- Soor ploom
A
Soor ploom (Scots for "sourplum ") is a sharp flavoured, round, green boiled sweet (candy) originally associated withGalashiels ,Scotland . They are sold loose by weight in paper bags, traditionally in "quarters" - a quarter of a pound.They are said to have been first made in 1337 in commemoration of a skirmish near Galashiels. A raiding party from
England were overwhelmed and killed by local men when discovered eating unripe plums ["Scottish Festivals", Sheila Livingstone, Birlinn (1997)] cite book
url = http://books.google.com/books?id=7oI9AAAAIAAJ
title = Dae Ye Min' Langsyne?: A Pot-Pourri of Games, Rhymes, and Ploys of Scottish Childhood
author = Amy Stewart
publisher = Folklore
year = 1975
pages = 165–6
accessdate = 2008-01-03] .A "childhood favourite," [cite book
title = Edinburgh
author = Neil Wilson
publisher = Lonely Planet
year = 2004
pages = 147
accessdate = 2008-01-01] they are pale green and "slightly acid in flavour." They have been featured inOor Wullie andThe Broons cartoons."Soor Plooms" is the motto of the town
Galashiels . [cite book
title = The Works of John Ruskin
author = John Ruskin
publisher = Longmans, Green, and co.
year = 1907
pages = 613
accessdate = 2008-01-01] There is a Border pipe tune from 1700 called "Soor Plooms of Galashiels". [cite book
title = The Bagpipe: The History of a Musical Instrument
author = Francis Collinson
publisher = Routledge
year = 1975
pages = 111
accessdate = 2008-01-01]References
Further reading
* [http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=%22soor+plooms%22&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=ns Google Scholar results]
* [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&q=%22soor+plooms%22&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=np Google Books results]
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