Tuesday 19 July 2011

George Square 2 July 2011: the Orange Order lays a wreath at the Cenotaph

Welcome to my wee photoblog on Glasgow, where we feature the  joys and unjoys of walking and cycling through a fascinating, beautiful and often badly run city. For the blog's origin see the  'Introduction' post  -

http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/introduction.html

An alphabetical list of all posts so far can be found at the end of this post.

Today is Saturday 2 July, and we are heading to GoMA (Glasgow Museum of Modern Art) to take a book back to the library and also take in the Orange Order's wreath-laying ceremony  at George Square.

George St and other streets around George Square cordoned off

Looking down Queen St

For George Square itself see
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/george-square.html
and
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/10/townhead-to-duke-st-to-george-square.html


Orange Walkers like to have saltires and Lion Rampant flags as well as Union Jacks - they wave all three robustly at Celtic supporters who of course don't wave Union Jacks and only rarely wave Scottish flags. Glasgow is a city of tribes and flags





















The Black Skull Corps of Fife and Drums. For the history of the Corps see
http://www.blackskull.co.uk






I wonder what the tourists make of all this. The Orangemen are of course facing not just the Cenotaph - where they will shortly lay a wreath -  but the City Chambers. After Rangers  matches you will sometimes see stickers about saying 'This is Our City' - see the first pic here in an underground carriage -

http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/01/govan-underground-to-ibrox-underground.html

but the City Council has long been dominated by Labour who are (in Glasgow)  no great friends to the Orange Order, many of whom see the council as run by Catholics - Catholics of Irish descent. There is no one from the council present to honour the ceremony that is about to take place. Glasgow Council is not known for its expertise in facing up to difficult situations.  A march in support of asylum seekers went past here on 13 March last year after the suicide of a Russian family - see
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/red-road-flats-part-3.html

and not one person from the council was there to greet us. Not one. This was the time of the Purcell affair when the most powerful politician in Glasgow was revealed to be buying his cocaine in a pub on the Glasgow boundary called, appropriately enough, the  Boundary bar - for which see

http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/11/welcome-to-glasgow-2-yoker-rd.html


Last year the Council placed restrictions on future marches through Glasgow. For the Orange Order's reaction to the restrictions see
http://www.orangeorderscotland.com/news.html
In the run up to the Scottish parliament election in May this year, the Orange Order urged its west of Scotland members and supporters to vote for the Scottish National Party as part of their fightback against Labour. See

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/snp-gets-orange-support-in-protest-at-labour-1.1102884

At previous elections, the Order had asked its supporters to vote Labour, that party being the least worst option to keep the nationalists out. In the west of Scotand at least, that temporary alliance is dead - the game's a bogey,  as we say.
Colourful and emotional as all this is, we are a long way from the world of Visit Scotland and the world of Glasgow's official slogan: Glasgow - Scotland with Style.  There is plenty of style on show in the Square, but the council's Armani men can't  market it - or bury it. For more on the Order see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Orange_Lodge_of_Scotland














A bugler plays the Last Post

Lots of cops round  about (lots of overtime) - they keep as low a profile as possible













Over 200,000 Glaswegians served - of all religions and none



The ceremony is moving and dignifed. At such moments the Orangemen evoke Betjeman's 'Old men who never cheated, never doubted'


















We remember we have a book to take back - Tom Leonard's fine anthology Radical Renfrew - so we wander down to the GoMA  library. Ingram Street opposite library dead quiet also.

The Duke of Wellington. For more on GoMA see  http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/04/goma.html










Heading back to the Square





More bands heading down North Frederick St to the Square. Glasgow has a solid Hanovcrian past, as the street names testify, Not sure which of the Hanoverian Freds - there were many:
Here lies poor Fred who was alive and is dead,
Had it been his father I had much rather,
Had it been his sister nobody would have missed her,
Had it been his brother, still better than another,
Had it been the whole generation, so much better for the nation,
But since it is Fred who was alive and is dead,
There is no more to be said.

