Tongland is a local

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

for the area of

Calton, Glasgow Calton ( gd, A' Challtainn, lit=the hazel wood, sco, Caltoun), known locally as The Calton, is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is situated north of the River Clyde, and just to the east of the city centre. Calton's most famous ...

controlled in the 1960s by a violent Scottish teenage gang called the Real Calton Tongs. The Tongs financed themselves using a

protection racket A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from viol ...

, levying money on shops within their

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

, and they marked that territory out in

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

with their slogan "Tongs Ya Bass".

Background

There is no agreement on the origin of the name. One version (which may be apocryphal) is told thus: "In the 1960s, in an East-End cinema near Fielden Street, some of a local Calton gang led by one McCabe were watching a film, ''

The Terror of the Tongs ''The Terror of the Tongs'' is a 1961 British adventure film directed by Anthony Bushell and starring Geoffrey Toone, Christopher Lee and Yvonne Monlaur. Plot In the year of 1910, Hong Kong members of the secret Red Dragon Tong crime family pr ...

''. about the Chinese secret society;

"...when McCabe shouted out 'Tongs ya Bass' for the first time. McCabe consequently renamed himself Terror McCabe".

Calton in the 19th century was ruled by the brutal "San Toys" gang, and that name was written with wildly varied spellings:, such as 'San Toi' in the 1930s. "Ya bass" is generally taken as Glasgow slang for "you bastard", though it has been proposed it could be the Gaelic war cry ''aigh bas'' meaning "battle and die". Another Glasgow gang slogan was "Spur ya Bass" (this was the name of one of the two rival gangs from the

Barrowfield Barrowfield is a neighbourhood of Glasgow, Scotland, close to Celtic Park, home of Celtic F.C., which lies immediately to the east. It is bounded by the A89 road (Gallowgate) to the north and the A74 (London Road) to the south. History Being ...

area).Petrol bomb pensioner shows old gang hatreds die hard

Janey Godley Janey Godley (born Jane Godley Currie, January 1961) is a Scottish stand-up comedian, actress and writer from Glasgow. Early life Jane Godley is the youngest of four children born to Annie and Jim Currie. She was raised on Kenmore Street in S ...

, ''The Scotsman'', 6 January 2008 "Tongs Ya Bass" arguably became Glasgow's unofficial motto in the 1960s and 1970s. Tongland appears in

Gillies MacKinnon Gillies MacKinnon (born 8 January 1948, Glasgow) is a Scottish film director, writer and painter. He attended the Glasgow School of Art where he studied mural painting. Following this he became an art teacher and cartoonist, and about this tim ...

's 1995 movie ''Small Faces'', set in the 1960s, although the setting for the gang's territory is actually the tower blocks of

Sighthill Sighthill may refer to: * Sighthill, Edinburgh Sighthill is a suburb in the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. The area is bordered by Broomhouse and Parkhead to the east, South Gyle to the north, the industrial suburb of Bankhead and the Calders ...

. The Tongs and other gangs' power over the area and their decline in the 1970s is described in

's 2005 autobiography, ''Handstands in the Dark''.Godley, Janey. ''Handstands in the Dark'' (2005), Chapter 10 The Scottish Tongs are referenced in

Adam Ant Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...

's song "Crackpot History (and the right to lie)". The lyrics read: "Pumping is a splendid gift, I hope you will catch my drift. Some like pumping in the lift, just like the Scottish Tongs."

References

{{reflist, 1 History of Glasgow Gangs in Scotland Graffiti in the United Kingdom 1960s in Glasgow 1970s in Glasgow Urban decay in Europe Crime in Glasgow Bridgeton–Calton–Dalmarnock

Background

See also

References