I have been here before a bit, but I really can’t get over how good and important this sort of thing is.
The butcher in Bruntsfield of course.
It’s a topper of a shop with a prime position in the heart of Bruntsfield and has been run for three generations by the Linton family. Angus and Bob are presently at the helm after their father finally stopped working aged 80, having worked fifty years in the business.
You really have to go and visit to see what I mean but this is a place of great entertainment with the wise cracking Angus and Bob. It’s just hugely refreshing to pop in and have a good old chin-wag. And many people indeed just do that, from posties to professors to painters and punters and practical jokers and even the odd hotel porter.Yes ‘odd’.
Need a tonic or pick me up then this is the place to go. Angus nearly always has a new joke in his pack. Last week’s one I really quite liked.
‘Did you hear about the prawn that went to a disco?’
‘It pulled a muscle’
Of course it’s the way you tell them and Angus can indeed tell them. But that made me laugh. Not for every one of course but I like this light headed stuff more than most conversation. It can get mighty crude at times but wasn’t old Chaucer a bit on the rude and crude side. What ho?!
Anyway I always let off a bit of steam here and come out feeling lighter and happier. A bit of a chortle is very good for the soul.
I mean that’s why people go to stand-up shows I suppose. The fringe is full of them. Ten to a penny. Although they are rarely very funny. At least in my experience.
No, far better to get down to the butchers or a similar such place. It’s really rum stuff. And overlooked by the majority living their frenzied lives nowadays.
I love Angus and Bob’s daily routine when they knock on the wall to the bistrot next door at 2pm and suddenly a couple of pints appear! And also their Tuesday night club when they sit outside with Robbie the bistrot owner and put the world to right. Quite right.
This is really all tip-top stuff. Good innocent down to earth chat with a lot of laughs. And there is not enough of that these days.
Yes, unfortunately there are very few places like this. I do know a very good butcher shop in Crail but alas the chat is well below par (above par?!) Shame.
But at least Penman’s is opening up a shop in Anstruther. That means that I can get my hands on a wonderful bridie in under 20 minutes if push comes to shove. And that’s a very good thing indeed.
However, sometimes even a Penman’s bridie does not satiate the soul.
God get me a train and get me down to Bruntsfield again.