Our youngest goes to the Gaelic school, which recently put on a show about the history of Gaelic in Scotland. At one point we time-travelled to 1745 and the Battle of Culloden - which was a bit unfortunate as the battle actually took place in 1746. In the real world, in December 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived in Glasgow on his retreat from England, having passed through the strong presbyterian Lowlands  exacting tribute from those who hated the Jacobite cause the most. 

,  . .an earlier attempt by Charlie to exact tribute from the city had been stalled by the city's rulers - they told him they feared the Glasgow Protestant mob more than they feared his army. . .

. . .the 17th century had seen many hard battles in Scotland, especially between Irish troops and Covenanting forces. Montrose's Irish troops has sacked Aberdeen in a storm of murder and rape. Atrocity followed atrocity - the Irish prisoners at Philliphaugh were butchered and their women and children murdered. Glasgow  escaped Aberdeen's fate by a whisker, but the Glaswegians of the Scottish Enlightenment remembered the tales of those times:  the 'Killing Times' and the Protestant Cause. This time around Glasgow again escaped being sacked - Charlie held a sort of ball, got himself a mistress from a Jacobite family,
and fled north with his loot,  the city hissing its hate after him. The Orangemen have long memories


Marching out of the Square to lead the walk to Glasgow Green




Looking down a packed George Street - the High St in the distance








Time to head home I reckon

Later in the day we go to the Lidl in Maryhill Rd (they sell organic bananas £1 a bag). There are always parked dogs outsdie this Lidl. See http://parkeddogs.blogspot.com

Coming out we meet this friendly wee dog. . .

. . .who hears a band in the street. . .

It's a section  of the Orange Walk returning home form Glasgow Green

These end-of-day segments are traditionally the ones that see most trouble but all is quiet - apart from the bands of course. . .


. . .the flutes and drums - especially the huge lambeg drum - of the Orangemen do laments very well, but as war music they cannot be bettered. Many of these musicians are highly talented - the flautist James Galway learned to play in bands such as this










In Gt Western Rd we spot this wee Scottie dog. .


'What's it all about wee man?' I ask him.

Feel free to drop me an email with suggestions, offers of £20 notes etc. The address is damnyouebay@gmail.com

