An arch in South Bridge, Edinburgh, which was once used as a tavern was found to contain hundreds of oyster shells and empty wine bottles.  This was because fishwives from nearby Newhaven would gather oysters from the Firth of Forth, and due to Scotland's long association with France, imported wine was cheap and plentiful.<br><br>What we can surmise from this is that the ordinary people of old Edinburgh ate oysters, washed down with wine - because they were poor.<br><br>I hate to think what oysters and French wine would cost in an Edinburgh hostelry nowadays, but I doubt I could afford it.