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A Quaich (IPA: 'kweɪx') (or archaically Quaigh), is a special kind of shallow two-handled drinking cup or bowl in Scotland. It derives from the Scottish Gaelic cuach meaning a cup.
Traditionally they were made of wood, an artform known as treen. Commemorative quaichs awarded as prizes, or given as gifts, are more commonly made of pewter or silver. These prize cups are rarely used for actual drinking.
The English and Colonial American counterpart of the Scottish quaich is the porringer, made with a single handle. The Sami and Norrland, Sweden, equivalents are the pahkakuppi and the kåsa, which also only have a single handle.
The quaich was used for whisky or brandy, and in the 19th century Sir Walter Scott dispensed drams in silver quaichs, but the quaich he kept for himself was particularly precious to him.
In 1745 the quaich had travelled from Edinburgh to Derby with the Scottish Army in Bonnie Prince Charlie's canteen.
Some quaich's bottoms are made of glass, allegedly so that the drinker could keep watch on his companions. A more romantic quaich had a double glass bottom in which was kept a lock of hair so that the owner could drink from his quaich to his lady love, and, in 1589, King James VI of Scotland gave Anne of Denmark a quaich or "loving cup" as a wedding gift.
External links
"Quaich"