The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #35901   Message #492878
Posted By: Big Tim
27-Jun-01 - 08:29 AM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Smashing of the GLASGOW van
Subject: Smashing of the GLASGOW van
Does anyone have the words for "THE SMASHING OF THE VAN (GLASGOW, 1921)" NOT "THE MANCHESTER MARTYRS" (1867), aka THE SMASHING OF THE VAN. Yesterday I was talking to an old school friend who told me that a relative of his had been tried for murder in Glasgow in 1921 and found not guilty when a group of Irishmen attacked a prison van to try and release an Irish prisoner (the exact same as had happened in Manchester in 1867). He could recall these parts of the song:

It was upon the 4th of May, 1921
That news spread through old Scotland that a daring deed was done.
It was how a band of heroes to release an Irishman,
Assembled in the High Street to smash a prison van.

Here's to the boys that did it. To Erin's Isle they're true,
And every man who was there that day was Irish through and through.
Defended by those counsellors McKay and Sandyman,
The verdict was not guilty on the smashing of the van.

I am also interested in the historical facts if anyone knows them. Thanks.