SCOTS Project - www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk Document : 1446 Title : Interview 17: Glasgow man on growing up in Govan Author(s): N/A Copyright holder(s): SCOTS Project Audio transcription F606: So y- you grew up in Govan, is that right? M691: I grew up there, aye, I was a wee boy in Govan, just eh durin the war. F606: Mmhm. M691: Don't remember much about that though. F606: Aye. [laugh] M691: But eh I remember the the horses an cairts, there was a lot o the horses an cairts in Govan, an eh wasnae too many lorries aboot, well I I I remember. Maybe that was somethin tae dae wi just eftir the war, everybody was skint, ye know? I can remember gettin the the food u- the f- the coupon for the food ye know, gettin the first bar o chocolate for a six- for sixpence, that was a massive big treat, I never had anythin like that yeah, we used tae follae the the horses an cairts, especially the one that was, ye know wi the water in the street, ye know, eh tae keep the dust doon in the summer, ye know, an then that's how they swept the streets in these days. F606: Mmhm. M691: An we used tae run eftir that an get get aw soakin wet. //[laugh]// F606: //[laugh]// M691: But I suppose everybody's got that story, everybody that's the same age as me would would remember that as well, ye know? F606: Mmhm. M691: I used tae go doon tae the Dai- Cuthbertson's Dairies, an they had the big Clydesdale horses there an eh the men would let ye in an they'd let you be touchin the the, groomin the horses, help them oot wi that, ye know? //that was really// F606: //Mmhm.// M691: good good memories. An then there oh there was the terrible memory o Sandshoe Harry //apoch- apochrycal, apocryphal tale.// F606: //[laugh] Who was?// M691: Sandshoe Harry, this guy was goin aboot Govan [laugh] an aw, he would, a lot o the the hooses in Govan the s- the front door was right at the street so ye could open the door no- nobody locked their doors in these days, F606: Mm. M691: ye s- we had a [?]cheque cased[/?] up in the door for aboot nine year, //stuck on the ootside.// F606: //[laugh]// M691: But eh what he would dae he would creep up an have his hand dipped in flour, an [laugh] op- open open a door an stick yer haund roond the door an eh laugh an run away, ye know? //Ye'd be sit- [laugh] folk'd be sittin in their hoose an see this white haun [laugh] comin roond the door here, fright o their life an that was the, he was the big bogey man when we were boys,// F606: //[laugh]// //Aye.// M691: //yeah.// Sandshoe Harry, cause he wore a pair o sannies an that's how he would run away an cause aa sorts o trouble. //[laugh]// F606: //[laugh]// M691: [laugh] That's the these are the the good memories, playin roond the back a the time in the back court, an eh, ye know, the [inaudible] ye remember the the men comin back fae the war they were aw, maybe couldnae settle back intae life an they were the the street singers, they would come roon the back courts singin songs an F606: Mm. M691: the women usually women would throw them a couple o pennies oot the windae. F606: Mm. M691: I can remember the- these guys up at Buchanan Street subway station, you see I don't, I I'll never forget the song they sung it was [laugh] they sung eh opera, ye know? Pretend opera there's a there's a, ye know? Guys that'd been injured in the war an they're aw musicians but [laugh] maybe I'm thinkin too fondly o them, maybe they were aw beggars or, I don't know anyway, but they played the big accordian an one o them belted oot the voice an he used to sing a song "Yellow Car tae Bellahouston", ye know tae tae that //"yellow car tae Bellahouston", ye know? An he filled in [laugh] he filled in aw these wo- daft words// F606: //[laugh] Mmhm.// M691: tae make it sound like the opera, //ye know?// F606: //Yeah. [laugh]// M691: That's that's that was the- the good times, ye know? F606: Uh-huh. M691: Yeah. F606: An what did you do after that? M691: Eftir that? We got re-housed, we went tae sunny Barlanark, //which was// F606: //Aye.// M691: just finishin bein built, still bein built when we went there. So it was a- it was aw brand new an big an airy an an eh Easterhouse hadnae been built, so it was aw farms just across the Edinburgh Road, an that's where we used tae wander up there an make your way up tae Hogganfield Loch, an that was a nice wee place tae go, ye know, go on the wee boats there an they had a wee pitch an putt. It was quite a trek but eh gradually it got all built up an an different territories evolved then, so ye ye had tae be careful where ye went aboot, ye know, ye F606: Mmhm. M691: but eh didnae have too much bother cause we we played at fitba an ye were kinda accepted by, if ye played at fitba ye had it as a passport, ye could go anywhere. F606: Aye. M691: Ye know, whereas some o the other kids didnae have it so easy, ye know, they had tae watch where they were goin. That's the an an we moved across the road to another house there, an eh, yeah it was it was awright, an things were still brand new an then gradually things start tae get a wee bit depressin ye're in, //ye know?// F606: //Mmhm.// M691: They don't there's nae shops or the shops get vandalised an there's nae picture-hoose an, yeah, remember they, ye had tae walk tae Shettleston. Used tae go with my mother walkin tae Shettleston, that's where she got aw her messages, cause in these days ye went tae different shops for different things an aw the //wee shops// F606: //Mm.