1780. Glasgow is booming, but the American war is looming, and the city’s wealth is dependent on the import and export of American tobacco. Can the great port survive?

However, this pressing question is not addressed by Enoch Dalmellington, Virginia Street. He is more concerned about marrying his dreich pious humourless daughter Euphemia, being able to afford his pew at the Tron Kirk and what to do about Mistress Zapata’s scurrilous predictions about Glasgow in 2009.