The first Glasgow directory was published in 1783 by John Tait. This image is taken from a facsimile reprint published in 1871 by Robert Forrester. Page 52 includes surnames from Milliken to Mitchell.
John Marshall was an accountant in the Ship Bank under the redoubtable Robin Carrick. Marshall was described as a cadaverous-looking personage, with a whisky-painted nose, gaunt in figure, and about 6 feet tall. One day he discovered that eating burnt cake masked the distinctive smell of his "meridian drams" (mid-day tipples). None too sober, he entered the bank in triumph with a bit of the brown cake in his hand. Coming up behind a figure he believed to be one of his drinking companions at the desk, Marshall gave him a hearty slap on the back, and, presenting the piece of cake, exclaimed, "Here, my old cock, is one of Robin's deceivers for you!" The "old cock" was Robin himself!
Reference: Mitchell Library, GC 914.14351
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries Information and Learning
Keywords:
accountants, bankers, banks, directories, drinking, drunkenness, family history, genealogy, John Tait's Directory, Ship Bank
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