Raise a strawberry to Adam Smith

Damn. I've had to turn down an invitation to celebrate Adam Smith's 287th birthday. Guests who drop into the Adam Smith Institute in Westminster this afternoon are promised "Scottish strawberries, his favourite food, and a cup of tea or a glass of wine".

When I was growing up across the river from Dundee Scottish strawberries were among my favourite food too. I enjoyed them all the more, I'm sure, because they were only available for a few weeks each year. The only thing I didn't like was having to "pick your own", which my mother, in particular, was rather keen on.

Later my school friends and I were paid to pick strawberries at the local farms. As I recall, there were two problems. One, it was back-breaking work because we spent most of our time on our hands and knees. Two, we didn't earn much money because we ate more strawberries than we picked.

The wine on offer this afternoon won't be Scottish, of course, but ASI director Eamonn Butler reports that, "In the words of the sage himself, very good grapes can be raised in Scotland, and very good wine too can be made of them at about 30 times the expense for which at least equally good can be brought from foreign countries".

I'm sorry I won't be there.

PS. That reminds me. Remember THIS?