// M691: were still well open an ye'd get a good butcher an a good fishmonger //an aw this,// F606: //Mmhm.// M691: an then ye'd be heavy-laden comin back up the road, an it was always always walkin, it was a good two or three miles. An that was always a good walk but comin past the old graveyard was //[laugh] was quite frightenin at times,// F606: //[laugh]// M691: [laugh] cause cause there was eh the story o the polisman who was found dead there, an eh they they sorta tried to work oot that his uniform had caught on the barbed wire at the cemetery, an this would be n- there's nae streetlights there, ye see? F606: Mmhm. M691: An he'd be walkin past on his own, patrollin, an obviously grabbed by the the barbed wire an that was the story. //Whether these stories are true I don't know, but that was the// F606: //Tha- [laugh]// M691: that was the the sorta stuff ye got, ye know? F606: Mmhm. M691: Er, then I left, I left when I was auld enough tae go an start work in the carpet factory. That was a heavy heavy job. F606: Mmhm. M691: Aye, big six hundredweight carpets ye had tae shift aboot, put them on tae a wee barra, an that was a skilled job, they'd a big steel pole doon the middle o them an they weighed six hundredweight an you had tae lift that on tae the barra yourself, //which is// F606: //Mm.// M691: it has a wee knack tae it ye know? Ye gie it a wee twist an a wee jerk //an it// F606: //Yeah.// M691: more or less bounces, otherwise ye'd have nae chance. But that was it an the wee wooden barra with only two wheels on it so it flopped back an forward, but that was a hard hard job. F606: Yeah. M691: Aye. Enjoyed the carpet factory though, it was good fun. F606: [laugh] M691: There was this this guy who was wan o the owners, an he'd been in the war an he'd, shell-shocked durin the war, an he [laugh] he used tae have these long long holidays where the the family would tell us he was away in Switzerland on holiday but he was obviously away gettin a wee bit o treatment somewhere. But he used tae come in his Rolls Royce tae the factory and he'd come in wi his bowler hat, an then the carpets aw stood up on end just like your filing cabinets here only much higher, //twelve feet.// F606: //Aye.// //Mmhm?// M691: //An// they could be pretty dangerous from a, like that an he used tae go aboot an ye'd pick up bits o fluff like selvage an he would be throwin his hand grenades at ye, //an [laugh] jumpin oot, jumpin oot fae behind carpets at ye an aw this [laugh] mad as a hatter!// F606: //[laugh]// //[laugh] Yeah.// M691: //vocal desc="laugh"/> But it was aw it was aw good fun, ye know? Aye.// //[laugh] Aye happy da- happy days in the carpet factory, aye.// F606: //[laugh] Yeah. [laugh] What did a carpet cost in those days?// M691: I wouldnae know, we couldnae afford one. [laugh] Cause [laugh] ye couldnae buy a carpet if you were an ordinary person, ye had tae go, had tae be the black market. //Or the wee// F606: //Mmhm.// M691: the wee man used tae come an collect aw the the cuts, aw the off-cuts an he would sew them aw thegither F606: Mm. M691: so ye couldnae really tell, if you're lookin at the top if ye turned the carpet over ye'd see aw the aw the seams that were aw sewn up, he made a beautiful job o it //but that's the sorta// F606: //Mm.// M691: that's the sorta carpets that ordinary folks would have, ye know? F606: Yeah. M691: We didnae have, the stuff that we were makin a lot o it was for export so it was really high quality F606: Mmhm. M691: an eh ye had tae, ye had tae sew it up in big hessian sacks. An that was a skilled job ye- ye'd a big needle sewin up with the jute, ye know? //An eh// F606: //Yeah.// M691: but eh w- the only wey we could afford a carpet is if it was in a sale, or the or the carpet factory let ye buy it cheap because an order had gone wrong, F606: Mmhm. M691: well generally speakin ye couldnae be intae that kind o world, //ye know?// F606: //No.// M691: Aye, it's different now cause they make aw sorts o cheap rubbish now that F606: [laugh] M691: [laugh] ye could spit through it, ye know [laugh] but we'd a nice, a nice one a the guy- the carpet factory there was this guy, we cawed him Cherry Blossom cause [laugh] the carpets used tae go from the ground floor up on the big roller F606: Mmhm. M691: an so they get, when they're upstairs they wo- ye would call it flats up tae the the upstairs flat whaur they would be workin on maybe the surface, an then it gaed through another roller an come doonstairs so that they could work on the back. F606: Mmhm. M691: An it got aw treated, well we'd be upstairs workin on the surface o the carpet, an [laugh] Cherry Blossom would be doonstairs an he'd forget that ye could see through the floor an he'd get his wee his [laugh] his wee tin o black Cherry Blossom boot polish an rub it on his bald spot, //cause he'd he'd black hair, ye see?// F606: //[laugh] Yes!// //[laugh] What a shame!// M691: //[laugh]// It was a shame [laugh] but that's what he did, that's what he did, wee tin o Cherry Blossom boot polish rubbed on the wee bald spot, there, so he was known as Cherry Blossom. //[laugh]// F606: //[laugh]// M691: They'd another wee guy who was called, he was called Treb, aye he was called Treb because his big brother was a a big fat guy an we called him Beer Barrel, he was quite proud o that by the way. //So Beer Barrel// F606: //Mm.