- Deacon Brodie was an Edinburgh cabinet maker in the mid 18th century and was by all accounts an interesting character. Respectable tradesman and City councillor by day and burglar by night.
The Deacon’s House Café is situated in what was once his workshop. It has plenty of olde worlde charm to satisfy the legions of tourists who must pass through here. After all they have trudged up the Royal Mile with its plethora of cashmere and souvenier shops, seeking some sustenance .. maybe even a scone. 
On offer were plain and fruit as well as apple and cinnamon scones which they advertise as ‘fresh baked’,. However, we found them very disappointing .. too big, too hard and too tasteless. Unfortunately there were a number of things that made this place feel slightly unwelcoming:
- • no credit cards of any kind taken in spite of it being in one of Scotland’s busiest tourist areas • orders have to be placed and paid for at the counter before they bring it to your table; if it’s busy this entails a long wait • toilets are on the other side of the close and an access code is required • no wifi that we could find • service could best be described as ‘adequate’.
Overall you got the feeling that, because there was a constant stream of tourists coming through the door, they did not have to try too hard. Unfortunately it showed.
Brodie’s double life eventually caught up with him and although he ran away to the continent he was caught in Holland and returned. He was hanged in 1788 before a crowd of 40,000 in the High Street. That must have been a good day out.
Crowdfunding
Parallels can be drawn between Brodie and Scotland’s only Lib Dem MP, Alistair Carmichael. He, you will remember, covertly released a memo which besmirched the First Minister by accusing her of being a David Hameron supporter. Only after the General Election did he own up. By that time, of course, he had narrowly held on to his seat in Shetland. Four of his own constituents thought that he would not have won had the electorate known he was a liar and decided to take him to court. Of course they could not afford the immense costs. Hallelujah, all the costs were met by crowdfunding. See the connection to Brodie?
#CarmichaelMustGo
Perhaps 40,000 people all contributing a couple of quid in order to get justice .. a modern day hanging. The case was not expected to succeed because according to the LibDems “all MPs lie”. However, the court has decided that there is a case to answer and Carmichael will probably have to testify. Today, Carmichael must feel a bit like Deacon Brodie. #CarmichaelMustGo.
EH1 2PS tel: 0131 226 1894 Deacon’s House Café