The '70s are known for the disco craze, bell-bottoms and rollerskates - a decade filled with over the top displays.
Across the Atlantic in New York, Bianca Jagger famously rode a white horse in Studio 54, but here in Edinburgh we also had a venue with a wild animal.
Locked in a cage in the corner of Fairley's in Leith, was a puma. Ian Black, the owner of the pub kept the wild cat in the lounge bar.
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The cat was known to hiss and spit at customers all through the evening, while go-go dancers performed nightly. Locals who frequented Fairley's maintained that it was ‘not a friendly beast’ and it was soon removed from the venue, when a woman was attacked.
It's understood that a drinker, Marjory Williamson, had fallen asleep in the toilets. When she awoke, the pub was closed, and the puma was wandering loose outside of its cage. Marjory was attacked and taken to the Infirmary with deep scratches in her back.
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The landlord of the pub was put on trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court in March 1976. He was charged on the terms that he: “Did keep and allow to at large, without being under any appropriate care, restraint or control, a puma belonging to him or under his charge, or his possession, while members of the public were in said public house, and said puma attacked and injured and did recklessly disregard the lives and safety of the public.”
The Sheriff convicted the accused of the charge, based on the fact that the puma had: “Instincts and unpredictable impulses of a wild animal, rather than a domestic dog, in which ferocity may be a manifestation of its propensity to protect its master's person, property or territory."
Recalling the incident on the Edinphoto website, Eric Gold said: "My big brother, Tam, told me of the puma. I thought he was joking but it was true."
"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."
Before laws changed in 1976, it wasn’t totally uncommon to spot the wealthy elite taking their wild animals for a stroll. In Tollcross, pet shop owners Meg and Richard Houston were known for the lion cub kept in the shop window.
The big cat lived in Edinburgh four around a year, with people flocking to the shop to get a peek. Some even managed to catch the Houston’s out for a stroll with the lion, named Jason, on a leash.
Once local police got wind of Jason, the pet shop owners were ordered to keep him off the streets and exercise him privately - though locals still managed to pay him a visit.
Meg said: “The locals loved him and of course a lot of people would come in especially.
“Wee old ladies would come in with a quarter pound of mince and hand feed him through the bars.”
What may seem like a thing of the past is reportedly still happening, according to international wildlife charity Born Free. A 2021 study from Born Free found 4,000 dangerous wild animals are being privately kept in Britain - 255 of which are living in Scotland.
According to their research, 54 big cats including tigers, lions, Asian leopards, Savannah cats, and Caracals are being kept behind closed doors across Scotland.
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