Did the Glens and the Tongs actually exist in Glasgow?
If they didn't, then why did the slogan 'glen, ya bass!' sound so familiar to me?
Could it be that this war-cry appears in other fiction?
I googled it however, and it only appeared in reference to 'Small Faces'.
Does anybody have an answer to these questions?
I'd be much obliged.
they did exist yes.
shareWhere are you from?
If you are from Dundee, Yorkshire, Cambrige or Manchester it could be because a group of folk I know from those areas often scream it at the top of their lungs in crowded pubs!
Yes they existed & the Tongs, at least, continue to exist in one form or another.
shareI am from the area and the time. There were many gangs including the Glen and the Tongs and the Shamrock, the Fleet and the Bundy etc etc. There were ( and still are) many gangs in the area. I lived among them and they are mostly dead now, the guys from the sixties. It was a different time and place. I survived because I got an education. That is it guys. Learn and change and you WILL succeed in YOUR life. Peace and love to you all.
shareI had an old Glaswegian buddy who was in his early sixties when we saw this movie some years ago. He didn't say much, but he said the tongs existed. He didn't seem to think they were portrayed very accurately, but he enjoyed the film because of the great story and characters. I plan to see it again myself sometime soon.
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Listen mate the glen and the tongs still dae exist amung litterally hunderds of more gangs in glasgow/greater glasgow and thats just under 19s
Ya bass is shouted when running into a fight means to fight and battle for your team , your gang ,glen is just the name of the gang they were in .As these gangs are teritorial in a fight its either put someone in hospital or be put in hospital urself the majority of the time .
MAD YOUNG HALFWAY FLEETO RUNNIN IT FT REST;)
Being from Glasgow itself, I've never actually heard anyone ever shout "Glen ya bass". However "Tongs ya bass" I have heard before as the Tongs were a gang from Calton (also called The Calton) where I went to school. You still see the odd bit of vandalism saying "Tongland" or "Tongs ya bas". In my opinion, the gangs don't really exist anymore like they did in the 60's and before i.e. when gangs would arrange to meet up and fight each other and generally leave others out of it. Now there are just groups of neds who think they are in these gangs just because they happen to come from that area and also neds tend to just hassle whoever they feel like hassling.
Not to paint too negative a picture, I live in the east end and have never really had any problems despite growing up in an area infamous for it's Brig'ton Derry (nee Brig'ton Billy Boys) gang - who also don't exist anymore.
There was also a Baltic Fleet gang from Baltic Street and the Norman Conks from Norman Street in Bridgeton. According to people who grew up here in the 50's and 60's in certain areas, you would sometimes be asked if you were a Mick or a Tim (a catholic or a catholic) so whatever your answer you got your head kicked in!
jacquidempster you sure your fae brigton m8? A wis boozin doon Balloch wae a few boys fae there n they aw wrote Brigton Derry still n they sed they fight wae the Baltic. Am from the North West (Drumchapel) n we still fight wae Yoker, Knightswood, other schemes in the Drum - so your tokin pish about being no fighting now.
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Ye cannae beat a bit a Glesga banter! Since every *beep* else is representin their land am gonnae staun up fur good auld Parkheed!! PARKHEAD WEE MEN!! Haha!
I'm Not Racist, I Hate Everyone.
Resistance. Hate. Violence.
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Ya Bass! is a famous Glasgow gang war-cry used by every gang - but most famously by the Tongs. The original Tongs were from the Calton in the East End, but the name was copied by lots of other areas (such as Milton, which is why they are now known as 'The Real Calton Tongs', although the name Tongs was itself stolen from Chinese gangsters which Glasgow gang members had probably seen portrayed in films - just like the gangs Apache, Redskins and Bison were named because of the popularity of cowboy films and the fact that Glaswegians usually favoured the Indians when watching those films.
The Glen existed too, although they were from Rutherglen rather than Govanhill (hence the name), and the other two mentioned gangs (the Cumbie from the Gorbals and the Tollcross Wee Men) also existed - when I was growing up the Gorbals Cumbie were probably the most notorious team in Glasgow. Other famous gangs were the Garngad Shamrock, the Haghill Powery, the Monks (from Dennistoun), the Parkhead Border, the Baltic Fleet, Brigton Derry, the Blackhill Toi, the Springburn Peg, the Easterhouse Drummy and the Posso Fleeto (from Possilpark).
As for another posters comments - gangs still meet up and fight each other, just as they did in the 60s, and they also attack innocent people - just as they did in the 60s, and there is often serious damage done with blades, coshes machetes and even samurai swords used in gangfights. Plus, if someone goes down in a fight between these kids their heads will be stamped upon so that they can't get back up and carry on fighting.
being from Glasgow myself, yes it does all happen, in fact with probably much less ryhme or reason(not that it had much in the first place), The only point i'll make is something my mother said to me, who grew up in these times and could give me a running commentary of the real version of it, was the knifes aren't big enough and that at the time the gangs were using more machetes etc.
shareI seen this last night and i kept wondering why they were saying "Glen, ya bass" if they were from Govanhill, i would have thought they'd be from Rutherglen if they were shouting that :S
Loser.Winner.Born Again Sinner.
"Glens" being the name of the gang.
"ya bass" meaning "you bastards"
;-)
Re: An invitation to violence!
"The Glens" may have been a gang from Toryglen, "The Tongs" were a gang from the Calton area and are the most infamous of all Glasgow gangs!
Glasgow is still a very violent town and although most of the violence is non-gang related, knife crime is still huge...Sad.
Glasgow is a CITY not a town and is the third biggest city in Britan and the murder capital of Europe so don't you forget it! Anyway the tongs are all dead. Ma mate ued to hang about with them. They've all either been stabbed to death or most of them are in jail for stabbin someones else. Simple as that. Don't know too much about the glen though. But if it's a movie based in the 6o's then they won't really exist anymore because hardly any gang in glasgow from the 60's still exist today. And the most infamous gang was actully the Bridgeton Billy boys Not the tongs. AND most of the violence IS gang related you know...I should know cos I live in the east end. The worse place in Glasgow.
shareMilton Tongs and Calton Tongs are two that I can think of there's also Springburn Peg, Posso Fleeto, Carntyne Goucho, Sighthill Mafia etc...
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"Ya bass!" is a short for an old Gaelic expression which meant something like "Battle and die!"
shareya bass is short for ya bastards,young glen is rutherglen,tongs r calton,toi is toryglen,,san toi is easterhouse,all wee ned fannies but,anyway *beep* it YOUNG TOI YA BASS COME AHEAD!!!
Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day....
Does anybody remember 1968/69 when Frankie Vaughan went to Easterhouse to try and bring peace to some of the gang culture ? Did he manage to make a difference ?
One bit of music that always sticks in my mind (maybe it should have been in the film) was the same time of Frankie Vaughan in Glasgow, a couple of teenage girls on a TV documentary about Glasgow gangs singing "Yummy, yummy, yummy, we're sisters of the Cumbie...."
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