Deacon Brodie's Tavern

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Outside Deacon Brodie's Tavern - a quiet night
Credit
EG
Venue details
Street
43
Postcode
EH1 2NT
Edinburgh Area
Telephone (info)
0131 225 6531
About the venue

Deacon Brodie's Tavern is one of Edinburgh's best known pubs on account of its location smack in the epicentre of the tourist crawl - the junction at the Royal Mile and the top of The Mound. 

The real life Deacon Brodie - who lived a double life of crime and respectability in the 1740s - was an inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde. 

Deacon Brodie's has been around since 1806, and retains a traditional atmosphere with its antique interior and impressive decorative wooden ceiling. 

You'll find a classic offering of beer, pub grub (fish 'n' chip, haggis, burgers) and sport on the television for the big games and tournaments.  

Due to its location, the pub can get very busy.

Born in 1741, Brodie was a deacon of a group of skilled tradesman known as the Guild of Wrights, and his work included working with locks and security mechanisms. By day, as a respectable tradesman he socialised with the gentry, gaining intelligence by which to break-in and thieve valuables by night. The money allowed him to perpetuate his gambling habit and look after his five children by two mistresses.

Brodie's ruse was finally up when his gang were disturbed in the midst of an armed raid on the excise office in Chessels Court, on the Canongate. He subsequently went on the run, but was eventually caught in Amsterdam waiting to emigrate to America.  He and an accomplice were hanged at the Old Tolbooth, on the High Street, on 1 October 1788 before a crowd of 40,000, including Brodie's 10-year-old daughter. 

If you pass the pub you'll see a reference to Brodie's double life on the pub sign. On one side is painted the respectable, and upright Deacon and on the other a shifty, masked robber with a bag of loot.

Map

55.9495353, -3.1929166

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