Dunfermline Whisky History
It may come as a surprise to many that Dunfermline was once home to not one, not two , but three whisky distilleries.
The more well-known of the trio was located in what is now the East Port area of the city, although
little is recorded about it. However, an earlier distillery was up for sale in 1762, as reported in a newspaper of the time. The sale announcement features old-style spellings:
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'That there is to be expofed to publick group and fale at Dunfermline, upon Wednefday the 18th August next, betwixt three and four o'clock afternoon, within the houfe of John Adie, Vintner, at the Dunfermline Arms.
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The Heretable Subjects which pertained to John Chalmer Distiller, now deceafed, to wit, a tenement of land upon the north-fide of High-fleet of Dunfermline, conflifting of a kitchen and eight fire rooms, befides garrets, with a brewerie and distillery at the back of the tenement, all within one clofe, having a water running through it, with a ftable, byer, and convenient office-houfes. Item, A large malt barn, kiln, and coble at the upper end of that fleet in Dunfermline, called the Rottenrow, and another malt-barn, kiln, and coble, in the Collier-row of Dunfermline. The proprietor's entry to be at Martinmas next.
The right to the fubjects, and conditions of roup, are to be feen in hands of Hugh Veatch Writer in Dunfermline, truftee for the creditors of the deceafed John Chalmer. N.B. There is likewife to be difpofed of, feveral diftilling utenfils.'
Rotten Row
Very little else is recorded regarding this distillery, which would have been located off the High Street, towards the Glen gates and would have been established prior to 1762. Using Google Earth, its location may have been very near the rear of the City Hotel, with the nearby older building being a possible remnant. It is probable that the brewery and distillery ceased trading after the sale.
Shortly before this time, in 1761, two newspapers (Alloa Advertiser, Glasgow Saturday Post) all reported the discovery of an illicit distillery in Knabbie Street (later renamed Carnegie Street). Here is the Alloa report, citing the Dunfermline Press as its source:
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'On Monday forenoon, Mr Brown, supervisor of excise, Burntisland, with his assistant, paid a rather unexpected visit to Knabbie Street Brewery - Mr John Hamilton's, Dunfermline.
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From information which very candid friend of the brewer had sent to Burntisland, the supervisor of excise was led to suspect that Mr Hamilton had been extending his business without notifying the fact in the proper quarter.
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The visit on Monday was made to test the accuracy of the information. The result provided the information at once correct and circumstantial. Going direct to a cellar immediately beneath Mr Hamilton's dwelling-house, which he was assured he need not trouble himself about, as the cellar contained only a few potatoes, he found in addition to the few potatoes, a still in good working order, superintended by Mr William Hamilton, St David's, brother of the proprietor of the brewery.
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The still having been confiscated to the excise, was in a very short period cleared out, and the brothers Hamilton being brought before Mr George Birrell, J.P., Mr John Hamilton was fined £30 for having an illicit still on his premises. William Hamilton stated that the still was all his own, the cellar being simply rented from his brother at 1s 6d per week, was sent to prison.'
Old Dunfermline
'It is understood that the process of illicit distillation has been going on in Knabbie Street for the last six months. It is right to state that these are only the summary and preliminary proceedings of the Excise; what further steps may be taken depends on the kind of evidence that may be collected.'
The Glasgow Sunday Post gives us a little more detail about the illicit operation, mentioning 'a quantity of barley and a number of tubs which bore evidence of having been used in the manufacture of whisky.’ What's interesting, apart from the fact that his brother took the brunt of the punishment and was sent to prison, is the clandestine nature of the operation, perfectly hidden within a normal brewery operation. Unfortunately, it seems the Hamilton's had enemies and one of them provided the detail that prompted a visit from the Burntisland based inspectors.
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The Grange was Burntisland's most prominent distillery, but it is generally accepted that it wasn't established until 1767. This suggests that the Excisemen may have been stationed there because of the port trade at the harbour, or that other relatively unknown breweries or distilleries were in operation. Unlike many illicit Speyside distilleries of the time, the Hamilton's had no early warning system in place when Excisemen were spotted in the area and were caught by the law.
