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A History of Drinking: The Scottish Pub Since 1700

A History of Drinking: The Scottish Pub Since 1700

by Anthony Cooke (Author)

  • New

    Illustrated 2015

    $25.10
Synopsis

What did Samuel Johnson, James Boswell, Dorothy Wordsworth, James Hogg and Robert Southey have in common? They all toured Scotland and left accounts of their experiences in Scottish inns, ale houses, taverns and hotels. Similarly, poets and writers from Robert Burns and Walter Scott to Ian Rankin and Irvine Welsh have left vivid descriptions of the pleasures and pains of Scottish drinking places. Pubs also provided public spaces for occupational groups to meet, for commercial transactions, for literary and cultural activities and for everyday life and work rituals such as births, marriages and deaths and events linked with the agricultural year. These and other historical issues such as temperance, together with contemporary issues, like the liberalization of licensing laws and the changing nature of Scottish pubs, are discussed in this fascinating book.

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More Information

Format: Illustrated
 Pages: 280
 Edition: Illustrated
 Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Published: 31 Jul 2015
ISBN 10: 1474407625
ISBN 13: 9781474407625

Media Reviews

Given the substantial place drink has in our culture and history, it is astonishing that no-one before now has written a book devoted to it. In his introduction to A History of Drinking: The Scottish Pub Since 1700 (EUP, 80/ 19.99), Anthony Cooke reflects that many Scottish historians have exercised a kind of self-censorship on the subject. It is a lamentable oversight, especially given the colour of the material to draw on, and Cooke describes ale houses, pubs, hostelries, shabeens, lounge bars, howffs, landlords and 'luckies' with a verve to match the stories he findsELan enthralling and oddly sobering piece of work. -- Rosemary Goring, Scottish Review of Books


Cooke has done a great deal to show us the diversity of the place over three centuries. He has laboured hard, using a huge diversity of archival sources, and has read widely in literature and local history to show the ways in which the Scottish pub distilled so much of our culture in one room. He fixes details on the economics and demographics as well as the society of the bar; he gives us prices and valuations, numbers of pubs per inhabitant, and builds a well-written account of the commerce, sociability and drinking communities of the country. The narrative is pacy, bowling the reader through the story with acumen and insight. -- Callum Brown, Reviews in History


Magnificent...it is a real joy to find such an erudite exposition on Scottish pubs, drinking and temperance in their proper historical context...there are some fascinating insights into how others saw Scottish drinking places at different times in history. -- Allan McLean, Scottish Local History




Given the substantial place drink has in our culture and history, it is astonishing that no-one before now has written a book devoted to it. In his introduction to A History of Drinking: The Scottish Pub Since 1700 (EUP, 80/ 19.99), Anthony Cooke reflects that many Scottish historians have exercised a kind of self-censorship on the subject. It is a lamentable oversight, especially given the colour of the material to draw on, and Cooke describes ale houses, pubs, hostelries, shabeens, lounge bars, howffs, landlords and 'luckies' with a verve to match the stories he findsELan enthralling and oddly sobering piece of work. -- Rosemary Goring, Scottish Review of Books


Cooke has done a great deal to show us the diversity of the place over three centuries. He has laboured hard, using a huge diversity of archival sources, and has read widely in literature and local history to show the ways in which the Scottish pub distilled so much of our culture in one room. He fixes details on the economics and demographics as well as the society of the bar; he gives us prices and valuations, numbers of pubs per inhabitant, and builds a well-written account of the commerce, sociability and drinking communities of the country. The narrative is pacy, bowling the reader through the story with acumen and insight. -- Callum Brown, Reviews in History


Magnificent...it is a real joy to find such an erudite exposition on Scottish pubs, drinking and temperance in their proper historical context...there are some fascinating insights into how others saw Scottish drinking places at different times in history. -- Allan McLean, Scottish Local History


Provides a much needed examination of the Scottish pub, a subject that has been neglected for far too long. Primary sources, especially accounts by those that visited pubs over the 300 year period covered by the study, offer interesting and informative insights. Furthermore, the author's analysis is backed up by a good use of statistics and the book is well illustrated throughout. What one takes away after reading this book is how important the pub is for the author and not just on an intellectual level, his genuine affection for this Scottish institution is obvious. -- Tim Holt, Brewery History


Author Bio
Anthony Cooke is retired Senior Lecturer in Continuing Education at Dundee University.