Noctes Ambrosianae. ‘Nights at Ambrose’s’ or ‘Ambrosian Nights’. Expressive words that exercise a double function. They pinpoint a place, and name the individual who presided over it.
He was William Ambrose, the host of Ambrose’s Tavern, the venue of the famous dialogues in the pages of Blackwood’s Magazine. As such, he was immersed in the action, leading and directing his tail of waiters in serving gargantuan quantities of food and drink to Christopher North and his friends as they debated numerous weighty matters. He comes to us as a caricature in the Noctes, a supporting player in the comedy, but the occupant of a vital role. Parallel with his fictitious persona, he was a real person. William Ambrose was a Yorkshireman who kept a tavern at 1 Gabriel’s Road in Edinburgh. Situated around the corner from William Blackwood’s salon at 17 Princes Street, it was often visited by the publisher and his writers. Spirited conversations ensued and from those arose the idea that they be set down on paper for the enlightenment of the readers.