For previous posts see

Introduction
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/introduction.html
Anderston
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/anderston.html
Anniesland
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/anniesland.html
Bad Posters
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/bad-posters.html
Balloch
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/balloch.html
Bellahouston Park
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/bellahouston-park.html
Bellahouston Park 2 : After the Pope is Over
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/09/bellahouston-park-2-after-pope-is-over.html
Big Teddy Needs a Home
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/05/big-teddy-needs-home.html
Botanic Gardens
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/botanic-gardens.html
Bridgeton Cross
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/bridgeton-cross.html
Buchanan St
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/buchanan-st.html 
Buchanan St 2: a Meditation on Donald Dewar
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/06/buchanan-st-2-meditation-on-donald.html
Burrell Collection
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/burrell.html
Calton
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/calton.html
Cessnock / Kinning Park
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/05/cessnock-kinning-park.html
Chatelherault
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/chatelherault.html
Churches (Working/ Non-Working), Temples Mosques etc
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/churches-working-and-converted-other.html
Citizens Theatre
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/citizens-theatre.html
City Centre
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/city-centre.html
Climate Change Demo
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/climate-change.html
Clydebank 1
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/01/clydebank-1-golden-jubilee-and-environs.html
Clyde River Festival
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/clyde-river-festival.html
Clydeside
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/clydeside.html
Cowcaddens
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/cowcaddens.html
Cricket
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/cricket.html
December 2010: Dusk, Dark and Dawn
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/12/december-2010-dusk-dark-and-dawn.html
Dennistoun
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/dennistoun.html
Edwin Morgan
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/09/edwin-morgan-1920-2010.html
Evolving Odeon
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/evolving-odean.html
Festivals and Fetes
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/festivals-fetes.html
Finnieston
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/finnieston.html
Forth and Clyde Canal 1
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/forth-and-clyde-canal-part-1.html
Forth and Clyde Canal 2
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/forth-and-clyde-canal-part-2-swans.html
Gartnavel Hospital: a Winter Walk, February 2011
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/05/gartnavel-hospital-winter-walk-february.html
Garnethill
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/garnethill.html
George Square
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/george-square.html
Glasgow Cross and Argyle St
 http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/04/glasgow-cross-trongate-and-argyle-st.html
Glasgow Green: the 2010 Scottish Junior Run
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/09/glasgow-green-2010-scottish-junior-run.html
Glasgow North-West By-election 2009
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/springburn-by-election-2009.html
Glasgow Piping Festival
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/glasgow-piping-festival.html
Glasgow's Sikhs
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/04/glasgows-sikhs.html
GoMa
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/04/goma.html
Gorbals
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/04/gorbals.html
Gorbals 2
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/09/gorbals-2.html
Gorbals 3: Saltmarket to Tradeston
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/11/gorbals-3-saltmarket-to-tradeston.html
Govan
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/04/govan.html
Govanhill
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/04/govanhill.html
Govan Underground to Ibrox Underground: 40th anniversary of the Ibrox Stadium Disaster
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/01/govan-underground-to-ibrox-underground.html
Grow Glasgow
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/06/grow-glasgow.html
Hampden Park: Dundee United v Ross County Cup Final 15 May 2010
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/05/hampden-park-dundee-united-v-ross.html
Hidden Gardens: Glasgow Harvest at Tramway
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/10/tramway-glasgow-harvest-at-hidden.html
Hillhead / West End
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/west-end.html
Hospitals
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/hospitals.html
Hunterian Museum
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/05/hunterian-museum.html
Hyndland
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/05/as-wiki-says-hyndland-i-s-prime.html
Ibrox
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/04/ibrox.html
 Kelvinbridge: Adventures in Art - West End Festival 2011
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/05/kelvinbridge-adventures-in-art-west-end.html
 Kelvinbridge: Adventures in Art Part 2
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/06/kelvinbridge-lansdowne-church-art.html
Kelvinbridge Railway Station: the 'Re-opening'
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/03/kelvinbridge-railway-station-re-opening.html
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/05/kelvingrove-art-gallery-and-museum.html
Kelvingrove Park
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/05/kelvingrove-park.html
Kelvingrove Park: Sledging
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/01/kelvingrove-park-sledging-8-january.html
Kelvingrove Park: the Fountain Vandalised
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/01/stewart-memorial-fountain-vandalised.html
King's Theatre to Glasgow Cathedral: a November Walk
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/12/kings-theatre-to-glasgow-cathedral.html
Lobey Dosser day
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/06/lobey-dosser-day.html
Charles Rennie Mackintosh
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/charles-rennie-mackintosh.html
Maryhill
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/06/maryhill-is-large-area-pop-over-50000.html
Mela 2008
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/mela.html
Mela 2010
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/06/mela-2010.html
Necropolis
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/necropolis.html
Paddy's Market: the Last Day
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/10/paddys-market-last-day.html
Queen's Cross and Firhill
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/10/queens-cross-and-firhill.html
Red Road Flats
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/red-road-flats.html
Red Road Flats 2
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/red-road-flats-part-2.html
Red Road Flats 3
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/red-road-flats-part-3.html
Ruchill Park
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/10/ruchill-park.html
Saltmarket
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/10/saltmarket.html
Save Otago Lane 16 October 2010
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/10/save-otago-lane-16-october-2010.html
St Enoch Centre
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/st-enoch-centre.html
Schipka Pass down, and a walk through Barrowland
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/03/schipka-pass-down-and-walk-through.html
 Sighthill Stone Circle
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/sighthill-stone-circle.html
Sighthill Summer Solstice 2010
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/06/sighthill-summer-solstice-2010.html
Sighthill Towers Before the Fall
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/sighthill-towers-before-fall.html
Sighthill Towers After the Fall
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/sighthill-towers-after-fall.html
Single Parent: Trials of an Extra part 2
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/05/single-parent.html
South Street to Thornwood: an 'X'-Listed' walk in which we encounter the Secret State http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/07/south-street-to-thornwood-x-listed-walk.html
Springburn
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/springburn.html
Swingergate Day 2: Tommy and Gail Sheridan on Trial
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/10/swingergate-day-2-tommy-and-gail.html
Swingergate Day 11: 'How's He No' Gettin' Drapped Aff?'
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/10/swingergate-part-2-hows-he-no-gettin.html
Swingergate Day 28: A Large Pinch of Salt
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/11/swingergate-day-28-large-pinch-of-salt.html
Swingergate Day 37: Andy Coulson doesn't slip up
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/12/swingergate-day-37-andy-coulson-doesnt.html
Swingergate Day 45: Waiting for the Verdict
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/12/swingergate-day-45-waiting-for-verdict.html
Swingergate Day 46: the Last Day
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/12/swingergate-day-46-last-day.html
Swingergate: Sentenced
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/02/swingergate-sentenced.html
Taggart: Trials of an Extra part 1
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/taggart.html
Tommy Burns Tribute
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/07/tommy-burns-tribute-16-may-2009.html
Alexander Greek Thomson
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/05/alexander-greek-thomson.html
Alexander 'Greek' Thomson 2: the Egyptian Halls Part 1: the Interior
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/02/alexander-greek-thomson-2-egyptian.html
Alexander 'Greek' Thomson 3: the Egyptian Halls Part 2: the Interior
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/02/alexander-greek-thomson-3-egyptian.html
Townhead to Duke St St to George S
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/10/townhead-to-duke-st-to-george-square.html
Welcome to Glasgow: the Dalmarnock Rd
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/09/welcome-to-glasgow-dalmarnock-road.html
Welcome to Glasgow 2: the Yoker Rd
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/11/welcome-to-glasgow-2-yoker-rd.html
Welcome to Glasgow 3: Charing Cross station to Dalmarnock station
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/03/welcome-to-glasgow-3-charing-cross.html
Welcome to Glasgow 4: Rutherglen to Gallowgate, Part 1
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/04/welcome-to-glasgow-4-rutherglen-to_26.html
Welcome to Glasgow 4: Rutherglen to Gallowgate, Part 2
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2011/04/welcome-to-glasgow-4-rutherglen-to_28.html
We're Not being paid Enough For This: Trials of an Extra Part 2
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/08/were-not-being-paid-enough-for-this.html
West End Festival 2010
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/07/west-end-festival-june-2010.html
Woodlands
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/woodlands.html
Woodside
http://glasgowalbum.blogspot.com/2010/03/woodside-st-georges-cross.html