// M691: had a wee brother who got called naturally enough Beer Barrel Bung, //cause he was a lot weeer an Beer Barrel Bung was a treble B.,// F606: //[laugh]// M691: so [laugh] so he, that got shortened tae Treb, //so [laugh] Cherry Blossom an Treb worked on the same machine// F606: //[laugh]// //[laugh]// M691: //that's [laugh] couldnae make it up could ye? [laugh]// Aye. F606: Did you have a nickname? M691: No, never had //but do you know wh- when I worked there there was nine o us in a squad, you know you're in a squad,// F606: //Uh-huh.// M691: an we were aw caed some form o Wullie, Wullie or Bill or Billy or Wull or Billy, every wan o us, ye don't get that nooadays, kids are called Jason or whatever, they're no called Wullie or Jimmy any mair, or Johnny it's, Davy, they're aw gone F606: Uh-huh. M691: aye but we're aw there were nine o us called Wullie. //Aye, it's like bein in Wales [laugh] yeah.// F606: //[laugh] Yes.// Uh-huh, so it's a far cry to Helensburgh where you live now? M691: Oh aye, aye. Yeah, Helensburgh's quite a mixture o people, there's folk from all over the world in Helensburgh. F606: Mmhm. M691: Aye, it's it's quite cosmopolitan. Ye hear all sorts o languages in Helensburgh. F606: Uh-huh. M691: Oh it's a good pla- good place to live. F606: What, being by the sea an, //well not the sea is it?// M691: //Yeah, well it is eh// I suppose it's the the firth F606: Yeah. M691: the Firth o Clyde. The seafront could be a lot better than it is. //It's been neglected over the years.// F606: //Mm.// M691: Well it's a nice place tae wander aboot. We just had the Cherry //[inaudible] I was gonnae say the Cherry Blossom Festival [laugh] that's exactly what it is,// F606: //Cherry blossom. [laugh]// M691: ye know, we had the Blossom Festival on on Saturday an Sunday there. F606: Mmhm. M691: Unfortunately there was no blo- no cherry blossom, because [laugh] the weather hadnae been good enough. Last year it was wonderful but this year //we did withoot but// F606: //Uh-huh.// M691: we had some good shows on aye, ye know, a lot o, few bands on an dancers an pipers, that sorta thing. //It's a nice sorta thing tae be// F606: //Mmhm.// M691: involved in, ye know? This work is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The SCOTS Project and the University of Glasgow do not necessarily endorse, support or recommend the views expressed in this document. Information about document and author: Audio Audio audience Adults (18+): For gender: Mixed Audience size: 2 Audio awareness & spontaneity Speaker awareness: Aware Degree of spontaneity: Spontaneous Audio footage information Year of recording: 2006 Recording person id: 606 Size (min): 13 Size (mb): 51 Audio setting Education: Recording venue: University Archive Geographic location of speech: Glasgow Audio relationship between recorder/interviewer and speakers Friend: Speakers knew each other: Yes Audio speaker relationships Family members or other close relationship: Audio transcription information Transcriber id: 631 Year of transcription: 2006 Year material recorded: 2006 Word count: 2325 Audio type Interview: General description: Interview about growing up in Govan Participant Participant details Participant id: 606 Gender: Female Decade of birth: 1940 Educational attainment: University Age left school: 18 Upbringing/religious beliefs: Protestantism Occupation: Academic Place of birth: Edinburgh Region of birth: Midlothian Birthplace CSD dialect area: midLoth Country of birth: Scotland Place of residence: Glasgow Region of residence: Glasgow Residence CSD dialect area: Gsw Country of residence: Scotland Father's place of birth: Leith Father's region of birth: Midlothian Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: midLoth Father's country of birth: Scotland Mother's place of birth: Edinburgh Mother's region of birth: Midlothian Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: midLoth Mother's country of birth: Scotland Languages: Language: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: All Language: Scots Speak: No Read: Yes Write: No Understand: Yes Circumstances: Work Participant Participant details Participant id: 691 Gender: Male Decade of birth: 1940 Educational attainment: University Age left school: 18 Upbringing/religious beliefs: None Occupation: Retired Social Worker Place of birth: Govan Region of birth: Glasgow Birthplace CSD dialect area: Gsw Country of birth: Scotland Place of residence: Helensburgh Region of residence: Dunbarton Residence CSD dialect area: Dnbt Country of residence: Scotland Father's occupation: Joiner Father's place of birth: Govan Father's region of birth: Glasgow Father's birthplace CSD dialect area: Gsw Father's country of birth: Scotland Mother's occupation: Domestic Mother's place of birth: Govan Mother's region of birth: Glasgow Mother's birthplace CSD dialect area: Gsw Mother's country of birth: Scotland Languages: Language: English Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Work and home Language: Scots Speak: Yes Read: Yes Write: Yes Understand: Yes Circumstances: Occasionally