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Fortunately, a later distillery (and our third) was legally established as there was clearly demand and the importance of Dunfermline. Although details of the distillery have also been lost to time, our research has proven to be fruitful regarding its existence as Dunfermline’s last distillery.
Dunfermline Abbey & Mill 1713
This later distillery was known either as Dunfermline Distillery or St Margaret's Distillery. It was founded in 1782 by Messrs. Fairly & Scotland and existed until 1828, having been taken over by Charles Stein in 1825.
It was situated on St. Margaret Street, which was previously known as Distillery Brae. Many of these details come from 'An Epitome of the History of Dunfermline.'
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The distillery was located at the East End of Bee Alley Gardens. In 1786, Henry Scotland was listed as a Farmer and Distiller at the Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance Group. In 1798, James Bruce was listed as a distiller in Dunfermline. Unless there was a third distillery in the former Royal City, he was likely employed at St. Margaret's Distillery.
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The distillery produced 16,305 gallons according to the Lowland Spirit Production Records for 1798-1799 (in Ronald B. Weir's 1972 PHD). This output ranked it 13th out of 81 distilleries in the Lowland region, surpassing Montgomerie & Co (Inverkeithing), William Haig (Kincaple, St Andrews), and Robert Spears (Kirkcaldy). This information highlights Dunfermline's historical significance, or perhaps a demand for whisky.
How things have changed
In 1800, Alexander Fairlie was mentioned in the 'Caledonian Mercury' as having participated in the meeting of the Lowland Distillers in Edinburgh on June 16, 1800, on behalf of Henry Scotland & Co. Shortly thereafter, around 1800, the distillery ceased operations or only produced intermittently due to the various distillation bans in effect at that time. According to the 'Annals of Dunfermline', St. Margaret's Distillery had resumed production on a larger scale. However, this was short-lived.
In 1809, the Distillery Brae was renamed St. Margaret Street, after Queen Margaret. In June 1813, the distillery, grounds, and Malting Barns in Brucehaven were sold following the death of Henry Scotland.
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In 1816, Henry Scotland Junior was still attempting to sell the property. According to the John Wood Map (1823), the area east of the Abbey was owned by Mrs. Stenhouse. 'The History of Dunfermline' (1825) reports the existence of a distillery in Dunfermline. The Accounts & Papers (1826-1827) also mention the new operators, Andrew & Chas. Stein, both descendants of the extensive Stein-Haig dynasty.
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In 1828, the Dunfermline Distillery produced approximately the same amount of whisky (13,323 gallons) as the Cambus Distillery (14,828 gallons) and the Grange Distillery Burntisland (16,490 gallons). The distillery was one of many mentioned in the same year that used a combination of malt and corn for distillation.
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We can't say how long this distillery was active. The only mention of its activity comes from 'The Gazetteer of Scotland' in 1838, but it is suspected that it was no longer active at that time. However, in 1844, coal deliveries were still being made for use by bakers, brewers, and distillers, as reported in the 'Historical & Statistical Account'.
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The bankruptcy of John Stenhouse & James Stenhouse, Dunfermline, Brewers was published in 1845. It is likely that the Stenhouse brothers had been operating the former distillery on their mother's property as a brewery until that time. The maps from 1854 show that this area was occupied by a linen factory. From 1855, it became known as 'John Buntins Feu', which included workshops for weavers.
An aerial photo from 1932 clearly shows a complex of buildings on the former site of Dunfermline Distillery. However, it is likely that these buildings are more recent and unrelated to the old distillery.
Today, the area has been partially converted into a park that surrounds Dunfermline Abbey, while the other part serves as a public parking lot, similar to the previous use of the land.
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My thanks to Justine and the Facebook group Forgotten Whisky History for their assistance helping the research for this article.