Introduction

This evening, I am reporting on a 1787 event where there occurred a historic slaughter of striking Glasgow weavers.

Information on the Historic Slaughter of Striking Glasgow Weavers-Part 1

In the late 18th century most weaving was undertaken at weavers’ homes although industrialisation had commenced, e.g. New Lanark.

Typical Weaver’s Cottage. This is where 19th century tycoon, Andrew Carnegie was born.

In those days there was no legislation protecting workers.

On September 3rd 1787, a Glasgow group known as the Calton Weavers held a demonstration about 1 mile from Glasgow Cathedral. This was to protest against a proposed 20pct cut to their wages.

In the 18th century policing as we know it today did not exist.This left the military to oversee such public events. By way of an example, in 1780 there occurred a major anti-Catholic riot in London. The military intervened resulting in some 300-700 deaths. This event was known as the Gordon Riots.

The Calton Weavers were protesting at a site (presumably open fields) now occupied by the Drygate Brewery.

Drygate Brewery

For reasons which are not clear the military (39th regiment of the British Army) opened fire. They killed 3 protestors immediately and left three more to die of their wounds. A certain James Grainger, an activist, was found guilty of forming illegal combinations, He was sentenced to a public whipping and deportation (from Scotland) for seven years. At the time, Glasgow Council called the event “a disagreeable necessity”.

The action by the weavers is possibly the first strike action (as recognised today) in the history of the U.K. labour movement.

Information on the Historic Slaughter of Striking Glasgow Weavers-Part 2

Following research today I found evidence that the 18th century weavers were centred just a quarter of a mile or so from the Drygate site. Although now dominated by the University of Strathclyde I found a couple of streets which indicate historic weaving activity. These are Weaver Street and Shuttle Street.

Shuttle Street

Acknowledgement: Core information in this post was obtained from an article in the Glasgow Herald.

More information

For more information on a wide range of aspects please refer to Visitors’ Guide to Scotland, ISBN 978-1-9161332-0-4. This book is also available via Kindle.