Greetings and salutations folkses. 

I have recently joined a haggis group and having had a quick run through some of the posts. I am very much afraid not much of it fills me with cheer. Firstly.. And as I have come to expect I see no mention, or evidence, of the ancient Haggis. Those that are of the genus "Haggis Scottii", or to simplify, Haggis with a capital "H". Those proud ancestors of the same family groups over one hundred and eighty years of blatant commercialism have forced upon us. It saddens me greatly to see what haggis have become. Their forebears would be justifiably horrified. 

Looking, with an experienced eye, at the examples pictured here. I am afraid to say there is a distinct possibility many of todays "haggis" are not even Scottish. And I don't know how many times I have had to remind folks of the fact that tribbles are actually descended from lemmings. Specifically an isolated genetic aggregation. An offshoot of a branch, or spur, of a clan of bog lemmings found around the Gulf of Bothnia in the northern regions of the Baltic Sea. It is also true many lemming species demonstrate similar physical resemblances to some modern day haggis, as well as their antecedents. Most markedly, the blunt nose and the head merging with the body as one, so wrongly identifying them as haggis types is a common mistake. Especially if viewed from the front. But like the mass suicide of the lemmings invented by Disney. More than one supposed truth has had to be corrected over the years.

Admittedly, in the first half of the 19th century, no-one could have fortold what would become of the Haggis. As is widely known they are of unquestioningly Scottish origin, even nowadays their Scottishness has never been truly disputed. But selective breeding with other similar species, environmental control and gene manipulation, have been introduced in more than one country. These processes are/were developed to give the haggis cute little idiosyncratic tendendencies, together with a more appealing appearance. Unfortunately these somewhat radical changes to the gene pool have turned adventurous into adorable, courageous, into cute, inquisitiveness into innocence, empathy into apathy and so on.  Another side effect of those practices have led to the haggis no longer having a common language. What is left is merely a series of squeaks and purrs that mean very little to either the haggis, or us. But they sound adorable and nowadays, this is what we have come to expect of them. 

There appear to be recently acquired biologically determined characteristics in most modern haggis. But it is reasonable to assume specii do remain whose genes are more closely related to the original strain. And as a result they display more of the traits of their ancestors. Albeit with a sprinkling of some of the attributes mentioned above. But very many hybrid haggis hail from other nations. Primarily Celtic and Scandinavian countries. This is evident in many of your pictures. Proving beyond a doubt that the evolution of the modified species has come about not quite naturally. The anatomical changes alone would have taken much longer to evolve than the one hundred and eighty years or so since the last true Haggis roamed freely the five regions of Scotland they called home. A case in point being the broody haggis mentioned in one post. These particular creatures are actually demonstrating an inherited characteristic of what are broadly considered to be a Welsh spur from the lower reaches of Yr Wyddfa (Mt. Snowdon). It may also be prudent to mention Haggis aren't mammals. The wee beasties originating from Wales are. Might I also point out, female Haggis only ever had one offspring in their somewhat lengthy life cycle.

Contd. after the pic.

Burabhal North Uist

Burabhal, North Uist, home to a small isolated Barr (clan) of ancient Haggis in the Western Isles.

Please note:- I am not trying to be confrontational or disrepectful to your good selves. You have been brought up to believe haggis are what they are. The process of cutifying started long before any of you were born. In actual fact it became common practice during the early days of Queen Victoria's reign. Back then it was considered de rigueur for gentlemen of a certain class to visit the Highlands and Lowlands of Scotland for shooting parties. An unavoidable side-effect of these get togethers was that Haggis and humans came to occupy the same territory on a much more regular basis. Previously it was only shepherds and hillsmen who knew of the Haggis and they considered it only right to let them be. Haggis were held to be shy of man, but they did have an inquisitive streak that sometimes brought both species into direct contact. There is even a tale, related to me, of one particular Haggis from the Scottish Lowlands whose inquisitiveness brought him into contact with one of these entitled visitors only fifty or sixty years ago. This particular interaction resulted in tragedy for the poor beastie and ostracism from polite society for the "gentleman". Unfortunately it is not given to me to narrate that particular story, being as it got lost in a crashed computer.