Reviews of Scotland: 1000 Things You Need to Know



RADIO AND TELEVISON


'I love it - I'm giving this copy to a friend and buying another for myself' - Darren Adam, Presenter, Radio Forth, 17 November 2008

‘It’s a great wee book’ – Stephen Jardine, introducing Edwin Moore on Scottish Television’s Five-Thirty Show

'A fantastic book' - Scott Wilson , talk 107 Breakfast Show host (see In Memoriam talk 107)

'A great read' - Dougie Jackson, Drivetime host, Smooth Radio 105.2

THE PRESS

'Despite its apparently humorous format, this is a serious and extensive dictionary on all things Scottish; from Jean Redpath to Lorne sausage, from Flodden to the Corries. Is particularly good on history and minutiae. There's a useful chapter on famous Scottish legal cases and another on literature. Excellent' - Royal Scottish Legion, Feb 2009

'This is the ultimate Scottish reference book' - Waterstones Christmas catalogue, 2008

'This is a fascinating look at the history of Scotland: its languages, politics and great achievements, from its origins in the ancient landmass of Laurentia 400 million years ago, to devolution and Billy Connolly. Edwin Moore has collected a thousand important facts about this beautiful country, covering Scottish history and culture, correcting misconceptions, and examining the mysteries of haggis and bagpipes with insight, warmth and impressive attention to detail' - The Good Book Guide, November 2008



