Hi Betty, I'm not aware of any disaster in that area, but I'd be most interested to find out more, I'll see what I can discover. Now..regarding Spirit Merchants...& colliers. In Glasgow in 1832 there was a dealer in spirits for every fourteen families, this, in a society that was povert-stricken! In the Coatbridge area in 1845, the management became aware of the reduction in quality of iron in the week after payday, "in consequence of the men not being entirely masters of their own actions", through drink! In the 1870's Scotlands miners enjoyed high wages & consequently a good drink. The iron industry was flat out supplying materiels for the Franco-Prussian war which in turn kept the miners extremely busy. In the New Statistical Account for Liberton it was noted: "There are thirty-two shops for the sale of spirits in this parish, which is just thirty too many... One man is paid for teaching sobriety, but thirty-two have an interest in defeating his efforts, and human nature is on their side." I don't think spirit merchants were wealthy by any standards, it might well have been that their business was run for a silent partner, it was known for coalmasters to run their own alehouses behind a "front"! part of the "truck" system that exploited miners & their families. Regarding brewing or distilling their own drink, certainly not the case for spirits, but I don't know about ale, perhaps someone more knowledgable might comment. Regards Jim Rouse Ps.. I just posted a new "story" at www.mcpitz.com, which throws some light on how the ruling classes viewed the peasants' intemperance :-) <==============================<>=============================> A man cannae bear a' his ain kin aboot on his ain back. Genealogy Hamepage: http://homepages.go.com/~seimi/genes.html <===============================================================> <==============================<>================================>