Message in a Bottle - We Laid the Floor but Didn’t Drink the Whisky
We Laid the Floor but Didn’t Drink the Whisky
In 1887 three years before the establishment of James Pirie a couple of craftsmen left a message in a whisky bottle under the floorboards they had just laid in a posh Edinburgh house. And pretty good those floorboards must have been as they lay undisturbed until last November when a plumber was having a root and discovered the message and the bottle at the same spot it was laid down. The craftsmen who left the bottle were John Grieve and James Ritchie. Mr Grieve was from Leith, but he lived in Riddles Close in the Old Town, which wasn’t quite as salubrious in those days! Mr Ritchie was from Loanhead in Midlothian, near to Dalkeith and he lived in the High Street in nearby Liberton with his wife Mary and five children.
Morningside Frenzy
It has led to a frenzy of research on both the house and the carpenters who left the message. The craftsmen lived in rather more humble circumstances, but the owners of the house in a row of houses in Morningside were rather more elevated. One of those was the Reverend Archibald Eneas Robertson, the mountaineer said to the first to climb all 282 Munros, wow quite a feat! But if you like the idea of a song about messages there is The Police Message in a Bottle or the rather finer Jim Croce Time in a Bottle written for his unborn son, check them out.
Blowing Along the Road
The note was very sweet and may have included a bit of a white lie, saying that they had laid the floor but not drunk the whisky. Well I know that carpentry is a thirsty business, so I’ll take that claim with a pinch of salt. But they wrote a line worthy of Bob Dylan: "Who ever finds this bottle may think our dust is blowing along the road." The owners of the house didn’t enjoy the fine floorboards for very long as they sold the dwelling the following year.
Drink Me!
Now if the joiners didn’t drink the whisky in the bottle there is no reason for you to follow their example and have a dram. And the best way to have a dram is in a fine tumbler and the best tumblers are those you only have to pay half price for. And boy do we have some of those. Take a gander at the Glencoe - 2 Crystal Whisky Glasses in a classy black presentation box from Royal Scot Crystal. It’s HALF PRICE for a Limited period only and while stocks last. The glasses are beautiful deep cut classical diamonds with a fan hand cut design. Lovely!
WINTER SALE
We have discounts across the whole site but have put together here a special collection of offers which will be available for a limited time. Prices shown include discounts (No code required)
