Dreaming of a dram: Collectors set to compete for cargo lost at sea

Bottles salvaged from the wreck of a cargo ship in the incident inspired the book and film Whisky Galore are set to come under the hammer in Edinburgh. Collectors are expected to bid up to £8,000 for two bottles brought back to the surface of the Sound of Eriskay in 1978.

The SS Politician was carrying 260,000 bottles of whisky when it ran into trouble off the Hebridean island in 1941. Some of the islanders helped themselves to the bottles during illegal salvage operations, exploits which went on to be the basis of Compton Mackenzie’s novel and an Ealing film.