They Belonged to Glasgow: Some Clydeside History - From the Bottom Up - Softcover

Rudolph Kenna; Ian Sutherland

9780952947103: They Belonged to Glasgow: Some Clydeside History - From the Bottom Up

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0952947102 ISBN 13: 9780952947103

Publisher: Clutha Books, 1996

Glasgow s current status as a cult city with a worldwide reputation for chic clubs and hip hotels is deserved, but its humble origins lie in the medieval town based around the High Street and in the numerous villages which once lay outside the city boundaries. As the city spread these communities, such as like Anderston and Partick, were consumed and the social conditions within them gradually altered. This book charts these changes through eye-witness accounts drawn from archives and the local presses. Rudolph Kenna and Ian Sutherland start this accessible social history in 1751 with a report on a flea circus presented by John Jarvis in a flat in the Trongate. Many of the entries from then on reflect the myriad activities and happenings that occurred in all walks of life on the banks of the Clyde. Which city MP was a spanker? What did Mr Wong Chong do in 1959? What did debs do in Rose Street? Why did Edward Helley fiddle his gas meter? Who were the Romeos? Who ate 19 pies and went home for his tea? And many of them reveal the sheer hardship of life all those years ago. In 1774, a New York gentleman wrote to a friend in Glasgow, describing the arrival of the brig Nancy, carrying evicted Highlanders from Sutherland to America. Emigrants had been 'treated with unparalleled barbarity'. Nearly 100 died during the voyage. Of 50 babies and infants, 49 were dead. Of seven women who gave birth on the ship, only one was alive. All new-born babies died. The captain 'narrowly escaped the vengeance of the law' by leaving port 'with his vessel in the night.' This is the history of Glasgow from an everyday point of view, written from the bottom up.

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About the Author:

Rudolph Kenna studied economic and social history at the University of Strathclyde. He has written extensively about his native city. Ian Sutherland has contributed to New Society, The Scots Magazine and the Herald. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in Scotland. Ian Sutherland commutes between Aberdeen and Glasgow and is the author of Some Aberdeen History From The Bottom Up. He is a regular contributor to The Herald and The Scots Magazine.

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