The kail-yard (kitchen garden) was to the Scots what the potato-plot was to the Irish peasant. Kail was so much part of the eating tradition that dinner became known as ‘kail’. The bells of St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh that chimed at two pm were known as the ‘kail bells’. Though used in Scotland in broths or as a vegetable, in England kail is largely used as a feed for cattle. The advantage of kail in the Scottish climate is its hardiness throughout the winter. Unlike most vegetables it benefits from a frost, which improves its flavour.