Banner is tribute to village radicals
An historical milestone is still being marked in Balfron despite Covid shelving a whole programme of events.
With all their other Balfron Radicals Bicentenary Festival plans either cancelled or on hold, Balfron Heritage Group has decided to mark the run-up to the September 1820 trials with a banner naming the locals who had ‘true bills of high treason’ found against them.
The village had planned a host of events this year to commemorate the bicentary of the Scottish Insurrection, in which 200 of Balfron’s Weaver Radicals planned to take part.
Local historians had hoped to have a full exhibition on the background to the local Radicals movement.
However, the names of the villagers involved 200 years ago are now on show on the local banner. They were Lewis Cameron, William Crawford, Robert Drew, Joseph Gettie, Moses Gilfillan, George Gillies, James Gunn, Andrew Macfarlane, John Mclintock, Andrew Reid and James Wishart.
Local historian Jim Thomson said: “Apart from them, 200 men marched with home-made weapons ready for the call to rebellion – a call which never reached them.
“William Crawford even stood trial in Stirling at the same time as Radical leaders John Baird and Andrew Hardie but was acquitted. Baird and Hardie were executed.
“Moses Gilfillan fled to America where his son James attended college with future president James Garfield while James himself – son of a Balfron weaver-radical – became the US Treasurer in three administrations.”
The musical ‘song suite’ composed by Jim Thomson, telling the tale of these events, was due to be performed by Balfron Primary School in September but like so many other such events COVID-19 has put paid to that plan - at least in the meantime.
A plaque commemorating the Balfron Radicals was erected in the village last year and can be found near the door of Balfron Library.
Balfron Heritage Group visited other towns and villages in Scotland pre-lockdown to see how they had marked their role.
Jim added: “There was the Wilson monument in Strathaven, the moving ‘Hands of the Fallen’ sculpture at Greenock, Condorrat’s stunning marble war memorial including a panel dedicated to the Radical Rising and various others.
“It was only on returning to Balfron that it dawned on members that their own village did not have any commemoration memento.
“This was rectified with the creation and erection of the plaque.”
Two hundred or so Balfron Radical Weavers regularly marched in the the main street ready to be called for the imminent armed rebellion. Posters for a strike and insurrection were put up in Glasgow on April 1-2, 1820. The strike was successful but the uprising was not.
Jim said: “The Scottish ‘Provisional Government’ had been infiltrated by British Government spies and the call to march on Carron Ironworks for arms and reinforcements seems to have only happened in Glasgow. Strathaven Radicals started off but turned back and although the Balfron weavers were still active throughout that week they did not join the ragtag group of about 25 men from Glasgow who were routed by Yeomanry at Bonnymuir.”