Simpson and his discovery of chloroform - inventions and discoveries seemingly endless. In 1790 the First Statistical Account of Scotland was under way and the publisher Creech was given his say in a comparison of Edinburgh in 1763 and in 1783. Housebreaking was extremely rare in 1763 but 1783 saw that housebreaking theft and robbery were frequent. Many of the crimes were committed by boys whose ages prevented them from being objects of capital punishment. Although bookselling was his trade, Creech was interested in all sorts of shops.
Perfumers have splendid shops in every street.
Some of them advertise they keep bears, to kill occasionally for greasing ladies and gentlemen s hair, as superior to any other animal fat. Yet amid all the brilliance of the golden age which also brought a revival of pride in things Scottish and in the Gaelic language, there was still a shortage of grain in the city markets in 1800 and talk of famine among the poorer citizens as the population steadily increased. The new century was not a peaceful one in the early years. In 1824 one of the most disastrous fires ever to hit the city broke out. On November 15 smoke and flames burst from a house in Assembly Close off the High Street and spread rapidly to engulf the whole tenement.