Re previous emails about the history of licencing law in Scotland, the following extract might be of interest. It comes from a2003 paper by Bruce Ritson entitled "ALCOHOL LICENSING LAWS: PROPOSALS FOR CHANGES IN SCOTTISH LAW" "In August 2003 the Nicholson Committee published areview of Licensing Law in Scotland (Nicholson Committee,2003). Licensing legislation has a long history in Scotland andits content has always differed significantly from that ofEngland. For a long period it was more restrictive, althoughnot so in recent years. The first licensing legislation, making ita requirement to register to sell alcohol, was introduced in1756. In l887, the Hours of Closing Act fixed closing time at10 p.m. in all but the largest cities. There was a gradualevolution of licensing laws during the 19th century,culminating in the Licensing Act (Scotland) in 1903. Theregulations imposed at that time persisted with some minorchanges, until the 1962 Acts that provided for standardpermitted hours for the whole of Scotland and for Sundayopening (largely restricted to hotels). In 1971, a committeeunder the chairmanship of Dr Christopher Clayson wasformed, with many of its conclusions incorporated into theLicensing (Scotland) Act 1976, which formed the basis oflicensing law to the present (Clayson Report, 1973). John Simpson