Alistair Hulett The Red Clydesiders Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Jimmy Maxton, James McDougall, Barbour, Gallacher and McShane
Agnes Dollan, Helen Crawford, up at the heid great John Maclean
These are some o' the Red Clydesiders, hundreds more I'd wish tae name
A monument I'd raie forever, these are the flower of Scotland's fame

MacDougall fell apart in prison, come back oot a broken shell
They did the same tae young John Muir, eight lang months in the jaws of Hell
His only crime was saying no tae slaughter in a rich man's war
Property is theft he said, don't die for what ye cannae live for
[Chorus]
Rags and Tags for common folk, silk for money lenders
The old church pew, the white and blue
The kilt and the Young Pretender kept us sweirt
What what mak's them feart
Is wor pride in the Red Clydesiders

[Verse 2]
Every Sunday night at Bath Street John Maclean roared oot his speil
Thousands gaithererd roon' tae hear him, he spak' loud and he spak' weel
Fifteen years I've been a sodger, fightin' for the cause he said
I'll no' stop now though ye might jail me, prison walls I dinnae dread

John was lifted for sedition, Muir and Gallacher, Maxton too
A' the leaders o' Red Clydeside, trotted oot for public view
While others flegged and begged for mercy, John threw caution tae the wind
Ye stand accused he told the judge, wi' the blood of millions on yer hands

[Chorus]
Rags and Tags for common folk, silk for money lenders
The old church pew, the white and blue The kilt and the Young Pretender kept us sweirt
What what mak's them feart
Is wor pride in the Red Clydesiders

[Verse 3]
Tortured by the screws in prison, force fed wi' their poisoned food
Haunted, shattered, still not broken, up on the cairt he proudly stood
That night when John came hame tae Glesga, weak of body, white of hair
The Red Clyde burned as bright as mid-day, then the tanks rolled through the Sqaure
Workers' blood splashed ower the flagstones, sodgers came wi' tanhks and guns
Heids were broken, spirits too, the final chapter had begun
That treachery on Bloody Friday sent a stench tae heaven's gate
John said we'll build oor ain republic, the fight for justice cannae wait

[Chorus]
Rags and Tags for common folk, silk for money lenders
The old church pew, the white and blue
The kilt and the Young Pretender kept us sweirt
What what mak's them feart
Is wor pride in the Red Clydesiders

[Verse 4]
Jimmy Maxton, James MacDougall, Barbour, Gallacher and McShane
Agnes Dollan, Helen Crawford, hundreds more I'd wish tae name
Above them a' by heid and shoulders stood the dominie fae the Shaws
John Maclean, the pride o' Glesga, he gied his life for the Common Cause

[Chorus]
Rags and Tags for common folk, silk for money lenders
The old church pew, the white and blue
The kilt and the Young Pretender kept us sweirt
What what mak's them feart
Is wor pride in the Red Clydesiders