The Glasgow razor gangs were violent gangs that existed in the East End and South Side of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland in the late 1920s and 1930s and were named after their weapon of choice. H. Kingsley Long's novel ''

No Mean City ''No Mean City'' is a 1935 novel by H. Kingsley Long, a journalist, and Alexander McArthur, an unemployed worker. It is an account of life in the Gorbals, a run-down slum district of Glasgow (now mostly demolished, but re-built in a contempora ...

'' (1935) contains a fictionalised account of these gangs.

History

The tradition of gang formation in Glasgow stretched back at least to the 1880s, and gang rivalries appear to have derived a momentum of their own during the late 19th century, irrespective of short-term economic trends, both in Glasgow and in other British municipalities. Religious

sectarianism Sectarianism is a political or cultural conflict between two groups which are often related to the form of government which they live under. Prejudice, discrimination, or hatred can arise in these conflicts, depending on the political status quo ...

had been rife in Scotland for centuries; however, the centre of it all was in

. Originally, Glasgow had been mainly Protestant, but in the 19th and 20th centuries, large numbers of Roman Catholic Irish immigrants came to the west coast of Scotland; drawn by jobs in the local industries in Scotland. Protestants became irritated at the increasing unemployment rate and blamed the influx of Catholics. Between November 1930 and May 1935, Glasgow's unemployment rate was between 25-33%. While it would be misleading to claim that mass unemployment was the sole cause of gang conflicts in inter-war Glasgow, the advent of mass unemployment does appear to have led to two significant new patterns in gang formation. Firstly, as unemployment peaked locally in the early 1930s and long-term unemployment posed increasing concern, it became more common for men in their twenties, and even thirties, to remain active members of street gangs, some of which appear to have provided an important focus for jobless men. In the 1920s, Glasgow became known for its gang violence particularly in the

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and employment opportun ...

area, leading to the portrayal of Glasgow as one of Britain's most violent cities. Relations between the gangs and the police were violent on both sides, as police officers and local youths contested ownership of the streets. Throughout the 1930s, the police in Glasgow maintained a network of paid informers, including bar staff employed in public houses in the poorer districts of the South Side and the East End, in order to gather information concerning the planned activities of local street gangs. Confrontations between gangs and police officers frequently followed police attempts to take gang members into custody. For example, in July 1939, a major disturbance erupted in the Gorbals as the Beehive Boys and the South Side Stickers reportedly joined forces to confront police officers who were taking two prisoners to the police station. 'Hundreds' of local people gathered at the main street corners, and police reinforcements were stoned as they arrived in Thistle Street in squad cars and vans. As the disturbance spread, shop windows were smashed, and police officers were forced to stand guard to prevent looting.

Gang rivalry

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, most of Glasgow's street gangs were territorially based in working-class districts. This was reflected in the choice of names such as the Bridgeton

Billy Boys "Billy Boys", also titled "The Billy Boys", is a loyalist song from Glasgow, sung to the tune of "Marching Through Georgia." It originated in the 1920s as the signature song of one of the Glasgow razor gangs led by Billy Fullerton and later b ...

, the Calton Entry, and the South Side Stickers. The Beehive Boys took their name from a draper's shop situated at the corner of Thistle Street and Cumberland Street in the Gorbals. Many gangs were active in the city; however, two of the most infamous were the former

Penny Mobs The Penny Mobs was the names used by the press to describe the early street gang active in Glasgow, Scotland during the early 1870s. As the court system offered heavy fines as an alternative to imprisonment, gang members were often freed after a c ...

, the Bridgeton Billy Boys and the

Norman Conks The Norman Conks (or Norman Conquerors) were a large Catholic sectarian street gang active in Glasgow. It was one of the popular Glasgow razor gangs, and was active from the 1880s to the 1960s, with its territory and most of their members based ab ...

. By the end of the 1930s, more gangs such as the Beehive Boys, the San Toi, Tongs, the Fleet, Govan Team, Den Toi, Bal Toi, Drummy, Provy, Aggro, skinheads, Tiny Torran Toi and Bingo Boys had come into existence. Glasgow gangs were divided between those that were solely territorial and those that combined territorial and sectarian allegiances, such as the Protestant Bridgeton (or Billy) Boys who frequently clashed with the Roman Catholic Norman Conks in the East End of the city. The Billy Boys would meet at Bridgeton Cross, their claimed territory. The Norman Conks would gather in a street which was roughly half a kilometre south. The fact that the two were so close geographically caused many fights. The Billy Boys were founded and led by Billy Fullerton, a former member of the

British Fascists The British Fascists was the first political organisation in the United Kingdom to claim the label of fascist, although the group had little ideological unity apart from anti-socialism for much of its existence, and was strongly associated with c ...

. Fullerton also later became a member of the British Union of Fascists in the 1930s. The Billy Boys adopted a militaristic style of behaviour, marching on parades, forming their own bands, composing their own songs and music, and all dressed in a similar manner. The Billy Boys also formed a junior group whose members were teenagers called the Derry Boys. In the early 1930s, gang numbers started to decrease, mainly due to the work of the chief constable of the

City of Glasgow Police The City of Glasgow Police or Glasgow City Police was the police of the City of Glasgow, Scotland. In the 17th century, Scottish cities used to hire watchmen to guard the streets at night, augmenting a force of unpaid citizen constables. On 3 ...

, Sir

Percy Sillitoe Sir Percy Joseph Sillitoe KBE DL (22 May 1888 – 5 April 1962) was a chief constable of several police forces. He changed the role of radios, civilian staff, and women police officers within the police. He was later Director General of MI5, ...

. Brought in due to his work with similar gangs in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

, his tactic was to recruit big, strong men from rural areas and the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...

. Due also to the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, the Billy boys went into decline in the late 1930s.

Later gangs

In the late 1960s a

moral panic A moral panic is a widespread feeling of fear, often an irrational one, that some evil person or thing threatens the values, interests, or well-being of a community or society. It is "the process of arousing social concern over an issue", us ...

swept Glasgow, with media and police attention focused on new youth gangs that were younger, more violent and more dangerous than the Glasgow razor gangs of the 1920s and 1930s. By the turn of the 21st century, Glasgow had the highest number of

street gangs A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...

in the UK. In 2006, there were as many 'young teams' in

Greater Glasgow Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...

as in London, the UK capital, which is geographically six times as large. The numbers of young people involved in gangs and the violence inflicted in statistical terms reduced significantly over the next decade, due to various factors including successful initiatives to engage with gang members by organisations such as the Violence Reduction Unit. However,

organised crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

groups remained a significant problem in the city.

References

External links

Reference to Glasgow's razor gangs in ''Hansard''

Information on Patrick Carraher
1920s in Glasgow 1930s in Glasgow Gangs in Scotland History of Glasgow Crime in Glasgow Far-right politics in Scotland Gorbals Bridgeton–Calton–Dalmarnock Religiously motivated violence in Scotland

History

Gang rivalry

Later gangs

See also

References

Further reading

External links