This is the first book on what is Scotland’s oldest industry since the publication of my own on the subject, published in 1987. For centuries salt has been made in Scotland by evaporating sea water – hence the term ‘marine salt’. The heyday of the industry was from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. After that it declined then shut down altogether in the 1950s. In the early twenty first century however there has been a revival of salt manufacturing in Scotland – on Skye, on the Ayrshire coast and in Fife and elsewhere. Scottish salt is now a luxury product, sold mainly in delicatessens, although some is finding a use in butter as well as ice cream.
Salt: Scotland’s Newest Oldest Industry brings the story of salt making in Scotland up to date. But it’s a multi-authored volume that presents new findings on the industry’s history. Archaeology has been important in this regard, but traditional historical sources too have been used, to deepen and widen our knowledge of the industry and its workers. Brought into the picture too are salt officers who collected the duties payable on salt and who fought an ongoing battle with saltwork employees who took every opportunity to steal and sell tax free salt.
