Scomo collapsed from a heart attack near the new commercial center that he detested. Hurried and busy pedestrians left him there, figuring he was a drunken tramp, until a feeble-minded woman knelt to care for him and discovered he was dead.
That's how the writer George Scott-Moncrieff died in Edinburgh in 1974.
He loved Edinburgh, even though bulldozers and commercial developers had wrecked large parts of it.
Edinburgh is still lovable today despite the commercial-fueled bulldozer, says Alexander Larman in a recent essay in The Spectator, noting that Scotland's capital "comes into its own" at New Years.
The Scots call the New Years "Hogmanay" and it consists of two days that the Scots celebrate like their Irish cousins celebrate March 17th.
Larman recommends Edinburgh at Hogmanay . . . or at any time.
"It's a seductive place to visit," says Larman, given its "combination of Georgian architecture, world-class museums and galleries, some fine independent shops, and top-notch restaurants and bars."
If you're going to Edinburgh, Larman recommends you take the train from London.
And if you can afford it, go first class on the London North Eastern Railway. It takes four hours, but it's a great four hours.
"You see everything from York Minster to Durham Cathedral," says Larman, and the railway provides "surprisingly decent means at your seat," not to mention a lot of beverages.
The drinking is an appropriate prelude. The Scots are often called "the smartest people in the world." It might be true, but, regardless, they are easily the drunkest people in Great Britain (and possibly the entire world, after peoples of the former Iron Curtain countries), succored by British paternalism that has sapped their strength, made them dependent on welfare, and prompted them to vote overwhelmingly against the anti-paternalistic Brexit referendum.
Unsurprisingly, drinking is ensconced in Edinburgh.
Larman references the great drinks that can be found all over Edinburgh: the rooftop Lamplighters bar, the Spence bar, the Market Street hotel (where champagne is offered "at virtually every turn, from check-in to breakfast"), Klimpton Charlotte Square and its free wine and beer from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., the Lebanese restaurant "Baba," the Hawksmoor (and its "fuller old fashioned" and "Shaky Pete's Ginger Brew").
When in Rome . . . When in Scotland, do like the Scots: Drink.
It sounds like a lovely experience.
Alexander Larman
