Now, my lads, charge them down the Gallowgate...

At the end of my walk down High Street yesterday got to Glasgow Cross and had a wee peek up the Gallowgate. Didn't have enough time to investigate but thought I would come back today for another quick look. Still didn't have a lot of time today but really wanted a couple of photos that I felt were still missing from the hundreds of photos I have taken over the last few weeks that it wouldn't be Glasgow without... The Barras and the Barrowlands...

So got on the bus and headed back into Glasgow "The Day"...


First thing I noticed when I got to the Bus Station was all the T in the Park buses heading off up to Balado for the weekend!! Wishing everyone lots of fun up there!!

But got my walking boots on and headed East...

Now the Gallowgate area is where it seems about half the entries in the "Glasgow Street Names" book are listed. Possibly because this is once again a very old part of the city with the Gallowgate being one of the eight original streets. The name Gallowgate itself does indeed come from the fact that this was the way to the gallows that used to be around where Barrack Street is today. (We will get back to Barrack Street later).

The first thing you will notice as you come from Glasgow Cross is this rather strange wee lane on the right hand side very colourfully decorated in Partick Thistle colours with various slogans written on boards mainly relating to football and Partick Thistle. This is the exotically named Schipka Pass.

Now as I have mentioned before Glasgow has a lot of streets named after battles, Waterloo, St. Vincent, West Nile, Corunna etc. but they all involved British forces. Shipka Pass (slightly different spelling) is where a series of battle took place between the Turks and the Russians in Russo-Turkish was on 1877-78. There doesn't seem to be any real explanation for the name being in Glasgow?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Shipka_Pass

The best place to find out about the colourful market place is the Hidden Glasgow Forums:

http://www.hiddenglasgow.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=209

Seems to have belonged to a Mr. Barton who died in 2004. He was seemingly a bit of a character and an avid Thistle fan.
Is definitely one of the strangest wee bits of Glasgow I have seen in the weeks I have been doing this blog and it is so unique that I hope they find some way to preserve it. It is as much a piece of art as anything I have seen in the museums.

Now bit further down Gallowgate, if you thought Schipka Pass was a strange name then how about this one?

This comes from the fact that there used to be a common well situated here on the Gallowgate. The well fed from four springs was known as the Four Sisters. The four springs were all directed into one spout that was given the name Spoutmouth. Seemingly this area was also a burial ground for those that died of the plague. Told you this was a very old part of Glasgow.

There is nothing to indicate any of that today. All that is left is this rather strange road sign.

Just on from Spoutmouth is Little Dovehill. Another interesting street name and also the location of Glasgow's Oldest Chippie established in 1884. And yes they do sell deep fried Mars Bars!!

Now the name Little Dovehill, and the next street along Great Dovehill, was originally called Dow Hill. Seems to be a few explanations of where this comes from. But it says there is a legend that the Dow Hill was created by St. Mungo in order that people could see him when he was preaching on a plain here one day.

Now just on a wee bit further and one of the photos I came here for. The Barras. There can be no more distinctive an image of Glasgow than this sign.

The Barras market originates from the early 1920's when the McIvers bought the ground here where a few old tenement buildings had been demolished. They build stalls and by 1928 the market was roofed and enclosed.

Now everyone knows that the name "Barras" comes from the barrows that were used as stalls?

Maybe not. I have heard other explanations for the name from a few sources. One common one is that it is named after the Eyst Barrasyet which is mentioned in the records for the Burgh of Glasgow. A Barrasyet is a barred gate and one used to be here. Actually seems a more likely explanation so maybe the name isn't such a clear cut thing as it seems.

Now heard a conversation on the radio recently where they were discussing whether a certain film had gone straight to DVD. One of the people on the radio joked that if you go down the Barras then all films go straight to DVD!! :)

This blog can neither confirm or deny such allegations of pirated goods at the Barras. :)

And here is the other photo I wandered up here to get. The famous Barrowland ballroom.

This opened on Christmas Eve 1934 and was one of the leading dance halls in Glasgow. It is of course now a world famous concert hall with which it is easier to list who hasn't played here than who has. Amy Macdonald, a very talented singer/songwriter from Bishopbriggs, recently had a song about it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K93FvHxzdlk

Got a favourite Barrowlands gig ? Post up a comment.

Mine was seeing David Gray sing "Shine" live with only himself and a guitar. It is a great song anyway but that was special.

Though did lose a bet with a friend when he played more tracks from her favourite album then mine. Can't win them all. :)

Amy Macdonald says in her song that she wishes she had seen Bowie playing on that stage. But for me the biggest regret is never getting to see James play here. Fingers crossed they will come back here one day.

That was just a quick tour up the Gallowgate. It is more raw Glasgow than the purified form you get in the City Centre or West End. As I walked along Cadogan Street today looking down into the new shiney glass buildings of the financial district I could have been on another planet from the look and feel of the Gallowgate rather than just about a mile down the road.

Yet there is a connection between these two streets.

Told you I would get back to Barrack Street which runs off the Gallowgate. Well this is named because this is where the old Gallowgate Barracks opened in 1795.

Stationed here was the 71st Light Infantry, "The Glasgow Regiment". This is one of the regiments that made up the Royal Highland Fusiliers whose museum I covered up in Sauchiehall Street.

In 1813 they were led by Lieutenant Colonel Cadogan who Cadogan Street is named after.

At the Battle of Vittoria in Northern Spain, the 71st were taking the brunt of the fighting. When the contest seemed to be going against the British, Cadogan waved his hat and cried, "Now, my lads, charge them down the Gallowgate." With a cheer and a skirl of the pipes the 71st rushed on and drove the French out at the point of the bayonet.

Now this was one of the last things Cadogan ever said because the 71st took a lot of casualties in this battle including the death of Cadogan himself at the age of 33. There is a monument to him in Glasgow Cathedral.

Cadogan Street, Buchanan Street, Sauchiehall Street, Byres Road, the Gallowgate... all very different Glasgows but all interconnecting parts of Glasgow's history. Realising while doing this blog that got to see all of them to even start to understand this city.

Be well, be happy!!

P.S. If anyone is at T in the Park and happen to be talking to James then tell them to come back play the Barrowlands one more time!! Please!! :)