Drunkenness in Scotland 1913 - 1919

The Scots have a reputation as a bunch of pissheads. Is there any statistical proof? Or is it a terrible slur on their national character?

Not sure I have a proper answer to that. What I can say with some certainty is that during WW I they became a more sober bunch. Not necessarily voluntarily. Here are the figures:

Drunkenness in Scotland.—Mr. Galbraith asked the Secretary for Scotland what was the number of proceedings for drunkenness in Scotland during the calendar year 1913 to 1920, inclusive, distinguishing between proceedings against men and women ?

Mr. Munro: The figures for the year 1920 are not yet available, but the number of proceedings for offences involving drunkenness (exclusive of offences for breach of the peace) for the other years mentioned is as follows :—

Year.	Men.	Women.	Total.
1913	38,443	11,773	50,216
1914	39,306	11,859	51,165
1915	36,438	11,739	48,177
1916	24,388	8,713	33,101
1917	14,922	5,568	20,490
1918	9,168	2,395	11,503
1919	17,722	4,250	21,072

Brewers' Journal 1921, Page 106.

I often talk of contextualisation. This is a perfect opportunity to indulge in a little.

One of the things that talk the wind out of the sails of prohibitionists was the obvious decrease in drunkenness after WW I. A major contributing factor was the fall in strength of beer. That and an economic depression that left many working class families with little cash.

Using the same rhetoric as before the war, the prohibitionists arguments became increasingly out of step with reality. Having failed to achieve their dream of total prohibition, they struggled to keep momentum behind their campaign. Disappointing results in the Scottish local veto polls didn't help. The temperance movement began to fizzle out between the wars. WW II, when the government didn't just ignore their calls for restrictions on alcohol but firmly told them to shut up, just about finished it off.

Is it possible to see a correlation between the strength and quantity of beer brewed in Scotland and the number of convictions for drunkenness? Let's give it a try. To get an absolute figure for the amount of alcohol in the beer, I'm using standard barrels.

Drunkenness in Scotland
Year.	Total.	1913 = 100	standard barrels brewed in Scotland	1913 = 100
1913	50,216	100	1,844,109	100
1914	51,165	101.9	1,983,489	107.6
1915	48,177	95.9	1,739,819	94.3
1916	33,101	65.9	1,619,119	87.8
1917	20,490	40.8	1,425,067	77.3
1918	11,503	22.9	762,264	41.3
1919	21,072	42.0	717,424	38.9
Sources:
Brewers' Journal 1921, page 246.
Brewers' Journal 1921, Page 106.

Looks to me like there's a connection between the number of standard barrels of beer brewed and the number of convictions for drunkenness.

Well there's something WW I achieved: reducing the number of drunks rolling around the street.