The Dean Tavern - A Gothenburg Experiment

The Abbey Inn has long been known locally as the 'Bottom Shop.' In the old days a pub was also a shop and the term is still used by the licensing trade. It first got a public house licence in 1897 when Alexander Henderson was the licensee. Charles Lumsden took over in 1900 and he had it until 1909 when John Romans let it to William Walker. Mr. Walker, however, had a little difficulty getting the licence transferred to his name. William Stark, janitor at Newbattle School, arid Rob King, farmer, objected at the Licensing Court meeting and tried to get the licence withdrawn. A letter had been delivered to 800 householders in Newtongrange and the surrounding district by the temperance societies. The following is a copy of the letter.

The results of the poll were read out at the Licensing Court meeting. 299 forms were returned signed and properly filled up and of these 81 voted for no change in the licenses, 44 voted for limited licences and 174 voted for total prohibition. Counsel for the objectors claimed that this was "an overwhelming majority" in favour of prohibition. This was not accepted by the court, nor did the court think that two public houses was too many for a population of 5,000 "almost entirely composed of members of the mining trade." Mr. Walker was granted his licence unanimously.

There was a letter from an anonymous correspondent in the Dalkeith Advertiser during the course of the licensing controversy, demanding to know the turnover of the Dean. Part of the letter read, "The conscience of the community has been debauched by the bribes and doles distributed by the "Reformed" Public House establishment in the place."

In 1910 there was a fight in the Abbey Inn between a waiter and two East Calder miners over the price of a dozen bottles of beer. During the disturbance the waiter got a black eye. Two days later the two miners were seen passing the Abbey Inn going towards Newbattle. Mr. Lumsden and the waiter followed the men down the Peth and gave then a hammering. Mr. Lumsden was fined £3 and the waiter, John Kerr, 0 for their actions.

Mr. Walker bought the licensed grocer's shop at Hope House on Newbattle Road from John Stout in 1915. You could only have one licence at a time in those days and so Walker put Tom Hackett in the grocer's as manager and licensee. Torn Hackett was Mr. Walker's "guid brother" - they were married to two sisters.

Jim Barton worked in Hackett's as a boy. He remembers, "The beer came in barrels and we bottled it, like o' stout and Bass. We bottled that in the grocer's and we harried it up tae the Bottom Shop. Bass had tae lie about four tae six weeks before ye could really take the cork oot tae let a' the sediment drap tae the bottom, then it wis a' clear. As sin as ye yaised that barrel ye bottled another yin an' pit the bottles at he side o' it - bottled on such and such a day - and by the time ye got that sellt this yin wis ready. It wisnae long in goin'. A lot o' folk drunk Bass then. After that they tried draught Bass but it widnae take and then it yaist tae gaun off in hot weather. Ye had it in the cellar an' ye'd tae keep cold bags on the tap o' it - a gless o' cauld water on it. That wis tae cool it doon or it wid go. When ye did start tae bottle it ye daurny stop. Ah did that when ah wis bottlin' it first - ah didnae ken, of course - an' ah got a slap on the mooth for it. That wis Walker. Tae pit the Bass oot ye'd tae hud the bottle a certain way and watch it fillin' afore the sediment came and then stop. That was yer bottle o' Bass and that was 6d a bottle. Now, Bass is different. Ye can turn Bass oot. There's nae ingredients in it noo."

Jim Barton recalls some of Mr. Walker's business practices: "An* then he got in as much sugar an' he got in a barrel o' treckle an' a barrel o' seerup an' ye had tae take 5/- worth o' messages before ye got a pund o' treckle or seerup or a pund o' sugar."

Jim later went to work in the Bottom Shop under Mr. Walker "He was a great man! He never drunk. He had a bottle o' cold tea on the side an' a traveller came in an' he would say, "Ye'll take a dram, Mr. Walker an' gee the boy a shilling. The shilling went intae the till an' he would take his gless - but his gless o' tea- and cherge him the full price o' it. he never drunk."

The Bottom Shop's opening hours were from 4 pm. to 9 pm. after 1915. Jim Barton remembers. "During the First War I've seen them standing there at half past three, richt up tae the White Gates in a queue waitin' tae get in at fewer o' clock. But Walker was richt cute efter that. He went an' got a licence for tae sell drink. Ye could order it an' ah could carry it oot intae the coo park - that's where the Legion is now. They used tae come an' order half a dozen bottles o' beer and a gill o' whisky, ye ken, and I hid tae take it oot.

Walker, he used tae open the door at fower o' clock and on the coon-ter wis a gless o' whisky an' a pint o' beer, a gless o' whisky and a pint o' beer, repeated richt doon a' the coonter. Ah stood at the door - ah was only a young laddie - and let them in and coonted them. Ah let in so many an they drank their gless o' whisky and their pint o' beer an oot they went an' in came another crowd. By the time they were goin' oot they were fillin' up the glesses again.

There were 54 gallon hoggets* (hogshead) and Walker used tae bottle it - half pint bottles - an' at a certain time at night the beer went off. Only bottled beer left 6d. a bottle. He was makin' 3d off every pint. He had 80 dozen bottles ready. An' he bottled it off o' the fraught beer an' that wis what he din.

A lot o' whisky came in bottles but Walker boucht it in bulk. He reduced it his ainsel'. Six big barrels at the top o' the bar and we pumped it intae the barrels an' it had four wee taps. It was Walker's Special. Ye got it over the proof. Ye reduced it to 70 by addin' water.

Then the tramps used tae come in there wi' their jeely jars for beer. There was a man wi' a dug's collar. He had a big collar right up tae his neck like a minister."

Mr. Walker had bought the Bottom Shop from the trustees of the late John Romans in 1918 and in 1923 he sold it to the Lothian Coal Co, who owned it for the next 25 years. During that time the licencees were the Montgomerys, who owned Woolleys' of Dalkeith, the lemonade manufacturers.