Tales from Scotland: The Angel’s Share
Focus on… Scotland
Tales from Scotland: The Angel’s Share
Our story begins in September 2021 in the town of Coldstream, Scotland, home of the Coldstream Guards regiment. Formed in 1650, it is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army and its members often serve as royal guards at Buckingham Palace or Beefeaters at the Tower of London, and are involved in many ceremonial occasions.
“I think we are in Scotland!” I said as we peered out the windows of our hire car.
Blue Scottish flags with white crosses fluttered in the wind. They hung down from rooftops and flew from flag poles.
“Let’s have our first drink in Scotland!” said Kieren, my husband, as he pulled the car over to the side of the road.
We jumped out of our car and started walking to the pub with the highest rating on Google maps.
As we passed a supermarket, a man came out. His arms were weighed down with overfull plastic bags.
A small glass bottle of whisky fell from his bag and smashed all over the pavement.
“Oh no!” He howled, catching our eyes. “The angels took it all!”
“Sorry, mate!” Said Kieren as we passed him. Kieren is Australian, so he addresses everyone as ‘mate.’ British people don’t tend to do this!
“What does he mean by ‘the angels took it all?’” I asked Kieren.
“It is an expression related to making alcohol,” Kieren laughed. “When whisky is aged in casks, some of the liquid is lost to evaporation. Whisky makers call this part The Angel’s Share. Usually, only a small percentage of alcohol is lost to the atmosphere, but this man lost it all!”
Comprehension Questions
1. Can you find these phrasal verbs in the text?
~ peer out ~ hung down ~ fly from ~
~ jump out ~ come out ~ weighed down ~
~ come from ~ fell from ~ lost to ~
2. Fill in the gaps and conjugate the verbs:
a. Kieren ________ Australia.
b. The whisky was aged in an oak cask for 10 years. Some of the whisky evaporated. This part was _______ the angels.
c. Last week, in London, I saw the English flag ___________ the flagpole.
d. The car was ___________ with our suitcases.
e. At the pub, I _________ of the pub window to see the Scottish flags flying.
f. The whisky bottle seemed to ______ of the shopping bag.
g. After a pint we _______ of the pub and jumped into the car.
