What came first, the sweets or golf?

Golf is a traditional Scottish sport, as the roots of the game can be traced to Scotland as far back as 1457! Fast forward 560 years … to the 2017 Scottish Open this weekend at Dundonald Links Golf Course, Troon. 

This may be surprising, but we sell a classic Scottish sweet that was created 120 years before golf and also has a fascinating history. Well, what sweet could this be? Soor Plooms of course!

Soor Plooms are said to have been first made in 1337 and their typically Scottish name translates to Sour Plums. Soor Plooms are associated with Galashiels in Scotland and were made in commemoration of a skirmish near the Galashiels area. A raiding army from England were defeated by local men in the area when they were discovered eating unripe plums from trees. Since then, the slightly acidic and delicious green hard boiled sweets have made themselves a firm favourite of Scotland. Soor Plooms have featured in old Scottish cartoons such as, The Broons and Oor Wullie, as a classic childhood sweet. Their popularity also resulted in a Scottish Bagpipe Tune, “Soor Plooms of Galashiels”, traced back to the 1700’s.

The town of Galashiels are so proud of their history associated with Soor Plooms, their coat of arms (above) features two foxes trying to get sour plums from a tree. Who can blame the proud people of Galashiels for celebrating their favourite sweetie, especially when it’s sharp, fruity taste has stood the test of time. You can get 200g of Soor Plooms for only £2.80 at Scottish Retro Sweets. The perfect accompaniment for watching this weekends Scottish Open!

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to use our promotional code, ‘Scottish sweetie lover’ at the checkout to receive 20% off all orders over £10!