Tavern bill from the 1740s to 1770s from Crown tavern

Category

Museums & Galleries Item

Item no

52340

Title

Tavern bill from the 1740s to 1770s from Crown tavern

Description

One tavern bill from Crown tavern in Edinburgh. for the amount of '1-18-3/6 paid by James Stuart Baillie. Handwritten on a piece of paper in ink, with details of payee and payer. On the reverse is written ; 'Pay this bill spent with the Stentmasters at meeting with them about the collection for the poorshouse, James Stuart Baillie coffee;10-/2'. Items paid for ; 'back saye beefe; '0-8-0, traype; '0-5-6, spinadge & eggs; '0-0-10, salad; '0-0-2, bread & ale; '0-5-2, wine; '0-18-0, cook & girls cadys; '0-0-3, bisket; '0-0-2, officers bread & ale; '0-0-4, Lisbon; '0-8-0, more wine; '0-2-0. '. An additional note reads ; 'to the drawer '1-13-9'. A handwritten number 9 is marked on the paper, perhaps as a later addition for bookkeeping purposes.

Type

Document; Paper

Accession number

SH.2011.191.4

Copyright

The City of Edinburgh Council Museums & Galleries

Taverns in 18th century Edinburgh were a focus for socialising, business and dining. The development of the Old Town’s high buildings meant all levels of society lived together, and this was also the case in the taverns.

Museums & Galleries Edinburgh have a collection of tavern bills from the 1700s which give us an insight into what people ate and drank, but also how much it all cost. It seems beer, wine and ale were the preferred drinks. Beer was probably a light drink, served with bread much like we serve water and bread today. Ale was the heavier drink. Wine was almost entirely claret, a type of red imported from Bordeaux in France, although some of these bills also list fortified wines from Portugal (known as Lisbon, but probably resembling Port).

The food listed in these bills is varied, but often list spinach and eggs, oysters, and bread as staples. These were all readily available in the farms, fields and seas around Edinburgh.

The taverns provided other services, and we see listed coaches and caddies. Coaches were sedan chairs, a type of covered litter carried on wooden poles by two porters. Horse drawn carriages would have been no use on the Old Town’s uneven streets, narrow wynds and steep closes. Caddies were Edinburgh’s eyes and ears. Originally formed as messenger boys, the caddies quickly knew everyone’s business. They were often relied on as sources of information, and little happened in the city without them knowing.

The taverns in the 18th century were the meeting places of all sorts of thinkers, scientists, artists and writers. At the height of the Enlightenment in Edinburgh, some of these taverns became centres for like-minded men, and over time these groups became formalised clubs. Some, like the Royal Scottish Academy, became major institutions, while others, such as the Revolution Club or the Cape Club, remained little understood ‘secret’ societies.

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