But who was Alfred Barnard and why is this book so important? Well if you're sitting comfortably, then I'll begin!
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| The legendary tome |
I should start out by saying that it seems Alfred was a private man as there isn't a huge amount known about him. (even Wikipedia is brief) Born in Thaxted, Essex on 8th May 1837, he was the sixth of seven boys and one of eight children in the family. Over the years and through several censuses we can see that he adopted varying professions from soap exporter, merchant, gentleman and journalist. He married at 22 years of age to Fanny Ruffle and they had 3 children. In 1877 we find him as a "wine merchant", an indicator of his connections to the industry and travels to come.
While he was missing from subsequent censuses, it seems that around the 1880s he became a journalist for Harper's Weekly Gazette. The Gazette doesn't name it's reporters but the first reference to Bernard is found in an 1887 where the idea of the trip to all the distilleries is mentioned.
The trip was meticulously documented, Barnard was fascinated by the process and life of the distilleries. If you read the book it's quite clear that to start with he wasn't overly familiar with distilleries or how whisky is produced, but he quickly picks this up. For me, the real joy in this book comes with his noting of all sort of things I'd never consider reporting on. For example, Dundashill distillery here in Glasgow is noted as having a dairy farm with "over four hundred milch cows" and notes that one time there were a thousand of them. He seems impressed that they were fed the draff from the distillery. It is definitely a sign of the age that he comments on their travel so frequently. Not all of it is positive, "we found the coach drive from Port Ellen to Bowmore on of the most uninteresting that we had ever experienced... Fortunately we were a large party and a merry one or we should have wearied of this dismal track long before we reached our destination."
It strikes me as noteworthy that much of his travel was done by steam train. This is something that wouldn't be possible these days, with much of the rail infrastructure having been scrapped. Not to mention the distilleries which are no longer there. Other inventions of the age which he comments on are the steam trains which were often the power sources for the distilleries. I really enjoy the narrative style of his writing and these little comments make the journey along with him all the more enjoyable.
The finished book was published during March 1887 at the price of one guinea and by all accounts was a success. Original copies of the book are still around today, I already mentioned there is one in this month's auction, but they are incredibly rare. Since then there have been other reprints of the book, the latest ones with introduction from Richard Joynson, formerly of Loch Fyne whiskies.
Barnard then took off to complete a journey of the breweries in the United Kingdom. “The kind and flattering reception, which was accorded to my work on the “Whisky Distilleries of the United
Kingdom”, prompted me to make a similar tour among the noted Breweries. The work which I now commit to the press, with becoming solicitude as to its reception, has occupied me for nearly two years, during which time I have visited the principal establishments in England, Ireland, and Scotland". He also published a couple of pamphlets on some of the larger distilleries; there is a feature on "John Walker & Sons" as well as "Dalmore - a celebrated Highland Distillery". These include photographs, providing a glimpse into the distilleries of old.
It's a shame that having completed such prolific journey, Barnard seems to have disappeared. There is very little known about his life except the odd census information and a couple of commissions for writing. It seems that life was hard for him, with family tragedies and the collapse of Harpers which lost him his livelihood and investments. He died in May 1918 and is buried in Croydon, along with his wife.
This canter through his life does not really do justice to how well put together his books are. My advice is to go out and get a copy and read for yourself the journey. Or better still, bid on an original copy in the auction.
The trip was meticulously documented, Barnard was fascinated by the process and life of the distilleries. If you read the book it's quite clear that to start with he wasn't overly familiar with distilleries or how whisky is produced, but he quickly picks this up. For me, the real joy in this book comes with his noting of all sort of things I'd never consider reporting on. For example, Dundashill distillery here in Glasgow is noted as having a dairy farm with "over four hundred milch cows" and notes that one time there were a thousand of them. He seems impressed that they were fed the draff from the distillery. It is definitely a sign of the age that he comments on their travel so frequently. Not all of it is positive, "we found the coach drive from Port Ellen to Bowmore on of the most uninteresting that we had ever experienced... Fortunately we were a large party and a merry one or we should have wearied of this dismal track long before we reached our destination."
It strikes me as noteworthy that much of his travel was done by steam train. This is something that wouldn't be possible these days, with much of the rail infrastructure having been scrapped. Not to mention the distilleries which are no longer there. Other inventions of the age which he comments on are the steam trains which were often the power sources for the distilleries. I really enjoy the narrative style of his writing and these little comments make the journey along with him all the more enjoyable.
The finished book was published during March 1887 at the price of one guinea and by all accounts was a success. Original copies of the book are still around today, I already mentioned there is one in this month's auction, but they are incredibly rare. Since then there have been other reprints of the book, the latest ones with introduction from Richard Joynson, formerly of Loch Fyne whiskies.
Barnard then took off to complete a journey of the breweries in the United Kingdom. “The kind and flattering reception, which was accorded to my work on the “Whisky Distilleries of the United
Kingdom”, prompted me to make a similar tour among the noted Breweries. The work which I now commit to the press, with becoming solicitude as to its reception, has occupied me for nearly two years, during which time I have visited the principal establishments in England, Ireland, and Scotland". He also published a couple of pamphlets on some of the larger distilleries; there is a feature on "John Walker & Sons" as well as "Dalmore - a celebrated Highland Distillery". These include photographs, providing a glimpse into the distilleries of old.
It's a shame that having completed such prolific journey, Barnard seems to have disappeared. There is very little known about his life except the odd census information and a couple of commissions for writing. It seems that life was hard for him, with family tragedies and the collapse of Harpers which lost him his livelihood and investments. He died in May 1918 and is buried in Croydon, along with his wife.
This canter through his life does not really do justice to how well put together his books are. My advice is to go out and get a copy and read for yourself the journey. Or better still, bid on an original copy in the auction.
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| Alfred Barnard |
I wonder what he would make of the industry now. Or even the trains! I think he'd be thrilled to see the way whisky tourism has bloomed and that there are many thousands of people every year who set out on their own pilgrimages to pay their respects at the distilleries of Scotland. The book ends with
"For we could do no less than drink
A glass of this immortal drink"
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