It's only been ... how many months? Sorry.

Ok. 'Callant' is Scots based on the English word 'gallant', which has been made into a noun. A 'callant' is a brave youth, certainly of fighting age.

I very much doubt that anyone but a Glaswegian could fully understand the lyrics. Lucky for me I was married to one, a man much older than I, who had actually seen and had been caught up in some very serious sectarian violence.

Below are the lyrics as I see them, though I have no idea what Alistair is actually saying when he says what sounds like 'ill throckett dog'. If my husband were alive I'd ask him, but he isn't.

I changed some of the pronunciation, but not enough as to make the song incomprehensible.

By Ibrox Park

Driving down by Ibrox Park
One grey November afternoon
Where concrete tower blocks grim and dark, defy the sun and the moon
I saw a host of workin' men make their way decked in Empire blue
And I thought about when it all began, in 1822.

Chorus: Bang the drum and wave the flag
Let them know who's king of the pile of slag
Though poverty sits at our door
With dour jaw like some ill throckett dog
We'll make it cower in the golden hour
When we go marching around the bog

Carried back in a waking dream
I heard the strains of a reform song
From a past thick as clotted cream, I saw them marching strong
Workers bent on liberty, circled round by the Orange crew
Drunk with hatred and bigotry
And the old red white and blue

Chorus: Bang the drum and wave the flag....

Snail-paced slow through the human sea
I inched my way past the fitba' stand
With half a mind lost in reverie on days gone far from hand
Tae Goven Streets 1831
The Duke of Gordon he paid the fee
And hired thugs from the Orange clan
Made reformers blood run free

Chorus: Bang the drum and wave the flag....

Driving down by Ibrox Park
A wave of sadness that drenched my soul
From concrete tower blocks grim and dark
Come sights I cannae thole
In childhood dreams I've scaled the wall
Well skeined by empires tae call us back
And my hair thin falls watchin' callants braw
Stand by the Union Jack

Final chorus: Scorn the drum and burn the flag
Tell them what to dae with a pile of slag
Nae mair we'll slumber in poverty
Or feed our bairns to wars' ill throckett dog
Let maisters cower in the golden hour
When we come marching oot fae the bog

Let maisters cower in the golden hour
When we come marching oot fae the bog