THE SCOTIA NOSTRA
The Scots mobsters controlling the American underworld in Your Honor might not be as far-fetched as they seem. The link between the Us-based mafia and Scotland stretches back to the prohibition era and runs through infamous mob boss Al Capone. In the wake of the bloody St Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago in 1929, when hoodlums working for him gunned down seven rivals, Capone recruited a Scot as his personal bodyguard. Glaswegian ex-soldier Ronald Kerr oversaw a group of 10 Tommy gun-wielding hoodlums and was said to be the only man Capone, nicknamed Scarface, would trust.
It’s no surprise ruthless
Capone trusted Kerr, given his affection for Scotland.
His grand-niece has revealed how, after assuming a false identity, Capone sailed to Scotland to indulge in several rounds of golf. “He was in love with the game and with Scotland,” said Dierdre Marie Capone. ”I remember seeing his bag of clubs in the house in Miami where he lived. He told me they’d been made for him in Scotland.” Notorious crime boss Capone, along with a gun-toting bodyguard as his caddy, played the world-famous Old Course at St Andrews, as well as Muirfield and Turnberry. It’s believed that Capone met Scottish businessmen to explore the possibility of importing bootleg whisky to the United States. Historians say Kerr was joined by around 100 other Scots who emigrated to the US to become involved in organised crime. Those caught by authorities were deported back to Scotland, where they brought their criminal activities with them.
Figures from the 1920s and ’30s show how Scottish police were faced with a wave of Chicago-style violent assaults, armed robberies and protection rackets. James Gilzean was one of the most high-profile gangsters repatriated to Scotland.
He wrote about his experiences as a gangster in a newspaper column called A Scot In Chicago’s Gangland.
He gave accounts of bootlegging whisky and graphic mafia-style murders.
Many criminals who returned to Scotland were said to have joined razor gang The Billy Boys, led by the notorious Billy Fullerton.