The Picts inhabited ancient Britain around 600 AD onwards, living alongside Anglo-Saxon and Gaelic neighbours. Some archaeological evidence has led people to theorise that the Picts were a race of people often short in stature, but opinions differ on this. Some have attributed the “Pygmy-Pict” phenotype as the inspiration for dwarves in British folklore, a people hailing from mountainous areas evoking images of J.R. Tolkien’s dwarven strongholds in Lord of the Rings.

The Picts are said to have been masters of brewing, and had a recipe for a renowned drink sometimes referred to as Heather ale, and sometimes as Heather mead. Given the absence of reliable and pure sugar sources in 700 AD, it is most likely that the Picts brewed using fermented honey, corroborating the idea that this legendary ale was indeed a honey wine, or mead. The heather component of their honey comes with a simple explanation: Picts were mainly farmers living in highland areas, if they practiced beekeeping and kept Apiaries, these bees would have feasted on the most common flower present in the highlands, Heather!

To anyone who has experienced the joy of true Heather honey, it is unlike almost any other variety. It forms a jelly-like substance that becomes more liquid when stirred, and contains a much higher protein content than standard mixed-flower honey. When fermented, this protein content actually increases. Some say that Heather honey is almost a complete food by itself, making a fermented beverage containing the honey akin to a primitive protein shake. This would have been an extremely beneficial health drink to those living in such harsh highland environments.

The recipe for the Pict’s mead is unfortunately lost to time, a poem by Robert Louis Stevenson tells the story of the last Pictish King and his son, the last of their kind after being subject to extermination by the Scots. They decided to leap into the ocean instead of giving up the recipe to their sacred drink. Today we can only speculate on the potential ingredients and brewing process.

On my walk in the Welsh mountains, I did not raid a beehive and return with a jar of fresh honey, however I did pick some heather flowers. Although the complete recipe for Pictish mead has been lost to time, one of the known ingredients was fresh heather tops, growing in abundance and feeding the Pict’s beehives. Heather flowers give a wonderful floral taste to anything they are steeped in (tea, alcohol etc.) so into the basket they went.

NOTE ON RESPONSIBLE FORAGING: Please do not go to your nearest mountain and rip up clods of heather, and definitely don’t pick from just one patch. Check to ensure the area you are picking from is not under special protection, if it is not, then pick as you walk. A little handful here and there will quickly add up to enough. I picked enough heather to fill a cupped handful and no more. We want to make it seem as though we were never there and leave as many flowers for the birds and bees as possible. If you really like Heather, I would encourage you to buy some plants from a local garden centre and add them to a well-drained spot in your garden.

Heather is apparently full of antioxidants and can be a useful anti-inflammatory, however here it was mainly used for flavour. The recipe I devised did not contain Heather honey, as I was ignorant at the time of the existence of the Pictish recipe. The reason I have drawn upon the Picts in the article is that I was walking their native landscape and picking plants that would have been readily available to them at the time of harvesting their Heather honey. It is likely that the extra plants I found would have also been included in fermentations to add flavour and extra nutrition, but this is all fun speculation! If you can afford to brew with Heather honey, I greatly encourage you to follow this recipe and include this also for added flavour and nutrients. In reality, the Picts likely used numerous other parts of the beehive in their recipe too.

The next flower I encountered was Meadowsweet, usually growing at lower levels on the way up the mountain paths. You will likely encounter meadowsweet first, then heather as you gain elevation. 

Meadowsweet is a fantastic smelling plant, very sweet, very floral (as the name would suggest). The flower contains Salicylic acid, a painkilling compound most commonly found in aspirin, in small quantities, Meadowsweet can be used in your concoctions without ill effect, but please note, too much of the flower can cause adverse effects. I used a large handful of the flowers, removed from their stems, as flavour for 1 gallon of mead. Its inclusion was twofold, one as flavour to compliment the Heather, but also for its mild painkilling and anti-inflammatory qualities. It is highly unlikely that its uses escaped the knowledge of the Picts or other tribes that lived in these areas, horses are known to regularly eat it if they encounter discomfort. Into the basket they went. 

Please note, Meadowsweet apparently doesn’t dry very well and loses its beneficial properties quite quickly. Please read on to see how I preserved it for use.