TIMES PAST Parties and parades for our patron saint in city
IT was St Andrew’s Day, 1949, and the League of Young Scots was holding its annual ball in Glasgow. This was to be a special night, however, as the young lads and lassies got the chance to sign the Covenant, brainchild of “Champion of Scottish Nationalism” John MacCormick.
The Covenant was to be signed by people who pledged to do all they could to secure a parliament for Scotland
“with adequate legislative authority in Scottish affairs.” The Duke of Montrose was the first to sign, followed by civic and church leaders.
Andrew Marr described it in his 1992 book, The Battle for Scotland as “sparking a firestorm of enthusiasm across Scotland, gaining 50,000 signatures in a week. Copies for signature were stacked in bakers and fish- shops, university halls and city offices…”
Eventually, the document was signed by two million people. “MacCormick and his associates,” said his obituary in the Glasgow Times’ sister newspaper The Herald, “had caught the spirit of a great part of Scotland, in revolt against centralisation, austerity and bureaucracy.”
This year’s celebrations will be muted of course, but many will have fond memories of ceilidhs and parties, and torchlight parades, like this one from 2016 in Glasgow’s West End.
The young women of the Margaret Rose School of Dance were the star turn at Gartocharn’s St Andrew’s Night ceilidh in 2002. They had also entertained at the Clyde Auditorium during the AGM of Soroptimists International and the Royal British Legion concert at the Victoria Halls, Helensburgh.