A tour of the Southside’s radical history

From bank robberies to slave trade links, the Southside has homed a variety of radical social and political histories. In this piece we explore some of the area’s forgotten heritage and dive deeper to uncover the legacy behind these familiar spots.

Photo: Katherine MacKinnon leading a Radical Southside walking tour. Source: Radical Tours

Words and photos by Molly Adams.

One autumn day, I decided to join a mix of tourists and Glaswegians to embark on a tour to learn more about the history of the neighbourhood I grew up in.

The tour was led by Katherine MacKinnon, Henry Bell and David Lees, who run the tour company; Radical Tours. The group is dedicated to creating interactive walking tours across Glasgow, with the aim of exploring the city’s histories of activism, protest and social change.

Surprised by many of these radical stories, we decided to share some of the most shocking histories of the Southside.

Bank robbery at Moyra Jane’s

Photo: Moyra Jane’s Brasserie

In 1971, Moyra Jane’s– a local café on Kildrostan Street in Glasgow’s suburban Pollokshields, set the stage for a radical robbery. At the time, these premises were used as a local branch of The Bank of Scotland, making it a prime mark for the revolutionary Marxist group; The Workers Party of Scotland.

The Workers Party of Scotland was a left-wing political organisation, inspired by the socio-political theories of Marx and Lenin. The group was formed in 1966, campaigning for Scottish independence whilst engaging in local elections and publishing a long-term journal; ‘Scottish Vanguard’, along with other publications throughout Scotland to exercise their anti-revisionism views- a movement within the Marxist-Leninism ideology that opposes the reforms made by soviet leader; Nikita Krushchev.

The group also aimed to highlight social issues facing Scotland, such as housing and unemployment rates.

As the 1970s approached, the party’s membership began to decline and funding was low. Aware of these difficulties and threats to the party’s growth and influence, four of the organisation’s members decided to take matters into their own hands in a desperate attempt to save the party.

Matt Lygate, William "Bill" McPherson, Colin Lawson and Ian Doran, turned to armed robbery as a way to secure funds for the party. Lygate robbed two banks during this time, including Pollokshields’ Royal Bank of Scotland, which occupied the building where Moyra Janes brasserie is based today.

Lygate’s robbery resulted in no casualties or harm to civilians, but a gunshot fired at one of the scenes gave the authorities a lead that steered the police in the direction of the four and consequently, led to their arrest.

Lygate appeared in the High Court in Glasgow with a not guilty plea on the grounds that the case was a matter of the working class versus the state – as it was the capitalist institutions that had robbed and degraded the working-class people and therefore Lygate was not the one guilty of theft.

Despite this plea, the court was unconvinced, sentencing Lygate to 24 years in jail (he served 11), marking the longest judicial sentence in Scottish history for a non-violent crime.

R.D Laing’s Govanhill Home

Photo: R.D Laing’s Govanhill Home on Ardbeg Street.

Hidden away behind the bustle of Victoria Road, is the childhood home of Scotland's most famous psychiatrist; R.D Laing. Ronald David Laing was born in the Govanhill area in 1927 and attended Hutchesons’ Grammar School and later the University of Glasgow to study medicine.

It was during his National Service in an army psychiatric unit that he discovered his interest in mental health issues and began to pursue a career in psychiatry.

Laing grew up in a time in which mental health issues such as schizophrenia and depression were largely stigmatised and were often combatted with extreme psychiatric treatment including lobotomies, electric shock therapy and social isolation as measures of medical intervention.

In the 1950s, Laing began to question the healthcare profession’s established understanding and outdated approach taken towards individuals suffering from mental health conditions. In 1955, Laing introduced the Rumpus Room experiment at eeGartnavel hospital in Glasgow. The experiment aimed to remove patients from overcrowded and poorly staffed hospital wards to more comfortable accommodation.

Laing theorised that treating individuals with mental health conditions to comfortable living spaces, removal of drugs and wider access to support of nurses and healthcare professionals, would have positive implications upon their condition. The results indicated that the patients discharged had seen temporary improvements to their condition, but a year later were all back in hospital.

This experience influenced R.D Laing’s infamous first book, The Divided Self. The book was published in 1960 and became a hit, selling 700,000 copies across the UK.

Despite Laing’s literary success and celebrity status, the psychiatrist remained a controversial figure. His later publication, Sanity, Madness and the Family, was met with wide-spread criticism as it seemed to suggest that schizophrenia could be blamed on the parents of those suffering. Additionally, many also opposed his use and prescription of LSD and hallucinogenic drugs as a source of medical mind expansion to patients. Laing also reportedly joined his patients in the use of the drugs during his time at Kingsley Hall – a safe house founded by Laing in 1965 where individuals with schizophrenia were free to embrace their traumas, without conventional medical intervention.

Despite Laing’s radical approach to psychiatry, defenders of the psychiatrist still praise him for his contribution to our modern understanding of mental health, the de-stigmatisation of patients and the much-needed cultural and scientific abandonment of traditional, intrusive and limiting treatments of the past.

Laing’s ideas remain prevalent within contemporary psychiatric studies. Today, there has been varied and extensive research conducted on the use of psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin and MDMA, as therapy to treat depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Many mainstream institutions have found that a medically regulated in-take of these substances has the potential to be beneficial in the treatment of mental health conditions.

Slave trade heritage on Keir Street

Photo: Keir Street road sign and houses

The city of Glasgow undoubtedly played a key role within the Atlantic slave trade in the 1600s. Evidence of this brutal history is commonly observable throughout the city centre in a range of public buildings and street names such as; The Merchant City, Buchanan Street and even GOMA, exemplifying the wealth curated by Glasgow through the trading of goods produced by enslaved people.  

The city’s historical ties to slavery seem boundless, with research identifying Glasgow’s complacency in the trade extends even further than just the city centre, spreading into the streets of the Southside.

Historically, much of Glasgow’s Southside was occupied by the Pollok Estate covering approximately 13 acres. The estate was owned by the Maxwell family since the 13th century who were thought to have merchant interests abroad.

In 1815, Elizabeth Maxwell of Pollok married Archibald Stirling of Keir. The Stirling of Keir family were wealthy Scottish merchants making profits from the use of slaves in the Caribbean. Along with the Cadder family merchants, The Stirling of Keir family owned two plantations in Jamaica – Hampden in St James and Frontier in St Mary (between the 1720s -1850s).

The Keir and Pollok Estates united in 1865, when Elizabeth and Archibald’s son; William, inherited the Maxwell baronetcy, taking the title Sir William Stirling-Maxwell, 10th Baronet of Pollok and choosing to live in the Pollok Estate.

The unison of these two powerful Scottish families is how Pollokshields’ Keir Street came to be named, representing the Keir Estate and symbolising the extent and wide-spread influence the trade had upon Glasgow and across Scotland.

With this history abundantly present throughout the city, Keir Street serves as another reminder of Scotland’s disturbing past and symbolises how the areas we love, came to be.