May sees the second term day of the Scottish year, Whitsun Day 15th May, the first such day following Candlemas. Traditionally those who could not pay their debts or tithes to the church were publicly cursed on Whit Sunday.  In Glasgow a fair was held on Whitsun Monday which was a feeing fair where farmers would hire workers for the following year. 

This year the Scots Independent honour a Glasgow winner of The Oliver Brown Award - W Kenneth Fee, at a sell-out lunch on Saturday 21 May in the Terraces Hotel, Stirling. Kenneth is a worthy winner of the award named after the doyen Nationalist W Oliver Brown. Oliver was the first Nationalist candidate to save a parliamentary deposit in the Renfrew East By-Election on 28 November 1930.

W Kenneth Fee is of course well known to all Scots Independent readers as he edited the newspaper, with invaluable assistance from his wife Margery, for a record-breaking 19 years. For much of that time he combined this onerous role with his full-time day job as a teacher and also editing his trade union newspaper. He follows in the footsteps of Scots of the calibre of Tom Weir in receiving one of the most prestigious awards in Scotland.

It is no secret that Kenneth is a good trencherman and especially for him we suggest a rich accompaniment from Orkney for ice cream - Boozy Butterscotch sauce.

Boozy Butterscotch Sauce

Ingredients:  500ml (18 fl oz) tub Orkney Ice Cream, ideally Original or Vanilla

For Topping:  4tbsp Scottish rolled porridge oats;  4tbsp malt whisky
For Sauce:  50g (2 oz) Orkney butter;  50g (2 oz) soft brown or light muscovado sugar;  2 tbsp golden syrup;  200g (7 oz) condensed milk;  2-4 tbsp malt whisky, depending on taste

Method: Pre-heat oven to 190°C, 375°F or gas mark 5.  Place oats in a shallow ovenproof dish and roast in oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until they start to brown and smell nutty.  Remove from oven and immediately pour on whisky to taste.  The heat of the dish evaporates the liquid, leaving a delicious whisky-flavoured, crunchy topping.

Slowly heat butter, sugar and syrup in a heavy saucepan until sugar has melted.  Remove from heat, add condensed milk and return to heat for two to three minutes stirring constantly.  Add whisky to taste and heat for a further minute, stirring all the time.

Pour hot sauce over a generous serving of Orkney ice-cream and top with whisky roasted oats.