Deacon Brodies Tavern

The sign above the door of Deacon Brodies Tavern displays a man hanging from a gallows. This image honors William Brodie, a respectable city councilor and master locksmith by day who operated as a prolific burglar by night. He used his knowledge of the city’s locks to rob his clients, eventually funding a lavish lifestyle and five mistresses until his capture in seventeen eighty-eight. The tavern sits where he once lived and worked, serving drinks beneath the shadow of his double life.