Jedburgh is a small Scottish Borders town, but it has held onto one confectionery specialty for more than 150 years: a swirled, amber-gold butterscotch toffee twisted into the shape of a snail shell.
A French recipe that settled in the Borders
The Jethart Snail takes its name from "Jethart," the old Scots name for Jedburgh. Local tradition holds that the recipe arrived with a French confectioner who settled in the town in the 19th century, reportedly around the 1860s, and that it has stayed largely in the hands of a small number of local sweet shops ever since — a genuinely traditional recipe rather than a mass-produced one.
How the shape is made
The toffee itself is a boiled butterscotch — sugar, butter and water cooked to a hard, glossy finish — which is then worked and coiled by hand into the signature snail-shell spiral before it sets. The shape isn't decorative flourish; it's a direct result of how the toffee is pulled and rolled while still warm.
A rare surviving town sweet
Like Soor Plooms in Galashiels and Berwick Cockles further down the coast, Jethart Snails belong to a small cluster of Scottish and Borders sweets that are named after, and still strongly associated with, one specific town. They're a genuine piece of retro sweets history, largely unknown outside Scotland but still made close to where they were invented.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Jethart Snail?
A Jethart Snail is a traditional Scottish butterscotch-toffee sweet from Jedburgh, made by swirling boiled golden toffee into a coiled, snail-shell shape.
Why are they called Jethart Snails?
Jethart is the old Scots name for Jedburgh, the Borders town where the sweet has been made since around the mid-19th century, and Snails describes the coiled shape the toffee is pulled and rolled into.
Where does the Jethart Snail recipe come from?
Local tradition credits the recipe to a French confectioner who settled in Jedburgh in the 19th century, and it has reportedly been made by the same small number of local sweet shops ever since.