With its upstairs restaurant, is situated on the Lawnmarket at its junction with Bank Street. It is a large traditional pub, popular with tourists and with a wonderfully ornate thistle ceiling. It is named after real life cabinet-maker, William Brodie who was elected a Deacon Councillor of the City of Edinburgh in 1781. By day Brodie was an outwardly respectable citizen and pillar of society, but by "night he was a gambler, a thief, dissipated and licentious." To support his lavish lifestyle Brodie would copy the keys of his wealthy clients and return at night to rob them. He escaped to the Netherlands after being recognised at the scene of one of his crimes only to be caught and returned to Scotland. He was hanged from the city's new gallows at the Tolbooth (which ironically it is said he had a hand in designing) on 1 October 1788. Such was the public interest in the case that it was said to have been attended by a crowd of over 25,000. It is also said that the story of Deacon Brodie later served as the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's story, "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde".
A glass of Strongbow over at the TavernYou'll have to decide by yourself if this man is currently Dr Jekyll or Mr Hyde ...
1 comment:
Beer + tavern gives rumors :P
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