Tuffelrud

Research card draft

Arran Victory

From
Isle of Arran, Firth of Clyde, Scotland
When
1918
Bred or kept by
Donald McKelvie
Parents
Suttons Abundance (seedling of)
How sure
origin verified
Shape
round to short-oval
Proportion
1.1 times as long as wide, measured from photos
Size
unknown
Bend
none
Knobs
none
Skin
blue-purple, smooth
Flesh
snow white
Eyes
medium, blue
Dormancy
long
Flesh type
floury
Health
Susceptible to both potato cyst nematodes (AHDB). Late, tall, big yields (NIBIO). Skin colour fades on cooking.
The name
Arran for the island where McKelvie bred his 'Arran' series; Victory for the Allied victory in the First World War, the year it was released.

The colour swatches are the flat colours the drawings use, read from photos and lifted to even daylight; the card says how.

What it looks like. A round to short-oval tuber, about 1.1 times as long as wide, with smooth blue-purple skin, medium eyes and snow-white flesh. The colour fades when cooked.

History. Bred by Donald McKelvie on the Isle of Arran and released in 1918, named for the end of the First World War. The oldest surviving and, by reputation, the best of his many "Arran" varieties. The atlas says it is still loved in Ireland (not rechecked); today it is kept alive by heritage seed growers, not supermarkets. McKelvie is a historical public figure; told as fact, not portrayed.

Body facts that carry story. Born in a victory year and named for it. Purple outside, white inside. Very floury: falls apart in a pot, perfect mashed.

Where sources disagree

cooking type

NIBIO, AHDB, Slow Food: floury, very high dry matter, falls apart when boiled

ECPD: one source records 'firm (salad type)', another 'mealy'

How we settled it: Floury: three independent sources agree and the ECPD record itself contains 'mealy'.

skin colour

NIBIO: bluish; AHDB and ECPD: blue

Atlas and seed sellers: bluish-purple, violet

How we settled it: Blue-purple. The only licensed photo shows freshly lifted, soil-covered tubers in overcast light, sampled #6E5A72, #7E5B71 and #907E90 on clean patches; card #7C5482, a violet a little bluer and darker than the photo's lilac to stay apart from Kerr's Pink.

origin.region

NIBIO: 'Arranøyene vest for Irland'

AHDB, Slow Food: Isle of Arran, Scotland

How we settled it: Isle of Arran in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. NIBIO is wrong here.

Still unknown

  • Size in cm.
  • Dormancy: ECPD gives medium to long and long; recorded as long.
  • No CC0 or public domain photo; outline from our own tubers.

Sources

  • kvann.no: NIBIO: bred 1918 by Donald Mackelvie on Arran; the best of many Arran varieties; named for the First World War victory; late, big yield; round or slightly oval, medium-deep eyes; bluish skin, snow-white flesh; very high dry matter, falls apart when boiled; good mash, roasting, baking, chips (NIBIO places Arran 'west of Ireland', which is wrong)
  • potatoes.agricrops.org: AHDB/SASA: tall late maincrop first marketed 1918, bred by Donald McKelvie; oval, blue-skinned, white floury flesh; seedling of Suttons Abundance; short-oval; eyes medium; smooth; blue light sprout; white flowers; no berries
  • europotato.org: ECPD: breeder D. Mackelvie; skin blue, eyes blue, flesh white; round to oval; eye depth shallow to deep across sources; dormancy medium to long and long; cooked texture recorded as both firm and mealy
  • fondazioneslowfood.com: Slow Food Ark of Taste: named 1918 for the end of the First World War; deep purple-blue skin that fades on cooking; whiter-than-most flesh; kept alive by heritage seed growers and gardeners, not sold in shops

Reference photos

Used to read proportion and colour, credited here, and never traced or copied into the drawings.