WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.680 align:middle line:90%


00:00:01.680 --> 00:00:03.660 align:middle line:84%
This is a cautionary
tale about drink.

00:00:03.660 --> 00:00:11.630 align:middle line:90%


00:00:11.630 --> 00:00:17.040 align:middle line:90%
Setting in a bar.

00:00:17.040 --> 00:00:18.040 align:middle line:90%
Appropriately.

00:00:18.040 --> 00:00:23.210 align:middle line:90%


00:00:23.210 --> 00:00:27.275 align:middle line:84%
This title comes from a Scottish
euphemism for the grave.

00:00:27.275 --> 00:00:30.220 align:middle line:90%


00:00:30.220 --> 00:00:31.060 align:middle line:90%
"The Long Home."

00:00:31.060 --> 00:00:35.170 align:middle line:90%


00:00:35.170 --> 00:00:38.860 align:middle line:84%
"I hadn't been back in 20
years, and he was still here,

00:00:38.860 --> 00:00:43.720 align:middle line:84%
by the fire, at the far end
of the longest part counter

00:00:43.720 --> 00:00:47.110 align:middle line:90%
in Aberdeen, some say Scotland.

00:00:47.110 --> 00:00:52.660 align:middle line:84%
Not many in, and my favorite
time, the dog watch.

00:00:52.660 --> 00:00:54.850 align:middle line:90%
The city is still working.

00:00:54.850 --> 00:00:59.200 align:middle line:84%
Its tortoiseshell light just
legible in the smoked windows.

00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:01.990 align:middle line:84%
And through the
slow delay of glass,

00:01:01.990 --> 00:01:07.450 align:middle line:84%
the streetlights
batting into life.

00:01:07.450 --> 00:01:12.520 align:middle line:84%
The firewood sap buzzing
like a trapped fly.

00:01:12.520 --> 00:01:15.130 align:middle line:84%
The granular crackle
of the green finals

00:01:15.130 --> 00:01:17.500 align:middle line:90%
folded and unfolded.

00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:20.920 align:middle line:84%
The sound of the calls
and wrapping themselves

00:01:20.920 --> 00:01:23.500 align:middle line:90%
like sweets.

00:01:23.500 --> 00:01:25.480 align:middle line:84%
He only looked up
when the barman

00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:28.690 align:middle line:84%
poured a bucket full
of ice into the sink,

00:01:28.690 --> 00:01:31.220 align:middle line:84%
like a tremendous
burst of applause.

00:01:31.220 --> 00:01:34.150 align:middle line:90%


00:01:34.150 --> 00:01:37.630 align:middle line:84%
He was drinking Sweetheart
Stout and whiskey,

00:01:37.630 --> 00:01:39.850 align:middle line:84%
staring into the
glass of malt as

00:01:39.850 --> 00:01:42.730 align:middle line:84%
if it were the
past, occasionally,

00:01:42.730 --> 00:01:47.500 align:middle line:84%
taking the pool on
the long brown bottle.

00:01:47.500 --> 00:01:51.670 align:middle line:84%
I remember him telling
me with that grim smile,

00:01:51.670 --> 00:01:56.300 align:middle line:84%
"I'm washing my
wounds in alcohol."

00:01:56.300 --> 00:01:58.960 align:middle line:84%
I like to drink,
too, but would always

00:01:58.960 --> 00:02:06.760 align:middle line:84%
leave before him, walking
home, as if on a wire,

00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:10.419 align:middle line:84%
I'd heard what had
happened, but wasn't ready

00:02:10.419 --> 00:02:14.440 align:middle line:84%
for the terrible wake
all down at one side.

00:02:14.440 --> 00:02:19.600 align:middle line:84%
The turn in his mouth, and
his face's hectic blaze.

00:02:19.600 --> 00:02:23.770 align:middle line:84%
He left here so bad,
he could barely stand.

00:02:23.770 --> 00:02:26.680 align:middle line:84%
He got through his
door, back to his room,

00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:29.830 align:middle line:84%
and passed out for
the night, sleeping

00:02:29.830 --> 00:02:34.200 align:middle line:84%
like a log with his
head in the fire."

00:02:34.200 --> 00:02:37.000 align:middle line:90%