The principal men of business in Glasgow at the time of which we speak were the tobacco lords--importers of that article from the plantations in Virginia,[60]--who were often to be seen strutting along the Plainstanes, dressed in scarlet cloaks, cocked hats, and powdered wigs; the “boddies” who kept the adjoining shops eying them over their half-closed doors, and humbly watching for a nod of recognition from the mighty potentates. Yet even the greatest of the tobacco lords only lived in flats, entering from a common stair; and the domestic accommodation was so scanty and so primitive, that visitors were of necessity received in the bedrooms. This circumstance seems to have had some influence in the formation of the Clubs,[61] which then formed a curious feature of society in most Scotch towns. They consisted of knots of men of like tastes and pursuits, who met in the evenings at public-houses for purposes of gossip and social drinking. There they made new and cultivated old acquaintanceships, and exchanged news with each other. The Club combined the uses of the newspaper and the newsroom, which now accomplish the same objects without the drinking. But Glasgow had then no newspaper; and a London news-sheet of a week old was looked upon as a novelty. There was no coffee-room nor public library in the town; no theatre[62] nor place of resort open, except the “Change-house;” so that the Club was regarded as a social necessity. The drinking was sometimes moderate, and sometimes “hard.” The better class confined themselves to claret and other French wines, which were then cheap, being free from duty. Those disposed to indulge in more frugal fare confined themselves to oat-cake and small-beer. It was not until heavy taxes were laid on foreign wines and malt that the hard whisky-drinking of Scotland set in. Whisky was introduced from the Highlands shortly after the “Forty-five;” and it soon became the popular drink. By 1780 the drinking of raw whisky in Glasgow at midday had become general.[63]