Drunken Seagulls
In Invergordon by the Sea
They’ve built a new distillery,
And all the gulls are on the spree,
That live in Invergordon.
The mash that’s flowing from the still,
They gobble down wi’ right good will,
And every gull can hold his gill,
That live in Invergordon.
Invergordon Distillery was established in 1959 by Invergordon Distillers Ltd and started operation with one Coffey still in 1961. A further two stills were added in 1963 and a fourth large Coffey still added in 1978 and they have an estimated annual production of 40m litres (Udo, 2005). Invergordon is the only grain distillery in the Highlands, the others all being lowland operations. This large industrial plant also has extensive warehousing on site.
Folklore has it that the wrong sluice gate was opened and gallons of whisky poured out into the firth, resulting in inebriated seagulls, about which a folk song was written.
The Ian Campbell sang it, but lists the author as "unknown.
Often there is a black shag stretching his wings at the bend of the pipe and occasionally a seal warms himself there.