Bere (grain)

Bere, pronounced "bear," is a six-row barley currently cultivated mainly on 5-15 hectares of land in Orkney, Scotland. It is also grown on Shetland, Caithness and on a very small scale by a few crofters on some of the Western Isles, i.e. North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Islay and Barra. It is probably Britain's oldest cereal in continuous commercial cultivation.

Bere is a landrace adapted to growing on soils of a low pH and to a short growing season with long hours of daylight, as found in the high latitudes of northern Scotland. It is sown in the spring and harvested in the summer. Because of its very rapid growth rate it is sown late but is often the first crop to be harvested. It is known locally as "the 90-day barley."

Originally bere or beir or bear was a generic Lowland Scots word for barley of any kind, and was used throughout the country. Now it is used mainly in the north of Scotland. It often referred to barley of a lower yield, and the phrase "bear meal marriage" usually meant one that would not bring much wealth with it. Talking of the wide variety of crops in England, and crop rotation, Professor T.C. Smout writes: "In Scotland, there is no evidence of such variation possibly because the range of crops was so much smaller — often only oats or bear (a primitive form of barley)".

Bere is a very old grain that may have been brought to Britain by Vikings in the 8th century or even from an earlier wave of settlement. In its early days it was also called "bygge" or "big," probably originating from bygg, the Old Norse term for barley. It became well-adapted to the far north of Britain as successive generations of farmers grew it, selecting each year's seeds from the best plants of the previous year.

...
Wikipedia