John Dowie took over a tavern named "The Mermaid" on Liberton Wynd, off Edinburgh's
Royal Mile, close to the Law Courts and
St Giles Cathedral around 1770. The building held a date-stone of 1728 over the entrance. Dowie was a convivial host, and despite the small rooms and lack of daylight, it was a popular place, due to both Dowie himself and the quality of the beers. Liberton Wynd was a steep and narrow alley leading from the High Street to the
Cowgate. The beer was from
Archibald Younger's brewery at Croft-an'-Righ. The south wall of the tavern was defined by the King's Wall, one of the early city town walls. Edinburgh Ale was supplied to the tavern by
Archibald Younger from the
Croft-an-Righ Brewery near
Holyrood Abbey (which was set up in 1777). The tavern also sold food such as
Nor' Loch trout,
Welsh rabbit and "puffed herring" (
bloater). It was open from around 10am until midnight. The largest room in the tavern held around 14 people. The smallest space, known as "the coffin", held four, or six at a squeeze, and was the favourite space of Burns. In 1806, the poem "Johnnie Dowie's Ale" was published, raising the fame of the tavern. Following the death of John Dowie at 13 Libberton Wynd in 1817, the tavern was renamed the
Burns Tavern due to its connection to
Robert Burns. It was demolished (together with all of Liberton Wynd) to create
George IV Bridge, which began construction in 1827. It is thought the tavern was one of the last buildings demolished for the project, around 1836. Although some records state the tavern was demolished in 1881, this appears to relate to a second Burns Tavern, possibly built by the owner of the first. ==Family==