Monday, August 3 01:40 pm

ITN

Haggis-makers in Scotland have leapt to the defence of the country's signature dish after claims it was first made in England.

 

 
English haggis claim shocks Scots

Food historian Catherine Brown said she found references to the dish in a book called The English Hus-Wife, dated 1615.

But she said the first mention she could find of Scottish haggis was in 1747.

Ms Brown said the book indicates that haggis was first eaten in England and subsequently popularised by the Scots.

But butcher Robert Patrick, from Patricks of Camelon in Falkirk, said: "I find it hard to believe. I think we can still call it Scottish. There could well be some recipe in England that's similar."

Haggis is made from a mixture of oatmeal, liver, heart and lungs.