Danny's Days - 12th January 2026
At Lidgates most products we sell have some sort of story or sequence of events behind them. Haggis is certainly no different. A warning, this isn’t the shortest of stories and is a bit convoluted.
Many decades ago, my father knew the family behind what is now a well-known Haggis supplier. This was before they were a global brand. Lidgates and a few other butchers sold their haggis. Roll on 20 years, they had become a huge brand and were in most supermarkets. Some Scottish butchers I knew suggested they had dialled down their recipe and it had lost some flavour. We were inclined to agree with them.
We then found a Scottish meat and game company who made their own haggis and had become well recommended. This relationship lasted a few years until sadly they went out of business and left us with no supplier 2 weeks before burns night.
At the 11th hour, I thought, who can I go to for an authentic good quality haggis? As a matter of coincidence, a few minutes later I received a phone call from Iain Inverurie, our Scottish beef contact in Aberdeen. I explained my predicament, and he told me of a nearby haggis maker called George who had customers literally queuing down his high street. We met George and started selling his haggis, and boy was it good. A few years later, George retired and his haggis was continued by another local butcher. Sadly, last November, due to ill health, this butcher closed.
Hence, back in the same situation as before, who should I go to? Iain in Aberdeen was my man. He has put me in touch with the 2019-2022 Scottish National Haggis Champion, Tom Courts. After tasting his Haggis, I can clearly see why he is the longest standing champion of 3 years and we will be proud to sell his handmade authentic Haggis this Burns night,
The very best wishes,
Danny