Did you know that the Tay Bridge – the one of the infamous disaster – was built by someone called Sir Thomas Bouch? Nope? Me neither. Although apparently not the source of the expression ‘a botch job’.
What about the fact that one of the sons of the famous Queensberry family was so hideously inbred he was locked in his room? Until, that is, one night when the family went out leaving him alone apart from a kitchen lad turning a roast on a spit. When the family came home the son had vanished and the kitchen boy was cooling – half eaten – on the spit.
The Panther and I made these discoveries during on open-top bus tour of Edinburgh.
Finding ourselves with no Boys to look after and no one requiring our talents and skills we went on a crazy rock ’n’ roll trip to the Capital. It was an education and I’d thoroughly recommend entrusting yourself to the rambling, opinionated and erratic commentary of the red-nosed bekitled guide on the Edinburgh City Tour bus. And as it was Burns birthday, who could blame him for having a little tipple.
Speaking of Burns, it is a little embarrassing isn’t it? The city’s grand monument to the Bard is still swathed in sacking and scaffolding on the first day of the much hoo-haa’ed Homecoming Celebrations.
Actually, it went with much of the rest of the lovely city; dug up for trams and variously awaiting refurbishment, it’ll be fantastic when it’s finished. Just a pity that’ll be after all those visitors lured by Alex Salmond’s schmaltzy campaign have gone home.