural communities whilst sharing the most wonderful experiences and possibly, as we have, making friends for life along the way.