Crochallan Fencibles
The Crochallan Fencibles was an 18th-century Edinburgh convivial club that met at the Anchor Close, a public house off the High Street.
Its name was made up from two sources: Crochallan is derived from a song, "Crodh Chailein'", which was a favourite of the then Landlord Daniel Douglas, and Fencibles was a name for regiments of garrison troops which were raised for the defence of Great Britain.
William Smellie, the editor of the first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, was the founder of the club. He reminisced that:
The members of the club use military ranks to designate their positions in the club, hence William Dunbar was the colonel of the club.
Smellie introduced Robert Burns to the club in 1787. Burns compiled a book of popular songs for the club called The Merry Muses of Caledonia in which he writes of Smellie:
