Scotland owes much of its whiskey know-how to a guild of medical practitioners that famously served Scottish royal families for centuries.
The Beaton Medical Kindred also known as Clann Meic bethad or Clan MacBeth, were a kindred of professional physicians that practiced medicine in the classical Gaelic tradition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Era.
The Beatons emigrated from Ireland to Scotland in the fourteenth century, where there members were believed to have learned the of craft making whisky for medicinal purposes.
Over time, The Beatons would become the largest and longest-serving of major medieval medical kindreds that tended to the royal dynasties in Gaelic Scotland.
Beginning in the 14th century with Patrick MacBeth––the physician to King Robert I The Bruce––there were as many as seventy-six Beaton physicians that served Scottish royal families between the years 1300 and 1750.
It is highly likely that a Beaton physician tended to King James IV (Scotland’s first official whisky drinker) at his deathbed.
King James IV was the first King to officially order the making of a distilled spirit from malted barley in Scotland – into what the Gaels’ translated to uisge beatha and today known as Scotch whisky. King James IV had a keen interest in the medical elixir. keeping with the spirit of the Renaissance era, he invested in its development.
King James IV was a patron of the eccentric alchemist, John Damian, and paid for his laboratories in Stirling and Edinburgh Castles.
Damian sought to create a ‘quintessence’ for the King, the element that could mysteriously turn metal into gold or grant immortality. Uisge baetha (whisky) was a key ingredient in Damian’s experiments.
The End of Uisge Baetha as the Panacea for Medicine
Scotland’s Renaissance period from the late 15th to the 17th century also brought new studies in anatomy, chemistry and the establishment of medical schools. Soon, scientific advances began to challenge aqua vitae’s reputation as a cure-all medicine. Thank heavens the pursuit of creating the finest Scotch malt whisky continued on a high note.
Cheers to the medical guild that help perfect the art of making distilled spirits. Or, as they say in Scots Gaelic:
“Slàinte Mhath”, meaning to your good health!
Further reading:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michael-Scot
https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/features/26449/whisky-s-curious-medicinal-history/
https://www.rcpe.ac.uk/heritage/hereditary-physicians-celtic-medicine
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/how-monks-brought-whiskey-to-ir
