Odds & Ends of Scottish information

THIS PAGE CONTAINS ODD & ENDS OF SCOTTISH INFORMATION THAT BEGIN WITH THE LETTER
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NEEPS

NEEPS - turnips, swedes or rutabaga, depending on where you are when you are reading this - is one of the traditional accompaniments to haggis on Burns Night.

The neeps are normally served mashed - but on their own, not mashed in with the tatties. Whilst most folk willsimply mash the neeps unadorned, some will add butter or even herbs.

The story goes that neeps - or brassica rapa - were introduced to Scotland by Patrick Miller, an entrepreneur and director of the Bank of Scotland, and the man who brought the threshing mill and drill plough to Scotland.

Miller, who lived at Dalswinton, a Nithsdale village in Dumfries and Gallowy, was also responsible for a couple of "firsts", he designed an arnament called the carronade, which was used in battle against the French navy and in 1788, launched the world's first steamboat, on Dalswinton Loch.

Miller was also Robert Burns's landlord.

King Gustav of Sweden supposedly sent the neep seeds tp Miller, hence turnpis are called "swedes" south of the border.

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