200th anniversary of Radical Uprising marked by activists
A group of independence activists gathered to mark 200 years since the Scottish Insurrection.
Yes Paisley members usually gather in great numbers at Woodside Cemetery every year where there is a monument to Andrew Hardie, John Baird and James Wilson, who were executed for their actions during the Radical Uprising of 1820.
And Yes Paisley spokesperson Bruce MacFarlane believes it was too significant a moment to miss this year, despite coronavirus reducing the numbers that would normally have attended.
He explained: “In what would have been the 200th anniversary of the 1820 Radical Uprising, it was important to Yes Paisley activists that we spend some time remembering the struggles of those in the past who felt that Scotland should be independent.
“Alongside Paisley Tannahill SNP branch, Yes Paisley was planning a bigger event to celebrate and commemorate the actions of the uprising, where ordinary Scots stood up to the British state to try to fight for greater freedoms including a parliament for Scotland.
“A number of people had contacted me about organising some sort of event that could still show our support for the 1820 martyrs, while also respecting the current Covid-19 restrictions on public gatherings.
“Thankfully we managed to do that.”
The Radical Uprising was a week of strikes and unrest that led to a culmination of demands for political reform.
Artisan workers, particularly weavers in Scotland, sought action to reform a government they saw as uncaring.
The main leaders Andrew Hardie, John Baird and James Wilson were executed for their actions.
Brian Lawson, former SNP councillor, added: “The world of 1820 was a different world than that of today.
“The normal working day started at 5.30am, and it was a 14-hour day with child labour a common occurrence.
“But here today in modern Scotland, in modern Paisley, we see the modern scandal of the food banks.
“The poorest of our modern, rich, hi-tech society queue up to receive food handouts to save them from the pangs of hunger which would have been familiar to many of Paisley’s residents in 1820.
“Some things change but some remain the same.
“In 1820 Baird, Hardie, Wilson and their comrades lit a torch that has passed down 200 years.
“Their dream is still unfulfilled.
“Our dream is unfulfilled until Scotland is an independent nation.
“The choice is as clear today as it was in 1820 - Scotland free or a desert.”
Baird, Hardie, Wilson and their comrades lit a torch that has passed down 200 years