Memories of city y

A look back at how folk painted the town red

DUNDEE’s nightlife scene has seen two major changes this week.

The boss of long-running nightclub Liquid revealed the venue was set to shut its doors for the last time next week.

And Dundee pub boss Jimmy Marr was given the go-ahead by city councillors to open a 1920s speakeasy-style nightclub underneath 172 at the Caird on the Nethergate.

Together, they form another chapter in the long story of Dundee’s nightlife, which has seen countless clubs come and go as the city’s relationship with dancing evolved.

From as early as the 18th Century, dancing was spreading across Scotland, escaping from the confines of the stately homes of the rich into common social gatherings.

Early venues for such assemblies included the one-time Trades Hall, the Thistle Hall in Union Street and the Exchange Coffee House.

There, locals would take up newfangled dances such as the waltz — although not all were taken with it.

A local press article which appeared in 1815 branded anyone choosing to adopt the German dance as “disgusting” — at a time when assemblies were used to find potential husbands and wives.

The article brooded: “No man but a fool will include waltzing among the motives for choosing a companion for life.

“One of these Waltzing Ladies would prove but a middling wife in the season of adversity.”

After the First World War brought

Champion Bobby Cannon was pulling out all the stops at a twist marathon at the JM Ballroom in 1962.