Old Burnfoot Vaults.
45 Adelphi Street, Glasgow.
The Old Burn Foot Vaults was one of Glasgow's very old drinking dens. It stood at the well known corner of Crown Street and Adelphi Street in the Gorbals. In 1886 the old howff was taken over by Mr E Leslie, he succeeded Mr McQueen and had extended the property of the place in a wonderful degree. Apart from its old appearance relatively good quality liquor was stocked. Back in the old days when the cotton trade was in full swing, when poverty was almost unknown in the district, the Old Burnfoot Vaults stood in the front rank of wine and spirit establishments in the city. It became an international landmark of the old times.
In 1893 it was one of the best bars in the wide and extensive area known as the Gorbals and Hutchesontown districts, and Mr J G Leslie is justly proud of the Burnfoot Vaults, not only for the historical associations which hang around it, but for the popularity it has attained amongst his numerous patrons.
It derives its name Old Burnfoot, from the fact that long ago a burn used to winple past it towards the Clyde. The old residents knew the history of the place, as it was always there even during their parents days. It had undergone many alterations since the days when Dan McLaren owned it. Daniel McLaren held the licence for the long period of fifty years, he was followed by Mr McQueen, then Mr Leslie. in 1886.
Mr Leslie was born and bred to the trade and closely identified with it all his lifetime. For ten years he carried on a licensed grocery business in Portobello and then purchased the old Burnfoot Vaults, Crown Street, Adelphi Street. He was an enthusiastic Freemason, a member of the City of Glasgow Rowling Club.
Hr retailed a bottle of Bass's best ale for two pence across his bar.
