"They are unworthy of freedom who expect it from other hands than their own" - the Calton Weavers, 1787

(image above from this blog)

In Burns-era Ulster and Scotland there were tremors of social revolution emerging from weavers' looms, shuttles and pens. Our own 'Weaver Poets' captured the mood of the country of the 1798 Rebellion and some of them were personally involved. In our modern day land-locked mentality we forget that, just across the water, the simultaneous 'United Scotsmen' movement and the weavers of Scotland had similar experiences and convictions.

Calton today is part of Glasgow but in the 1780s it was a small weaving village. The Calton Weavers went on strike in 1787 and on 2nd September six of the weavers were killed by soldiers of the 39th Regiment who opened fire on a crowd of several hundred. Three of them - John Page, Alexander Miller and James Ainsley, were killed instantly. Three more died later of their wounds. A crowd of around 6000 people attended the funerals.

Fifty years later, a memorial at Abercromby Street in Bridgeton was erected, with the inscriptions:

"They are unworthy of freedom who expect it from other hands than their own"

"They Though Dead Still Liveth. Emulate Them." 

(Given what day it is, this post is not a Brexit-related metaphor, but Brexit will not be the last of the changes ‘these islands’ will experience...)