Anyway. I digress... As a result of these sporting gentlemen's new found predeliction for wandering Scottish moors and hillsides taking potshots at anything that moved. It was inevitible the two species were going to come together. I am of the strongly held belief it is very likely many Haggis fell before the guns. A sad happenstance indeed, as this onslaught was the primary reason Haggis took to hiding from mankind once and for all. By the time the sporting types got round all of the Haggis habitats. They were gone. Never to be seen again except by those shepherds and hill folks who knew of their ways and did not wish them any harm. Neither does it help that Scotland's moors still echo to the bark of the shotgun today. But to get back to the point of this particular paragraph the meeting of man and Haggis was inescapable. And not every Haggis fell victim to the Wesley Richards and Holland and Hollands of the day. Some were captured using nets and snares to be relocated to the homes of the shooters. Ostensibly as pets for Victorian children. By all accounts Haggis did not make good pets and they weren't particularly cute. Not every small furry/hairy creature is. Moreover it is beyond any doubt not being appealing didn't concern the Haggis in any way. And so the changing started....

I am not going to offend any of your sensibilities by going into any of the detail, but the final outcome is what we see today. Apparently healthy examples of multiple, biological derivations, of the original species.... This is not necessarily a bad thing as they appear to be hale and hearty and not withstanding, they keep the towrists happy. So who am I to judge?

To finish... Are the ancient Haggis still with us?   Yes. 

                 Are we likely to see one?   If you're very, very, very lucky, but probably not.

                 Lastly and most importantly.   Do they still dwell in Scotland? Very much so.

 

Copyright:- L A Maclennan, Professor Emeritus in Haggis Mythology & Leg-end, University of Droontandrookit, Inverness, Scotland.....1998-2024

Rogie Falls

The forest surrounding Rogie Falls in the Highlands. Haggis would have found this an ideal habitat in the past and perhaps still do.

On Furry Shooglies

I mentioned furry shooglies in another post last night. Unfortunately without much in the way of explanation. so here find a short description...
Furry Shooglies hail from the Western Isles. Originally from Scandinavia, as they are believed to have come over with the vikings. In Norway and Finland they evolved into lemming types While those that arrived in the Western Isles didn't evolve any further. The small numbers here on the mainland came by way of Calmac Ferries and the odd fishing/cargo boat. Back in the day I spent a couple of years working  on a small coaster, running out of Ardrossan. We travelled up through the He-brides on a regular basis and would occasionally see the odd shooglie nipping under a hatch tarpaulin or under a winch. Being very adept at concealing themselves, we're fairly sure some of them didn't actually leave the ship, but remained hidden until we returned to their home port, leaving the boat when the coast was clear. It's entirely possible they didn't want to leave their home island in the first place, but it seems they'd get caught up in the lifts whilst hiding amongst cargo on the pier.
Once again I digress... The females are covered in thick shortish dark brown fur, rather like the Scottish wildcat with a covering of shiny red scales along their chest and belly. The males are of similar appearance but with yellow scales underneath. Males are also particularly hard to find being as they are few and far between. Averaging a ratio of one adult male to every twelve females.
While any juvenile males, who have pale orange scales, stay with the female group they're born into. Adult males are solitary creatures only coming together with females during the mating season. Both sexes are long and slim, 18-20 inches long, about half a draft excluder, slightly flattened and around five inches across. Although their thick fur does have them look bulky. They are not great in number in the He-brides and even less so on the mainland Over population not being an issue as the male will only mate with one female a year.
As mentioned previously they tend to be quite nervous beasties. Prone to ducking into the smallest hidey hole, if anything/anybody comes near. In the Western Isles they use rabbit runs and frequently rabbit warrens to get around the moorland and on the machair. Their colouring making them particularly hard to spot as they dart through the undergrowth. A flash of bright red or yellow may be all most folks get to see of them. Another interesting observation being that shooglies won't cross any of the causeways built to join many of the Outer Hebrides over relatively recent years. It is not known why and any explanation is likely to be a guess at best, but it may simply be the traffic.
Incidentally... You may meet the odd charlatan (usually a Continental) who claims to have seen a metric shooglie in France and/or the Low Countries. They're pulling your whatsit. There is no such thing as a metric shooglie. They are imaginary creatures invented by Continental chancers who have yet to present any evidence to back up their claims. So have a furry shooglie good day folks...
Rabbit/Shooglie run North Uist

A rabbit/shooglie warren on North Uist. The Oystercatcher serves as a lookout.

I have to apologise to all you folks. I haven't told you why shooglies are named as such. Firstly they're only called shooglies in Scotland. Better known as Ravistaa in Scandinavia. When they walk/run a ripple moves from left to right down the length of their bodies. This ripple effect only affects the upper two thirds of their torsos and makes them look like they're shaking from side to side slightly when on the move. Hence Shooglies (from the Scottish verb "to shoogle".

There you go...