'This is a recipe for revealing how horribly ill informed you are about your country. Although, if you are skillful, you can nod sagely as you read some new fact and mutter 'Ah, yes!' as if recalling the information from your excellent schooling. Where else will you find a real recipe for making haggis from scratch side by side with a potted biography of David Hume; a section of the Declaration of Arbroath and the curiously touching fact that Lulu was only 15 when she had a hit with 'Shout'? The whole thing is of course, silly - but oh so addictive.' - Matthew Perren, i-on Glasgow, December 2008


'. . . well crafted and witty' - Bill Howatson, Aberdeen Press and Journal, 18 October 2008


‘While most of Edwin’s entries are entertaining and scholarly – he writes like a Scottish Bill Bryson – it is when he takes an interest in the backwaters of history, the details lost down the back of the sofa, that he is at his best’ – Jack McKeown, The Courier, 27 October 2008


'History, it is said, is written by the victors. Trivia, meanwhile, is written by the guys with the smeared spectacles and the breathable rainwear. The first discipline is linear and causal; to quote from Alan Bennett’s play The History Boys, history is “just one f****** thing after another”. Things look different, though, when viewed through the prism of trivia. The past is reduced to one big coleslaw of fascinating facts that in their randomness tell a more mixed-up tale entirely.
The first approach leads to big, frowning books by the likes of Tom Devine and Michael Fry. The latter results in small, cheerful books such as Scotland: 1,000 Things You Need to Know, Edwin Moore’s valiant attempt to navigate the more trivial contours of enlightenment and clearances, crown and parliament, dirt and deity.
Moore proceeds from a sincere and controversial first principle: Scotland is really a rather pleasant and interesting place. . .As a work of popular scholarship, though, it’s in a different league to the Scottish novelty titles that get stocked next to the bookstore tills as potential impulse purchases, those little handbooks of parliamo Caledonia and regional braggadocio, such as Weegies vs Edinbuggers.' - Allan Brown The Sunday Times, 21 September 2008

'In his book, Scotland: 1000 Things You Need to Know, Edwin celebrates all that sets us Scots as a race apart - our language, law, flora, food, and of course, our people. From our poets, architects and inventors, to our artists, entertainers and fighters. But he doesn't shy away from the more unpleasant aspects of our history. . .' - Robert Wight, Sunday Post, 14 September 2008

‘We think we know all about William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and the Union of the Crowms. However, according to Edwin Moore, author of , Scotland: 1000 Things You Need to Know, we’re still in the dark about many aspects of our history and culture. . . The Big Issue looks at 20 of the most astonishing examples of secret Scotland.’ – The Big Issue, 18-24 September 2008

'What's the connection between Homer Simpson and Larbert, and why are generations of lawyers grateful to a Paisley snail? Need to know more? Author Edwin Moore has gathered 1000 facts like these about Scotland in a quirky new book. Brian Swanson selects a few favourites. . .' - Scottish Daily Express, 13 September 2008

'The palm for Christmas-stocking books seems to have passed recently to popular science, with best selling titles every year such as Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze? This year there has been a gallant attempt at a historical fight back. Scotland: 1,000 Things You Need to Know(Atlantic Books, £12.99) asks (and answers) such post-turkey questions as ‘How many kings of Scotland died in their beds?’, ‘Who on earth decided that the Declaration of Arbroath was the cornerstone of modern democracy?’ or ‘Why is iron brew spelled Irn-Bru?’ Mark Mazower,History Today; The Best of History in 2008, December 2008



'A real treat for the serendipitous Scotophile' - Reginald Hill


FROM THE INTERWEB



www.Booksfromscotland.com (on the new paperback edition)
Book of the Month, May 2010
'Whether it's Scottish lochs or Enlightenment philosophers, the facts of the devolution referendums or the mysteries of Irn-Bru, myths will be debunked and truths revealed in this light-hearted but rigorous overview of Scottish history and culture.'