Verbal Scotch broth
From Adam Fergusson Sir: I am grateful to A.H. Ronald (Letters, 23 October) for pointing out that the dishes served in the Holyrood parliament of my novel Scone — kail brose. potted hoch, crappit heids and chappit neeps — are not 'gleefully invented' but indeed traditional Scotch staples. However, he errs in insisting that neeps must be champit rather than chappit: the two words are interchangeable, and both chappit and champit tatties, meaning mashed potatoes, appear in Aberdeen University Press's Concise Scottish Dictionary. Actually, at Burns Suppers in Ayrshire (where they ought to know) I have found that neeps tend to come 'bashed'.
Mr Ronald questions my spelling of `hoch'. True, The Scots Kitchen, whose appendices are such a philological joy, favours 'hough': but hoch is the first reference in every work dating back to Dr
Jamieson's Scottish Language Dictionary of 1825. Any reader who supposes, say, that a drappit egg comes from a tappit hen may be glad of this reassurance.
Adam Fergusson
London W14
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