Marmalade

It’s a cold, blustery January day in the late 1700s when a storm-bound ship from the south of Spain docks in Dundee harbour. The town does not normally trade with Spain, so the cargo of ‘Seville sours’ (bitter oranges) on board is especially intriguing. Retired tailor, John Keiller, has taken a wander down to the harbour, as he does most days, to join in the quayside chat whilst keeping an eye out for the odd package of fruits or spices that might be a useful ingredient for his wife’s bakery business. No one is very interested in the inedible bitter oranges, so he decides to buy some and, unknowingly, founds a dynasty which will last a hundred years and become bigger in confectionery, during the nineteenth century, than either Cadburys or Frys.