Question

Nicola McGhee wrote:

Wild Cat

"I am trying to find some proof - photographic or otherwise - to confirm the existence of a wild cat in a pub in Leith.

My nana swears it's true, but very few people believe her. She says this pub was on the corner of Commercial Street, which would be the Guiliano's Restaurant now.

The pub may have been called Fairley's. She said it was large black cat in the window, which she described as a cheetah, but I am assuming it would be a puma if it were black,

She and her friends would walk along at lunchtimes from the whiskey bonds, where they worked, to look at it. This would have been around 1975/76.

Any information you could give me would be greatly appreciated."

Nicola McGhee, Leith, Edinburgh:  May 19, 2008

If you know anything about this wild cat, please email me, then I'll pass your comments on to Nicola.

Thank you.    - Peter Stubbs:  May 20, 2008

Answer 1.

Ian Mycko

Gilmerton, Edinburgh

Thank you to Ian Mycko who replied within an hour of me adding the question above to the web site.

Ian wrote:

Wild Cat

"The story is true

I recall something about either a puma or black panther being kept at Guiliano's when it was  a pub.  I can't remember what pub was called,

I think it may have been in late 70s or early 80s."

Ian Mycko, Gilmerton, Edinburgh:  May 19, 2008

Answer 2.

Katrina Blackburn

Kent, England

Katrina Blackburn, formerly of Leith Walk, wrote:

Wild Cat  -  Fairleys

"The pub that kept the cat was indeed Fairleys. It was known as 'Fairleys by the Shore', as opposed to the other Fairleys which was in the old Leith Street.

Both pubs were well known in Edinburgh for many years as  pubs for sailors and 'ladies of the night'.

Fairleys kept a panther or cheetah in the late 1960s.  I don't know if that would be the same one Nicola's Nan saw."

Katrina Blackburn, Kent, England:  May 20, 2008

Answer 3.

Stuart Old

Edinburgh

Stuart Old, a Staff Nurse at Balfour Day Hospital, Astley Ainsley Hospital,  Edinburgh wrote:

Wild Cat  -  Fairleys

"I work in a Day Hospital, with elderly people from Edinburgh, and enjoy gathering their memories. We have heard this story of the wild cat in Leith from a couple of sources. Both sources name Fairleys as the venue where a black panther was indeed kept in a cage at the end of the bar.

In one version, from an ex-policeman.  The cops were called to an 'incident' at Fairley's.  This, I believe, was fairly usual in those days - 1960s and early 1970s.

To put it politely, a lady was removed from the bar, and taken up to the Infirmary with numerous deep scratches on her back. Knowing the little I do about Fairley's reputation, I wonder if she was part of the 'entertainment', or maybe she was just a fightable Leith lassie with issues!!  Frankly it sounds like another world!

I have a wicked habit of asking the ladies who come here about their nights on the tiles at Fairley's.  I am invariably met with:

 'Aw naw son, ma mither wid nivver let me go there, whit wi' aw thae sailormen??!!'

Except one woman, who said she worked in the tea-room there and it was very nice.  If only we could turn back time and check these things out, eh?"

Stuart Old, Edinburgh:  May 21, 2008

Answer 4

Eric Gold

East London

Eric Gold, formerly of Dumbiedykes, Edinburgh and now living in East London,  wrote:

Wild Cat  -  Fairleys

"My big brother, Tam, told me of the puma.  I thought he was joking but it was true.  The bar was definitely Fairley’s.  It was opposite The Jungle (The Kings Wark Pub) in Leith."

The puma was in a cage to the right of the bar.  He hissed and spat at the customers all night.   What a beast!  I felt sorry for him as he should not have been there.

Later, when I was working on the QE2, I heard from a steward from Leith hat the landlord let the cat out one night and it attacked and injured one of the girls in the back bar, which was a small dance room and pick up joint.

The landlord was arrested and sacked.  I don’t know what the cat's fate was.  This was around 1974-77."

Eric Gold, East London:  May 25 + 29, 2008

Answer 5

Frank Ferri

Newhaven, Edinburgh

Thank you to Frank Mae who added:

Leith Pubs

"The pub referred to was originally the Merchants, a favourite haunt of merchant seamen.

Then it became Fairleys of Leith (not to be confused with Fairleys in Leith Street).

It is now Giuliano's.

Yes indeed, the eccentric owner did have a puma during the pubs Go-Go dancing era of the 1970s (which was all the rage then).  I believe the Police were not amused so it had to be removed

Incidentally, that area of pub life on the Shore at Leith, was once known as the Barbary Coast (after a similar 'Red Light' nautical district in San Francisco) and/or The Jungle, a name that the old King's Wark pub acquired for many years."

Frank Ferri, Newhaven, Edinburgh:  June 10, 2008

Answer 6

Derek

formerly Edinburgh

Thank you to Derek who wrote:

Wild Cat  -  Fairleys

"Yes, it was indeed a black puma, and the lady mentioned was my ex- partner, Marjori Williamson.  The story she told me was the bar was closed she had fallen asleep in the toilets.  When she awoke and came out of the toilet the Puma them attacked her.

This happened long before i new her.  If you find out anything regarding this, could you keep me updated  please, just for history reasons and my our daughter are interested."

Derek:  July 31, 2008

Derek added:

Looking for Marjori

"I no longer live in Edinburgh.  I sold up and left, around two years ago now.  I bought a place out west.

As far as I know Marjori is still in Edinburgh.  She used to beg on the streets a couple of years back.  I don't know where she is now.  We are trying to locate her though."

Derek:  August 3, 2008

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