Jethart Snails

My dear old Aunt Rita was a huge fan of a mint-flavoured sweet. I only ever met her a few times but my mum always said that when she was enjoying a Scottish, minty sweet she would exclaim, “Now that is a clean sweetie!” in her Dumbarton brogue. After doing a bit of research it turns out that the Scottish borders have a proud history of making boiled sweets and as a result I had to go and find the very best.

Now, before we go any further, these aren’t actual snails and have never been anywhere near a snail. They are simply a mint-flavoured boiled sweet. When we first sent DHL to go and pick these up, they rejected it at first thinking that there were actual live snails in these tins… genuinely…. That was a fun telephone conversation. Anyway, these sweets have a wonderful backstory that will make you want to enjoy these minty treats even more.

The story goes that the recipe for these sweets came from a French prisoner of war that was held in Jethart (now with the modern name Jedburgh) during the Napoleonic Wars and it was given to a local family to make. Legend has it that these sweets were formed into ‘snails’ in order to honour the nationality of the prisoner, but no-one knows if that is true or not, but let’s just say it is. The sweets come in a little paint tin that is a right treat to open and close and ensures that your ‘snails’ remain in tip-top condition.

These beauties are now made by the Wylie family, using the original recipe and still in the centre of Jethart, just like they should be. They are manufactured on a small scale and are only available at certain times of the year. The graphics on the side also happen to mean that these beauties will remain a firm favourite for years to come!

190g tin

Made in Scotland.

Ingredients: Sugar, butter, oil of peppermint flavouring, cream of tartar.