The much loved Tommy Burns, a very fine footballer and one of Celtic's greatest servants, died of skin cancer on 15 May 2008. See
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On the morning of 16 May, I decided to go down to Celtic Park and leave my Partick Thistle hat among the tributes that I knew were being laid outside the ground. |
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Cycling down Duke St (see Dennistoun), one passes the Louden Tavern, 'the greatest pub in the world', a Rangers fortress; confusingly, there is another Louden Tavern - also 'the greatest pub in the world' at Kinning Park. Catholics used to call this kind of thing 'miraculous multiplication'.
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Placed my hat here |
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Partick Thistle strip |
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A Rangers scarf being blessed by St Patrick. There were many strips, flags and scarves from all over, but among the non-Celtic tributes, those from Rangers fans were by far the most common |
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Brother Walfrid, the founder of Glasgow Celtic |
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This wee union jack was laid with reverence on top of the Celtic strip |
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Homer's boss is a Mr Burns of course! There were child's toys all over the place, many of them clearly cherished and left in tribute because they were loved |
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Note the Shetland Rangers fan flag |
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With the impeccable timing that has punctuated my life, I left Celtic Park just as Ally McCoist and Walter Smith arrived with their wreaths, Ally in tears. The death of Tommy Burns had - however briefly - united Rangers and Celtic in good will and friendship |