ABSTRACT
Thomas Tucker was a Cromwellian customs official concerned to increase the revenues of the ports of Scotland. In 1656 he submitted a report which was interesting in itself and particularly interesting in its remarks about the port of Leith. It was not merely that Leith was more important than the other ports; there was something odd about it that tempted the stranger to muse. Like most capitals, Edinburgh had gradually been developing a voracious appetite for imports. The details are beyond the limited scope of this article, but the outlines are obvious enough. Some of the ships involved in the trade were registered in foreign ports but most of them came either from Leith itself or from other Scottish ports. Once more the list is both long and revealing. In 1640-1 it included Kirkwall, Irvine and Glasgow, but most of the ports were nearer home.
