Status Updates From Death of a Smuggler (Hamish...

O Whisky! soul o’ plays and pranks! Accept a Bardie’s gratfu’ thanks! Robert Burns, “Scotch Drink” (1785)

It has often been remarked of the Scottish character, that the stubbornness with which it is molded shows most to advantage in adversity.
- Sir Walter Scott, Old Mortality (1816)

Davey had lost track of the number of times Hamish had explained that declining Highland hospitality is every bit as insulting as calling a Highlander’s kilt a skirt, calling his dog a haggis or telling him that Sean Connery wasn’t the best James Bond.

Fortune! if thou’ll but gie me still Hale breeks, a scone, an’ Whisky gill.
Robert Burns, “Scotch Drink” (1785)

“Edinburgh’s not as ‘reekie’ as it used to be—there’s no smog from thousands of coal fires nowadays. The other thing is that the ‘ozone’ scent is actually dimethyl sulfide produced naturally by bacteria in the water that—”
“Enough o’ your science malarkey!” Hamish smiled, holding up a hand to stop Davey in mid-sentence.