Spanning the Victorian and Edwardian eras and encompassing two World Wars, the recipes in the ms volume form an interesting chronicle of the Scottish country house diet.The entries for the Great War of 1914 -18 open with notes of rations introduced at different dates, then there are imaginative but parsimonious and largely vegetarian dishes: peelings stock, potato scones, potato bread, vegetable hot pot, savoury parsnips and ‘thrift cake’.

The post of Food Controller had been appointed in December 1916, and a Ministry of Food Control was also established (the first being the Liberal, Hudson Ewbanke Kearley, Lord Devonport, grocer and politican). The plan was promote economies among the population and to keep moving the supply of food across the country.

However, it was not until 1917, when the Germans began an unrestricted U-boat warfare strategy, that the British government realised how vulnerable the country was to being cut off from imported food supplies. In April 1917 alone, some half a million tons of shipping had been lost in the submarine campaign.

The response of the Food Controller was to authorise the organisation of a ‘national kitchen’, where healthy and nourishing food was cooked and served to the population. By then, most men had been called up, and women had taken their places in the workforce. Lady Lothian’s response for the national kitchen was, for example, Barley scones, Oatmeal bread, and Barley bread.

Rationing was first introduced in the UK in London early in 1918 – though Lady Lothian’s book notes ‘voluntary rations’ in 1917 – and it was extended nationwide by summer 1918 (Rationing Order 1918). Ration cards were issued, and people were required to register with a retailer for meat, butter and sugar, and these would be stamped on purchase of the commodity. Lady Lothian noted in her cookery book that the weekly bread ration for a man depended on his ‘activity’ – whether he was in heavy industrial or agricultural work, in ordinary work, or in sedentary work or unoccupied – and this activity would decide whether he received 8 pounds (3.6 kg), 7 pounds (3.1 kg) or 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of bread per week. For women in heavy industrial or agricultural work, in ordinary work and domestic service, or in sedentary work or unoccupied, the rations were 5 pounds (2.2 kg) , 4 pounds (1.8 kg) and 3.5 pounds (1.5 kg) respectively. For all adults the meat ration was 2 pounds (0.9 kg) per person per week, and sugar 0.5 pounds (0.2 kg) per person per week.

In addition to the content of the volume (Coll-1741 – MS book of cookery and recipes, begun by Lady Nina Balfour and given to Victoria Alexandrine Montagu Scott, 1864, and continued over 80 years), the websites of the Imperial War Museum, BBC and others were used in compiling this blog post.