John Cor is the name of the friar referred to in the first known written reference to a batch of

Scotch Whisky Scotch whisky (; sco, Scots whisky/whiskie, whusk(e)y; often simply called whisky or Scotch) is malt whisky or grain whisky (or a blend of the two), made in Scotland. All Scotch whisky was originally made from malted barley. Commercial disti ...

on 1 June 1495. The Latin entry in the Exchequer Rolls can be translated as: :"To Brother John Cor, by order of the King, to make ''aqua vitae'' VIII bolls of

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, w ...

." Friar John Cor has been identified as a Dominican Friar in the Stirling house https://brill.com/view/title/8182 but also a less secure suggestion has been made that he might be John Kawe who was a

Tironensian The Tironensian Order or the Order of Tiron was a medieval monastic order named after the location of the mother abbey (Tiron Abbey, french: Abbaye de la Sainte-Trinité de Tiron, established in 1109) in the woods of Thiron-Gardais (sometimes ''Ti ...

monk based at

Lindores Abbey Lindores Abbey was a Tironensian abbey on the outskirts of Newburgh in Fife, Scotland. Now a reduced ruin, it lies on the southern banks of the River Tay, about north of the village of Lindores and is a scheduled ancient monument. The abbey ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

. However in Scots Cor would have had a rolled ‘r’ and is unlikely to be confused as or written as ‘Kawe’. He was a servant at the court of James IV. The King gave him a gift of 14 shillings on Christmas Day in 1488, and at Christmas time in 1494 Cor was given black cloth from

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

for his livery clothes as a clerk in royal service. He was probably an

apothecary ''Apothecary'' () is a mostly archaic term for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses '' materia medica'' (medicine) to physicians, surgeons, and patients. The modern chemist (British English) or pharmacist (British and North Amer ...

. An apothecary William Foular from Edinburgh was recorded as making distilled waters and aqua vitae for the Scottish court from December 1506.James Balfour Paul, ''Accounts of the Treasurer: 1507-1513'', vol. 4 (Edinburgh, 1902), p. 92: John Dixon Comrie
''History of Scottish Medicine'' (London, 1927), p. 54
/ref>

References

*Michael Jackson, ''Scotland and its Whiskies'' (Duncan Baird: London, 2002), p. 127 15th-century Scottish people 15th-century births Year of death unknown Court of James IV of Scotland Scottish apothecaries {{RC-clergy-stub