Here's Tae Us -
A Social History of Drinking in Scotland
"This project originated from an idea to explore an important social and economic aspect of Edinburgh life: brewing and drink. It has been supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, along with the Scottish Brewing Archive and the City of Edinburgh Museums.......
The valuable contributions from our interviewees and other sources have allowed us to record a range of experiences associated with drink and drinking, both as a source of employment and as a social lubricant. Their memories have included stories about: working in the brewing and bottling trade, family or other social events, Edinburgh pubs, attitudes towards women drinking, attendance at Temperance meetings, and even very personal experiences associated with too much drink. Here’s Tae Us records, preserves and celebrates an important area of the social history of Edinburgh."
Joyce Miller and Miles Tubb, November 2007.
The Exhibition and Booklet
Above is just an extract from the foreword for the
booklet "Here's Tae Us, A Social History of Drinking in Edinburgh".
This was launched along side the exhibition of the same name at
the Museum of Edinburgh on 7th December 2007. The booklet and the
exhibition contain many quotes and illustratons of how drinking
has affected their lives in positive and negative ways. In the
following pages you can see a selection of these quotes and also
listen to some of them.
The Launch
On this page are photographs
of the exhibition launch including many artefacts illustrating
all aspects of the history of drinking in Edinburgh.
We were lucky to have a beautiful
model of a drinking establishment from the 50s built for the
exhibition by Jean Taylor , a Living Memory Association volunteer.
There are some pictures of this model here also which unfortunately
cannot really do it justice.
Deirdre Brock Officially Opening the Here's Tae Us Exhibition
Jean Taylor and Deirdre Brock
The Video
We are also lucky to have had a stop frame animation made illustrating
one of the stories told to us by Bill. This was created by
Miles Tubb using Jean's model Pub and one of her other wonderful models as a backdrop.
The video is at the foot of this page. If you can't wait go to
the video here. There is also a transcript of the audio beside the video.
Listening Post
Lower Exhibition Room
Various Beer Bottles
Upper Exhibition Room
The Last Word Pub
A View Through the Window
The Snug
The Bar
Playing Darts
Bill's Story
I started off by walking home...
deciding to walk home with my bicycle. I had met up wi' this lad
and he said, he said how would you like to go to dance? And I was
such embarressed you see, instead of sayin' no, I'm keeping my
wages after me to give to my mum, I was so embarresed I just said
yes.
So I got all dressed up and he agreed to meet me... at the Station
Bar... and I agreed.
I started off with a pint and then I ended up on 4 pints. I tasted
stout and I tasted heavy and I tasted light and I tasted beer
and I tasted rum....
Och I can mind it was really the ruin of me. It put me in hospital
where I got dried out and I never shouldae!
