Yikes? The last house that Adam Smith lived in – at Canongate – is up for sale. And the local council may let it go to developers. Oh cruel irony of ironies, the ultimate Adam Smith problem – a council that doesn’t know the difference between the Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations.
HT frequent commenter Patrick.
The significance of the picture? None at all. I just found it looking for a picture of Adam’s house. But it’s a nice picture don’t you think. I like to think of it as Adam having a bit of a zoom around. In fact it’s his Canongate neighbour and likeminded abolitionist the skating minister the Rev Robert Walker.
And it reminds me of a great song by Jethro Tull – skating away, on the thin ice of a new day. For the lyrics of the song click here. For possibly the worst performance of the song ever, click here. I can’t find a really good performance of it on youtube – though here it is by the original authors live. I guess you can find the beautiful studio version on Limewire.
A great painting, by Henry Raeburn.