Show edinburgh a century ao within the tall lands in eata burgh built closely together that the inhabitants of adjoining houses could often shake hands across the deep but narrow chasm that divided them the inhabitants lived in the most confined of quarters four five or at six rooms constituted the apartments of the wealthiest families servants slept outside the house or under the kitchen table beds were made up for the nurse and children in the master s study turned up beds with curtains drawn round them stood in the drawing room naturally the entertaining that could be done in such apartments was of the smallest my lady could receive a few friends over a cup of tea in her bedroom but when her lord wished to dine or wine his friends recourse was had of mere necessity to one or another of the taverns taverns in fact played almost the same part in the social life of edin burgh during the third quarter of the eighteenth century as coffee houses had done in london in addelson s time the were the common meet ing places of a race of men to whom home meant little more than a place to sleep doctors met their patients lawyers consulted with their clients over a mug of ale or a tass of brandy n the little rooms of a dark tavern halt underground here the city mag estrates were accustomed to meet and here tl e ministers of the general as entertained even trades people attended to their business aa much within the tavern aa within the shop As a result the greater part of the male population ot edinburgh drank steadily from morn till eve and far on into the night at 10 clock at night the drum of the city guard all men to leave the tavern and seek their homes in accordance with the provisions of an ancient law which closed all places of entertainment at that hoir but the law at this time was laughed at by the very magistrates sworn to enforce it scott s i of councillor pley dell Is but a faint sketch of the ac toper of the olden time even today to day the capacity of a well seasoned scotchman tot his drink Is something to appal the un tried foreigner but if we may believe a tithe of the stories collected by such a creditable authority as dean say the scotch of to day are in this respect but poor and degenerate ans of a heroic race M parrott n tha booklover s magazine |