Scots word of the week

RED CLYDESIDE

THERE is currently no entry for Red Clydeside in the Dictionaries of the Scots Language (DSL), writes Pauline Cairns Speitel, but the Red Clydeside period was important in the history of the Scottish Labour movement. Many Red Clydesiders went on to play significant roles in Westminster; notably Emanuel (Manny) Shinwell. “Shinwell played a key role in the Red Clydeside events of 1919. Following the ‘Black Friday’ riot in George Square on January 31, Shinwell was one of several prominent figures subsequently charged with incitement to riot. After a lengthy trial, he was convicted and jailed for five months” (Herald, 2019).

Another noteworthy Red Clydesider was John Maclean. His stay in Peterhead prison caused his health to deteriorate and he died in Glasgow in 1923 at the age of just 44. He is still remembered: “the Sir John Stirling Maxwell School Trust …want to see the Pollokshaws school turned into an eco-hub… It was where the school’s legendary Red Clydeside leader John Mclean taught courses in Marxism and is named for the Tory landlord who gifted the site to the state” (Glasgow Times, 2021).

Mary Barbour was the main organiser of the Govan rent strike in 1915. The Sunday Post of August 2021 quoted Maria Fyfe: “I was asked to chair a campaign to create something in her memory. A statue was eventually erected at Govan Cross and is serving its purpose well, not just commemorating this Red Clydeside hero, but as a reminder that you can fight injustice and win.”