The Auld Inns of Scotland

Robert Hale, 1997, 192pp, Line Drawings.
ISBN 0 7090 5987 6
£9.99

The traditional Scottish inn was established for the convenience of passing travellers and dates, in general, from the coaching era. The 'king's house', found in remote areas, may have been built by the government of the day, hence its name.
With the advent of the stagecoach came the opening of new routes and an increase in travel. As a result, lairds established inns on their estates, the size of which reflected their wealth and importance.
The author tells of inns which have entertained such diverse guests as Robert Burns and Sean Connery. William and Dorothy Wordsworth stayed at a great number of these establishments, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote Kidnapped in one, James Barrie etched his initials on a window in another, and Queen Victoria was fond of spending the night incognito.
The author also recounts tales of somewhat less illustrious patrons, such as drovers taking cattle to market and smugglers importing goods by night. There are stories of ghosts, Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Covenanters and even eloping couples. He tells of inns which previously had most unlikely uses and others where strange old customs still persist to this day.