Whisky Galore (novel)

Whisky Galore

First edition
Author	Compton Mackenzie
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Farce
Publisher	Chatto and Windus
Publication date	1947
OCLC	56468167

Whisky Galore is a novel written by Compton Mackenzie, published in 1947. It was adapted for the cinema under the title Whisky Galore!.

Plot summary

During the Second World War, the cargo vessel S.S. Cabinet Minister is wrecked off a remote fictional Scottish island group — Great Todday and Little Todday — with fifty thousand cases of whisky aboard. Due to wartime rationing, the thirsty islanders had nearly run out of the "water of life" and see this as an unexpected godsend. They manage to salvage several hundred cases before the ship sinks. But it is not all clear sailing. They must thwart the efforts of the authorities to confiscate the liquor, particularly in the shape of misguided, pompous English Home Guard Captain Paul Waggett. A cat-and-mouse battle of wits ensues.

Although the wreck and the escapades over the whisky are at the centre of the story, there is also a lot of background detail about life in the Outer Hebrides, including e.g. culture clashes between the Protestant island of Great Todday and the Roman Catholic island of Little Todday. (Mackenzie based the geography of these islands on Barra and Eriskay respectively, but in real life they are both Catholic islands). There are various sub-plots, e.g. two couples who are planning to get married.

Mackenzie's prose captures the various accents of the area and also includes much common Gaelic that was in use at the time. The book comes with a useful glossary of both the meaning and approximate pronunciation of the language.

Origins of the story

The story was based on a real-life incident that occurred in 1941 on the Hebridean island of Eriskay^[1] when the SS Politician ran aground. The famous tale of how a group of local Scottish islanders raided a shipwreck for its consignment of whisky has grown into a legend.

Official files released by The National Archives show that it was also carrying a sum of cash. In all, there were nearly 290,000 ten-shilling notes, which would be worth the equivalent of several million pounds at today's prices. Not all of this was recovered from the wreck.

Adaptations

A theatrical adaptation of the novel, licensed by the Society of Authors (the managers of Compton Mackenzie's literary estate) and written by Paul Godfrey, was first performed as a "bar show" at Perth Theatre in the late 1980s. This adaptation, delivered in the manner of a 1940s radio broadcast, has four BBC Radio Rep actors and a studio manager creating all the locations, characters and sound effects as they would have done in a live radio broadcast. This version was produced on a much larger scale and to great acclaim by Mull Theatre in the late 1990s and the early 2000s, touring to theatres throughout Scotland. 2014 saw a new revival of the piece by Mull Theatre as part of Homecoming 2014, Whisky Month and a sell-out run at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow.

A musical version of the original novel, entitled 'Whisky Galore - a musical!', was authorised by the Society Of Authors which resulted in a highly successful production at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, Scotland in 2009. The book was adapted by Shona McKee McNeil and the music was composed by Ian Hammond Brown. The musical was so successful, that the theatre decided to produce it once more in 2011, again to large and appreciative audiences. It is now available worldwide for production by amateur / community theatres. Whisky Galore - a musical! from Stagescripts (Theatrical Publishers and Rights Holders)

A new, Gaelic language adaption of the novel was adapted for the stage by Iain Finlay MacLeod for a National Theatre of Scotland, Robhanis and A Play, A Pie and A Pint at Òran Mór co-production titled Uisge-Beatha Gu Leòr in 2015.^[2]

References

<references http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/historic-sites/ss_politician_whisky_galore_off_eriskay_1_465109 />