I recently wrote an updated history of the Cardington School and in that history is an interview I made in 1991 with retired Cardington School Superintende
Stirling & Glasgow, Scotland. Est. 1878
That the stash is so well preserved is not surprising: Each bottle was sheathed in the original Old Smuggler tissue-paper, reading, “The Produce of the Heather Hills of Scotland,” then painstakingly cloaked in long, hardened sticks of straw. The bundles were stuffed with loose straw, then wrapped together in multiple, heavy layers of brown packaging paper. Like a cherished Christmas present, the bulky parcels are tied and knotted tightly, several times over and crossways, with sturdy white string.
The bottles were also fitted with what Drummond believes was an early version of a nonrefillable cap. A spirits expert at one of the auction houses Drummond consulted told him the cap was most likely created to prevent counterfeiters from using established brand labels and bottles.